32/20 Hand Ejector

[brskeoch]

Have a customer interested in manufacture date of a 32/20 Hand Ejector. Sorry no photos. Serial number is 13277X. Thank You, Brian.

 

[robertrwalsh]

4th edition says 65701-144684 from 1915 - 1940. Kind of a wide bracket. Good guestimate would be mid-1930s. I am confident somebody will come along with much more solid information in the very near future.

 

[Muley Gil]

More details are needed. Does it have the "MADE IN U.S.A." stamp on the right side of the frame? Does it have a mushroom head ejector rod?

Many folks on this Forum believe that S&W halted production of the .32-20 in the late 1920s and just kept the model in the catalog, selling out of inventory.

 

[dwh]

I have a 32-20 target #136682 it shipped May1927. I hope this helps.
Dave.

 

[JP@AK]

brskeoch

.32-20 serial number 131452 shipped in April 1930.
.32-20 serial number 132446 shipped in August 1927.
.32-20 serial number 136670 shipped in June 1927.
.32-20 serial number 137511 shipped in December, 1926.

Obviously, they did not ship in serial order. Most likely all four of the units listed above were assembled in the mid-1920s.

Without a records search (for a letter of authenticity from the S&W Historical Foundation) it isn't possible to know exactly when your customer's revolver left the factory.

 

[Model19man]

Have a customer interested in manufacture date of a 32/20 Hand Ejector. Sorry no photos. Serial number is 13277X. Thank You, Brian.

I would make sure he has a supply of ammunition first. It's not an easy caliber to feed.

 

[StrawHat]

I would make sure he has a supply of ammunition first. It's not an easy caliber to feed.

It is almost as easy to feed as the 38 S&W Special. I have one press dedicated to that cartridge. Which is rather funny as I sold my last one a couple of years ago! Time to swap out dies!

Kevin

 

[mikepriwer]

The original question was about the manufacturing date, which is not known as those records were destroyed. The information that is available is the shipping date, which is what is shown in the earlier posts on this thread.

Mike Priwer

 

[Alk8944]

The best information is that manufacture of the ,32-20 HE ended in 1929 or possibly 1930. The model was catalogued until 1940 but any guns sold were from warehouse inventory.

The last .32-20 HE sold by S&W reportedly shipped in 1965, being the last of the model still in the warehouse at that time.

JP@AK is generally the best source of information for this model!

 

[4K2022]

Have a customer interested in manufacture date of a 32/20 Hand Ejector. Sorry no photos. Serial number is 13277X. Thank You, Brian.

The manufacture date can be narrowed down (a little bit) by looking for the patent markings on the trigger and hammer (1926). Your 32-20 has a serial number near the end of production of the 144,??? revolvers made and 130,000 seems to be around when the markings begin to appear. IMO this era of S&W revolvers are "Masterpieces"

 

[brskeoch]

Thank You, your replies are appreciated, Brian.