Tulsa Bring Back 32 Regulation Police Target

[bigl1911]

[22hipower]

Very nice! I've never seen one, target version, that is. Very interesting front sight.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

[DCWilson]

Nice! That's one of the 196 that were made up from a stash of prewar parts discovered in 1957. All the six inch barrels were gone, so they were built with four inch tubes. If the prewar or postwar transitional Kit Gun had ever been made in .32 Long, it would have looked a lot like this.

Serial numbers on these guns run from 657174 to 657369. I have a note that the last one shipped from the factory in 1959.

They aren't completely retro guns because they have the small (which is to say no) ejector rod knob, the postwar thumb release and the postwar hammer safety block. The stocks have the postwar round-corner checking field. But the frame, mainspring design (flat), lockwork and sights are all from at least a decade or two earlier.

These are genuinely rare guns, with fewer than 200 in existence for collectors to squabble over. That's a great score. And they are accurate, too. Don't be afraid to shoot it at least a few times.

Here's a littermate, 657356:



A forum search will turn up other threads about this particular model.

[Tom K]

Dude, you're killin' me. I must not be looking in the right places at the Tulsa show. Or maybe I am, and just walking on because of the price tag....

[bigl1911]

Originally Posted by Tom K

Dude, you're killin' me. I must not be looking in the right places at the Tulsa show. Or maybe I am, and just walking on because of the price tag....

Tom, I've learned you do the Friday "run" and see what is out there. I didn't make the show on Saturday other than to pick up one missed items before the long drive home with my stash. At this point i know which sellers to find for the most part and hit them first or I am set up with a few guns to look at that are put away for me. Regardless the "run" is an easy 8 miles if you want to hit everything.. The numbers are in general high I have found then again I made some ridiculous great buys. You have to average it all out. If you overpay for special don't cry take the leap and know you did good and over a short period of time you will be ahead of the game. I had to hunt over a ton of sh-t in order to find great gems and in turn a few were very well priced. I will tell you what really got me this show.. The number of obvious fake colt boxes that people were toting as really with perfect (reproduction) paperwork not to mention the quality refinishes that were ponded off as original.. Wow.. Even this 32 Reg police I just bought.. I am not sure it is not a refinish job.. I don't think so but it is such good condition i have to question it. I bought it either way and didn't discuss this with the seller. It is so rare on it's own i don't care but given the quality of restoration work I see today man you have to really question a near perfect gun. Very scary out there...

[Hondo44]

Bravo, what an excellent find and acquisition!

I too, have a stable mate to yours but not near as nice. Post War Transitional .32 Reg. Police Target 'I' frame, 4" barrel, 6 screw, non-Model #’d with small trigger guard and leaf mainspring (pre Improved 'I' frame). This model still has the smaller pre war cylinder diameter and frame window.

Frame serial# 657298 stamped on front grip strap above the strain screw matching all other #'d parts including stocks, 9 locations in all, including rear sight and both sight blades.

Pre war/early post war rebated rear grip strap with post war type 16 lpi checkering, round cornered border on round top stocks with curved nickel plated brass post war medallions. The pre war sights are obvious, supplied w/special modified post war blue all steel sight adjusting tool (SAT) to fit tiny sight screws. Pre war/early post war hammer, post war grooved trigger, and 3rd type post war (and post 1966 after I frames became J frames) non-sculpted thumb piece while all other I frames of the period still had the third type flat latch.

Most features totally out of character with non-target Pre Model 31 guns of the 1957 period! But it has the 3rd and last style straight ejector rod with left hand thread, no patent dates on barrel and 4 line address. A very convoluted transition model for sure. Brief details of these 196 guns are on page 128, 3rd edition, Standard Catalog of S&W, Supica and Nahas, pictured pg. 127.

The pre war SAT shown is not correct of course, but is the correct size for pre war sights.



Correct SAT supplied with this model:


Photo by 410bore


Photo by 410bore


Photo by 410bore

[austintexas]

Very interesting pistol, now I'll have to go spend an hour trying to find my Regulation Police Target. I picked it up at Cabelas a couple of years ago. I don't think they knew what it was. To them it was just a .32 long pistol. Mine has a 6 inch barrel.

SWCA 892

[DCWilson]

Originally Posted by austintexas

Very interesting pistol, now I'll have to go spend an hour trying to find my Regulation Police Target. I picked it up at Cabelas a couple of years ago. I don't think they knew what it was. To them it was just a .32 long pistol. Mine has a 6 inch barrel.

SWCA 892

The prewar Regulation Police Target revolvers are an uncommon and very collectible model. They were introduced in 1917 and manufactured until the onset of WWII. I'm still not sure how many were made, but the number is probably between 800 and 1200.

I track these guns. If you are willing, would you please PM me your serial number? My apologies for the faulty memory if I have asked you this before.

[Tom K]

Originally Posted by bigl1911

Tom, I've learned you do the Friday "run" and see what is out there. ...

I do the Friday run as well, and thought I had gotten everything worth getting (in my price range, that wasn't a duplicate of something I already had!), when I picked up a Colt New Service in .38 Special with homemade cockeye hammer and brass bead front sight.

Like I said, "....in my price range."