While doing one of my daily perusals of my favorite online auction site, I stumbled onto an auction with a very non-descript title and no thumbnail image; "SW Hand Ejector 32 SW Long" with an opening price of $800.00. Now, normally I wouldn't have clicked on this, as I would assume it to be pretty much what it says it is; an I frame .32 Hand Ejector and for the asking price it would have been far too much for one. But, for some reason I clicked on it and an early 1905 Target model appeared before my eyes. I first assumed the seller incorrectly ID'd it as a .32 Long rather than the fairly scarce 32-20; .32 Long would be quite rare. But even for a desirable 32-20 Target, the finish appeared to be on the poor side and the price seemed close given the condition, but I kept scrolling to the end of the modest 5 picture ad…….
And, like a slap to the face, there was the serial number, all four digits of it, with that beautiful ZERO prefix! I didn't know a person's brain could relay a message to an appendage as fast as it did. And just like that, the Buy It Now was hit and I had just purchased my first, and likely only, Club Gun. But, not just only a Club Gun but a rare caliber as well. See, once I had bought it, I asked the seller if he was sure the caliber was .32 Long. He replied and told me that the barrel had NO CALIBER rollmark, the barrel was indeed .32 caliber, and that only .32 Long would fully chamber in the cylinder. I thought to myself, this is sounding very interesting; I couldn't wait to order the letter (In fact, I sent the letter request to the SWHF out the same day I sent the funds for the revolver).
As I mentioned, the pictures in the ad left me feeling the gun was in less-than average condition; there was what appeared to be a large gash in the metal on the sideplate and quite a bit of blue wear. But, condition aside, I still knew it was a keeper.
Here are a few pictures from the ad;
When it arrived, I sped home on my lunch break to check it out. When, I finally got it out of the packaging, it almost didn't look like the same revolver! Most of the large gash (or what I thought was a gash) on the sideplate was gone; it turned out to just be a gob of dried gunk. So, the seller must have took the time to wipe some of the gunk off before sending it to me. After, a thorough cleaning, a very respectable condition revolver was found. It is also ALL numbers matching, INCLUDING the gold medallion service stocks (Now, please forgive me, I have not gotten all of the gunk – the same gunk that was on the gun – out of all the checkering on the stocks; I removed a LOT but not all thus far – tedious work!).
Notice, NO Smith & Wesson rollmark or caliber rollmark; only the patent info on top
At this point, I'll take a step back and fill you all in on a little bonus I was filled in on when I called the seller to make payment. He stated to me that this revolver came in to his shop with another gun and that they came with a homemade wooden case; and since I had purchased the first gun, he was sending the case with the .32 Target!!! It's truly a very neat homemade case. Inside it, were some cleaning patches, a screwdriver, a pair of vintage glasses (with the RH lens knocked out and the LH lens painted in black to only allow one eye to be used without having to actually close the other), and a score sheet from the Engineer Rifle and Pistol Club from 1941, and pencil-written in the top right hand corner, the name WOODWORTH. VERY COOL!!!! Also, you can see on the typed portion the full name, C. Woodworth.
Now, for the OTHER gun! When the seller told me about the case and the "other" gun I naturally was very interested. He had it listed separately on the auction site and I took a look at it after I hung up the phone. It is a 3rd Model Perfected Single Shot .22 with Olympic Chamber. Being in rather poor condition, I still thought it needed to come reside with the .32; even though they weren't from the same era, they were linked together by the case, and that was reason enough for me. So, I took receipt of the .22 a week or so after the .32. When, I unpacked it, I found it was in perfect condition functionally, but the finish had lots of areas where the blue was gone but the surface was smooth and free from pitting; something must have gotten on it that did not agree with the blue! I also discovered that the butt of the extension target stocks had an inscription; K.B.W. – potentially K. B. Woodworth???
And here they are, back together in their case…….Now, we wait for the factory letter.
A few weeks have passed and at last, the letter has arrived! Reading it was like music to my ears
I believe the record could either indicate Al OR A. L. Woodworth, but I could find no definitive history on either via the internet, besides the following entries;
- WOODWORTH, ALBERT was born 18 December 1903, received Social Security number 023-10-9244 (indicating Massachusetts) and, Death Master File says, died June 1985
- WOODWORTH, ALVIN was born 26 February 1901, received Social Security number 020-22-6062 (indicating Massachusetts) and, Death Master File says, died January 1975
Mr. Al (or A.L.) Woodworth must have been either a prominent shooter of the period, or had some serious pull at S&W to receive such a gun. I also gather from the "puzzle pieces" laid out in front of me, that the .32 had a lengthy stay in the Woodworth family – Al (or A.L.) Woodworth, C. Woodworth, and what we can assume is K. B. Woodworth.
