32-20 - year of manufacture

[ahutch71]

Picked up a nice 1905 hand ejector a few weeks back and I’m curious about the year of manufacture. Serial is 106xxx, barrel is stamped “32 WCF CTG”, barrel is 5”. Square butt, I believe the grips are original, have a medallion. Any info about what year this was manufactured would be much appreciated!

 

[JP@AK]

I show four of them in the 106000 range that shipped in 1922; as early as February and as late as August.

You can assume it was assembled before the spring of 1922 for two reasons: it lacks the Made in U.S.A. on the right side of the frame, and it still has the 32 W.C.F. CTG stamp on the barrel. The barrel stamp changed to 32-20 CTG in 1922.

That said, shipping is often inconsistent. I show one in the 106000 range that didn't leave the factory until August, 1924.

The stocks on your gun are not original. They are the Magna style which didn't exist until 1935. In addition, that particular pair dates to a period after World War II.

 

[Hawg Rider]

Welcome to the Forum! You picked up a nice .32 Military and Police (M&P) Hand Ejector, aka Model of 1905 4th Change. As JP@AK explained, your s/n and barrel markings indicate a 1922 manufacture date, and that the wood stocks (grips) are later magna stocks. I have a slightly younger .32-20 from 1923 (s/n 118705), it has the ".32-20 CTG" barrel markings, and it's wearing original stocks. .32-20 revolvers are popular here on the Forum, so you're in good company. Ammo can be difficult to find, but if you do buy some, go out and shoot your revolver- they're a lot of fun! Enjoy!

 

[cmansguns]

Welcome from Virginia

Welcome to the Forum from Virginia. That gun is looking very nice for its age. Mine (s/n 105093) is a tad older as it shipped in October 1921 per Roy Jinks, the S&W Historian.

As said by others IF.....IF.... you reload you can maybe find Starline new brass at Midway every now and then. I have not found any factory loaded ammo other than HSM (Hill States Munitions) 115 gr. Flat Nose Lead ammo and that is so seldom available that it pushed $100 - $150 for a box of 50.

But indeed...........they are fun to shoot, little to no recoil, the 5" barrel just seems to be a "natural pointer" at least for me. Don't know where you are in the country but here in the Richmond VA area there are no ranges left that will allow solid lead bullets so I have to travel a ways to shoot outdoors, but did get to shoot a little, very pleasant.

If you get yours out for some fun shooting please come back and let us know how it does.

 

[Retired W4]

We need a little nickel showing here. #97786

 

[dwh]

How about some 32-20 target models.

 

[ahutch71]

Thank you!

Appreciate the replies and info. Based on searching, I was guessing 1923 or 1924 so I wasn’t too far off. Wish it had the original stocks but the price was right (about $350) and it’ll be a shooter.

I do a lot of reloading, and probably wouldn’t have purchased it if I didn’t reload. I managed to get 700 pieces of new brass (600 Starline, 100 Hornady) and a set of dies. I already cast quite a bit, and have several 32 H&R’s so I have been loading both 85 grain Lyman 313249’s and some 115 grain cast that I had squirreled away. I’ve been using Bullseye (2.9 grains with the 115gr, 3.5 gr with the 85’s) and that has been working well. Very nice shooter, hits at point of aim at 12 yards just fine. It seems to like the 115gr bullets a little better.