K-32 5 Screw with 8 Inch Barrel

merlindrb

merlindrb

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Pics below are of an 8 3/8th inch K-32 I purchased about 5 years ago.

The 1st group shows the gun in original, poor condition needing tender loving care.

I sent it off to a restoration expert and, 4 years and 3 months later, this is what came back - see 2nd group of pics below.

The gun was puchased in 1951 for the retiring NRA General Secretary Frank Wyman. It was engraved with his name at S&W. After presention he returned it to the factory to have an 8 3/8" barrel fitted.

The grips are original and letter to the gun, which must make them one of the earliest sets of targets I have ever come across.

I hope you enjoy it. I've added a new album with more pics of the gun for those interested.

Dave

K-328InchBefore6.jpg

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K-328InchBefore1.jpg


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Dave,

What can one say? An intriguing gun has been made beautiful as well. Thanks for posting the pictures.

What do we know about Frank Wyman? Was he a target shooter? Varmint shooter? He wanted that long tube for a reason, and from the "before" pictures it seems as though the gun got some use before it went into the box and came to your hands.

Can you tell us what shop did the restoration? It looks like they handled the damaged surfaces as lightly as they could before giving it the new blue.

I'm trying to recall: was the 8 3/8-in barrel a standard option on any K-frame in the late '40s/early '50s? Or did the factory have to make this one up as a special item?
 
David

I believe Wyman was a target shooter. Rather well known in his time.

To my knowledge S&W did not offer a standard K Frame 8 3/8" tube in the early 50's but... From what we know of Reg Mags the barrel stock S&W used came in 10 inch lengths, ideal for producing 9 inch barrels or similar. Like everything else at S&W, if you asked (and paid for it) you could have almost anything.

I guess the 8 3/8" was still the longest barrel that qualified for the USRA matches, as it was pre-war. Or maybe Wyman just got used to using that length pre-war. Or maybe he just wanted a "one-off"?

The restorer was Paul Lippold at RGS in Wisconsin. The work is extraordinary, like nothing I've ever seen. I'm not certain about the 4 1/4 years time lag though...
 
merlindrb said:
David
The restorer was Paul Lippold at RGS in Wisconsin. The work is extraordinary, like nothing I've ever seen. I'm not certain about the 4 1/4 years time lag though...
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that 4 1/4 years. How many times did you think they had lost or sold your gun? How many times did you call to check on it? It does look incredible. Congrats on one fine S&W.
 
Found the following on Google.

The Frank L. Wyman Memorial Trophy was presented to the NRA in 1982 by Mrs. Wyman in memorial of her husband. Frank Wyman, a well known pistol competitor, was Secretary of the National Rifle Association for many years and also served at Director of the Program Division until his retirement in 1966.
 
That IS nice looking work, but I would never have the patience to put up with the 4+ years. That's crazy.

I'm glad you restored it. I have heard the old saw a thousand times about how it now "has 0% original finish" and all that. That may be, but now it is a pleasure to look at, whereas before... not so much so. :) Great gun, and very unusual.
 
M29since14 said:
That IS nice looking work, but I would never have the patience to put up with the 4+ years. That's crazy.

I'm glad you restored it. I have heard the old saw a thousand times about how it now "has 0% original finish" and all that. That may be, but now it is a pleasure to look at, whereas before... not so much so. :) Great gun, and very unusual.
Click to expand...

I am of the same vein too. I can see leaving the gun alone if it has some historical value and/or significance, but in this case I see no reason why the restoration should not have been done. Of course a 4 and 1/2 year wait would not work for me, as I am already close to 66 years old. I would have a good chance of not seeing the final results. :)
 
4 years and 3 months!! :eek: I sent a gun off to Mr. Chicoine earlier this year and it's due back around Christmas time or so and I thought I have it bad. Of course, mine is just getting nickle stripped and blue put back on. It's not a full out restoration. The job done on your gun looks amazing. maybe one day I will come into a gun worthy of a full restoration. Thanks for sharing.

Bill
 
Fantastic looking restoration that is very well executed. The wait would have killed me to of course but me being almost 66 I would have probably forgot I sent it to him.
 
Very nice, turned out excellently.

Glad you survived the wait!!!!
 
About time

Dave, glad all turned out well. Having a great deal of guilt for pointing you in his direction I now feel much better. You have no idea how much I agonized over this.
You have to bring it to Tucson so I can fondle it.:)
Paul
 
No problem Paul, I just have to find a shoulder holster to carry it in... :-)

The 4 1/4 years did upset me, just a little bit. I did ring him often and did begin to wonder if the gun had been lost or sold. However, it all came out well in the end.

I'm not a believer in refinishing or restoring guns generally. However, I've had 4 guns "restored" over the years including this one. Paul Lippold at RGS still has another one of the four, a Reg Mag that went to Western Ammunition "gratis" for development purposes. I believe it to be the gun that they used for testing during developement of small primer magnum ammo. The gun had been chromed at some point so I felt it needed to be "fixed". I'll post pics when it returns.

The other 2 guns were a 4 1/4" Reg Mag that had been very badly refinished at some time, and then badly nickeled - just to add insult to injury you understand. Given the rare barrel length I felt it needed to be saved, so it went off to the Dave Chicoines, who did an excellent job on it. I posted pics on here when it came back.

The final gun was a K-32 that had been left in a safe in a flood. The water that flooded the safe had a significant amount of fertilizer in it from local fields. The gun stayed in the safe for several months after the flood and lay in the water that had accumulated in it's box. When finally rescued it had completely lost all the blueing from the right side of the gun. In all other respects it was like new. One of the guys standing around when I bought it (it was an S&WCA annual meeting) suggested getting it nickeled by the factory. So I sent it off to S&W and they did a great job, as the pic shows, and for a very reasonable price. The grips were rotted, of course, so I tried it with various pairs until deciding on the presentation magna's. See what you think - I'll post a couple of pics of the other grips as well.

I hope you enjoy.

Dave

This is what it looks like today -
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