I'm on a bit of a roll lately, three N Frames in two months! Today I started a transfer on this 1955 Target, S1661XX:





The gun is in very nice shape overall. Lockup and timing are excellent. But the barrell is a bit of a head-scratcher. There are a few dings around the pin, the screw in the top strap behind the pin has been turned, and the barrel is a brighter blue than the frame. So I am assuming it is not original. However given that the later model sight has been pinned in place, I'm guessing it is still an early barrel? What impact does this have on the value? I'll be in the gun for about $800 and it's going to be a shooter so I'm not worried (there is no such thing as waiting for a nicer one here in California,) but I am curious.

The stocks are interesting too, later model target stocks that have been carved on?

Saw that and was sorely tempted to buy it, but was hesitant because of the tales of oversize throats on them. Did you by any chance check the throat diameters of it?

I didn't because I was thinking that issue was isolated to the 25-5's. Crossing my fingers...

I saw that too, it has the lazy ampersand on the barrel so can't be too new. Did you check to see if has the W mainspring. I have one that dates to 1958 and it is probably my favorite most accurate shooter. It shoots FMJ's good as well as lead RN or SWC

Wanted to check for the W mainspring but forgot to bring a screwdriver and the shop didn't have one handy. I guess it will be a bit of a surprise!

That gun should have the ser.. # of the gun in the ejector rod shroud. One way to tell if it is a replacement. They are excellent shooters. I have one in the S161xxx range.

I did not think of that, and as I recall the number in the shroud matched the # on the cylinder. I did tell them that the only reliable serial was on the butt (they originally put the # from the crane cutout on the paperwork) and asked for a screwdriver, but instead the employee took it into the back, removed/replaced the grip (boogered the screw in the process...) and then came back and wrote down the serial I remember from the shroud/cylinder on the paperwork. So I guess that means all three match, I just didn't see it myself.

Doesn't sound like you were dealing with the brightest or the best. You will love the gun. They can be scary accurate. They make grou[ps of one ragged hole at 25 yards. One of my favorites for enjoying the quality of Smith & Wessons.
Enjoy.
Bob

Agreed... Looking forward to the gun though!

Picked this up today. The barrel is numbered to the frame/cylinder. Throats seem to mic. to spec though I have not 'slugged' them. I hope to have a range report and pictures soon.

Nice sixgun.

The vast majority of these came with a Patridge front sight blade, so the most likely answer is that the barrel is original but the front sight was replaced.

Hello drewjh
Responder and forum member Buff may be onto something here, as The Patridge sight blade was the Norm for these Target guns in this model any way. It may be that your gun was sent back to the factory to have the Baughman Red Ramp front sight blade installed or it may have come with it, as back in the time span that these were made S&W would do many things to complete a customer ordered gun sale including special sight requests, but the only sure way to know is to get a factory letter on it which will tell you how it left the factory when it was shipped new. We have to remember that these guns were used Heavily back then for target work due to their larger caliber size it was easy to have a Bullet hole hit anywhere in the Ten ring area even if the shooter may have been a little off with his form that day, the diameter of the bullet made up for his short comings in accuracy potential and the mild recoil that these produced while shooting competition target made them very desirable. This Model being used often meant that some were sent back for action rebuilding, rebluing, barrel changes due to possible hand load squib issues or different length preferences depending on the owner of them, as well as sight modifications. It was far more economical back then to have an existing gun modified by the factory than it was to replace the complete gun and very few shooter's of them back then cared about their collectible status, as they were shooters that used these gun's & used them often.

That said, I came across this Model of 1955 .45 Target revolver shown recently. I knew from the start that the barrel did not look quit right as they all came back then with a 6-1/2" Barrel length and this one looked to be shorter than that. It's sight blade Pin's looked to be Unmolested and Original in nature and the crown of the barrel Looked far too good to have been shortened in the re-crowning process of the barrel length, so It really wasn't a deep concern to me as I was looking for a Target shooting gun and the price of this one was very low compared to what I had been seeing ones in similar shape going for lately, so I brought it home. I later Learned from it's S-Prefix serial number, that it shipped in April of 1959 which to me is Late for a Five screw version of this gun, and still being unsure of it's shorter Odd Looking actual 5-7/8" Barrel length I asked Bill Cross by E-mailing him, asking what he thought of the barrel stamps on the gun, and if they would have been correct for a gun that shipped in 1959 time span and was told by him that it did have the correct barrel stampings for that time period, after I sent him close up Pictures on the barrel of the " .45 Cal. Model of 1955" stamp and the Smith & Wesson stamping but I told him how it lacked a serial number stamping in the extractor shroud & I am still not certain when they stopped stamping the guns serial number in the extractor shroud location, or if perhaps this one may have been missed when it was assembled so at this Point it may or may not be the correct barrel on this gun as this remains to be a mystery. I will have it lettered eventually which will tell me if this barrel length is correct or not but for now it is doing Exactly what I bought it do, and that is shooting Targets and shooting them very well as I suspect yours will do when you get it on target...Congratulations on your find, I know in my area these Model of 1955 .45 Target revolver's do not Pop up often for sale as those that have them Know they shoot very well, and are not letting go of them. Regards, Hammerdown

Based on your description, I would say the original front sight blade and ramp were replaced with a red ramp on a ramp base. Since the barrel is numbered to the revolver, it is most likely original.

