Please help me date my old Regulation Police, serial number 6559xx. It has a mushroom head ejector rod so I tend to believe it is earlier and than WW II. But that doesn’t seem to jive with the serial numbers and dates listed in the SCSW 4th edition.

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Impressive Revolver !

Thank you Mr. Jimmy, I bought it nearly forty years ago from an old gentleman at the Market Hall Gun show in Dallas that was selling off his accumulation. I distinctly remember him cutting me a deal because he could tell "You like that little gun".

I am now about 15 years from his stage in life, back then.

The mushroom ejector rod knob went away around 1927. have you used some magnification to confirm the serial number and do the barrel, cylinder, yoke, and ejector star all have matching numbers? It's hard to tell from your photo but is the chamfer on the end of the mushroom in the white. If not it may be a re-blue and maybe some pre-war parts were fitted to a post war frame. It does look too perfect to be a parts gun but back in the day the factory would do most anything requested.

Oops - I held it the wrong way - the serial number is 2662xx - and they all match.

The tip of the ejector head is in the white, I believe the finish to be original.

That serial number would place her closer to the 1917 introduction date.

I am so embarrassed, I knew better

Also no S&W monogram on the frame.

Sorry double post

Mystery solved. Beautiful gun!

That's very nice.

I have only one, so not much help. Worse yet, it's a long way off. It's 449510, shipped February 18, 1927---to Argentina, yet.

And having said that, I recall David Wilson has a thread where he's tracking these things (targets). He has a bunch of them in there by now, and very likely has yours closely bracketed. I believe he goes by D.C. Wilson here.

Ralph Tremaine

It occurs to me that thread may be in the so-called private forum (SWCA) I'll have a look there---and report back if that's the case.

That's where it is. He has 49 guns logged---bad news is the lowest number with a ship date is 276131---May 1919.

The finish is original and it's a beautiful gun!

Although introduced ~ April of 1917, not many of these sold before production switched to wartime production of the 1917 Army 45 at S&W. I have no serial #s with ship dates near yours however it's an easy vintage to date!

It's after 1918, post war production because the logo was left off until ~1920.

It's pre 1920 production because the medallions were eliminated from the grips by 1920. So it's from 1919, possibly late 1918. #2762XX shipped in 5/19.

To confirm the grips are original to the gun, which I'm sure they are, remove the right grip and you'll see the gun's serial # in pencil on the backside of the right grip.

Shoot and enjoy your .32 S&W RP! You may have to hunt a little for ammo because you won't find 32 S&W at Walmart, but it's around!

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Jim
S&WCA #819

That is a gorgeous revolver and looks to be pristine.

Is the patent date of June 5, 1917 stamped on the bottom of the grips? The very early ones lack that date stamp as their manufacture predated the patent grant. Those made after that date are stamped.

This gives another point to bracket the date for yours.

Again, it's lovely!

Curl

It does have the patent date of June 5, 1917 on the left stock, there seem to be some faded pencil marks under the right stock that I cannot decipher.
I may spring for a letter.

Thank you all !

Photo of the stock butt.

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2662xx

I list 2595xx shipping in 7/17

The lowest serial number on a standard .32 RP (non-target model) would be about 258000. I suspect your gun would be first year production, because this and all commercial models went out of production within the next few months so the company could turn to manufacturing the Model of 1917 for the Army. There was essentially no commercial production during 1918, and after the Armistice the company got back to commercial production and shipment as quickly as it could. Guns were again flowing to dealers and distributors in the early months of 1919.

It's possible your revolver was manufactured before late 1917 but got stuck in inventory and wasn't shipped until 1919. But it could have shipped in the later months of 1917. Some distribution of commercial models from stock is known in 1918, but there is not a lot. It would take a historical letter to nail down exactly when yours left home.


EDITED TO ADD: Jim, I may have this wrong, but I thought my .32 RP 259xxx had a large logo on the sideplate. I can't find where I backed up my photos from seven or eight years ago, and the gun itself is buried in one of several lockboxes that are a pain to get to right now. I'll check later. There used to be photos of this revolver in old posts on the forum, but you know -- PhotoBucket.

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David Wilson

Try reading the grip # outside in bright sun light. Also, if you take a photo and post it, the pencil marks usually show up better.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Hi David,

Op says it has no monogram on the frame. I don't recall any pre war guns w/o that logo.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Guys,

My .38 RP #1993 is pre-WW1 and it has no monogram, nor does it have the patent date on the grips.





We talked about it here: S&W .38 Regulation Police #1993

Curl

Curl,

That's more good evidence.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I have 260119 from 1917. Yours is in far better shape. Mine has no logos on either side of the frame:
What to do with a 32?

Does it have the patent date on the butt of the stock?

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Jim, Curl --

Thanks for the data points. I confused two guns in my mind. I also have a very early .38 RP that does have a sideplate logo. See this thread, which was started before the gun in question came to live in my safe.

Early 38 Regulation Police

In Post 18 in that thread, Lee J. responds to my photo of my early .32 RP in a way that makes it clear that gun has no sideplate logo, and in Post 20 I replied that it has no left-side logo either. In the full thread are mentions of other early .32 RPs without logos on either side, and I mentioned a different early .38 RP (three-digit SN) in my safe that also has a sideplate logo. At that time I concluded, "So some of these 1917 RPs (both .32 and .38) have a logo somewhere, and some don't."

Maybe I should have limited that to the .38 RPs. I don't think anybody mentioned a .32 RP that had a logo. But I wouldn't be surprised if one turns up some day, and maybe somebody here owns one already.

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David Wilson

In post 20 zipty6 has no logo on his 32.

I lost some info from my database when my comp crashed last week and my backups weren't up tp date. But when I refer back to some penciled notes I also found 32s from the pre war period with no logos:

259534 no logo
260119 from 1917, no logo

These pre war "no logo" revelations raise a big uncertainty in a previous assumption, i.e., that the logos were deleted only after WWI following 1917 Army 45 production which didn't have logos.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I'm sorry to hear this. I'm glad that you had a backup, even an old one, considering the amount of information that you have shared here over the years.

Thank you. I now use the highly recommended My Passport back up separate hard drive and Veeam software.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Thank you all for your very knowledgeable comments.

I have a .32 RP #3354** that shipped in 01/21. It has small S&W logo on left side of frame, and non-medallion stocks with the patent date.
I also have a .38 RP #795* shipped 09/19. It has no S&W logo, and also has the non-medallion stocks with the patent date.
When did the stock medallions begin?
Mike