S&W Model 32 Terrier in .38 SW

[shreaddogfilms]

Morning everyone, I am new to your great forum, what a great place, thanks.

I just acquired a S&W model 32 Terrier in .38 S&W 2- inch
it is in as new condition, there are no outward signs of firing.
I was wondering if someone could assist in determining it's
year of birth.
S/N 6608x.
Thanks very much all.
shreaddog.

 

[Art Doc]

Is it stamped as a Model 32? If so, it was made between 1957 and 1961. In 1961 the 32-1 came out.

I think the -1 was when the J frame was used rather than the I frame as it was before then.

 

[dacoontz]

Yours likely shipped sometime between January and April of 1952 based on the partial serial number you shared.

 

[Art Doc]

d is right. I have one with an 80,000 number I figure was made around 1955. With a 66,000 number it can't possibly be model marked so why are you calling it a Model 32? I foolishly assumed you were calling it by its correct name.

 

[DCWilson]

Welcome to the forum. As you see, you have entered a Proper Terminology Enforcement Zone.

Congratulations on your acquisition. Terriers are very cool little revolvers.

S&W initiated the use of model numbers in 1957; before that models were identified by names. The standard convention for referring to the same model before numbers were established is to call them "Pre-" guns. Yours is a .38/32 Terrier, or Pre-32 for short.

The postwar small-frame revolvers ("I-frame") went through a lot of design development in a short period of time. The earliest ones are indistinguishable from their prewar predecessors (or almost so), but in short order obvious changes began to appear. If your gun has a flat mainspring, it is still in the early configuration. Soon after small-frame revolver production resumed, the company went to a coil mainspring. These guns are called "Improved I-frames."

You can tell what kind of mainspring you have by glancing at the bottom of the forestrap behind the trigger guard. If there is a screw there, that is the strain screw that tensions a flat spring. If there is no screw, you have a coil mainspring.

Or you could take the stocks off and check directly. As Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by looking."

Can you post pics? We love pics here.

 

[ar15ed]

welcome to the forum! we love terriers, and we definitely need pics!

 

[Green Frog]

Pictures, we gotta have pictures! Does the front of the grip frame have the strain screw for a flat mainspring or is it plain, indicating the presence of the later coil spring? Does the front sight look like a little half moon or is it more of a ramp style? What does the top edge of the grips look like... a little bump in the middle of each to fit the cutout in the frame, or a "swoop" up toward the back of the frame. Most importantly, is it available for trade? The Terriers are great little guns, congratulations on finding yours and welcome to the forum... you'll like it here.

Froggie

 

[shreaddogfilms]

Hi All

Sorry for the delay in getting back (at the motoGP)- fun.
The complete serial number on my Terrier is 66085, it
appears to be totally origional with no screw behind the trigger guard, it also has the half moon type of front sight.
It also has what I will call a "pinned" barrel, the gun appears to have never been discharged, other than test fired, very, very faint cylinder drag marks, and all screws have never seen a screwdriver, I would say wood, bluing, bore are 98%.

On the cylinder release button side of the barrel, it say's smith & wesson, on the opposite side it say's .38 S & W. CTG
Wondering if you all can tell me it's birthday.

Thanks to all

schreaddog

 

[DCWilson]

That serial number points to 1953 production.

 

[delmaxfield]

The 1953 is pretty close. We still lack some of the tricky indicators that zero in on a good estimate. Like the screw or no screw in the front of the grip.(Flat vs Coil), no screw on Trigger housing makes it newer, but the round sight almost makes it seem as though the descriptions are conflicting. A great little pistol none-the-less.
DM

 

[ALninNM]

I have what I presume is a mod 32 terrier, but it is overstamped 8 making it mod 38 1. sn R50058. It is 38 S&W, I have never seen overstamped frames before. Any inputs as to exactly what this is would be appreciated.

 

[gordonrick]

Terriers are really cool little guns. Mine is SN 582xx which is a little earlier than yours (1950/51?). Pictures are always appreciated.

Here's a picture of the Terrier flat main spring (bottom) for comparison to a Pre-Model 36 J-Frame with the coil spring (top).

 

[DCWilson]

I have what I presume is a mod 32 terrier, but it is overstamped 8 making it mod 38 1. sn R50058. It is 38 S&W, I have never seen overstamped frames before. Any inputs as to exactly what this is would be appreciated.

Overstrikes and mistrikes are not regularly found, but they are known. If you can ignore the overstrike and make the stamp read MOD 32-1, that's what you have.

