I was looking in a LGS today & found 3 S&W .32 1903 HEs. Two of them were nickle. One of these had non medallion wood stocks. The third one was a later flat latch model in blue (a pre model # gun?). All three are round butt.

Anyway, they were all sorta rough having been police seizures traded in by various agencies. Seeing basically three generations of this model made wonder as to the history of the model and the order in which they were produced.....

Gary, Hondo44, should be along, and he has the definitive information on the 32 Hand Ejectors.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

The 32 Hand Ejector, of Model 1903 started manufacture that same year. There were several changes through the years. The earliest was the "No Change" issued from 1903 - 1904, with 19,425 made. The 1st Change, from 1904 to 1906 up to 51,126, the 2nd Change from 1906 to 1909 to 95,500, the 3rd Change from 1909 to 1910, to 96,125, the 4th Change occurring only in 1910 to 102,500, and lastly the 5th Change from 1910 to 1917 to 263,000.

. . . BUT that was not really the last change in this confusing little revolver. The "experts than became tired of issuing change numbers, so they named the next 32 HE a 3rd Model which was manufactured from 1911 to 1942 up to 534,532. The only assumption I have with this overlap in changes/model serial numbers is that the experts originally thought there were 2 styles of revolvers made simultaneously from the years 1911 to 1917. This information comes out of the Neal/Jinks book on S&W, but has been observed to be incorrect by research on when the addition of the hammer block actually happened. If you are not totally confused, you can find even more details on the following Expert Commentary for the 38 Perfected. You will find some information that suggests the actual introduction of the Third Model did not happen until 1919. http://smith-wessonforum.com/blog.php?b=109

You open up another whole range of 32 HEs introduced after WWII, which include transition models, pre-models and eventually the Model 30. To make it almost impossible to understand, this revolver, originally issued as an I frame, became a J frame sometime after the war. Don't ask me why.

Did you give up reading yet?? Oh, there was also a 32 HE Model 1896, but I doubt that you saw one of those at the PD. I won't even get into all the styles of medallion and non-medallion stocks.

__________________
Gary
SWCA 2515

"To make it almost impossible to understand, this revolver, originally issued as an I frame, became a J frame sometime after the war. Don't ask me why."

That is easy to answer. S&W had introduced the J frame in 1950 for the .38 special chambered Chief's Special, the I frame being too short for the .38 special cartridge. S&W realized that they were building two small frames, one suitable for the .38 special and the other was chambered in .22 Long Rifle, .32 S&W Long and the old .38 S&W cartridge.

Since all of the shorted cartridges would also fit into the J frame, they dropped I frame production. That was a shame; the I frame revolvers are a little bit shorter and lighter and I think they are a bit more fun to shoot.

All too often, it all boils down to: MONEY.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Hard to tell what vintage .32s you're looking at, except if the non medallion walnut stocks are numbered to the gun and original, that one would be from between 1920 and 1929. The flat latch is a post war model and if not model stamped as late as 1958. If model stamped, it could be as late as 1966. I could pin them all down to the year with serial numbers.

Gary gave you a great rundown on the early evolution of the .32 Hand Ejector. Then from 1925 to after the war there was no change except those changes relative to all models: stock medallions and ejector rod knobs.

Post WW II, all models went thru a heavy period of evolution and the three I frames including the .32 Hand Ejector/ Regulation Police (square butt) were the most convoluted. Here's a representative sample of all of them in evolutionary order. By reading the descriptions, and focusing on the sight changes and trigger guard sizes, you may be able to identify what you saw:

.32 POST WAR HAND EJECTOR/REGULATION POLICE MODELS

LEFT SIDE:
.32 HE pre-war I frame Model 1903 (2nd Model)-5th Change, 3 ¼”, produced Oct. 16, 1913, top;

.32 Regulation Police Transitional Post war I Frame w/Rd sight, 3 ¼”, 6 screw, ‘double pinch’ thumb piece, rebated sq butt, c. 1949, next;

.32 HE Pure post war ‘early’ Improved I Frame w/coil spring, Rd sight, 2”, 5 screw, ‘single pinch’ thumb piece, rd butt, c. late 1951, bottom.

RIGHT SIDE:
.32 HE ‘late’ Improved I w/ramp sight & barrel rib, 3”, 5 screw, 2nd style flat latch, rd butt, shipped c. 1953, top right;

.32 R.P. sq butt, Model of 1953 New I frame, 3”, 4 screw, 2nd style flat latch, c. 1954, next;

.32 R.P. rebated sq butt, Target Transitional I, 4”, 6 screw, 4th (final type) thumb piece, one of 196 from 1957 only, next;

.32 R.P. sq butt, J frame Model 31-1, 3”, 3 screw, 1980, bottom.



Click here for full details or if you want to go to sleep: http://smith-wessonforum.com/blog.php?u=134353

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

Thanks for the great info !!

I actually have two of the 1896s. One from Jersey City NJ PD and the other from Newark NJ PD.

Are you able to tell now which models the three are?

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

Every time this subject (I- vs J-frames) comes up, I am somewhat saddened by the fact that with the "improvement" of the I-frame, the leaf-type mainspring was replaced with a coil-type. Although my friend and confidant David Wilson has mentioned that he thinks the leaf spring is less able to be tuned for a great trigger pull, I find the opposite to be true. I have never gotten completely past the "stacking" that comes with a coil spring. Gotta love me some old school I-frames!

Froggie