Dating Regulation Police

[BobJoe]

Need assistance dating a Regulation Police for my FFL and myself please. I know it's a '49-'50, but outside of a factory letter, is there any verifiable print way to date it ? He'd be content with a scanned copy from SCSW, long as it's verifiable.

Hand Ejector .32
Serial No. 5441xx
.32 S&W Long
Fixed
Strain Screw

 

[Truckman]

Page 182 of SCSW5 suggests it might have shipped between 1948 and 1956 when the serrated ramp front sight was introduced...A S&WHF letter is the only way to pin down an exact ship date... ...Ben

 

[Gun Relics]

Need assistance dating a Regulation Police for my FFL and myself please. I know it's a '49-'50, but outside of a factory letter, is there any verifiable print way to date it ? He'd be content with a scanned copy from SCSW, long as it's verifiable.

Hand Ejector .32
Serial No. 5441xx
.32 S&W Long
Fixed
Strain Screw

Does it have a one line "Made in USA" on the right side, or the four line version?

 

[Gun Relics]

Just for proof that it's a C & R, this is from the Standard catalog, 5th edition.

 

[BobJoe]

Does it have a one line "Made in USA" on the right side, or the four line version?

Four lines

 

[Gun Relics]

Four lines

So that means the earliest it could have been made around 1949. Ben gave a good date range.

 

[BobJoe]

So that means the earliest it could have been made around 1949. Ben gave a good date range.

Thank you

 

[Wiregrassguy]

.32 RP serial 546703 shipped August 1950.

 

[hdfinder47]

Just clicked on the thread to see who the Regulation Police were and why anyone would want to date one.
JK, of course - interesting info from knowledgable experts, as always.

 

[BobJoe]

May I inquire as to why Smith used a stepped grip frame w/ the RP, instead of the regular grip frame of the Terrier ?

 

[Truckman]

May I inquire as to why Smith used a stepped grip frame w/ the RP, instead of the regular grip frame of the Terrier ?

I'm guessing it was intended to add some thickness to the wood in the stocks where it would otherwise have been very thin and prone to breakage... ...Ben

 

[BobJoe]

I'm guessing it was intended to add some thickness to the wood in the stocks where it would otherwise have been very thin and prone to breakage... ...Ben

Thank you

 

[Hondo44]

May I inquire as to why Smith used a stepped grip frame w/ the RP, instead of the regular grip frame of the Terrier ?

The Regulation Police model was a marketing plan. The enlarged grip was a quick way to enlarge the grip to make it more appealing to police officers as a duty gun. The round butt is pretty puny (actually 1/8" shorter than it is after 1953) for someone with average or larger hands. It enabled S&W a quick and easy way to offer a square butt longer grip without having to create a new frame forging with a square butt grip frame. The rebated back strap facilitated additional wood to fill the hand at the lower back strap.

In the late 1950s smith offered the j frame target stocks that do a much better job without machining the back strap!
Labor was a heck of a lot cheaper in those days.

 

[Hondo44]

Need assistance dating a Regulation Police

In collector's terms you have a 32 RP post war I frame Transitional Model. It's definitely made before 1952 because that's when it was changed to the Improved I frame with a coil mainspring replacing the flat leaf mainspring.

 

[BobJoe]

In collector's terms you have a 32 RP post war I frame Transitional Model. It's definitely made before 1952 because that's when it was changed to the Improved I frame with a coil mainspring replacing the flat leaf mainspring.

Thank you. Any limitations on loads I need to know about other than "If I want a Magnum, buy a Magnum" ? Limit the Buffalo Bore wadcutters ?

 

[Muley Gil]

May I inquire as to why Smith used a stepped grip frame w/ the RP, instead of the regular grip frame of the Terrier ?

The RPs date from 1917. The Terrier square butt frame didn't appear until after WW II.