Hello everyone in the community!

Long time reader here finally has a question that even google cannot help me answer.

I have a chance to get my hands on a very old S&W for a very very low price.

It will give me something to learn about disassembling and reassembling a S&W without risking damaging a nice one.

However, I am having a hard time nailing down the model because the serial number seems like a M frame .22 ladysmith, but all the other features puts it in a pre war I frame 22/32 target gun.

Can the experts help me with:
1. Model?
2. Approximate Year?
3. Is it safe to shoot modern .22lr ammo?
4. What gun does it share a lot of parts with?
5. What grips would fit?
6. Is the gun anything very valuable that I should not tamper with?

Thank you for your opinions!

Opinion: I would not do anything to it, and call that a wall hangar/relic. It does have charm in that respect..but as a shooter? Yikes..

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My Daddy was a pistol..

It's not a Ladysmith. And it looks more like a K-frame than a .22/32, but I can't tell for sure. The extractor rod knob and the S&W logo on the left side of the frame will date it from ca. 1928-36. I'm tempted to say it is a .22/32 Large Frame Target revolver. Can you make out a serial number? Are the chambers recessed? If so it would be from 1932 or later.

No matter what it is, it is now a relic. Perhaps the most beat-up example I have seen short of a rusty dug-up. I wouldn't entertain thoughts of fixing it up. I wouldn't be surprised that it might have been used as a slaughterhouse gun.

Thanks for the responses!!

It looks like the serial number is 15048 or 1504B.

I agree with others; it'd make a great conversation piece. Leave as is and enjoy all the attention it'll bring.
As for the slaughterhouse suggestion: my Dad used to tell stories about a slaughterhouse "killer". He was the guy that straddled the kill chute, and he used a sledgehammer on their skulls as the cattle came from behind, if I remember correctly. He didn't know why they didn't use a gun.

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Welcome to the Forum.

Normally, I'm in favor of fixing up ugly old guns to be shooters, but I'm afraid your .22/32 Target is beyond repair. The grips with two screws were only used on the I frame, IIRC.

Can you even see any rifling in the bore????

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Did you get that from the butt? Or inside the yoke (in which case it is an assembly number, not a serial number). Any .22/32 will have a six-digit SN, and from that period, it would be in the 5xx,xxx range. Can you make out a SN on the rear face of the cylinder or on the bottom of the barrel?

ask the seller exactly where he/she dug that one out of the ground.

Chances are very good that John Dillinger's elusive bank robbery stash is very close by!

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Charlie B
SWCA#3083, SWHF#570

Back in my old home town, there was slaughterhouse which did all their stunning with a Stevens .22 rifle with the barrel sawed off to just ahead of the stock fore-end. I had that rifle for a short time. It was in worse condition than that revolver. Blood corrodes steel quickly.

Wow!

I really appreciate the overwhelming help!!

The number off the butt is 50118x.

I have a way to get a hold of a Barrel in much better shape for a very very good price.

But the grips are tough to find....

would a j frame set of grips fit with some tweaking??

If you remove the monstrosity from the grip frame, you'll see that it's stepped for the 2 screw grips. If you're serious about returning it to shooter status, you'll need to find the correct grips for the frame.

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The closest .22/32 SN to yours I have listed is 4967xx shipping in 3/29. I believe J-frame grips might be made to fit. You could have difficulty in finding any original target grips. If you are into DIY projects, that is the gun for you.

See: WILL J-frame grips fit a .32 H-Ejector?

Normally I'm all into fix-er-uppers...but in this case I would hang that on the wall. For a couple of hundred bucks you can find a MUCH better example of a HE to start with.It will probably twist like a pretzel if you try and take the barrel off. The main frame on that relic has some serious rot and material missing.There is a lot more wrong with it than right. Even if you got the parts for free I'd say pass.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

I guess Alloreb passed it up.

Help with model and value

Now that I see the old stocks, I'm gonna +1 it looks like it's been through a fire. I wouldn't trust it for anything but a wall-hanger, and I'm the cheapest ******* I know.

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TEAM DNF

Hello!

Thank you everybody for your insights!

I guess I'll follow the advice of guys who has been at this longer than I have and pass on this one.

I've brought some pretty rough Browning A5s and a few other semi auto pistols back from the dead, but I never tried my hand at wheel guns yet so maybe I will find a better candidate to take apart and study.... Smiths are so hard to find in "so so" shape that I can dissect. Either they are in very nice shape that I dare to take a screw driver to, or they are a complete basket case missing half its weight of the frame from corrosion.

Oh well, the hunt will go on...

Once again thanks everyone!!!

If it could be had for $75 or less, I'd grab it and see if it could be returned to service as a challenge. If not, at least could sell spare parts.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I'm with H Richard. I appreciate these guns and have brought back several graveyard Smiths to shooter status, sometimes collecting parts a few years before they are completed. If its cheap enough, give it a try. These guns have been a learning experience for me and have given me a dimension to this hobby that I never saw before. It has really become a passion in my sunset years!