The R prefix serial numbers came along in 1969. The Model 32 was dropped from production five years later after nearly four decades of on-and-off availability. I would think your gun was probably shipped in 1973 +/- a year based on the digit count after the R.

 

[ALninNM]

Thanks that is good info. I will try to get a pix. I am a shooter not a collector, saved this from a city buyback and destruction. Is it of any value to a collector? I do not know if the overstamp makes it rare, like with coins?!

 

[pbslinger]

The guy I bought mine from said it was kept in the desk of a small town sheriff. Mine is surprisingly accurate. They are definitely cutie pies.

 

[Hondo44]

shreaddog (welcome to the forum) and pbslinger,

You both have .38 Terrier early "Improved I frames". They are #2s in the evolution below. Later Improved I frames had a barrel rib and ramp front sight.

THE POST WAR .38 S&W Reg. Police and .38 S&W Terrier I FRAMES EVOLUTION:

1. Transitional: c. 1946, leaf main spring. .38 S&W beginning c. 1948 at # 54475; as high as 582XX w/rd top stocks. (all reportedly have new style hammer block). All have 5 screw frames.

a) Pre war/post war: leaf main spring. Most like the pre war models
b) Pure post war: leaf main spring. Actual .38 S&W production in volume didn't resume until about 1950, 54804 lowest and 58470 highest known shipped in July 1951.

2. Improved I: coil main spring .38 highest round sight 6867X [#68,XXX shipped 2/53], lowest known ramp site 701XX, 71983 highest. All have 5 screw frames.

3. Model of 1953 New I Frames: the "Pre-Model #s" 4 screws & 3 screws, all have ramp sight/ribbed barrel, enlarged trigger guard and lengthened grip frame, .38 highest 4 screw, old hammer # 7671X

4. Model #'d guns c.1957: .38s made on the J frame in early 1961, -1 added, Models became 32 & 33, c. #88XXX

 

[Malysh]

Congratulations on your new S&W.

I don't have any S&Ws in this caliber. I did obtain a 1952 Colt Cobra recently in 38 S&W aka 38 Colt New Police. Mine is the only proven example known to be made in this caliber for the Cobra that has a factory historical letter to back up it's provenance. Actually, we've never even seen a faked one either. A few hundred
38 NP Detective Specials were made but seemingly not so for the Cobra. I feel that perhaps Colt had special orders for a few dozen more but none have ever surfaced except this one.

I was able to get a box of mid 1950s ammo marked 38 NP instead of 38 S&W for photo and display purposes. I also picked up a new production box of Remington. Since the gun has some wear and is not pristine I decided I would shoot a couple of cylinder's worth of rounds to experience this caliber, which I have never shot before. Aside from the rareness of this gun, I don't plan to use it for self defense. I wouldn't want to get shot with one but I think there are far better calibers available than this venerable old cartridge that was first introduced in 1877.

Your Terrier sounds like a winner

 

[Nestor25150]

Hey guys thanks for sharing input! I have one as well and would apreciate your knowledge here are pics for you to see;
Thanks for helping!!


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[Nestor25150]

One more


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[Malysh]

Handsome looking gun, Nestor.

 

[Nestor25150]

Thanks i bought it yesterday at my LGS for 250.00 bucks.... It's in pretty nice shape and i'd like to know an average price range on it.... I also have a model 12 and a model 39 in 9mm. I'll share pics and maybe get some feedback.


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[tjpopkin]

The guy I bought mine from said it was kept in the desk of a small town sheriff. Mine is surprisingly accurate. They are definitely cutie pies.

I have both a blue and nickel one….

 

[HeyJoe]

nestor is that a round butt frame with square butt grips?

 

[Hondo44]

nester,

That's a little screamer. You did very well at that price, especially for an I frame .38 Terrier. It's just barely a model stamped example since they began in the 88XXX serial range, and I would date yours to 1958. It will have the 3rd style flat latch cyl release.

 

[OldDominion]

Welcome dog..I am green with envy! I have been beating the bushes to find a Terrier in the same serial # range as yours. According to my research, yours probably shipped from the factory in the spring of 1952. S&W is known for shipping out of sequence, but I am guessing that's when yours shipped out. Please post some photos when you can. At least I can look and dream. Lee

 

[KYThrill]

This seems the place to go to find out about Terriers, so here I go.

