1926 .32 long HE - Question

[HudsonM1]

About a year ago I inherited my grandad's .32 long HE (that seems to be a theme with these revolvers). I paid the $30 to have the S&W historian reseach it, and it was manufactured on December 6, 1926. The pistol is in excellent condition. A period box of ammo I got with it is only missing a few cartriges, so the gun was probably never fired more than a few times.

My question is this: Will I devalue the gun buy shooting it? After I got it, I cleaned it well, then ran about 50 rounds through it (more use that it had seen in 86 years). I cleaned it again and shelved it. It's a fun gun to shoot and would like to take it to the range more, but don't want to diminish its condition or value.

Any thoughts?

Here are a few pics.

Thanks.

 

[HudsonM1]

About a year ago I inherited my grandad's .32 long HE (that seems to be a theme with these revolvers). I paid the $30 to have the S&W historian reseach it, and it was manufactured on December 6, 1926. The pistol is in excellent condition. A period box of ammo I got with it is only missing a few cartriges, so the gun was probably never fired more than a few times.

My question is this: Will I devalue the gun buy shooting it? After I got it, I cleaned it well, then ran about 50 rounds through it (more use that it had seen in 86 years). I cleaned it again and shelved it. It's a fun gun to shoot and would like to take it to the range more, but don't want to diminish its condition or value.

Any thoughts?

Here are a few pics.

Thanks.

 

[cgt4570]

As long as it's been shot before, you aren't going to hurt it one bit by enjoying it for what it was meant for. Modern factory .32 Long ammo is very light and you can reload to the same specs. Sounds like you understand the key to keeping them nice is proper cleaning and lubrication. I shoot all my oldies. The new ones just don't have the same feel.
Chris

 

[stumper]

Shooting it won't hurt the value further as long as you can do it while keeping it's condition the same.

 

[Muddyboot]

Shoot it and enjoy it. It's a great way to stay connected to memory of your grandad.

 

[handejector]

Neat old gun. I believe that is actually a model called the "32 Regulation Police".

 

[opoefc]

The consensus is: Shoot it & Enjoy! I agree. You won't hurt the value. BTW, That date in the factory letter is not the date it was made but the date it was shipped to a distributor. When it was made and placed in inventory for a future order would require a research of the Floor Foreman's day book as to when that serial number was completed, inspected, and placed in the Vault for sale. Some of those day books are in the Conn. Valley Historical Museum's S&W archives, but many are not, being lost or in the collections of various people.

 

[HudsonM1]

Ah. Now that I look back at my letter from S&W, I see that the date is indeed the ship date. It went to a hardware store in West VA.

Thanks all for the responses. I'm looking forward to getting back on the line with it in front of some targets!

 

[Chef]

Nice piece! I'm still looking for a barrel for one of its brothers. I have a 38 Regulation Police in .38 S&W that was badly stored and needs a barrel. I hope to one day come across one! ~Chef

 

[gig-a-hertz]

That would go nicely with this one....