Was there a 32 "Kit Gun"?

[wrangler5]

My favorite 22 handgun is a Mod 35 with a 4" barrel, something which I gather was not uncommon. I have recently discovered the joys of 32 caliber revolvers, and picked up a 3" 31-1. It's a neat little gun to shoot, but most of my loads tend to hit right.

Which has me wondering if S&W ever made a 32 caliber analog to my 22 - adjustable rear and ramp front sights with a 4" or so barrel?

 

[M29since14]

I think you will have to make one. I have never heard of a factory model like that.

I agree with you 100% that a .32 kit gun is a great idea. The great Hamilton Bowen made mine and I would change a few things if doing it over, but as it is, I would not want to do without it.

 

[Bastogne71]

Yes, the model 631 in 32 magnum with a 4" barrel and adjustable sights. Other than a round butt, it's identical to my M-63 kit gun in 22lr. The downside is that they haven't been made in 25 years so they are hard to find and high dollar when you do find one.

 

[weatherby]

They did make some similar to what you are looking for.
See this thread for an example.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...st-32-regulation-police-target-revolvers.html


I picked this up a few years ago now made quite similar to those.

 

[M29since14]

Thanks for linking David's thread. As is normal for me, somehow I had missed it. David's threads are always excellent.

 

[murphydog]

A Forum member made his own by adding an adjustable sight set to his model 30 or 31, but the factory did not make one in carbon steel as a regular production item.

 

[JP@AK]

My favorite 22 handgun is a Mod 35 with a 4" barrel

Are you sure? The Model 35 was not the Kit Gun, it was the .22/32 Target model and it had a 6" barrel. The 4" Kit Gun was labeled as the Model 34. (A 2" version was also available.)

 

[SuperMan]

.most anything is possible. I had a pre-34 2" that someone had a 35 barrel put on...very accurate gun that another forum member now owns...

A friend that I am going shooting with this afternoon has one of the 631 4" Kit Guns..it is one of his favorites. Wish I had purchased one when I had the chance...

Smith also made 3" guns in stainless and blackened stainless in .327 Federal with a PowerPort compensator at the end...another that I had in my hands and passed on...

Bob

Bob

 

[wrangler5]

Are you sure? The Model 35 was not the Kit Gun, it was the .22/32 Target model and it had a 6" barrel. The 4" Kit Gun was labeled as the Model 34. (A 2" version was also available.)

I know. Mine is a square butt that says Mod 35 under the yoke, but has a 4" barrel with the ramp sight. I inquired here about its age before I bought it, looking for C&R eligibility. I was told about the 34/35 differences, and that despite the usual rules, it was not unusual to see a gun marked 35 with a 34 barrel.

I think of it as a Kit Gun because it (mostly) fits the image of that model that is imprinted on my brain from the days when I basically memorized a Shooter's Bible (1955 edition, I think it was.) I still mentally translate 14 and 19 into K22 and Combat Magnum (both of which I have owned) when I see those model numbers in a thread. Old habits . . .

 

[wrangler5]

Yes, the model 631 in 32 magnum with a 4" barrel and adjustable sights. Other than a round butt, it's identical to my M-63 kit gun in 22lr. The downside is that they haven't been made in 25 years so they are hard to find and high dollar when you do find one.

I wasn't aware of this one. I AM aware of the 632, which I think once was made in 32 H&R Mag as a snubnose, and later as a 3 inch-or-so with port ahead of the front sight, in 327 Federal. I'd probably take one of those, despite its somewhat space-gun looks (to me) except the ones I see on Gunbroker seem to be in the $1500-2000 range. Maybe if I win the lottery . . .

I was hoping that there was a blue steel, adjustable sight model in 32 Long, but apparently that never happened at the factory. Probably why I couldn't find one, despite a fair bit of looking before I posted the question. So I guess I'll just learn to lean a bit left with my Model 31, and enjoy it.

 

[H Richard]

Pre War they made 32 Hand Ejector "Targets", but they are as scarce as many other ones, and demand a pretty high price when you do find one.

 

[Alk8944]

While there were other models in .32 S&W Long that resembled the "Kit Gun" concept as seen in the Model 34, there were only a few that S&W actually named "Kit Gun". These were something like 40 of the Model 631 ".32 Magnum Target" which were produced as a special order in 1998 which were actually marked on the barrel as "Kit Gun". The 4" Model 631 was identical to the "Kit Gun" variant, and only produced in 1990, with some 5,000+ being made. Pretty much everyone I know who knows what a 631 is calls them a .32 "Kit Gun", even though it isn't strictly correct!

FWIW, the 631 should have been the Model 630, since it was a round butt frame. The Model 31 was a square butt Model J Frame!

I have always thought a 4" round butt Model 12 with target sights would have been a better "Kit Gun" than the .22-.32!

 

[22hipower]

Pretty close to a .32 "kit gun" I think. Found this 631 in 32 H&R Mag at a Bass Pro, mis-marked as a model 63; $500 in 2009.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[wrangler5]

That's exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for the reference.

 

[Bastogne71]

The round butt is a model 631 in 32 mag and the square butt is a model 63 no dash in 22lr for your comparison. I liked the combat stocks that came on the 631 so I got a pair for the 63 back when they were reasonably priced. I've always considered the M631 as a center fire kit gun although S&W didn't label it that way.