.32 S&W Long Police Revolvers

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SmithSwede

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Lately I have become fascinated by the smaller frame .32 revolvers by S&W and Colt. I know they were originally marketed as law enforcement arms. Anyone have good stories about the .32 S&W Long as a service caliber, or interesting photos of old .32 cop guns?

What departments issued them? Were they more popular in certain regions compared to others?
 
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I’ve really gotten into .32 recently when I traded for a 1953 Cobra. This one didn’t appear to have been fired so no stories around it. I’ve been looking for a longer barrel Colt or Smith and have been searching the shows but most of what I’ve found have been seriously abused and over priced so I’ve passed on them but my search continues.

Today at the gun show I happened on a 99% Smith 30-1 at an excellent price and grabbed it. It’s another snubbie but I have a weakness for them. I’m sure this one doesn’t have any exciting stories since it hadn’t been fired much.

My search continues.
 

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Here's my sole surviving, all original .32 RP which has eluded the grasp of the drooling masses when I display it under glass at selected shows...:rolleyes:...Ben

EDIT: Shipped 3/1931...

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I had a new, in the white 2" K frame .32 cal barrel that supposedly was an overrun from NYPD female officer guns early post-war. It's non-ribbed, with half moon front sight. It now resides on a custom .32-20 round butt snubby (that's buried in the safes somewhere), just because I could.
 
The only story I have about the .32 S&W Long Police Revolvers is that we had an old time gunsmith here where I live. He is long since deceased, and he was old in the 60s when I started shooting.

Nice old man, and his shop was the kind of place many of us remember - mostly poorly lit except the work bench, guns in disassembled state with the parts for each in its own assigned cigar box, the place smelled of Hoppe's No. 9, he always had the latest Gil Hebard book around, and he had a huge stump in the back and he would target 22s from the front of the shop to the back! Naturally, shooting was illegal inside the city limits, but he didn't care.

In any event, some dopers decided the old man would be a good target for a robbery. Maybe some cash, definitely some guns (the idiots didn't seem to think that the repaired ones would have been mostly picked up by the owners and the ones there to steal would have been mostly not in working order), so when they entered his shop and announced their intent to rob him, the old man pulled his S&W .32 Long revolver from the pocket of his work pants and told the aforementioned idiots to wait for the police.

One of these brain dead dopers grabbed the revolver from the old man, pointed it at the old man, and again demanded the cash and guns. The old man pulled a twin to the first revolver out of his other pants pocket and shot them both dead!

No charges. No loss of cash or guns. Favorable article in the local newspaper (remember when reporters had brains?). All in all not my choice of caliber, but it worked.
 
I picked this one up at a LGS last weekend. No box but it’s a solid 98%. I was looking for a 3” or longer but I’m a pushover for snub nose and the price was ok so I couldn’t resist. Don’t know the age but the SN is 8162XX (no prefix) and the stocks are numbered to the gun.

Now to continue the search for a really nice longer barrel Smith or Colt.
 

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A 1952 Hand Ejector, a 1938 Pocket Positive and a Police Positive from 1923 hang out here. Iver Johnson built a 6 shot 32 S&W long on their "large frame" that was more commonly seen as a 5 shot .38 S&W. The hammerless model is from 1929 while the other dates to 1911.

The Smith is a little late, but the others cover the era when .32 S&W long was considered adequate for police work.
 

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A coworker just picked up a 3-1/4 " with black grips and we dated it in the late 1930's. No box or paperwork but clearly it was bought, put in a drawer where it remained until it was sold. No turn lines or a mark on it anywhere. The gun looks unfired. $590.
 
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I recall being in the NYPD Museum years ago, recall a photo which said initially officers carried .32s, by 1896 it was found the 32s lacked stopping power, officers were instructed to carry 38s-the type of 38 was not specified.
 
gnystrom said:
A coworker just picked up a 3-1/4 " with black grips and we dated it in the late 1930's. No box or paperwork but clearly it was bought, put in a drawer where it remained until it was sold. No turn lines or a mark on it anywhere. The gun looks unfired. $590.
Click to expand...

Not unusual. It was likely just passed on from family member to family member until it got to one who prefer cash.
 
Truckman said:
Here's my sole surviving, all original .32 RP which has eluded the grasp of the drooling masses when I display it under glass at selected shows...:rolleyes:...Ben

I hope I didn't drool too much during out transaction....Wayne

I like the I-frame .32s, and the .38 S&W ones. All the little buggers!
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