1st Model .32 Hand Ejector or Model 1896
The Model of 1896 .32 Hand Ejector is the very first Hand Ejector produced by S&W. You'll notice they have no cartridge marking.
In 1896 the gun and the .32 S&W Long cartridge were both introduced at the same time.
These were produced and shipped way out of serial # order over a period of 8 years.
A lot of lower numbered guns shipped much later.
The Model 1896 has some unique features:
1) This was the very first revolver made by S&W with a cyl detent, a cyl hold open device. If you remove the yoke the cyl detent pin and spring are usually gonna' launch across the room no-man-knows-where! Put the gun in a Ziploc bag until it pops out.
2) The mechanism on the rear end of the yoke shaft is to lock out the trigger and the action when the cyl is swung open or not completely closed properly. It was replaced with the next model, the Model of 1903. The new rear cyl locking bolt operated by the cyl release thumbpiece latch took over the "lock out" feature by blocking the hammer with cyl open, which is still in use to this day.
Two features that vary are the length of the hammer spur and # of side plate screws: there are long and short hammer spurs and 3 or 4 side plate screws.
Standard barrel lengths were 3 1/4", 4 1/4", and 6".
There are also target models which are rare.
Also, 1st Models are all antiques. All frames were manufactured and serial numbered before 1899.
Enjoy and don't be afraid to shoot it with any standard velocity off the shelf ammo. Ammo won't be found everywhere but it's still produced. You'll love it's accuracy.
32 HISTORY
The .32 Hand Ejector and its cartridge, the 32 S&W Long are both historical. The .32 HE is the first side swing out cylinder produced by S&W, built on the first I size frame, and introduced as the 1896 Model (1st Model) along with its new cartridge. Production of this model extended to serial # 19,712.
It went thru several evolutionary changes until it became the 32 HE 3rd Model in 1917 and is also when a sq butt version was introduced as the 32 Regulation Police beginning at ~ #258000 in the same serial range as the 32 HE, with a most common barrel length of 4 1/4".
Target models with adjustable sights were available with 6" barrels as well as very rare 4 1/4" barrels, and with 2 screw extended target stocks.
The 3rd Model had a hammer safety block added around 1919 used thru WW II.
By 1920 the cyls received a heat treatment for additional strength as did all S&W revolvers.
Both were reintroduced after WW II as the 32 Hand Ejector (rd butt) and 32 Regulation Police Sq butt) on the Post War Transitional I frame in near identical form to the Pre war model, except for the change to the much more fool proof post war sliding bar safety. They went thru more evolution in the 1950s, as the Improved I frame, 1st and 2nd variations, and Model of 1953 “new” I frame. Then in 1957 became the Model 30 w/round butt and the Model 31 w/square butt, and finally in 1961 were upgraded to the slightly longer J size frame with added -1 to the model #s.
Eventually both versions were combined as just the Model 31-1 in 1976, until discontinued in 1991. Various iterations were later introduced using the 32 H&R Mag and/or the 327 Fed Mag, both of which still use the 32 Long as well.
Any currently available 32 Long ammo in standard loadings is perfectly safe to shoot in your 32.
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Jim
S&WCA #819
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