After receiving the .32, I reached out to Mike Priwer and he provided me with some information on the production of early (pre –war) K Frame revolvers in .32 Long, AND a list of special revolvers (either in chambering, Zero Prefix, or both) that he has had for over 20 years;
And, like a slap to the face, there was the serial number, all four digits of it, with that beautiful ZERO prefix! I didn't know a person's brain could relay a message to an appendage as fast as it did. And just like that, the Buy It Now was hit and I had just purchased my first, and likely only, Club Gun. But, not just only a Club Gun but a rare caliber as well. See, once I had bought it, I asked the seller if he was sure the caliber was .32 Long. He replied and told me that the barrel had NO CALIBER rollmark, the barrel was indeed .32 caliber, and that only .32 Long would fully chamber in the cylinder. I thought to myself, this is sounding very interesting; I couldn't wait to order the letter (In fact, I sent the letter request to the SWHF out the same day I sent the funds for the revolver).
As I mentioned, the pictures in the ad left me feeling the gun was in less-than average condition; there was what appeared to be a large gash in the metal on the sideplate and quite a bit of blue wear. But, condition aside, I still knew it was a keeper.
Here are a few pictures from the ad;
When it arrived, I sped home on my lunch break to check it out. When, I finally got it out of the packaging, it almost didn't look like the same revolver! Most of the large gash (or what I thought was a gash) on the sideplate was gone; it turned out to just be a gob of dried gunk. So, the seller must have took the time to wipe some of the gunk off before sending it to me. After, a thorough cleaning, a very respectable condition revolver was found. It is also ALL numbers matching, INCLUDING the gold medallion service stocks (Now, please forgive me, I have not gotten all of the gunk – the same gunk that was on the gun – out of all the checkering on the stocks; I removed a LOT but not all thus far – tedious work!).
Notice, NO Smith & Wesson rollmark or caliber rollmark; only the patent info on top
At this point, I'll take a step back and fill you all in on a little bonus I was filled in on when I called the seller to make payment. He stated to me that this revolver came in to his shop with another gun and that they came with a homemade wooden case; and since I had purchased the first gun, he was sending the case with the .32 Target!!! It's truly a very neat homemade case. Inside it, were some cleaning patches, a screwdriver, a pair of vintage glasses (with the RH lens knocked out and the LH lens painted in black to only allow one eye to be used without having to actually close the other), and a score sheet from the Engineer Rifle and Pistol Club from 1941, and pencil-written in the top right hand corner, the name WOODWORTH. VERY COOL!!!! Also, you can see on the typed portion the full name, C. Woodworth.
Now, for the OTHER gun! When the seller told me about the case and the "other" gun I naturally was very interested. He had it listed separately on the auction site and I took a look at it after I hung up the phone. It is a 3rd Model Perfected Single Shot .22 with Olympic Chamber. Being in rather poor condition, I still thought it needed to come reside with the .32; even though they weren't from the same era, they were linked together by the case, and that was reason enough for me. So, I took receipt of the .22 a week or so after the .32. When, I unpacked it, I found it was in perfect condition functionally, but the finish had lots of areas where the blue was gone but the surface was smooth and free from pitting; something must have gotten on it that did not agree with the blue! I also discovered that the butt of the extension target stocks had an inscription; K.B.W. – potentially K. B. Woodworth???
And here they are, back together in their case…….Now, we wait for the factory letter.
A few weeks have passed and at last, the letter has arrived! Reading it was like music to my ears
I believe the record could either indicate Al OR A. L. Woodworth, but I could find no definitive history on either via the internet, besides the following entries;
- WOODWORTH, ALBERT was born 18 December 1903, received Social Security number 023-10-9244 (indicating Massachusetts) and, Death Master File says, died June 1985
- WOODWORTH, ALVIN was born 26 February 1901, received Social Security number 020-22-6062 (indicating Massachusetts) and, Death Master File says, died January 1975
Mr. Al (or A.L.) Woodworth must have been either a prominent shooter of the period, or had some serious pull at S&W to receive such a gun. I also gather from the "puzzle pieces" laid out in front of me, that the .32 had a lengthy stay in the Woodworth family – Al (or A.L.) Woodworth, C. Woodworth, and what we can assume is K. B. Woodworth.
After receiving the .32, I reached out to Mike Priwer and he provided me with some information on the production of early (pre –war) K Frame revolvers in .32 Long, AND a list of special revolvers (either in chambering, Zero Prefix, or both) that he has had for over 20 years;
I'm done!
