Still confused on what model I have

[jbohn28]

Hello again all. I was happy to find this post and all the detailed input you all provided still existed.

It's been almost 11 years since I posted this and I've still never fired it nor done anything with it besides move it from Texas, to Virginia, to Florida, and now to Maryland. So I think it's time to try and move it on to a good home someplace else.

I'd like to post over in the for sale section, but don't know what a good price would be. Given it's pretty rough condition, would anyone be willing to throw a fair value on it as a starting point?

As always, thank you all for the knowledge and wisdom.

Jeremy

 

[delcrossv]

A good way to initially value a gun is to go to Gunbroker, click on advanced search, choose completed items,and look up ..32-20 Smith .

 

[daddio202]

So you can basically just call it a Smith&Wesson M&P 32-20. You could look on gunbroker under advanced search then type the S&W M&P 32-20 in completed items and will give you all the recent prices but be sure to check they were actually sold. Yours is a descent shooter grade with possibly original grips. You could set a reserve at $250 or $300 and you may get lucky but the $250 to $300 is all it is worth if you ask me. I bought a similar model to yours in 32-20 for $300 and it is in better shape. Try $300 if no bights then you can try $250. The picture is of my all original $300 gun. Good luck

 

[bill-in-texas]

I don't know when this gun shipped, but I believe it was built before the wartime production. You simply don't see the high polish and deep black on the guns that we KNOW are postwar production.

For some reason, S&W seems to have been very slow getting back into production after WW I. Control of the factory was returned to them in Jan, 1919, but I have not seen a gun that letters to 1919. I'm sure there are some, but I haven't had one. If you have one, please tell us about it.

I'm also not convinced Gold medallions were ever reordered by the factory after the wartime production. I'm also not convinced that many, IF any, gold medallion grips were produced after the War. Perhaps the last of them were used up, but I've seen non medallion grips on what I believe are some of the earliest post-war guns.
Again, does anyone have a 1919 or 1920 gun with the duller post-war finish that positively has ORIGINAL, undoubtable, gold medallions? I haven't seen one. Again I'll stress that a high polish gun shipped after the war MAY be a vault gun built before the war...

Lee,

Are you including all S&W hand ejectors in your above reference?*

Maybe, (or very likely?) my .38 "RP" was made prior to the government commandeering production for the war effort.

I'd say it has a high blue finish, yet it shipped April, 1919 according to Roy Jinks.

-Bill

Do These Pictures Help Answer the Question?







*Edit: Mea culpa. I now see your original post that I quote, Lee, is 9 years old!

 

[daddio202]

The op gun is truly a (.32-20 Hand ejector model of 1905 4th change) but I think only us collectors and aficionados would truly boil it down to that. So most people looking for an old shooter and many of local gun stores would just call it a (m&p 32-20). Some would call it a pre model 10 if it was in 38 special and label it rare for the sale. Either m&p or hand ejector in 32-20 works for me as a quick reference.

 

[delcrossv]

For some reason, S&W seems to have been very slow getting back into production after WW I. Control of the factory was returned to them in Jan, 1919, but I have not seen a gun that letters to 1919. I'm sure there are some, but I haven't had one. If you have one, please tell us about it.

I'm also not convinced Gold medallions were ever reordered by the factory after the wartime production. I'm also not convinced that many, IF any, gold medallion grips were produced after the War. Perhaps the last of them were used up, but I've seen non medallion grips on what I believe are some of the earliest post-war guns.

Don't know if it was a vault relict, but....
Shipped May 1919

 

[delcrossv]

Don't know how this slipped out the door, but it was shipped March 1918 per Roy. As you can see, it has the duller "WWI" finish. Grips number to gun.

 

[JSR III]

FWIW, I just checked my database for the .22/32 HFT's and I have 15 entries for guns shipped in 1919. These start in April and go through December. I only show one gun having shipped in 1918.

Remember this sampling does not reflect every gun that S&W shipped, only those that have come to my attention. I am positive that there are more.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

I have never seen anyone on this forum reference "Smith & Wesson Handguns" by Roy C. McHenry and Walter F. Roper. Both gentlemen were S&W employees during the period when these models were current production. They gathered the information for their book during their employment prior to WWII. Mr. McHenry was, at least un-officially, S&W Historian during this time, much as Roy Jinks has been for years. They make reference in their book to the .32-20 Hand Ejector as the "Winchester Model", not .32-20 M&P! Unfortunately I have not seen Roy take a stand on this issue. And, yes, Walter F. Roper is THAT Walter F. Roper."
Hold on! Roy McHenry was NEVER an employee of Smith & Wesson. Roy McHenry was NEVER the un-Official historian for Smith & Wesson.Don't put Roy Jinks in the same sentence with McHenry, they couldn't be more different. Ever wonder why Roper left Smith & Wesson, only to leave his next employer soon after arriving? The reason reason you never hear anyone reference "Smith & Wesson Handguns" by Roy C. McHenry and Walter F. Roper", is simple. Read it, then read "History of Smith & Wesson", by Roy G. Jinks", or "Smith & Wesson 1857-1945" by Neal & Jinks". If you don't have either of these 2, I suggest you get a copy. Then you'll see why.
A book detailing all the errors in that book would be about twice its size. It would take up way too much of Roy's time explaining all the errors in that book.

 

[jbohn28]

Thanks daddio. Yours looks to be in much better condition, but I think it's a good starting point to give it a whirl.

Jeremy

 

[handejector]

I'd say it has a high blue finish, yet it shipped April, 1919 according to Roy Jinks.

-Bill

Do These Pictures Help Answer the Question?

That is the Post-War finish.
If you place it beside a high condition gun from before the War or a 1930s gun, the difference will be apparent.
The Post-War guns are not ugly, they just did not polish them with the last grit or two of compound that they used before the War.


By about 1930, they were back to the very high polish. When wartime production was begun for WW II, they again dropped a grit or two.
People here often say that the "Pre-Victory" BSRs and 38 M&Ps had the "commercial blue finish". They did NOT. They were blue, but once the BSRs became the dominant product, at least one grit was dropped from polishing and they certainly do not match the "commercial blue" of the preceding 10 years! Again, it is easy to see by simply putting a 600,000 gun beside a 'wartime' gun, like these-

Note the difference: