Hi guys! I just bought a 32 long Smith revolver and I haven’t cleaned it up enough to find the numbers yet. Can anyone help identify it and a possible age range? I’d be most grateful. I’ll be restoring it starting tomorrow.

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You have a .32 Regulation Police from the mid 1920's . They'll shoot modern .32 long ammo without issue. Someone with a database of Serial numbers may be able to narrow down the ship date for you.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

Maybe I'm just noticing these posts more since I just stumbled onto one myself a few weeks ago, but there seems to be a surge of interest in theses little .32's.

Mine is circa 1918, according to the tag and S/N confirmed by the smart folks here. Still need to get it to the range. I'm not very experienced with revolvers, but it the action feels pretty smooth after I cleaned it up.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

I agree with delcrossv above. As he indicated with the serial # off of the front strap of the grip we can pin it down a little closer. I can see the # in one of your photos but it's at the wrong angle to read.

OLD GUN CLEANING AND SAFETY CHECK PROTOCOL FOR HEIRLOOMS & NEW GUN OWNERS:

Simply put, the only usual issue with these marvels of yesteryear is they are gummed up and dirty. Old oils of its time do not match the quality of these old guns nor the technology of today, and actually dry up and harden to the point of impeding operation and accelerating wear. The simple solution does not need a gunsmith or removal of the side plate. Just one of many premium modern gun care products from any sporting goods, gun store or hardware store.

Most are both cleaning and preserving agents; Breakfree, Kroil & M-Pro7 are some of the best, and there are others, but do not use WD-40. Disassembly is not necessary. With grips removed and a spray can version of the product, flood and flush the revolver thru every opening and crevice until the black gunk stops flowing out, let it drain for an hour and wipe it down thoroughly with the same product.

Scrub barrel bore and cylinder chambers with a simple cleaning rod kit found at the same places as the cleaning agents above; patches cut from rags is all you really need. And scrub any observed exterior and crevice crud with an old toothbrush with bristles cut off short for stiffness.

To remove grips for cleaning the gun: loosen the grip screw completely and carefully push down on the screw head until the bottom grip separates, then remove. Now carefully push the top side grip off with a finger or toothbrush from the backside thru the grip frame. Mother of Pearl (MOP) grips take extreme care: if they are pulled off from the butt at an angle, the upper two corners are susceptible to chipping, even walnut grips. They must be pushed off the grip frame and kept parallel to the grip frame until they release and come away.

The gun is now original and will never have greater value. I would not refinish it and throw away all of the "character" acquired thru its life so far. It will only retain its value by retaining its originality. The only way to make it more original is to remove anything that it did not have on it when new, like any black tarnish or corrosion. Black and dark brown areas thru the blue, on bare metal or where nickel plating is worn off is very unsightly. Areas on nickel guns with no nickel plating left at all, will polish bright and blend with remaining plating.

A careful polish with the correct products is the way to do that. Well known polishing products are Flitz, Semi-Chrome, Mother's Mag Wheel polish or the equivalent. No steel wool! Bronze 4X wool is OK for stubborn spots.

For rust spots, Blue Wonder cleaner will remove the rust but leave the bluing. Or use Bronze wool, not steel wool, size 0000 and toothbrush with bristles cut short, and a gun cleaner like M-Pro 7 (odor free), Kroil or Breakfree and gentle scrubbing.

Rust pitting must have all red color removed to arrest it's cancerous growth (use 5x glasses or stronger to see progress). White areas of cleaned pitting can be 'toned down' and touched up with OxPho Blue cream (from Brownells) and works best after heating the metal with a blow dryer until it’s too hot to touch. Actual rust pits in the surface can only be removed with a re-finish, but not always if too deep. If you choose to ‘touch up’, clean with acetone or lacquer thinner to remove all traces of oil.

An application of wax, Renaissance wax is a popular one, will enhance and protect the finish if you want something to do while watching the news!

