32 SW Smith & Wesson DA Safety hammerless question

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WE0H

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Wednesday afternoon I was in an antique store in Kentucky and seen a 32 Smith & Wesson DA Safety Hammerless break top blue finish with a 3.5" barrel. It is nearly flawless and tight as my low time 586-2. The bore is shiny as a new bore would be. Is this anything special or just another old revolver?

I have been buying old 32 Iver Johnson & H&R revolvers & a 38 Iver Johnson. Never seen a Smith & Wesson 32 revolver in person before :)

tnx,
Mike
 
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A little looking around and I understand this is a third model made from 1909-1937 S/N range 163082-242981.

No clue on the value. Might have to find a local gun shop with someone knowledgeable in S&W's to figure that out.

Mike
 
I have its "Hand Ejector" cousin. Based on your description, if it's less than $400, I'd buy it. The nice thing about the old 32 and 38 S&W Smiths is that few people want them due to lack of knowledge or because they aren't good choices for SD. You can sometimes find a nice example for next to nothing.

What price did they have on it?

Chris
 
$380 out the door including tax :) I was hesitant at first but had some time to search online while at the store and kept coming up with values in excess of $400, so I said I'll take it :p Just couldn't see leaving something that nice behind wondering if I should have bought it or walked away. I have done that so many times on other gun's that I have seen in my travels. Not this time, she's mine now ;)

I have been traveling for the past two months around the country and bought a H&R Young America 32, a Iver Johnson 38 break top, and this S&W 32 Third Model. This trip has been good to me :) I'll post pictures when I get home this weekend.

Mike
 
I have seen nice .32 breaktop Smiths go for $600. I paid that for a blued one NIB with all the papers. Blued ones are less common, as most were nickel plated. A word of caution, though. Some folks (like me) have taken guns with flaking nickel, had the plating removed electrically, then polished and reblued the gun. It does take a good eye to tell them from originally blued guns. (The wood grips are Model 36 grips; they fit the frame fine, just a bit long.)

http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=46555&d=1241579444

Jim
 
Hi Jim,

Those two revolvers look awesome. I also bought a 38 Hammerless break top Iver Johnson on this trip which is nickle plated and could use either a replate or what you did by bluing. Can you explain how you removed the plating and what bluing process you used? They look like factory bluing ;)

tnx,
Mike
 
They use different techniques today, but those old guns were electroplated. Removing the nickel involves simply reversing the process and that can be done by any good plating shop. (Most of them deal mainly with dinner ware, trophys and the like, so talk to them first; don't just waltz in with a gun.)

Once the nickel plating is gone, you polish the gun in the normal way. With a sideplate gun, you polish the gun with the sideplate on so there is no gap. Polish with a hard wheel or by hand using a sanding block to avoid dishing holes. The result won't fool an expert, but those guns of mine turned out pretty good. Copies are available of most old grips, since so many were made of hard rubber (gutta percha) and are broken or cracked.

The bluing is regular caustic blue (tank blue). Altering the polishing method can give anything from a soft blue to a hard black blue more like the original.

Jim
 
Pictures as promised. I cleaned a little grime she had on her and oiled her heavily. There are some scratches that I would like to get repaired if possible without messing with the value. Other than that, she looks damn nice in my eye's :p

SW-3rd-Model-1.JPG


SW-3rd-Model-2.JPG


SW-3rd-Model-3.JPG


Side plate is actually jet black. The lighting shows it as brown :rolleyes:
SW-3rd-Model-4.JPG


Mike
 
Very nice... a 32 "lemon squeezer" is still on my list to buy... ( I need one to go with my 38 )

attachment.php


don't know if the 32's geometry is similar, but I don't really like shooting my 38... it's longer in the frame between the grip & the cylinder, than my other top breaks, & I don't feel it balances as well... irregardless, I still want a 32 "squeezer" to sit in the safe next to the 38...
 
If I could post this question here, since there has been some references to bluing, what is "straw bluing, assuming I have the term correct? In the back of my mind I have the notion that it's something used only for small parts, especially on automatics. And also, when restoring old firearms, what is the best thing to do with case hardened parts, which I suspect, often as not, nothing may even be necessary.
 
I just looked at my IJ 38 and IJ 32 break top's side by side and notice the length from the grip to the trigger is much longer on the 38.

Mike
 
Hi, Bluetrain,

"Straw bluing" would be an incorrect term, since it is not blue. It is a yellowish or golden ("straw") color which results from the heat treatment of parts. Originally a simple byproduct of the the heating, it was later done for decorative purposes by careful control of the temperature. It is not very permanent, but looks great when new. A prime example is the Luger; Pre-WWII era Lugers have the trigger, safety, magazine catch, takedown latch and ejector straw colored. Combined with the soft rust blue also used in that era, the result is a beautiful firearm.

Jim
 
a pic of my S&W topbreaks ,I have one blue gun in my small collection, Jim the attachment in your previous post ,are those your guns ?
1003001o.jpg
 
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