32 Safety Hammerless

[cipher1300]

I just bought a 32 Safety Hammerless with S/N range of 227xxx that looks unfired in a wooden box with a full box of ammo and cleaning swab from an elderly lady whose husband had passed and she said he bought it new and she don't recall he ever fired it. The front sight is not pinned and except for a small pencil eraser size of blue wear on the backstrap it appears new. I paid $400 and was wondering if I got burned.

 

[murphydog]

Welcome! I think you did fine at that price; it's unusual to find one of these in such nice condition. It is a later production gun with the Made in U.S.A. stamp on the right forward frame. Enjoy!

 

[DWalt]

It is probably newer than you might think, likely from sometime in the mid 1930s. It's a .32 Safety Hammerless 3rd Model. Can you provide more information about the wooden box, like some pictures, and also pictures of the ammunition box? Also, there may be a code stamped somewhere on the ammunition box, and that could help date it.

 

[H Richard]

That is a very nice looking 3rd Model .32 Safety Hammerless. That model was made between 1909 and 1937, in the s/n range of 170000 and 242981. With your s/n I would guess it was shipped in the latter years, probably in the 1930's. For $400 I think you got a bargain, (unless the blue wear or other defects is greater than I can see here.) If the ammo is period and unbroken, it may have a fair value by itself. Can you include a picture of the wooden box and ammo, etc.?

 

[glowe]

The SWCA database has 2 close guns with ship dates of 1921 & 1923, so probably shipped by mid-1920s. Only a factory letter will tell you with certainty.

A 32 Safety in that condition just does not show up often and the pristine blued finish makes it even more scarce. Nice find and worth the money.

 

[cipher1300]

That is a very nice looking 3rd Model .32 Safety Hammerless. That model was made between 1909 and 1937, in the s/n range of 170000 and 242981. With your s/n I would guess it was shipped in the latter years, probably in the 1930's. For $400 I think you got a bargain, (unless the blue wear or other defects is greater than I can see here.) If the ammo is period and unbroken, it may have a fair value by itself. Can you include a picture of the wooden box and ammo, etc.?

The ammo came from K-Mart with a price tag of $5 and is a full box. There is also a cleaning brush and a tiny little tin can that says Tower Tacks on it. Looks like a real time capsule. The old guy must have smoked a pipe because the box smells like gun oil and pipe tobacco......no perfume could match that smell.

 

[DWalt]

I was hoping that the ammunition box would be contemporary with the revolver, but it is not. That box style is typical of the 1970s-1980s. The wooden box and the ammunition box don't add much to the value of the package.