Bill

Hammerdown, nice gun and inmteresting that the front patridge blade looks larger than I remember. Too lazy to dig mine out for comparison. What do others thinkor is it the angle? They dlo make little tiny groups for the size of the bullet they shoot.
Enjoy
Bob

Hello Bob
Thanks for the Kind words I appreciate them. I don't know about the Height of Other .45's but having older Pre-27's their patridge front sight blade is Tall Looking as well. This one is about a Quarter of the way up from the bottom with the rear sight adjustment so it is perfect for 200 Grain Bullets for me...I would say it is Original as it does not look to have been replaced as the front sight Pin's are domed and have no marks on them or around them that would say other wise...Hammerdown

Since Hammerdown posted a picture of his non-standard barreled '55 I hope it's OK to show you all this one. I've owned a couple 25-2s but really prefer the 5-screws. This one was shipped in Feb '56 with a 6.5" barrel. It has enough finish problems to take it out of the collector class and make it a shooter. I decided it was a likely candidate for cutting down to a length S&W should have offered back then, 5". My gunsmith did the ramp and blade the way the original was done by pinning them. He also replaced the target trigger with a narrow one for DA shooting.



I also have a 5" 625-2 but prefer shooting this 1955. Since the picture was taken I had the front sight changed to a ramp as the Patridge sight was digging into every holster I tried it in. It also now wears an old set of hand checkered Harritt's shooting stars.

Dave

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Here is unusual 1955 target that I picked up 4-5 years ago. It appears to have a factory ramp front sight and it came with cokes so no complaints there.

It was fairly common to see patridge blades on 27s and 1955s modified by owners like that. The sight is probably original but the shape of the blade probably is not. Nice to get a set of cokes with the gun though!

I'm confused - not that hard to do ....

If the front sight blade was replaced there should be evidence of the single pin being pushed out and replaced. They're very, very difficult to get back in perfectly, there's nearly always a slight telltale sign - a slight visible outline of the pin on one or both sides.

That there are two pins holding in the base and blade makes me think - well, don't know what to make of it. I didn't think on this gun that the whole base was removable.

I'm lost.

the front of it is grooved like a factory sight normally is and there is no sign of it being installed after the barrel was blued so I think it was original

dsf...Until the mid-60s or so, the ramp base was secured to the barrel with two pins. You will note on the 1955 Target the pins securing the base to the barrel appear to have been removed and replaced.

Bill

Dave, kinda hard to get a good sight picture with all that leather fuzz hanging onto the sight ain't it brother. Then to have to clean it off in front of everybody doesn't exactly make you look like you know what you're doing. Don't ask me how I know this.

HAMMERDOWN: What really got my attention on that patridge blade was that it looked like it extended back from the front of the base farther than what you normally see. The height looks OK. Probably just the angle of the pic. Nice gun and that target of yours is making me hit the reloading bench and put together some AR loads for mine with a 200 gr. swc and some BE.Watching that baby make little itty bitty groups is better than looking at Hallie Barry in her catwoman outfit. LOL

Got it, thanks. I didn't think they went that late.

Thanks to Hammerdown and everyone else for the great replies and info. Here are some pics:









And a range report:

5 Screw 1955 Target, Pictures and range report

Hello 50 Target & Other's with these 1955 .45 Target revolver's

I worked up the load shown with Accurate Arm's Powder being #5 Powder. I tried 8.9 Grains of it and the group was decent but I felt it was a Tad Bit warm for constant steady target use. I then dropped to 8.0 Grains below the recommended starting point and got the Six shot group shown at the 20 Yard line using a Pistol rest. The Load was assembled with using Rainier 200 Grain Semi Wad cutter style bullets and a Federal large standard pistol primer applying a medium crimp. It is a very clean load and in using The Accurate Arm's #5 Powder it meters super nice. The spent primers were not at all Flat at 8.0 grains but did show to be some what flat using 8.9 Grains which is still in the Middle of the suggested load range. I hope this helps it worked well for me, and here is what the Accurate Arms Loading web site suggests for this powder...

.45 ACP Accurate Arms Load suggestions

Powder Bullet Start Vel. Max. Vel. Pres. P.S.I. C.O.L.

No.5 185 HDY XTP 9.2 - 970 10.2 - 1,102 1 9,900 1.210
No.5 200 SIE FPJ 8.7 - 924 9.7 - 1,050 20,600 1.225
No.5 230 NOS FMJ 7.8 - 816 8.7 - 927 19,300 1.250

Drew, that is sweet. I saw your target group and I told you those things would shoot. I don't really have an opinion about the barrel blue, but the pins in the front sight don't look factory done. In any case, you done good. Are those grips a pair of the classics series ?

HAMMERDOWN: WOW, that is a nice target. Will have to try that recipe and see how mine likes that diet. I am still puzzled by that front sight patrige blade on the ramp. It looks like it is larger than what I've seen on others. I will have to check my baby and see what it looks like. Nice guns everyone.

My favorite 1955 Target. Built from a 1950 Target for Remington Arms with a 4-inch barrel and ramp front sight.

Bill

^^Pretty! Renwax?

Thanks 50 Target. I agree on the pins. They don't look terrible but definitely don't look factory. The grips are Eagle "Heritage".

Hammerdown, I'm going to order a 200g SWC mold tonight, so I might just try your recipe soon.

Dang Bill, you must have some elves in a workshop in the basement that do nothing but turn out these unusual and rare beauties Send me their website I wanna put in a few orders. Nice Nice Nice
Bob

Hello drewjh
I noticed that the rear sight is about a third of the way up from the Most bottom setting using the 200 Grain Weight Semi Wad cutter style Rainier bullets. This setting was used and shot at a Six O-clock hold at the 20 Yard line and allows you Plenty of adjusment elevation wise for longer yard distances making me think these guns like and react well to bullets of this weight and form. Let us know how yours groups with this recipe and where you end up with your rear sight adjustment height as our front sights differ in profile and height, it would be interesting to know if there are any differences with two different sight blades while shooting this 200 Grain weight of bullet...