I have been eyeballing this at my favorite LGS/Range for some little while and finally decided to jump. It appears to be a pre-war Targetmaster, Serial # 47xxx. Pretty nice shape. Timed correctly. Nothing obviously buggered up. It will be a shooter. It is strange in one regard. The cylinder and barrel match each other but do not match the frame. Their number is 81247. The rib on the top of the barrel is somewhat wider than the one on my original and correct matching numbers 1948 vintage Targetmaster. And the grips that came on the "new" gun are absolutely hideous. They have "elephant ear" extensions going well up the sides on both sides of the revolver. They are either very well worn or were checkered very shallow. They do not match well and the screw and estucheons look "mickey mouse." I am GUESSING that at some point after WWII the owner decided that he wanted a .38 instead of a .32 and had it rebarrelled and recylindered by Smith. Could be other explanations of course but that it was I am guessing right now. I will very likely have it lettered. It is right now in CA gun jail but when I get it out I will post photos and a range report. Price was decent though not great ($600) and I expect to put a fair number of rounds downrange with it. If anybody has any different or better guesses I wouldn't mind hearing.
Last edited:
