.22/32 Kit Gun, request for information

[wart-hog]

Hello, I was hoping for information on the shipping date for this Model 34 no dash Kit Gun, serial #43685.

The serial number listing in the SCSW 4th is a little cryptic to me. It shows 1959 starting with #52673, but it seems to indicate 11000 were made in 1955 so that would be starting at #41673. Or is 11000 the starting number? Named models weren't until 1957...

The revolver seems to be in its original configuration, with the exception of the grip(s) being #132974. Is the hammer, trigger and latch correct?

Is there a live database containing this particular model?

Thanks in advance for any/all information…

 

[toroflow1]

I'd guesstimate 1958. And all items are original on that rev. Nice piece!

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Model 34 serial 36975 shipped in March 1959.
Model 34 serial 40276 shipped in July 1959.
Model 34 serial 45373 shipped in June 1959.

 

[wart-hog]

I'd guesstimate 1958. And all items are original on that rev. Nice piece!

Thanks, I like Wiregrassguy’s 1959 assessment, that’s my birth year! But it could have been manufactured in 1958…

 

[wart-hog]

Unlike the Chiefs, were the cylinders unnumbered on the Kit Guns?

 

[JP@AK]

wart-hog

As you noted, ship dates and production dates don't line up perfectly.

Yes, 11000 is the approximate starting number for 1955, not the number of Kit Guns produced that year.

32230 is a .22/32 Kit Gun Model of 1953 (no model number) and it shipped in January 1958. Compare that to Guy's report that a Model 34 with serial number 36975 shipped in March 1959. Shipments were clearly uneven. It really takes a letter to get a definite fix on when a particular Kit Gun was shipped. I suspect yours was assembled in 1958, but no one knows for certain.

 

[smith17]

I have one from '54 that has a numbered cylinder.

 

[wart-hog]

I have one from '54 that has a numbered cylinder.

Interesting, I wonder if/when they dropped cylinder numbering… hopefully someone knows.

 

[JP@AK]

Officially the serial numbers on the cylinder and the barrel flat were terminated in 1957, when the soft-fitting process was eliminated. However, I have owned two K-target revolvers from 1956 that lacked the serial number in those locations.

 

[wart-hog]

Thank you for that information, now I feel better that the cylinder lacks a serial number..

 

[John Adams]

3 digit serial number. Of course not model marked. Perhaps 1953?

 

[zodraz]

Officially the serial numbers on the cylinder and the barrel flat were terminated in 1957, when the soft-fitting process was eliminated. However, I have owned two K-target revolvers from 1956 that lacked the serial number in those locations.

Soft fitting process?
What is that?

 

[JP@AK]

Soft fitting process?
What is that?

All the parts of each revolver were pre-fitted by hand and marked. Then the revolver was disassembled and sent to the finish shop. That was "soft fitting." When they returned to the fitter, the "hard" fitting was done for final assembly.

 

[model70man]

My 1963 Kit Gun has the serial number on the cylinder.

 

[Hondo44]

Unusual but not unheard of. Almost nothing and maybe absolutely nothing regarding changes took place on a specific change date. Change orders were issued on specific dates but when they took affect was an indeterminate length of time. Design changes, upgraded parts, etc., had everything to do with old parts left in inventory, the assembly stage of unfinished guns on the date of change order issuance and so on.

It’s common to see higher serial numbered guns without new features and shipped earlier or later than lower numbered guns with newer features.

There was little ability in the production process and therefore no effort to assemble or sell/ship guns in serial number order.