3rd model 32 Hand Ejector

[99bob]

I found this yesterday and I'm trying to figure out if it is pre-war or post war. The serial number is 513xxx. I'd also like to know if the grips are original. I plan to letter this piece next week. I'd appreciate any information. Thanks in advance.

 

[DCWilson]

Pre. That gun shipped in the late '20s or early '30s. With those dish medallions, the stocks are probably from the late 'teens. I suppose the factory could have had them lying around and put them on the gun when it shipped, but it is also possible they were found and attached to the revolver later.

Very handsome revolver! Congratulations.

 

[ar15ed]

that is a beauty!

 

[deadin]

Here's mine. Serial 513,841 with its "Saturday Night" holster. (I also have its original "Field" flap holster.)
The gun shipped October 1929.

 

[wraco]

My goodness, it looks brand new . . nice find.

My early 32 I frame , is s/n 98,54x and if I recall correctly, it's from 1909 or 1910.

Rod

 

[Smithhound]

That is indeed a handsome revolver. Good catch!
RD

 

[99bob]

Now I'm confused. My skills with the Blue Book are weak but I found this to have a later production date based on serial number. Am I missing something?

32 HAND EJECTOR THIRD MODEL
- .32 S&W Long cal., 6 shot fluted cylinder, 3 1/4, 4 1/4, or 6 in. barrel, blue or nickel finish, grips of checkered hard rubber with "S&W" monogram, round butt. 271,531 mfg. 1917-1942. Serial range approx. 263,001-534,532.

 

[DCWilson]

The blue book has confused the distinction between two different models whose serial numbers overlapped in the same series. The round butt .32 Hand Ejector (yours) and the square butt .32 Regulation Police were produced side by side after 1917 and were numbered together. But the actual production and numbering ended in 1940. Any serial number in the 513xxx range probably shipped in 1929 or 1930, but it was always the case that a single firearm may have languished in inventory for months, if not years. There are rare instances in which a gun assembled before the war was shipped some time after.

Production slowed during the great depression; only a few thousand serial numbers were produced in the small frame series -- up to about 535000 -- before the war contracts came in and commercial production was suspended.

 

[Hondo44]

Beautiful .32 HE!
I concur, as helpful as the Blue Book can be at times, it is not always a reliable source for things Smith and Wesson. The info provided is just too brief and S&W idiosyncracies are just too numerous.

I also agree the 'build' date could not be earlier than 1929 or 30. The ejector knob style, your's being the second style, is probably one of the more reliable 'build date' indicators because of having one of the shortest transition periods. This is due to the fact that it must match the cut out in the underside of the barrel. That fact to me precludes and mitigates the longer parts transition periods we see so often with more interchangeable parts such as thumblatches, grips, etc. It is theorized that these parts are installed more willy-nilly because of the "bottom of the parts bin" syndrome where new parts dumped on top of old style parts are assembled onto guns before all of the older parts are used up.

 

[99bob]

Gentlemen, thank you for the clarification. You have been very helpful.

 

[inyomono]

My square-butt .32 Regulation Police, Third Model, is S/N 509xxx and the factory letter shows that it shipped on September 26, 1941.
inyomono

 

[DCWilson]

Bob, I see you changed the title of your original post. That gun is definitely a .32 HE, Third Model. The last Second Models were produced in the mid-'teens and ended with serial numbers around 250,000.

 

[99bob]

Bob, I see you changed the title of your original post. That gun is definitely a .32 HE, Third Model. The last Second Models were produced in the mid-'teens and ended with serial numbers around 250,000.

Thanks. That was more Blue Book confusion.