Help ID an old S&W 32 Long

[Bob2Bob]

I received this gun from my father in law and I am hoping I can find out about it here. It is a S&W 32 Long with about a three inch barrel. The serial number is B275762 and has the number 2519 stamped into the cylinder arm and on the bottom of the barrel where the cylinder covers it up when closed. It has a white grip which I am guessing is after market. It is in very good condition and I am going to try it out when I buy some ammo. Anyone know about how old it is and how to find out any other history about the gun?
Thanks!

 

[murphydog]

You have a .32 Hand Ejector, probably from the early-mid 1910 decade per the 275762. The B indicates it was blued from the factory, and the 2519s are "assembly numbers", which mean the gun's parts were fitted together at the factory and not swapped from another gun. It looks to have a 4" barrel (from the muzzle to cylinder face). It would have had walnut stocks. For as much history about the gun as available, you can ask for a factory historical letter:

Firearm History Request - Smith & Wesson

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Green Frog]

I believe you are correct about the non-factory grips... they look like either Fitz or Franzite, both of which were commonly used through about the '50s and '60s. The rest of the gun looks pretty good, so you might want to go to the effort to find a pair of period correct grips (or "stocks" as S&W called them at the time.) You will need to look on the bottom rear section of the gun's grip frame with grips removed and see whether it is relieved for the extended Regulation Police style grips, or whether it simply uses the plain "round grip" ones. Congratulations on a nice acquisition.

Froggie

 

[Bob2Bob]

Where can I find a proper set of stocks?

 

[ar15ed]

can you post a pic of the gripframe with the grips removed?

welcome to the forum!

 

[DCWilson]

Under the Franzite grips that gun will have a round-butt frame. If the frame has a shallow step on the backstrap and the serial number on the forestrap, it is called a .32 Regulation Police. You will need to find wooden Regulation Police stocks for it, which may be slightly challenging because they will fit ONLY that one stepped frame of all the frames S&W made for all their models.

If the frame has the serial number on the butt, and there is no shallow step in the backstrap, then the gun is considered a .32 Hand Ejector. You will want standard prewar I-frame round butt stocks. With that serial number the gun is probably of 1919 manufacture, so you would want stocks with gold medallions in them -- either RP or round butt.

As an almost correct alternative, you would want 1920s-era stocks, either round butt or RP, that have NO medallions in them.

The Franzite stocks on the gun now imitate the square butt Regulation Police style, so i would guess that is what the gun had originally. But it could have been a round butt gun and somebody whittled on either the Franzite stocks or the frame to make them fit properly.

 

[Bob2Bob]

They are indeed Franzite stocks. Here are a few pictures without the stocks. And after looking at pictures of other 32 long S&W, I noticed that my gun does not have the S&W logo on the left side of the gun. Odd?

 

[DCWilson]

Not odd. There was a short period right after WWI when commercial production did not get the company logo rollmark.

That's not a Regulation Police frame, by the way, so the gun is considered a .32 Hand Ejector, Third Model.