S&W has always been influenced by special interests. The whole idea
of the 22/32 was Phil Bekeart in San Francisco. Wolf & Klar, in Ft
Worth, was behind either 2nd or 3rd model 44. Ed McGivern was
behind the gold bead front sight blade. King was way ahead of S&W
with sights and barrel ribs. Bill Jordan was the pusher for the .357
K-frame, and Elmer Keith( and others) behind the .44 magnum.

Target shooters, collectively, all wanted the same loaded weight gun
across .22's, .32's, and .38's . After WW2, and the redesign of the
K-frame line, they eventually got exactly what they wanted- in 6"
barrels.

The factory was not necessarily the most innovative, but it certainly
was responsive !

In the K-frame line, the factory had been producing a 32 caliber model,
in 32-20, from 1899 to about 1940. Towards the end, its popularity
approached zero ! Still in all, they did produce the .32 long model
after WW2, but sales were never all that great. I think something
like 5000 to 7000 units were produced, and it was eventually dropped.
It did come back, for a bit, in 32 magnum, but that full-lug barrel
made it very heavy .

It would appear that there was never any intention of making a 4" K-32,
as a production model. All the ones that I am aware of are special
orders.

Regards, Mike Priwer