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07-08-2009, 12:32 AM
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New to me .22/32 Target Revolver (very late production)
This .22/32 Target revolver joined my collection yesterday. Condition is to my eyes about 97 percent, mostly because of the fairly pronounced turn ring and some light muzzle wear. The stocks -- walnut, I presume -- are extremely nice. The accompanying maroon display box has some dings and cracks, but is in pretty good shape overall. I will letter the gun, but I already know it was shipped in January of 1940. The S/N is 533038, and the number is found on frame, barrel, cylinder, right stock panel and underside of box. All in all, a nice package. No tools or docs, alas.
This revolver was one of the last Bekeart-style .22s (also known as .22/32 Heavy Frame Targets and, eventually, just the .22/32 Target) that S&W manufactured before suspending non-military production and turning to the large wartime government contracts .
In early 1936, when S&W introduced the Kit Gun as the last I-frame variant to go into production during the Depression, the company must have had extensive unsold inventory of the other I-frame models. Most late '30s production in the .32 HE series (which includes the .22/32 models) consisted of Kit Guns, which had no overhanging supply because no Kit Guns had been assembled before and in the early years of the Depression. Beginning around S/N 529500 in 1936 and ending below 535000 in 1940, over 80 percent of known serial numbers in the .32 HE series are on Kit Guns; a few target models with six-inch barrels were assembled and shipped in this serial number range, presumably in response to minor residual demand for a model whose inventory had finally been depleted. The gun in this post is one of those late production models. I know of only one other .22/32 Target with a serial number higher than this one. I suspect (but cannot demonstrate) that fewer than 400 .22/32s with the six-inch barrel were manufactured between early 1936 and the war-related suspension of I-frame production in 1940.
This gun has the recessed charge holes in the cylinder characteristic of the .22/32 Target production of the 1930s (and maybe the very late 1920s -- the switchover point is not clearly established). The front sight is a Patridge, and the stocks are the oversize square butt target stocks that contribute to the ungainly look of this particular model. These stocks are absolutely necessary if people with large or even average hands are to hold this revolver comfortably. Underneath the stocks, the frame is the standard non-rebated round butt configuration.
Handwritten on the floor of the box in blue ink is the name DuBois and the date 8/25/1951 -- I am guessing that this would be a secondary owner, assuming that someone else initially bought the gun in 1940. Above the name there is also the handwritten notation "#7000" about whose meaning I am ignorant.
I intend to shoot this one -- standard velocity or subsonic rounds only.
David Wilson
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David Wilson
Last edited by DCWilson; 07-08-2009 at 10:56 PM.
Reason: Clear up ambiguous phrasing.
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07-08-2009, 09:05 AM
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Fantastic. I am sooo turning green.
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Wayne
Torn & Frayed
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07-08-2009, 09:22 AM
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Great gun and photos!
Congrats,
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Richard
Engraved S&W fan
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07-08-2009, 09:50 AM
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I haven't seen a lot of those, but I have to say, that one is one of the nicest!
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Misty
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07-08-2009, 10:15 AM
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"the stocks are the oversize square butt target stocks that contribute to the ungainly look of this particular model"
Looks like S&W could have extended the top of the stocks behind the frame and made it look better.
It would have helped with the massive recoil as well.
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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!
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07-08-2009, 10:21 AM
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I've always thought these to be S&W's "ugly duckling" model, but yours is certainly a gorgeous example of it.
Thanks for the pictures and the history lesson.
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John
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07-08-2009, 10:39 AM
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That is really nice. Thanks for the excellent photos!
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"I also cook."
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07-08-2009, 03:45 PM
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.22/.32 heavy frame
Congrats David, great find, great condition and the box is a very nice addition. It would be nice to find a lesser condition to shoot and save that fine example of the past for the future. Of course, that is just the way I think about the really fine "Old Timers".
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Sam
S&WHF 333 S&WCA 2198
Last edited by smitholdtimer; 07-08-2009 at 04:15 PM.
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07-08-2009, 05:34 PM
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Banned
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Very nice David...you just keep buying 22's cuz I'm afraid if you start buying 44 mag's between you , Bill, and Chuck there wont be any for me.
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07-08-2009, 06:21 PM
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Congratulations, David! That's a really fine gun - and a very informative post with great pictures.
Thanks You,
Jerry
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07-08-2009, 09:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 29aholic
Very nice David...you just keep buying 22's cuz I'm afraid if you start buying 44 mag's between you , Bill, and Chuck there wont be any for me.
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Curtis, not to worry. When it comes to big-bore guns, I am mostly a .44 Special guy. With rare exceptions, the Model 29 varieties just don't call out to me the way they sing to others.
I'm pretty much focusing on revolvers of the late '20s through early '50s at this point. I got side-tracked into I-frames because I stumbled across a prewar Kit Gun that was really nice, and in the process of learning about it I found out that the .22/32 models have some interesting history. So I picked up a few while I was studying them.
I guess if the right Pre-29 showed up I might take a run at it, but mostly I'm interested in the earlier N-frames. And I am just about out of hobby money, so that is going to foreclose on opportunity purchases and make me focus on things I really want!
David
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David Wilson
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07-08-2009, 11:18 PM
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David,
I know all too well the issue of being out of hobby money, sad thing is I seem to have hit on the blue light special on Smiths down here in redneck land and cant pass up a deal (you know...but honey it was on SALE deal )
I am going to have to start saving for Tulsa and Tucson at some point
FWIW I have been trying to buy a 22/32 Target with 2 barrels, a 4" and 6" both number to the gun. The 6" has a King front sight on it.
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07-09-2009, 07:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 29aholic
FWIW I have been trying to buy a 22/32 Target with 2 barrels, a 4" and 6" both number to the gun. The 6" has a King front sight on it.
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Now that catches my interest. If you are successful in the quest, would you be willing to share the serial number off list for my data base? Easiest just to use the PM or Email link that drops down from my name over there by my avatar.
I'm thinking about Tucson too. That's just a day's drive for me and the total demands of time and cost are probably manageable. I'm afraid Tulsa may be one of those events I will never be able to get to because of family obligations here.
DW
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David Wilson
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Tags
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bekeart, kit gun, military, model 29, patridge, prewar, recessed, round butt, subsonic, tulsa, walnut |
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