Another I-frame Weekend!

[Green Frog]

Well, after ignoring the I-frames pretty successfully for a lot of years, all of a sudden they seem to be following me home pretty often now. Today I decided to hit a little gun auction in Bedford, VA to and so far have picked up a nice shootable 6" Regulation Police in .32 S&W Long. Blue is only about 85% or so, but no rust or pitting noticeable and a very nice set of grips... even wear but no scratches or gouges.

Then, in my continuing search for the perfect carry gun for my miniature niece I got a 3" pre-Model 30 Improved I-frame with what appear to be original diamond grips and of course the flat latch. The bids were all over the place with many things going for a lot more than they should have, but since these were both .32s, the prices stayed reasonable (or better) and I got them both for a total of $550 plus tax (and this guy hasn't had the nerve to tack on buyer's premiums!)

Now if I can just find a .38 Reg Police with 6" bbl and a .38 Terrier snub, I'll be all set! The hunt continues.

Froggie

 

[DCWilson]

Well, after ignoring the I-frames pretty successfully for a lot of years, all of a sudden they seem to be following me home pretty often now. Today I decided to hit a little gun auction in Bedford, VA to and so far have picked up a nice shootable 6" Regulation Police in .32 S&W Long. Blue is only about 85% or so, but no rust or pitting noticeable and a very nice set of grips... even wear but no scratches or gouges.

Then, in my continuing search for the perfect carry gun for my miniature niece I got a 3" pre-Model 30 Improved I-frame with what appear to be original diamond grips and of course the flat latch. The bids were all over the place with many things going for a lot more than they should have, but since these were both .32s, the prices stayed reasonable (or better) and I got them both for a total of $550 plus tax (and this guy hasn't had the nerve to tack on buyer's premiums!)

Now if I can just find a .38 Reg Police with 6" bbl and a .38 Terrier snub, I'll be all set! The hunt continues.

Froggie

Theoretically, the .38 Regulation Police was never available in anything but a four-inch barrel. (There may be some two-inch "Post Office" models, but I'm not sure about that. I am excluding Terriers because I consider them a separate model rather than a variety of the .38 Regulation Police.)

Last night I found on Gunbroker a loose six-inch barrel marked Regulation Police. Live links are not permitted, but the item number is 225200884 if you want to look at it. It has patent dates and the cut for a 1930s ejector knob, so it seems to be prewar. But it looks rougher to me than the seller describes, and I'm not sure I trust it.

 

[Green Frog]

Theoretically, the .38 Regulation Police was never available in anything but a four-inch barrel. (There may be some two-inch "Post Office" models, but I'm not sure about that. I am excluding Terriers because I consider them a separate model rather than a variety of the .38 Regulation Police.)

Last night I found on Gunbroker a loose six-inch barrel marked Regulation Police. Live links are not permitted, but the item number is 225200884 if you want to look at it. It has patent dates and the cut for a 1930s ejector knob, so it seems to be prewar. But it looks rougher to me than the seller describes, and I'm not sure I trust it.

Thanks, David. Did you mean less than a four-inch barrel? I was pretty sure about the two-inchers but wonder about that word "anything" in view of the ad you point out. I aleady had that barrel bookmarked myself,BTW. It is from Larry Poppert, and from recent experience with him, I trust his evaluation... he was actually harder on his evaluation of the last barrel I got from him than I would have been. That sort of brings out the possibility of making up a 6" RP from parts. I wonder if a .32 HE hand would work with a 5 shot .38 S&W extractor star?

My "new" 6" RP .32 has enough holster wear that taking it out and enjoying shooting it is a given. Now if I can just get the bbl on my .22 HFT!

Life was so so much easier when I was working on the same kinds of guns for 10 years at a time!

Froggie

 

[DCWilson]

I looked in 1925 and 1941 S&W catalogs. In each, the company claims the .38 Regulation Police is available only with a four-inch barrel. The only reason I mentioned the "post office" configuration is that I saw a reference to one somewhere. I can't confirm that it was factory issue and wonder if it is just a standard RP that had a Terrier barrel fitted to it.

The six-inch barrel on Gunbroker is the ONLY evidence I have ever seen of even a possible longer tube on any RP. I can't tell if the threads have been notched for a pin. If not, it was never installed on any frame. A special order?

The barrel looked a little rough under the finish. An unpolished white barrel that got a fast blue? I just couldn't tell, and that's why I'm a little suspicious. But I feel a little better about it knowing that Larry Poppert is the seller.