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08-07-2017, 09:22 PM
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Estate sale Smiths - 1917, .22/32 Kit Gun
I've been looking for a Triple Lock barrel for a couple of years now and one of the resources I've been using is an automated search on eBay. It sends me an email each day for any listings that correspond to my search parameters.
Finally a few weeks ago I hit paydirt - a Triple Lock .44 Special barrel. I hit the Buy It Now button and paid with PayPal. Later I received an email from the seller acknowledging the sale and he commented that the barrel was from his late father-in-law's estate. The seller's other eBay listings were largely gun related so I asked him if his FIL's estate included any firearms, and if so was he selling them on Gunbroker or anyplace similar.
He said there were guns but that they were being sold at gun shows and on consignment. But, he could send me a link to Dropbox and I could see pictures of all that were for sale. So he sent me the link and I downloaded 244 pictures, one gun per picture, everything from flintlocks to a cased Model 27. I'd say a majority were Smith & Wessons, and of those I'd say a majority were top breaks. Some were already marked as "sold". Condition varied from fair to nearly new, some with boxes.
I picked out several to have him give me additional pictures and prices on them. Of those I selected three - a Model 1917, a .22/32 Kit Gun and a 2" New Departure Safety Hammerless in .32 S&W. Here are the 1917 and the Kit Gun. I will post the New Departure in the Antiques section. .32 S&W Bicycle Gun
It's not like I don't already have a few 1917s but it was so nice I couldn't pass it up, aside from a little finish loss on the barrel.
The Kit Gun is in pretty decent shape with target stocks. They have a number stamped on the right panel but it doesn't match the gun. The hammer spur appears to be broken off slightly, or possibly shortened. It's tough to keep my thumb on it when cocking it against stout spring pressure. There's a little bit of peening around some of the chamber faces but the gun seems to be in time. My first pre-war Kit Gun.
The seller's father-in-law had been a colonel in the Air Force and from the obituary I read, must've been a helluva guy. Unfortunately none of the guns I bought have any provenance. I assume what I was able to choose from were the leftovers of his collection, after family had chosen their keepers and the local collectors had snapped up what they could. I wonder what else there might have been....
Last edited by Tom K; 08-05-2018 at 11:37 AM.
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08-07-2017, 09:26 PM
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Congratulations, Tom!! Those are two beauties!!! You did really good.
Best Regards, Les
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08-08-2017, 03:23 AM
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That was a fortuitous barrel buy!
Two great classic finds.
Is the Kit Gun serial #d on the butt of grip frame or the fore strap of grip frame with a rebated back strap?
That'll tell us which grips it originally came with.
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Jim
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08-08-2017, 11:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondo44
That was a fortuitous barrel buy!
Two great classic finds.
Is the Kit Gun serial #d on the butt of grip frame or the fore strap of grip frame with a rebated back strap?
That'll tell us which grips it originally came with.
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The serial is on the forestrap, but the backstrap is smooth with no rebate. What does that tell us about which grips it came with? The grips are numbered but don't match the gun - the gun's serial is 531327 and the right panel is stamped 530299.
Last edited by Tom K; 08-05-2018 at 11:37 AM.
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08-08-2017, 12:56 PM
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Ya done good Tom!
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That's what she said!
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08-08-2017, 04:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom K
The serial is on the forestrap, but the backstrap is smooth with no rebate. What does that tell us about which grips it came with? The grips are numbered but don't match the gun - the gun's serial is 531327 and the right panel is stamped 530299.
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That tells us that it came with the target stocks originally.
Serial # on the fore strap with rebated back strap would indicated Regulation Police extended sq butt stocks were original.
Serial # on butt with non-rebated back strap indicates rd butt stocks were original.
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08-08-2017, 09:03 PM
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Wish my 1917 was that nice. Well done.
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08-08-2017, 09:05 PM
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Quote:
Serial # on the fore strap with rebated back strap would indicated Regulation Police extended sq butt stocks were original.
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Not necessarily true. It may indicate that the frame was made during the time frame of the regulation police stocks roughly 1919 to early 1924 but the 2 screw extension stocks were always available. I have guns in my database and my collection that have the rebated frame but were shipped with the 2 screw style.
As a general rule, these guns went from the 2 screw style with Gold Medallions to the regulation police style with Gold Medallions to RP with no medallions to 2 screw with no medallions to 2 screw with Silver Medallions.
Remember, if a customer wanted something other than standard issue of the day, S&W would accommodate.
Quote:
Serial # on butt with non-rebated back strap indicates rd butt stocks were original.
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Most of the pre war .22/32's that I have seen DO NOT have the serial number on the butt as with the OP's gun.
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Last edited by JSR III; 08-08-2017 at 09:09 PM.
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08-09-2017, 01:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSR III
Not necessarily true. It may indicate that the frame was made during the time frame of the regulation police stocks roughly 1919 to early 1924 but the 2 screw extension stocks were always available. I have guns in my database and my collection that have the rebated frame but were shipped with the 2 screw style.
As a general rule, these guns went from the 2 screw style with Gold Medallions to the regulation police style with Gold Medallions to RP with no medallions to 2 screw with no medallions to 2 screw with Silver Medallions.
Remember, if a customer wanted something other than standard issue of the day, S&W would accommodate.
Most of the pre war .22/32's that I have seen DO NOT have the serial number on the butt as with the OP's gun.
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True special orders of course for the Target stocks was always an option. And they do fit both round rd butts and rebated rd butts.
I've seen the anomalies in the 22/32 HF Targets, but not so much in the much later Kit Guns after their introduction in 1935.
Dave might chime in here about serial #s on the butt vs. fore strap in his collection.
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Jim
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