Hi All,
I was researching my uncle's gun that I just acquired from his son/my first cousin and came across this forum and it led me to this post. I realize it's a few years old but it seems the thread is still active.
As you see, you have entered a Proper Terminology Enforcement Zone.
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.
I'm a little confused by that. My uncle's gun is in the original box with matching serial number. There is a S&W brochure inside the box that's dated 1955 and on it and there are references to both a
- Model 32 - .38 Terrier
- Model 33 - .38 Regulation Police
So it seems to me that
- S&W
did use
both the model number and the model name to refer to these guns, at least in paperwork for some period of time
and
- the model number precedes the caliber...so why wouldn't it be called a "32/.38" vs. a ".38/32" -?
Anyway, interesting stuff. My uncle's gun is marked "Mod 33-1" on the gun and on the paper label on one box end. The box itself is stamped "Model 33" and ".38 Regulation Police" on the other end.
I'll post some pics of my uncle's gun when I figure out the posting protocols. It's pretty toasty, fired a very few times and then put up in the original box, with the brochure inside and some really thick S&W marked paper. It's all still very tight.
My cousin told me that sometime in early 60's, my uncle sold one of his shotguns to get money to buy a "S&W .38" someone had but when he went to get it, it was already sold or the person renigged on the sale, whatever. He was disappointed but that was that. Several months later or even the next year, my aunt bought him one for his birthday or their anniversary with her egg, baby chicks, and sewing money...but it turned out he actually wanted a .38 S&W
Special"...so even though it wasn't actually what he wanted, he thanked my aunt profusely for the gift since she was beaming over having bought him what he wanted so much, shot the gun a few times, then put it up on the top shelf of the closet in his gun room, and secretly -so as to not hurt his wife's feelings- purchased another, similar revolver but in .38 S&W Special.
My cousin told me his dad confided in him when he was around 12 or 13 and swore him to secrecy...but a few years ago (after his dad died), his mom gave him this gun that she had bought about 50 years previously and mentioned in passing that she found out she had bought him the wrong gun and that he had secretly bought a 'replacement' for it. He asked her if she ever told him that she knew and she said something like
"No, we loved each other too much to share all our secrets." or something like that.
I like how women
used to understand that a secret gun purchase was actually an act of love by their husbands!
