S&W 32 Long CTG

[Alabama-Bud]

I've looked through the website but can't find reference material on this. Hoping for any info on the model/age/name/etc. of this revolver I recently inherited:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/36737480/S&W32/S&W 32long revolver.jpg
it has wear/scratches from use; barrel reads:
32 LONG CTG
SMITH & WESSON SPRINGFIELD MASS. U.S.A.
PAT'D APR 9 1859 MAR 27 1894 MAY 21 1895
AUG 4 1896 DEC 22 1895 OCT 4 18?? OCT 8
1901 DEC 17 1901 SEPT 2 1902 JULY 7 1903

thanks for any info you can share or point me to,

 

[jrd1976]

Welcome to the forum.

The Standard Catalogue of Smith and Wesson is an excellent reference book. The 3rd addition is the latest.

Your gun appears to be of the early Hand Ejector series. We will need a serial number to narrow down the model and approximate shipping.

The serial number is located on the butt. Please include any letters or symbols before or after the numerals, but your gun probably does not have any. Ignore the numbers on the frame when you open the cylinder.

The serial number on the butt will identify the frame. Your gun appears to have been refinished and may have had the barrel replaced, so the barrel alone will not ID or date the gun.

 

[DCWilson]

Assuming the barrel is original, the patent dates suggest the gun would be a .32 Hand Ejector , Second Model (or Model of 1903) produced sometime between 1903 and 1909. The serial number from the butt would indeed help us narrow down the year the gun probably shipped. You can suppress the last two digits of the serial number if you want to keep some privacy -- 567xx, for example. I'm thinking that gun probably has a five-digit serial number, but because of the observed variation in S&W revolvers I wouldn't bet money on it. It could have a low six-digit number.

Those are not the original stocks. The gun probably came with molded "hard rubber" stocks, or possibly small walnut stocks without company medallions. I agree it has been refinished.

That is a 4.25" barrel, one of three optional lengths on these guns -- 3.25. 4.25 and 6.

 

[Dpris]

If you'd looked through the website much you would have seen in other posts that CTG is the caliber, not the model.
The serial is needed, as JRD says.
Denis

 

[Alabama-Bud]

thanks for the quick replies, sorry I forgot about the serial#--
Butt & Cylinder both numbered: 688xx

I didn't understand the remark that "CTG is the caliber"; apart from .32 Long, what does the "CTG" stand for?

 

[Dpris]

Cartridge.
As in .32 Long Cartridge.
There are other CTG threads on the site that mention what CTG means.
Denis

 

[Alabama-Bud]

aah, CTG=cartridge, seems so obvious now.
I was looking for "32" while I looked through the other threads, I'm sure I just skipped that info if it was associated with the other caliber's - thanks.

 

[Green Frog]

Unfortunately, S&W has always been rather casual about marking (or even formally assigning) Model Numbers or other model designations. Although it is a common mistake to think what they put on the barrel is a model, you can't always count on that being the case. Regardless, welcome aboard and enjoy your stay here. Your little 32 HE is a fine candidate for casual plinking, in fact that's where one of mine is going this afternoon.

Regards,
Froggie

 

[Alabama-Bud]

thanks for warm welcome Froggie - we just went shooting this past weekend and my 12yr old nephew was pegging the steel flip-target at 30yds. It is a nice little shooter.

 

[Alabama-Bud]

thanks for the reference suggestion jrd1976, I finally tracked down a Second edition at my local library - that should get me close enough for what I was curious about