Probably a just plinker.

[needsmostuff]

Having always been curious about 32-20 I went impulsive at at a gun show.Not once but twice within 10 minutes.First one was a Colt Police Positive Special.A whimpy 4" thing, O the shame. A few tables down was the unit in question ,a 5" 32-20 HE 4th change.With a ser.# of 1425xx it seems to be late in the series.(any help with a date would be appreciated.) The disturbing thing is that it's parkerized ?.I do not think S&W ever did this and its only the proximity to the war years and victorys that prompts me to ask.Could this have been done as second line of defense (security guard ect.)or maybe some other country contract ? Probably just a hokey refinish (stocks ect.) but better to ask first before having to much fun with it. All comments encouraged as I got into them cheaply as plinkers and it won't hurt any feelings.Besides the Smith has kind of a funky charm,

 

[needsmostuff]

Having always been curious about 32-20 I went impulsive at at a gun show.Not once but twice within 10 minutes.First one was a Colt Police Positive Special.A whimpy 4" thing, O the shame. A few tables down was the unit in question ,a 5" 32-20 HE 4th change.With a ser.# of 1425xx it seems to be late in the series.(any help with a date would be appreciated.) The disturbing thing is that it's parkerized ?.I do not think S&W ever did this and its only the proximity to the war years and victorys that prompts me to ask.Could this have been done as second line of defense (security guard ect.)or maybe some other country contract ? Probably just a hokey refinish (stocks ect.) but better to ask first before having to much fun with it. All comments encouraged as I got into them cheaply as plinkers and it won't hurt any feelings.Besides the Smith has kind of a funky charm,

 

[sigp220.45]

I like 'em both!

Can't answer your questions about the finish on the Smith, but you're probably on the right track about it being a refinish.

 

[Art Doc]

It's refinished.

Should be fun to play with.

As I recall the cylinders weren't tempered until 165,000 or so and you'll want to keep that in mind when loading for it.

 

[mikepriwer]

The 32-20 is definitely, positively, refinished.
There were no parkerizsed 32/20's - actually
there were no parkerized S&W's -period. It was
actually a sand-blast blue finish.

The gun is towards the end of the 32/20
production - probably 1936 to 1938. The highest
serial number in the 32/20 series is about
144,xxx .

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[DWFAN]

Mike, it seems to me that Roy mentioned that some M&P's did get Parkerized but the practice was discontinued due to copyrite infringments. There was also the midnight black finish.
Paul

 

[mikepriwer]

Paul

"Never say never" is probably a safer approach !

I don't know, for an absolute fact, if there are any parkerized
Victories. Production during WW2 was very very high - like about
800,000 Victories in about 3 years. The production floor was
dedicated to the war effort, and I suspect that the military was
all over the place - like a cheap suit !

I would think, and this is only an exercise in logic, that
if there was a faster way to crank out the guns during the war,
they would have done it. I would also think that if such a faster
way required some royalty to be paid, it would have been worked
out, one way or another.

Its possible they may have experimented with parkerizing, and
when confronted with a royalty, decided it was against family
policy, and dropped it. I don't know - perhaps someone ought
to ask Roy - again !

I do know that there was no production parkerized Victories.
The finish that most of us get confused with parkerizing was
sand-blast blue. I don't know about this midnight black, or
whatever it was. Also, a lot of what we see in Victories are
refinished - at least once. Indeed, a lot of these may be
parkerized, but those are refinishes - I believe.

Maybe Charlie Flick has some comments on this topic.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[john purcell]

My pardner on the paragould, arkansas PD in 1963 hhad been a guard at st louis small arms during ww2. He was allowed to purchase his issue pistol which he still carried. It was a a blued 6 inch S&W 32-20. He said his pardner had a44 spec which he also bought. So plant guards had a wide viraty of handguns. John

 

[MikeyL]

Needsmostuff: JFS&G, I started dinking around with .32-20 about six years ago. I now have a bunch of 'em: Colt Army Model, two Colt Bisleys, a Winchester Model 1885,a Model 1892 and a Ruger .32 H&R Mag/32-20 convertible Bisley! Simply put, it is a fun cartridge and sooo easy to shoot! Loading is easy, and if you have anyone in the family that is recoil sensitive, this is a great teaching gun as well. You'll have fun with your new toys!

MikeyL
S&WCA #2010

 

[needsmostuff]

Thanks to all for insights and opinions.I now feel free to have fun with it as a plinker and maybe save it as a anti-barbeque gun. HHMMMM maybe a thread about things that are just plain wrong to do to a SMITH. Food for thought.Time to pull up Midway and get some brass.

 

[Muley Gil]

Enjoy those .32-20s. I have a number of guns chambered for that grand old cartridge-several Smiths, including a target model, several PPSs, an Offical Police, a Cimmaron 7/8 scale single action with an interchangable .32 magnum cylinder, a full size Uberti single action, a Martini Cadet, and a Marlin 1894CL.

Both Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton owned .32-20s and if they were good enough for those gunny types, they are good enough for me.

 

[sigp220.45]

I've got a good friend on the local PD who began his career as a cop in Hailey, Idaho, about 30 years ago. At that time he said "anybody who was anybody" on that PD carried a .32/20 revolver. He went out and rounded up an appropriate Smith and carried it until he changed departments. He still has it (and about a dozen others just like it) and never felt under-armed carrying it.