airweight mod 32

[Ilio]

Hi people. I'm writing from Italy. I would like to known your opinion about the revolver I'm about to buy. you can see it in the attached files.
can you tell me the year of production?
how do you feel the general conditions?
could it has problems with modern commercial ammunition?

 

[adwjc]

Ilio,

What you have there is a Model 42 Centennial Airweight. They were discontinued in 1974.

I am not sure when yours was made, your serial number falls into a group made after 1957 since it is stamped with a model number; serial numbers 1-30160 were made between 1953 and 1971. The L series numbers started in 1971 and ended in 1974. I have one with a serial # L62XX made in 1974.

The condition in your pictures looks good, no finish wear visible on the frame high spots / contact areas.

It should be safe to use with current commercial .38 Special ammunition, however, what you may find available in Italy may not be the same specifications as American manufactured ammunition.

The currently (in production since the 1990's) made model 442 is the closest current production revolver to yours, although it won't have the grip safety your has. If you remove the stocks, watch out for a loose locking pin that is supplied to lock down that safety, it is stored in a hole drilled in the frame.

 

[shouldazagged]

I can tell you with certainty that I wish I had one just like it.

You will enjoy it.

 

[Ilio]

Tony/adwjc thank you for your answer. I was not sure about the "centennial" identification and I have doubts about the holster marks on the edges and also on original grips. I think that in the '60 magna grips were more common than smooth grips. I am interested in the manufacturing/shipping year also for this reason: 1957 - 1971 is a very wide period.

 

[Ilio]

shouldazagged I'm paying 480$ this revolver, without case and cleaning rod

 

[S&WsRsweet]

I can tell you with certainty that I wish I had one just like it.

You will enjoy it.

What he said !

 

[S&WsRsweet]

You have a classic firearm that for sure they aren't making them like that anymore ,it is a desirable collector peice plus a fine shooter. I would think you can get Fiochi brand ammunition there and during our recent ammo shortages I found and used it quite a bit and found it to be of high quality in the calibers I used which included a speciality 38 special load that uses a plastic projectile at lowered velocity I found to be a pretty good short range indoor round I could fire into a 5 gallon bucket 3/4 full of wet newspaper just for rainy day practice ,so check out the Fiochi brand I have become a fan of there's .480 dollars isn't a bad price in my area ( Tuscaloosa Alabama ) it wouldn't last long in a used gun shop at that price especially if I saw it .

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Hi Ilio:

The Centennial revolvers - especially the ones like yours with the grip safety, were also known as "Lemon Squeezers", and many people still refer to them by that name. Yours looks like an excellent specimen that is in good condition. Being an Air Weight, it is susceptible to frame cracking. Please look at the part of the frame below the barrel (where the side of your thumb is in photo #3). Check this area carefully in good light for a sign of a crack running parallel with the barrel. If no crack, you should be good to go. In a revolver of this type and vintage, I would stick with standard velocity .38 Special ammunition. You could probably get away with occasional use of +P (higher pressure ammo), but I wouldn't risk it.

Good luck,

Dave

PS - I just took another look at your photo #3 and it looks like there may be a bit of rust forming there in the yoke area - maybe even a bit on the ejector rod and ejector rod retention pin as well. You may want to give this a closer look. If it is rust, no big deal, but it's worth trying to knock the price down a bit - maybe see if the seller would go for $400.00, rather than $480.00?

Regards,

Dave

 

[linde]

Tony/ . . . I was not sure about the "centennial" identification and I have doubts about the . . . original grips. I think that in the '60 magna grips were more common than smooth grips. I am interested in the manufacturing/shipping year also for this reason: 1957 - 1971 is a very wide period.

Regarding the smooth grips . . . they are correct and unique to the Centennial. The normal checkered J-frame grips will not fit. As best I remember, all Centennials from 1952 to 1974 had the smooth grips . . . but then, sometimes my memory isn't all that good.

Not sure I can help much on the date other than to say serial number 11689 was shipped in December 1958 . . . perhaps others can fill in other known ship dates.

Very nice example of a great revolver,

Russ

edit to add: but if I were to take a guess on ship date it would be sometime in either 1969 or 1970

 

[Jim NNN]

I personally think that's a good price for that gun. They aren't that common over here in the states. Congrats.

 

[mjr]

If by chance you are a James Bond fan...

That is the handgun that the real Geoffrey Boothroyd recommended to Ian Fleming as a replacement for the literary James Bond's .25 Beretta 418. Boothroyd thought the S&W Centennial Airweight would be an ideal concealed weapon for Bond. He never recommended that Bond use a Walther PPK--that was one of the pistols Boothroyd suggested when Fleming asked for guns Bond's enemies might use.

Fleming was taken with the Centennial Airweight and promised Boothroyd that in his next novel Bond would carry it. But then Fleming realized that with a revolver Bond could never again use a silencer (as everyone called them in the 1950s), so he settled on the PPK. But a promise is a promise, so Fleming conflated the Centennial Airweight with the N-frame .357 and had Bond get issued one along with the PPK in the novel Dr. No. The character used it briefly in the novel, and then it disappeared and was never mentioned again.

So, anyway, that's the REAL should-have-been Bond gun. At $480, I'd probably go ahead and buy it.

 

[Ilio]

hi guys, I want to thank everyone for the information and advice!

 

[adwjc]

Ilio,

just one more thing, as Linde says above in post #9, the smooth grip panels are correct for this gun, the early ones were referred to as "high horns" due to the way the topmost corner reaches the end of the frame.

Best of luck!