Nframe_is_no1
Member
I have long had a soft spot for vintage little revolvers chambered for the .32 S&W Long cartridge. My addiction causes me to buy up every one I find in good shape at a reasonable price. 3 weeks ago at a local haunt I found a nice old .32 Hand Ejector wearing the really old hard rubber (bakelite) grips. It was mismarked as an M&P. The finish was great, at least 90%. It showed no signs of being messed with. The casecolors on the hammer and trigger were beautiful. The grips were perfect with no chips or cracks. I looked at it for two weeks in a row each time I passed this place, wavering back and forth over the price. This week, after seeing it was still there after 3 weeks, I decided to work up the nerve to bargain and took it home for $225 + tax. The serial number, in all the usual places, is 15xxx. The barrel is 4 1/4". The old girl was very tight. The crane and ejector rod were very stiff moving. There were no flash marks and no outward sign that this gun had ever been fired other than the turn line. I took it to the range today (I shoot nearly all of my guns) with some Magtech 98 gr LRN and some handloads with a 95 gr LSWC around 850 or so FPS. The first cylinderful, I got one bang and 5 clicks. I discovered that the firing pin was not protruding enough through the breechface to fire the gun. The problem was that the rebound was sticking and not moving so that the hammer could fully fall. That's how stiff this gun was! I ran a couple of squirts of kerosene through the action which freed it up and and came out brown. I'm thinking this could have been dried factory grease. I then fired my remaining 25 rounds of ammo without further incident as well as the five rounds that had previously misfired. This gun must have spent most of its life in someone's drawer! Imagine my surprise when I got home and checked my SCSW and found out it is the earliest version of the .32 Hand Ejector model of 1903 and shipped in 1904! This makes it my oldest Smith Hand Ejector. BTW, it is a four screw and lacks the trigger guard screw. According to SCSW, its a pre-5 screw 4-screw! How's that for confusing? Turns out the trigger guard screw wasn't added until 1905. Well, enough of the story, here's the pics. Not bad for a 107 year old revolver!
Last edited:
