Another King Super-Police! (Post yours!)

[Modified]

My first one is this example that came to me unexpectedly (David Carroll is the best, if you are reading I need to call you still), very much a top five favorite gun of mine:

A bit odd with the rifle base for the front sight, but overall a hell of a sweet looking gun. The sights are not quite cataloged, but were close:

These sights are glorious, hands down my favorite old timey sights. I'm a little baffled that they never caught on, everyone who holds one of these guns pretty much says whoa the first time they sight down it.

This particular gun is a bit odd in that this was clearly a working gun modification, and this gun was never really used much. I've been after more King Super-Police Night Sighted guns ever since, but the best I was able to come up with half that job:

That one has a red ramp front sight, but the rear sight is the Super-Police:

partially at least. They kept it square for the front sight, instead of rounding it for the bead.

As the years progress I hope to acquire more, but for now I am well pleased with this one. Despite the finish challenges.

Also, with my lens I can't really photograph sights quite right, and I'm lazy, and I don't care enough to buy a new lens or learn how to manipulate photos. I think these sight shots relay the point I want to make anyway.

About the only thing that really kind of annoys me about this gun is that the white inlay was missing on the rear sight. I've been attempting to replace it but the enamel I put in there after cold bluing the area (looks like it was stripped of all blue back there for some reason), is kind of jagged. I'll keep trying to figure out how to do it proper.

Fun fact, this is the first time I have ever used cold blue!

Anyway, here's the gun. Base gun was a 1917, barrel cut down to 3 and 7/8ths", King Super-Police Night Sights installed. Finish borked with maybe some navel jelly(?), and I'm not entirely sure how they made the barrel go plumb.

I'm still well pleased with it.

If you happen to have any King Super-Police Night Sighted guns lurking in your safe post them! (then sell them to me)

 

[weatherby]

Very sharp looking especially so with the Ivory.

All I have with sights similar is that odd duck 32. It has a marbles ivory front and the U notch rear.

 

[younggun22]

... I figured that 1917 went to you

 

[S&W ucla]

Post mine? How can I, you have them ALL!
Such neat guns, of course anything by King Gunsight is neat.

 

[Modified]

Post mine? How can I, you have them ALL!
Such neat guns, of course anything by King Gunsight is neat.

Two can't be *all* of them! Surely.

I wonder if people were dissuaded from having the job done by the line: "Strictly peace officer's sights"?

 

[weatherby]

Two can't be *all* of them! Surely.

I wonder if people were dissuaded from having the job done by the line: "Strictly peace officer's sights"?

I doubt it.....probably akin to tactical now.

Here is the sight line up on that 32.
Pretty odd gun. It is a regulation police frame .
The rear sight is pre war and numbered into those 196 post war target guns.

 

[Hondo44]

Paul,

A very special, already rare model!

Yes, the 196 32 RP Targets from 1957 are true anachronisms.

Most features non-conforming to the non-target Model of 1953 New I frame (Pre Model 31) guns of the 1957 period! A very convoluted transition model for sure.

Using common collector terms we're familiar with, it can be described as a “.32 Reg. Police Target Post War Transitional 'I' frame". That's because it has 6 screws w/leaf spring, small trigger guard, pre war style round top rebated sq butt stocks, pre war style hammer spur, and the smaller pre war frame window size with cylinder diameter of 1.267”. The pre war sights are obvious, supplied w/special modified post war blue all steel sight adjusting tool (SAT) to fit tiny sight screws.

But with post war sliding bar hammer block safety, the 3rd and last style straight ejector rod with left hand thread, the 4 line address on frame, 4" (not 4 1/4") barrel w/o patent dates, post war non-chamfered cyl flute corners, post war grooved trigger, and the 3rd type post war non-sculpted thumb piece, (and post 1966 after I frames became J frames), while all other I frames of the 1957 period have the third type flat latch.

Frame serial # stamped on front grip strap above the strain screw matching all other #'d parts including stocks, 9 locations in all, including rear sight, and both front and rear sight blades. Rear sight has single elevation screw, no elevation check screw.

 

[Modified]

Those RP targets are super cool, I love yours. I've seen one in the past but couldn't afford it.

 

[JohnRippert]

I love, love, love that S&W .45 at the top.

 

[H Richard]

Paul, I'm jealous, That's one of my Grail Guns.
Dick

 

[weatherby]

Paul, I'm jealous, That's one of my Grail Guns.
Dick

Mines not one of the 196
The rear sight is the only part that falls in the serial number range.
Per Roy it is a totally rebuilt gun.

It was fun figuring that one out with the help of Hondo44 and the other experts here..He may be bald with the head scratching from it.
The joys of living near the momma tree.

 

[Jebus35745]

These King police guns are super cool. They make a better sight picture then Standard service sights. Paul yours has the front & rear sights I wish were sold for the modern revolvers. Larry

 

[mikepriwer]

Caleb

It just so happens that I have a very interesting one of the guns.

This gun was presented (or given) by Ed McGivern to Calvin Robinson in 1926, living in Lewiston Mt at the time. In 1933, he became Sheriff of Flathead County, MT. When I took the grips off the gun, I found this note taped to the inside of one of the grip panels.

The gun has the King Night Sights. According to Calvin's son Robert, who was 100 years young last year, Robert was born in 1916. He was 10 years old at the time McGivern gave the gun to Calvin, and Robert was present when this gift was made, and he remembers this happening. He told me that the gun is exactly as it was given to his father, so it would have had the Night Sights then.

This next picture is is the rear sight. You can see that the white outline is set into a machined semi-circular groove. Seems to me that the white outline must have originally been some kind of insert, and not paint.

This next picture is focused on the front sight, looking through the rear sight.

The front sight blade is a King blade. This next picture shows the front sight blades on two of McGiverns guns. The top half of the picture is the Night Sights gun presented to Calvin Robinson. The bottom half of the picture is McGiverns record-setting gun, that we had on display at the S&WCA meeting in Spokane, where you viewed this gun. The blade on that gun is stamped King, as can be seen in the picture. As can be seen in the picture, this blade is higher than the one on the Night Sights gun. This is because the rear target sight blade on the record-setting gun is higher than the rear notch on the Night Sights gun.

Its interesting to note that, in McGiverns book, there is a page or two discussing his interest and work with low-light shooting conditions. Perhaps the gun given to Calvin Robinson was used for some of that work.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[Modified]

Mike,

Awesome. I had not even really thought about McGivern's guns having a variation of this sight, but it does make a lot of sense. They are wonderfully bright and easy to use sights.

On your note about the insert: I completely agree after seeing yours. When I compare my other two to your picture and my new one (which was missing the insert), it's pretty clear that they actually put something into the machined groove. On mine I added some enamel I bought at the local fabric store and it looks very much like yours does. Not as nice and even as my other two.

I have to say, yours being gifted to a man who became the sheriff of my county by McGivern is more then I could have hoped for when starting this thread. I felt that there must be more of these out there, and maybe my enthusiasm for them might bring them out of the woodwork, but yours? Wow. Thank you so much for the addition.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Two can't be *all* of them! Surely.

I wonder if people were dissuaded from having the job done by the line: "Strictly peace officer's sights"?

What the **** is wrong with that?!! Unless you're a bullseye shooter, I would think that what is good for a peace officer is likely good for just about any use I can predict.

??

 

[Modified]

What the **** is wrong with that?!! Unless you're a bullseye shooter, I would think that what is good for a peace officer is likely good for just about any use I can predict.

??

I sort of thought it might be something like all those guns with Social Security numbers scratched into them. Back when local police agencies told people to do that so that if they were stolen they could get returned to the owner.

One of my old neighbors had a perfect victory model. Not sure what exactly the deal with it was, it was clearly a victory model but it didn't have US property on it, one of the guns that went for civilian or guard use maybe? The term is escaping me at the moment.

In any case the gun had never been used, he got it from his uncle many years prior when he lived in L.A. I've rarely seen a victory model that brand new looking.

He comes home one day and his wife has very helpfully spent a couple hours with a file very carefully, and very deeply, gouging his Social Security number into the side of the gun. He was horrified. She said that she had read in one of her magazines that the police required that you do this on all your guns, and this was just the first one that she selected to do it to.

So I'm just kind of wondering if the language that King used in the catalog there was construed as being a sight job that they would only undertake for law enforcement, so that people didn't have the sights upgraded. Just a passing thought to explain why there seem to be so few of these.

After handling them I will say again that I am blown away by how much I love the sights. I can't for the life of me imagine anyone who needed to use their gun for actual police work not wanting such fine sights on their gun. Although I suppose the added expense was a hard thing to justify, and for a lot of people back then sights were kind of an afterthought. Especially sights on a working gun.

 

[bengal fan]

Here’s mine I’ve posted many times before. Its without a doubt my favorite gun I own.

38/44 Transitional KSP

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Modified]

Here’s mine I’ve posted many times before. Its without a doubt my favorite gun I own.

38/44 Transitional KSP

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I can well understand why its your favorite.

I really wish someone hadn't re-finished it like they did though. It would be perfection with an original finish.

I assume you shoot it a lot?

 

[mikepriwer]

Caleb

With you now living in Flathead County, is there any entity you can contact, and see if there is any further information on Sheriff Calvin Robinson ? All that I have came from his son Robert.

Regards, Mike

 

[Modified]

Caleb

With you now living in Flathead County, is there any entity you can contact, and see if there is any further information on Sheriff Calvin Robinson ? All that I have came from his son Robert.

Regards, Mike

I can go down to the sheriff's office. It's just a few minutes away. I'll see what I can find.

Things are slightly strange right now, my daughter is due Monday, but as she's our first it's expected she will not come when due, so we are planning on inducing the Monday after. Might be a little disruptive.

I'll let you know what I find out.