Mod 30-1 "Gold Trigger, Hammer, and Cylinder Release"

[mlyle11]

Dear Forum Members,
Thank you in advance for reading and replying to this post. I have tried to research this 30-1 inherited from my uncle. While I have learned a lot about the 30-1, I have seen nothing on a gold trigger model. My uncle had a tendency to have things "gold plated" but the gold pieces seem too well done for his typical flair. I am skeptical none the less. Regardless this is a nice little gun and a great add to my collection.
Now for what I know.
2" barrel
S/N 725343 - Places it early 60's
Model: Stamped as "MOD." and below "30-1"
Left Side of barrel "SMITH&WESSON"
Right Side "32 S. & W. LONG"
Right Frame "MADE IN USA" "MARCAS REGISTRADAS" "SMITH & WESSON" (& simple is long or exaggerated) "SRINGFIELD, MASS"
Left Frame - THe S&W Embalem is worn. The gun was in a very tight holster where it had spent many years, but this doesnt explain the wear.

The gun is in very good condition with seemingly few rounds fired. He was a gun owner, not much of a shooter.
There is what I assume to be an aftermarket gold color finger groove added to the diamond checkered grips.

Is the gold legit or did he ruin the gun? None the less it looks like a great bedside companion! Value seems to be in the $300 range.

Pictures are failing to load. I will work on this tonight!

Thanks again!
Mike

 

[mod34]

All but certain the gold isn't factory. As to whether it ruined the value is in the eye of the beholder/collector. Some on this forum may consider this a BBQ gun, others, well.........
They made tons of this model and ones NIB are available to collectors.
Hang on to it as a tribute to your Uncle's tastes and enjoy it.

 

[mlyle11]

Thank you for the feed back Mod 34! I had a feeling it was too "blingy" to be legit. The entire gun may have been redone in hard chrome as well. I've never owned a nickle gun. This seems to shiney. I still can't get the pics up, so I sent them to youtube. Have a look and enjoy! Thanks!


http://youtu.be/hF7_POShPfQ

 

[Green Frog]

The hammer, trigger and thumb latch were almost certainly plated after leaving the factory by your grandfather or bought by him because he liked the way they looked. If you want to return it to original appearance, those parts can be replaced with easily obtained original factory parts. As for the "gold finger groove," you mention, that is an add-on device that was and still is popular to give a better hold. It looks like a Tyler T-grip, and is more often seen in natural silvery color or black anodized. It also can be removed if you wish, and the only evidence will be a couple of little scratches on the inside of the wooden grip panels from the spring clip that held the adaptor on.

Regards,
Froggie

PS If you can send me a digital photo or two of your pistol at <gfrog53 AT yahoo DOT com> (make obvious substitutions) I'll be happy to post it here for you.

 

[mlyle11]

Pic's on their way. Thank you Green Frog!

 

[Green Frog]

Here are Mike's pix. The Tyler T-grip and gold plated trigger, hammer and thumb piece are almost assuredly not factory, but pretty cool nonetheless!

 

[JCS&W]

I have seen many Smiths that had the "gold" added to them. Must have been a popular modification a while back. In fact, I found a one liner, .38 in a pawn shop about 22 or 23 months ago and bought it. I have left it as is rather than bring it back to original. T

 

[mlyle11]

Thanks all for the comments. Green Frog pointed me in the right direction. One mystery solved, and another on revealed.

Under the grips, the left frame is stamped B and the eject star is chrome as well, so now we now know it was origniall a blued gun.

The new mystery.... Hand engraved in the grip frame is "KCPD" followed by a 5 digit Alphanumeric code, the date 12-15-70, and three initials. My family is from Kansas City, so KCPD should be Kansas City Police Department. Might explain the worn S&W trade mark... it could have been a long term carry gun.

I plan now to just enjoy the gun the way it is and have fun shooting .32 longs! I have 9mm's and 357's, and I think this little long is a great addition!

Thanks Green Frog and all the others for your comments and direction. Just reconfirms my faith that the law abiding, gun owning community, is the greatest one on earth.

Merry Christmas all!

 

[bobf]

Some are still done, Talo did some using titanium nitride. This Lew Horton 29-10, 1 of 200, fired case is dated 12-9-11.