Once cleaned and lubricated, with a few simple checks you can determine if it’s safe to use; no need to waste time and money on a gunsmith, especially if you don't know one. Cock the hammer in single action mode. Gently push on the hammer to confirm that it will not drop w/o pulling the trigger. Cock the hammer slowly and confirm the cylinder locks in position for each of the 5 or 6 chambers about the same time the hammer cocks. If satisfactory, now operate the gun in DA pulling the trigger very slowly; again confirm the cyl locks before the hammer drops. After each cycling of the action, confirm that the cyl is still locked in position for all 6 chambers.

Cylinders can have fore and aft movement and rotational movement. Check rotational movement with the hammer cocked just to make sure it won’t skip to another chamber. That's all that is really important from a safety concern. Then unless you experience 'spitting' at the barrel/cyl gap when fired, you have no reason for concern.

You have a quality made, very well engineered, assembled with skilled craftsmanship, and hand fitted revolver, no longer affordable on a competitive market basis, and the likes of which we'll never see again, ever.

Shoot it to your hearts delight, and it will delight you with its fine accuracy, and comfortable recoil.

Any current off the shelf ‘standard’ factory loaded ammo is loaded safely for use in these old guns.

Enjoy shooting it and you'll be amazed at its accuracy.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Thank you guys. I’ll have to clean the serial so i can see it better.

I think its 380424.

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Serial number looks like 38_4_4 ...I have regulation police #379305 that shipped in October 1923, and I have #435762 that shipped in January 1926, (pictured)....others will narrow it down further for you, but yours likely shipped in 1924...

32 RP Nickel (2).jpg

32 RP Nickel (3).jpg

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

Pls. dont get carried away with the restoration! That means no steel wool or wire wheels on a drill.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Yep, I’d say (without meaning any offense) you’ve just been missing the groundswell of interest in 32s... for about the last decade here on this forum at least, there has been a growing interest in all things thirty two. Add to this a surprising growth in interest in the little I frames, and presto! you have increased demand for these 32 Hand Ejector and Regulation Police models. A decade ago any but pristine examples would languish unloved and unsold near the back of shelves in the LGS, available at what would be considered giveaway prices... but not today, they’ve been discovered! Enjoy yours.

Froggie

While the I frames are intriguing, here is my favorite revolver for the .32 S&W Long:

It is a .32 Military & Police revolver that left the factory on April 21, 1948. It took me years to find a nice one for sale. It is a hoot to shoot!

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

what is the frame size on those?

would love to find a blued model like that to pair with my nickel.

(funny how, ever since I started shooting a couple years ago, I've intended for my "one" revolver to be a .357, but now I've taken to the little .32. and I haven't even shot it yet.)

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

K frame. It is the .38 Military & Police from the early postwar period (S prefix serial number), but chambered for the .32 Long. Only a few were made.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Show off! The rest of us would like one of those too!

Froggie

I know, Froggie. The problem is there aren't enough of them to go around!

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Post war 32 caliber revolvers.
S&W post war .32 revolvers.
Upper left .32 Hand Ejector
Upper right Regulation Police
Middle 1 of 196 32 Regulation Police Target
Lower left Model 16
Lower right 32 caliber M&P

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SWCA 1932 SWHF 135

10 of my Smith & Wessons are 32 caliber, and I have sold a few S&W and Colt 32s. Blame it on Jim Croce..."a32 gun in his pocket for fun"....

Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

Has there ever been a rifle chambered in .32 Long?

Curious what prevented the .32 Long from becoming a plinking/small game rifle caliber like the 22lr ? Just not enough advantage over the 22lr to be worth it?

I've seen rifles in .327 Fed Mag. But I guess even that becomes a question of practical utility.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

Lots were made in 32 rimfire (which, of course is no longer made). I've never seen one for the center fire cartridge.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

Magnification is a must!

