Inherited a Revolver

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CamaroDMD

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I recently inherited with I believe to be a Smith & Wesson Model 1902 from a family member. It is chambered in .32-20. Although I am a gun enthusiast, revolvers and Smith & Wesson's are not something I have any experience with. Can someone give me a little information about what I have here. I'd be curious to know approximate age. Serial number is 38350. As I understand it, S&W didn't keep serial number records like some other companies so an exact date of production isn't possible...only a shipping date would be known. But, I would like to know approximately how old it is and any other information about this type. I think it's kind of a cool piece. It's the only revolver I have ever owned (I shoot mostly automatic pistols...1911s and Beretta 92s mostly).

Also, how sturdy are these guns? Can I safely shoot modern .32-20 ammo in it?

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Yes, any ammunition you can find today (not an especially easy task, but at least .32-20 ammo is still available - and expensive) will be safe to use. SN 38350 probably shipped sometime in 1908. You have correctly identified it as a Model of 1902 as it has the rounded butt. These .32-20s were never big sellers, and S&W quit making them around 1930, after about 144,000 were made. The same revolver in .38 Special greatly outsold it.
 
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CamaroDMD said:
I'd be curious to know approximate age. Serial number is 38350.
Click to expand...

The closest serial numbers I have on my list are:
23785 (target model) shipped in September, 1907
25300 (fixed sights) shipped in May, 1906
44642 (target model) shipped in June, 1910

So, DWalt's approximation of 1908 for yours is probably pretty close. It could be a little bit later than that. A letter from Roy would tell you exactly.
 
I have the 1st issue made in 1898 in same caliber.
I posted about it here.
I found ammo for it at the Gun Show in Tyler,TX.
A 50 round box of new ammo cost me 50 dollars.
 
Colt also made several different revolver models in .32-20 but they also exited their manufacture prior to WWII. I have a very high condition Colt .32-20 Official Police from 1934, and also a Colt Army Special from 1912. The Colt single action Bisley model in .32-20 was a very popular target revolver at one time, and it was the largest selling Bisley.
 
If you are near a Cabelas you can order 32-20 for much less than $50 a box and have it shipped to the store with zero shipping charges. I have three S&W chambered in this round all three are very accurate... Forgot my manners welcome to the forum, and a nice one you have there!
 
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CamaroDMD said:
When do you say "2nd change" does that mean there was a revision in design of the model?
Click to expand...

S&W itself never used the "Nth change" terminology in naming its K-frame revolvers. To them a Model of 1902 remained a Model of 1902 and a Model of 1905 remained a Model of 1905 in their catalogs until about 1915 when the "Model of 19xx" nomenclature was dropped by S&W in favor of calling all of the K-frame revolvers the "Military and Police (M&P) Model," round and square butt. The "Changes" numbering is purely a collector-invented naming convention to indicate a series of relatively minor evolutionary engineering changes made by S&W during the 1902-1914 production period. There were in fact several other changes made to the M&P after 1914, but strangely collectors don't usually recognize them as being "Changes" by naming them.

Look at it this way. The Ford Taurus was produced from model year 1986 to model year 2007, and in fact there were over 7 million made. But during that 20 year period, Ford probably made hundreds if not thousands of engineering changes, major and minor, to the Taurus. Yet to Ford and the rest of the world you had a 1990 Ford Taurus. If you really needed to know exactly how your 1990 model differed from the corresponding Taurus models of any other year you could easily find out from your local dealer if you knew the VIN. But if you were not a serious Taurus collector, all you would care about was that you had a 1990 Taurus and could get the right replacement parts for it when necessary. You wouldn't go to the parts store and ask for a fan belt for a Ford Taurus, 4466th Change.
 
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I'm afraid you have already restarted this religious debate. The Standard Catalog of S&W, 4th Edition, which is also known as the 'bible' identifies it as a Model 1905. Because S&W marketed it at the time as a Model 1902, some collectors ignore the fact that it does not have 1902 internals but has the rebound slide trigger return that was implemented in the Model 1905, Change 1. That makes it a Model 1905, round butt, like handejector says. In order to avoid the religious debate, just call it a .38 Military & Police revolver.
 
According to the historian, the "change" nomenclature was put together by Walter Roper, when he was working in the service department. He needed a way to identify what parts should be used to repair guns, as they came into the service department. He concluded, correctly for his purposes, that all that was important was serial number, and not butt configuration. He arbitrarily designated all guns as 1905s, ignoring the butt configuration. This works for that purpose.

It does point out, however, that the internals of both butt configurations are identical, and that is always what the catalogs say.

From a collector perspective, I believe it does not work 'properly', because it loses the notion of the round butt frame. The historian will tell you, if you ask him, as I did, that 1902 means round butt, and 1905 means square butt. That is important, because both models, regardless of name changes they endured, survived for almost 100 years. Ultimately, the square butt frame was discontinued (10 to 20 years ago ), and only the round butt survives today.

Regards, Mike Priwer
 
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