S&W post WW 2 .32 caliber revolvers

[Toyman]

I ran across this photo of post WW 2 .32 caliber revolvers.

[murphydog]

Someone must be a dedicated collector to have the two in the foreground and the single gun in the middle

[steelslaver]

I get that the front gun wearing targets is a rare K 32. Is the middle gun a target I frame? The fixed sight front gun a long action K frame?

Could some one with more knowledge ID these for the less educated?

[mikepriwer]

These two pictures are 4" K-32 targets. The top gun is about K68XXX, and the bottom
gun is around K3XXXXX or so.





This next picture is three .32 M&P's from about 1949 - 1950. They letter as .38 M&P's chambered in 32 long. The barrels are 2", 4", and 5".



Regards, Mike Priwer

[murphydog]

Originally Posted by steelslaver

I get that the front gun wearing targets is a rare K 32. Is the middle gun a target I frame? The fixed sight front gun a long action K frame?

Could some one with more knowledge ID these for the less educated?

The middle gun is a .32 Regulation Police Target. Member DCWilson is the local expert on these.

[THEMULE]

In regards to post # 4......
Mike shows what appears to be a 5 screw K32 Combat Masterpiece. Is this correct?
Coincidently, I just recieved a 5 screw 6" K32 Masterpiece yesterday with a letter. The letter states that few were produced, and they were discontinued before they were advertised.

IMG_2258.jpg

Does anybody know how many K32 Combat Masterpieces were produced and how many "escaped" out into the public?

Thank you,
Bob

[Hondo44]

Originally Posted by steelslaver

I get that the front gun wearing targets is a rare K 32. Is the middle gun a target I frame? The fixed sight front gun a long action K frame?

Could some one with more knowledge ID these for the less educated?

The top three are post war .32 I frames:

Top left is an "32 Hand Ejector" Improved I frame from before 1953.

Top right is a "Model of 1953 32 Hand Ejector" New I frame.

The middle is one of 196 "Transitional 32 Regulation Police Target" models built in 1957 from pre war frames. A real anachronism.

“.32 Reg. Police Target Post War Transitional” 'I' frame, 4" barrel (no patent dates), 6 screw w/leaf spring, non-Model #’d with small trigger guard, old style round top rebated sq butt stocks, and old style hammer (pre Improved 'I' frame). This model still has the smaller pre war frame window size and cylinder diameter of 1.267”, with post war non- chamfered flute corners.

Frame serial # stamped on front grip strap above the strain screw matching all other #'d parts including stocks, 9 locations in all, including rear sight and both front and rear sight blades. Rear sight has single elevation screw, no elevation check screw.

Pre war/early post war rebated rear grip strap with post war type 16 lpi checkering, round cornered border on round top stocks with curved nickel plated brass post war medallions. The pre war sights are obvious, supplied w/special modified post war blue all steel sight adjusting tool (SAT) to fit tiny sight screws. Pre war/early post war hammer with sliding bar hammer block safety, post war grooved trigger, and the 3rd type post war (and post 1966 after I frames became J frames) non-sculpted thumb piece, while all other I frames of the 1957 period have the third type flat latch.

Most features non-conforming to the non-target Pre Model 31 guns of the 1957 period! But it has the 3rd and last style straight ejector rod with left hand thread, no patent dates on barrel and has the 4 line address. A very convoluted transition model for sure. These 196 guns are on page 128, 3rd edition, Standard Catalog of S&W, Supica and Nahas, and pictured on pg. 127.

The tiny steel/nickeled pre war SAT shown was not issued with this model of course, but is correct for pre war guns.

[Toyman]

Hondo 44 has identified all the .32 shown above. I shot the K32 and the
.32 model 1953. Here is a photo of that gun with the box.



I had a 4 inch M&P in .32 and a 5 inch .32 with box. This is a photo of the 5 inch.

[mikepriwer]

First, as to the question about the production of the post-WW2 K-32's, I believe it was
about 3000 revolvers, all told.

To make the story complete, which involves the pre-WW2 K-32's, here are two 4" target revolvers that are the rarest of all of them.

In the later 1930's, the factory produced a small number of K-32's, in the .38 caliber serial number series. I think there is something less than 200 of these guns, maybe even less than 100. They are very very scarce. As far as nomenclature is concerned, these guns are .38's chambered in 32 long.

What is less well known is that, off and on, they made a very few K-32's in the 32-20 serial number series. They were chambered in 32 long, and as far as is known, none of them have caliber roll markings. Each group seems to be less than a dozen guns, and there are only 3 or 4 known groups of these. Perhaps these very small groups were the foundation for the later 1930's 100 to 200 production.

It is not known how many of these very early K-32's were target vs M&P. Example of both are known. Presumably the targets were the smaller production of the two variations.

The following pictures are two of the first-known group of 32-20's chambered in 32 long. As the pictures show, they are 4" blue target revolvers, from Sept 1910, and they are
nearly identical. They are sequentially serial-numbered. The factory letters indicate that they were probably made as a pair; one gun was billed at twice the regular price. They were shipped to two well-known St. Louis shooters, and they were shipped one day apart.

The first two pictures are of the right side of both guns.





This next picture is the left sides of both guns.



One of the more interesting attributes of early 4" target K-frames is that, from about 1903 through about 1916, the patent date roll markings appear on the right side of the barrel, instead of on the top. This is because the factory was using the earlier patent date roll marking die, that was intended for 4" barrels without a shoulder. In about 1903, the engineering change, that is called 1902 1st change, made the barrel and its receiver heavier, resulting in a shoulder on the barrel. The patent date roll marking would no longer fit between the rear of the front sight base, and the front end of the frame. So, they rolled the marking on the right side of the barrel.

This last picture shows the right sides of the two barrels, with their patent date roll markings. It also shows the only difference between the two guns. One has a Lyman gold bead front sight blade; the tip of the other Lyman bead sight is chipped, and I can't tell if it is gold, or ivory, as it is rather dirty.



Regards, Mike

[Toyman]

Mike: thanks for adding to the thread. I feel that the .32 and 455 models S&W made are the poor step sisters of the rest of the S&W line.