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Oh, there's still deals to be had.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

It's not hard to convert the 32 Rimfire to 32 Centerfire. There's a video on YouTube about it. It does take some skill at machine shop work. I am lacking in that area but have a brother who builds engines of all kinds. He converted a 1906 Remington rolling block from 32 Rimfire to 32 Long and a 31-1 from 32 Long to 32 Magnum. I used an extra cylinder and keep the original so I could restore it to original. Due to the pandemic I have not picked up the rifle yet but he says it shoots well.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

concise and informative:

Lucky Gunner on revolver development from the .32 HE

Evolution of the Smith & Wesson Snub Nose - YouTube

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So I’d like to know I didn’t overpay for this. What would you expect this condition, but completely functional should have been bought for? I have no intention of ever selling it so I don’t need to know it’s cleaned up value.

I am aware that Marlin chambered the Ballard rifle in 32. It is built on the cast frame and had a reversible firing pin allowing the use of rimfire or centerfire ammunition.

I would guess cost was a big factor. The 32 offers a large advantage over the 22 for varmint hunting.

Also, once they 22 Long Rifle cartridge was created, the accuracy factor increased a lot in the average factory rifle. Nothing similar was pursued in the 32.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

If you are happy with the gun and what you paid for it, then you did not overpay. Having no idea what you did pay for it, I can only give you my opinion of what I would pay for it.

The overall cosmetic condition of the gun is poor at best. If I saw that gun for sale and if I really wanted it, I would pay no more than $125 for it. And my starting price would be somewhat less.

I base this primarily due to the few .32 Hand Ejectors I have purchased. None of them are pristine museum pieces but they are all attractive (at least to me) shooters without significant cosmetic damage, and the mechanical workings are all in excellent condition.

As an example, here is a pre-war .32 Regulation Police from the same era as yours. A bit newer, having shipped in 1927. I purchased this gun less than a year ago for $300. Even in today's current market, nice .32 Hand Ejectors are still available for a decent price. Prices are going up, even for these under appreciated revolvers.

I do applaud you for obtaining the gun with the intent of cleaning it up. That is doable, but no amount of cleaning will resolve the rust and pitting issues on this gun. After you get it all cleaned up, it will still make for a fun shooter.

I hope my comments in no way offended you. You asked for opinions and this is mine, and only mine. YMMV

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SWCA 3297 SWHF 583

I have a solid frame Remington Model 4 rolling block that I'm converting to .32 S&W Long. The easy part is the re-chambering. I bought a reamer for that. I need to finish the rim to centerfire firing pin conversion.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I don't know what "restoring it" means to you, refinishing?

After cleaning you might at least polish it with Flitz, Semi-chrome or Mother's Mag Wheel polish. You'll be amazed at how good it will look and still be original! All the dark areas of corrosion where the plating is worn thru to bare metal will shine up and match the shiny nickel that's left on it! Spend about $6 on polish and then decide if you need to go further. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Marlin built both their single shot Ballard and a lever action repeater (1892??) In 32 rf and cf. the Ballard firing pin was reversible while the repeater came with two separate firing pins. As mentioned, there were long and short 32 rf cartridges available, but nobody seems to remember the cf match to that was the 32 Colt and Long Colt, which were external lubricated and just a couple of thousandths smaller than their S&W counterparts. The bores may have been a little different too, but worked OK. The Winchester low wall came in 32 rf, and I’ve had two converted to cf, one rechambered to 32 H&R.

Froggie

Good evening, gents. Here is an update on the 32.

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A few more.

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I think it’s going to be just fine.

As you can see this is an all matching numbers 97 year old gun.

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Here’s the final product. Just a mild clean up. Works like new.

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It looks much better but I hope you didn't wire wheel the whole thing like the fore strap of the grip frame. The metal is all dimpled from the wheel.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

That metal is 100 years old. I’ve had it one day.

Speaking of which I’m glad to note that in 97 years not one part has been changed. It’s a complete matching numbers gun.

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Well if that's the only wire wheeled area, fortunately it can be sanded smooth again, ending with 2000 grit paper and polishing it.

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Jim
S&WCA #819