I have my grandfathers S&W Terrier and I would like to know as much about it as possible (date of manufacture, etc). It isn't stamped as a Model 32. It has a coil main spring instead of flat (no tension screw). But what confuses me about it is that it seems to have two sets of serial numbers. The numbers on the bottom of the strap are 71623. The number of the barrel and cylinder are also 71623. However the yoke is stamped 91498. Also the frame under the yoke is stamped 91498, with a larger 6 stamped above it and a small 1 (or maybe a 4, looks more like 1, but made by a 1 with a line at the bottom, vs the 1 in the serial number) stamped under it. Since the frame under the yoke and the back strap are all one piece, it means the frame is stamped with two different serial numbers.

My thoughts were that at some point it was sent back to S&W for repair, and the yoke was replaced. Then the factory stamped matching numbers on the frame and yoke to show that yoke mated to that frame? Any way to tell when the repair occurred from the extra numbers?

What can you guys tell me about it?

Thanks!

Pictures below:

 

[OldDominion]

This seems the place to go to find out about Terriers, so here I go.

I have my grandfathers S&W Terrier and I would like to know as much about it as possible (date of manufacture, etc). It isn't stamped as a Model 32. It has a coil main spring instead of flat (no tension screw). But what confuses me about it is that it seems to have two sets of serial numbers. The numbers on the bottom of the strap are 71623. The number of the barrel and cylinder are also 71623. However the yoke is stamped 91498. Also the frame under the yoke is stamped 91498, with a larger 6 stamped above it and a small 1 (or maybe a 4, looks more like 1, but made by a 1 with a line at the bottom, vs the 1 in the serial number) stamped under it. Since the frame under the yoke and the back strap are all one piece, it means the frame is stamped with two different serial numbers.

My thoughts were that at some point it was sent back to S&W for repair, and the yoke was replaced. Then the factory stamped matching numbers on the frame and yoke to show that yoke mated to that frame? Any way to tell when the repair occurred from the extra numbers?

What can you guys tell me about it?

Thanks!

Pictures below:

Welcome to the forum. Your Terrier is a real beauty. The serial number is the one on the bottom of the grip strap and on the cylinder face and under the barrel. The other numbers are assembly numbers from the factory. It most likely shipped from the factory in late 1952 or sometime in 1953. You can see that the front sight on yours is the newer ramp style which is different from the half moon of the earlier guns. The original stocks were checkered walnut "magna" stocks judging from the flat head screw under the knuckle there at the top of the grip frame and your Granddad added the mother of pearl fancies. Yours has been refinished at some time, because the factory didn't finish the hammer and trigger in nickel. If you very gently remove the pearl stocks (they crack easily) look for the letter N on the grip frame to see if it was originally a nickel gun. The letter B means it was blued. As for value...it was your Granddads, that's priceless. Lee

 

[LaVistaBill]

S&W Terrier

I'm a fan of the .38 S&W and have a few old Smith hinged-frame revolvers in this caliber. I acquired a Terrier, Pre-32, circa 1954 from a police supply, they had taken it in trade from a PD where it had been held in the evidence room after having been used in a shooting. I have always thought it was a very well-proportioned little revolver. A couple of years ago, I discovered Taurus was making a .380 ACP revolver (Model 380) that reminded me very much of my Terrier. The .380 ACP cartridge made today has a lot more usefulness for defense than the old .38 S&W and thought it would make a great gun for my wife. It uses "moon clips" so the empty cases can be ejected all at once and the clip acts like a speed-loader. It is DAO with a bobbed hammer and is still in the Taurus line-up for now...

 

[KYThrill]

Welcome to the forum. Your Terrier is a real beauty. The serial number is the one on the bottom of the grip strap and on the cylinder face and under the barrel. The other numbers are assembly numbers from the factory. It most likely shipped from the factory in late 1952 or sometime in 1953. You can see that the front sight on yours is the newer ramp style which is different from the half moon of the earlier guns. The original stocks were checkered walnut "magna" stocks judging from the flat head screw under the knuckle there at the top of the grip frame and your Granddad added the mother of pearl fancies. Yours has been refinished at some time, because the factory didn't finish the hammer and trigger in nickel. If you very gently remove the pearl stocks (they crack easily) look for the letter N on the grip frame to see if it was originally a nickel gun. The letter B means it was blued. As for value...it was your Granddads, that's priceless. Lee

I know that he added the pearl grips. I too believe he had it nickel plated at some point, but I don't know if it was originally blue or nickel. I do know the story was that he carried it in his pocket so much for so long that he rubbed all the finish off down to the bare metal, and had to have it refinished. Doesn't sound like nickel to me, and probably was more likely blued and then refinished in nickel.

I'm not too worried about value because its not for sale, and wouldn't be unless I'm in dire straits.

Thanks

 

[BRush]

Here is SN 52xxx, an old school Pup.