Round Butt vs Square Butt - Follow the Catalogs
Insofar as what was available, and what was being sold, I'm a big believer in following
the catalogs. There are arguments that marketing was slow in updating these documents,
but these are what the dealers were ordering from. Except, of course, special orders.
As far as I can tell, the 2" square butt was never cataloged before 1939 or 1940. The 2"
barrel was only offered, in the catalogs, in round butt, at least as of 1938 . Here is a
clipping from the 1937 - 1938 catalog:
We know there are 2" square butts made prior to this date, but, generally, the market
was not officially aware of it, judging by the catalogs. Clearly, some knew about it,
but not the general marketplace. So, prior to 1937 - 1938, square butt 2" guns ought
to be very scarce, on this basis alone.
These next two clippings are from the 1940 All Model Circular:
You'll notice that 2" barrel lengths are now offered in both round butt, and square butt.
Of course, this is leading into WW2, so I don't know how many 2" K-frames were
actually made.
I now skip ahead to the 1950 All Model Circular:
Here again we see that the 2" barrel is being offered in both butt configurations. Also
noteable is the very large price increase over the 1940 prices - almost a 70% increase.
We also notice that the AMC is reasonably in sync with engineering. The guns are
referred to as " The New .38 Military & Police", and the pictures show the redesigned
fish-hook hammer.
Regards, Mike Priwer
Insofar as what was available, and what was being sold, I'm a big believer in following
the catalogs. There are arguments that marketing was slow in updating these documents,
but these are what the dealers were ordering from. Except, of course, special orders.
As far as I can tell, the 2" square butt was never cataloged before 1939 or 1940. The 2"
barrel was only offered, in the catalogs, in round butt, at least as of 1938 . Here is a
clipping from the 1937 - 1938 catalog:
We know there are 2" square butts made prior to this date, but, generally, the market
was not officially aware of it, judging by the catalogs. Clearly, some knew about it,
but not the general marketplace. So, prior to 1937 - 1938, square butt 2" guns ought
to be very scarce, on this basis alone.
These next two clippings are from the 1940 All Model Circular:
You'll notice that 2" barrel lengths are now offered in both round butt, and square butt.
Of course, this is leading into WW2, so I don't know how many 2" K-frames were
actually made.
I now skip ahead to the 1950 All Model Circular:
Here again we see that the 2" barrel is being offered in both butt configurations. Also
noteable is the very large price increase over the 1940 prices - almost a 70% increase.
We also notice that the AMC is reasonably in sync with engineering. The guns are
referred to as " The New .38 Military & Police", and the pictures show the redesigned
fish-hook hammer.
Regards, Mike Priwer