 

[A10]

The KCPD link makes me wonder if this wasn't a detective or commanding officers gun that was plated and presented upon retirement. Do you have any connections with the PD? Any resources you could search for names of retired officers? The PD connection certainly adds interest.

 

[nipster]

Looks like it was refinished too.

I have seen a couple of these that were done by "bubba", with gold spray paint. But they were all blue guns, not nickel.

 

[mlyle11]

The gun was certainly replated, and professionally done. I know now that it was blued from the factory. I am not sure if this is nickel with a brigtener added or hard crome. This is a little bit geeky, but I have an X-ray Refractometer (XRF) Plating Thickness checker (Fischer Scope) that can also verify nickle presence at work. I will see if it can be run on this gun. We use parts that are Zinc-Nickel plated and our lab has to check the percentages and thickness on incoming lots. It may not work because it is calibrated to check Zn at 85% and Ni at 15%.
There is no lifting, peeling, or flaking any where on the gun. I am guessing it was shot very little after the plating.

As far as history, that will be tough. My uncle was politically connected in Kansas City, and a big supporter of the PD. The initials are not his. There is no one left alive in my family that can trace the history. I have no problem reaching out to the PD to see if they can give me any history on the gun. i will have to figure out if KCPD is for KC Kansas or Missouri. We are form the Kansas side. Typically KCPD means Missouri, and KCKPD means Kansas, but they have both used the initials KCPD.

I will try and figure out why I cant post pictures, and get some shots of the engraving. If not I will ask for Green Frogs help agian.

Thanks for the comments all.

 

[notsofast]

Some are still done, Talo did some using titanium nitride. This Lew Horton 29-10, 1 of 200, fired case is dated 12-9-11.

Rb or sq.b, and who's grips?

 

[bobf]

Rb or sq.b, and who's grips?

Square butt, I don't know about the grips I haven't seen any like them.

Bob

 

[Buford57]

The new mystery.... Hand engraved in the grip frame is "KCPD" followed by a 5 digit Alphanumeric code, the date 12-15-70, and three initials. My family is from Kansas City, so KCPD should be Kansas City Police Department. Might explain the worn S&W trade mark... it could have been a long term carry gun.

"Hand engraved" as in scratched in with an awl, or like something you would see on a trophy? The latter would tend to indicate that it was a presentation, as you suggest. The former is more an indication that the gun was placed in evidence at some point, whether used in a crime or as recovered stolen property. This was to enable the officer to identify the gun on the witness stand ("I recognize it by my mark"). While I sometimes did that with knives, tools or even electronics, I considered it needless damage when the item (like this gun) already had a distinctive serial number. Others had no such scruples.

In days past it was not unusual for victims, family members or insurance companies to offer crime guns or guns on which a pay off had been made to the officers involved. I had any number of suicide guns offered to me by survivors - and a disturbing number who demanded the gun their loved one used to take their lives be returned to them, blood, brains and all.

So here's another theory - the revolver was placed in evidence and eventually released by the court. An officer obtained it and gave, sold or bartered it to your uncle, but it had suffered some finish damage (either before or during police custody) and he made it into a BBQ gun. The three initials are the original officer's and the date is the date it was seized. The 5-digit code is a case or report number, or the officer's ID number. Check with KCPD records for an officer with those initials and his/her reports for that date. If they are not willing to check back that far, try newspaper files at the public library. You may be surprised.

 

[Green Frog]

"Hand engraved" as in scratched in with an awl, or like something you would see on a trophy? The latter would tend to indicate that it was a presentation, as you suggest. The former is more an indication that the gun was placed in evidence at some point, whether used in a crime or as recovered stolen property...
So here's another theory - the revolver was placed in evidence and eventually released by the court. An officer obtained it and gave, sold or bartered it to your uncle, but it had suffered some finish damage (either before or during police custody) and he made it into a BBQ gun. The three initials are the original officer's and the date is the date it was seized. The 5-digit code is a case or report number, or the officer's ID number. Check with KCPD records for an officer with those initials and his/her reports for that date. If they are not willing to check back that far, try newspaper files at the public library. You may be surprised.

That's pretty much what I was saying, but much more succinctly stated! As for posting more pix, I'll be happy to, just send them on. Regardless, it's a really neat gun, an interesting if puzzling part of your family history, and of course would look real good at a Bar-B-Que!

Froggie