K32 HE Target 1st Model

[CptCurl]

Well guys and gals,

One of the very earliest K32 revolvers just went to auction at RIA two days ago.

I snatched the photos of this rare piece. Click for huge photos.

I could only sit there and drool. Didn't even try to get in the bidding. I hope it has a good, warm, happy new home.

Curly

 

[S&W ucla]

That is beautiful! Do you remember the hammer price?

 

[22hipower]

Yes, very nice gun. And it hammered for $2k less than RIA's low estimate of $8k. There was another in the August RIA auction, or maybe another auction earlier in the year. Two showing up for sale in one year is unusual I think. I don't remember what the other one sold for, but I think more than this one.

Smith & Wesson K-32 Hand Ejector First Model Target Revolver | Rock Island Auction

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[rct269]

Well, my K-32 First Model, shipped March 25, 1940, was even scruffier than I thought compared to this close kin. David Carroll appraised it at 95% for me when I was trying to trade it for a new in box 6" 2nd Model Single Shot. So 95% it was, but more than a little of the missing was due to poor handling. The folks with the single shot very wisely turned me down. It sold during the recent liquidation of my collection for $7135---about what you'd figure the single shot would fetch.

There were two K-32 1st's at my first SWCA annual meeting (Knoxville-2000). Seems like one was tagged at $20,000, the other at $22,000---both were pristine---like to die for-----don't know if either sold there or not.

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Retired W4]

A 2nd Model single shot is on my want list to fill that void. Over 7 grand?1? Wow.

That was quite an auction. A friend kept calling me...You won't believe what Such & Such just hammered for!!

 

[CptCurl]

Looks like the one I posted in starting this thread did not meet its reserve. RIA has posted the realized prices for their latest auction. There is no price realized posted for this revolver. In all likelihood, we will see it offered again.

Smith & Wesson K-32 Hand Ejector First Model Target Revolver | Rock Island Auction

If my memory serves me well, it hammered at $6k.

Curly

 

[22hipower]

Went back to where I thought I saw one sell earlier in the year, turns out it was the same gun in RIA's May 17 premier auction with estimates of $9k to $14K instead of the $8k to $12k in last weekend's auction. No "realized price" listed then either so same conclusion, it didn't meet a reserve.

Another one did sell in that same auction for $6463.

Smith & Wesson K-32 First Model Target Revolver with Letter | Rock Island Auction

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[DCWilson]

This is pretty minor, but I'd like to correct an error in the reported name of the business that ordered the revolver for Mr. Palla. It should be Von Lengerke & Antoine, not Antonio. VL&A was a major sporting goods business in Chicago in the first half of the 20th century. A national competitor was Abercrombie & Fitch, which eventually acquired VL&A after a prolonged period of competition.

I couldn't find a Walter L. Palla in Illinois in the 1930 or 1940 census, but there are dozens of individuals in Cook County with the Palla surname. If the recipient of the revolver was misentered in or misread from the shipping ledgers, variants like Pala, Palo, Pallo, and even Pawla are also found in the census and may be considered candidates for purchaser. There is no one with the surname or an alternative in Princeton, which is located in Bureau County just over 100 miles WSW of Chicago. He might be identifiable in a mid-1930s City Directory, but I didn't pursue the possibility.

EDITED TO ADD: OK, I found a reasonable candidate under a similar surname: Walter Leon Balla, born Bureau County IL 24 Jun 1896 (but other birth years are reported). Died 2 Jun 1964, FL. Buried in Bureau County, IL. In 1930 he resided in Chicago and worked as a Stenographer for an Electrical Firm. The firm is apparently Commonwealth Edison according to his WWII draft registration card.

Draft Card image attached:

Findagrave: Walter Leon Balla (1892-1964) - Find a Grave Memorial

No guarantees here, but it feels like a pretty good initial case could be made for this guy. On the other hand that case could be either weakened or strengthened with additional research.

 

[CptCurl]

I can't help but wonder where S&W came up with the barrel on this revolver. Sure, they were making scads of .32 Long barrels for the I-frame revolvers at that time. But this was years before the K32 was conceived as a regular offering. It's truly a one-off at the time, from a reading of the factory letter.

Here is a crop from the closer photo of the right side of the barrel:

I see something of interest. There is some irregularity in the barrel contour around the barrel roll mark. Look how wavy the contours seem to be.

Could it be that a K-frame .32-20 barrel was used with its roll mark scrubbed off and a roll mark for the .32 Long applied? For comparison, here's a relatively contemporary roll mark on one of my .32 RP revolvers:

Curly

 

[murphydog]

I can't help but wonder where S&W came up with the barrel on this revolver. Sure, they were making scads of .32 Long barrels for the I-frame revolvers at that time. But this was years before the K32 was conceived as a regular offering. It's truly a one-off at the time, from a reading of the factory letter.

Here is a crop from the closer photo of the right side of the barrel:

I see something of interest. There is some irregularity in the barrel contour around the barrel roll mark. Look how wavy the contours seem to be.

Could it be that a K-frame .32-20 barrel was used with its roll mark scrubbed off and a roll mark for the .32 Long applied? For comparison, here's a relatively contemporary roll mark on one of my .32 RP revolvers:

Curly

The .32-20 barrel may have been a candidate, but it would have had to have been intended for a Target. If one of those was no longer in stock by the late 1930s a K-22 or .38 M & P barrel blank would have been used.

I think the lack of "dingbats" on the barrel rollmark indicate it was a one-off or limited procedure. The one on the RP looks identical.

 

[DCWilson]

A Table of K-32 First Model Target Serial Numbers

There is clearly a lot of continuing interest in the Pre-WWII K-32 First Model target revolvers, so I thought I would make available the table I keep in case others would find it useful.

The Key explains the meaning of text color and weight, bordered or empty cells, and so on. The table will fit on a single 11 x 14 page if anyone wants to print it out.

 

[treysl78]

Great Info David.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Rigmover]

Thank you Mr. Wilson for sharing that list of the serial numbers of the K 32 First models. How many were shipped before April 15, 1938. as they were called Pre K 32 first models.

 

[Memphis]

Wow, not seen often (read ever). Ain't this like the gun sitting atop this very Forum, when you log in.. (except for the "handles").

Roger

 

[DCWilson]

Thank you Mr. Wilson for sharing that list of the serial numbers of the K 32 First models. How many were shipped before April 15, 1938. as they were called Pre K 32 first models.

I don't have ship dates for a lot of these revolvers, but it looks as though K-frames in other calibers (.22LR, .38 Special) with serial numbers in the 670xxx range were shipping as early as March-May of 1938. Some revolvers in this range didn't ship until 1939. It looks as though most (and perhaps all) K-frames with serial numbers in the 673xxx and 675xxx ranges shipped in 1939.

I would say that the 670xxx K32 revolvers in this table MAY have been classified as K32 First Models, and specimens with higher serial numbers would definitely be so classified. I have 675702, which shipped to Montpelier, VT on 24 Jun 1939.