Nice 32-20 S&W

A

Alex Johnson

New member
Picked this up at the local gunshop on Sunday for $200:D. From what I have been able to find it is a S&W 1905 hand ejector in 32 WCF late 1918 production. It had a set of Pachmayrs on it that I removed, but the finish is pretty good, tight lockup, smooth action and great bore. I plan on making a set of Roper style grips for it when I get a bit of time.

Now I need to find some 32-20 brass and dies.

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Well, the barrel has been shortened, which you can tell because of the lettering disappearing under the front sight.

That means that it's likely been reblued, too.

But still, $200 for a shooter in .32-20? I would have gladly given that, and I have two .32-20 revolvers (a Smith & a Colt) already!
 
Actually the lettering does not go under the front sight but stops right at it. I guess I would need to see what other 4" barrel markings from this model look like to know if something is off here. I can say that the front sight looks like it grew on the barrel and nothing about the finish hints at a re-finish job (no signs of washed out screws, lettering, etc.). I own a fairly good assortment of vintage S&W and Colt revolvers and the finish on this one is what I would expect for factory, if it was redone it wasn't a hack job by any stretch and I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it would have been to replace the front sight so close to the barrel markings without messing the lettering up, to say nothing of the care that would have been required in the post cleanup/polishing operations.

In any event, it wasn't purchased as a collector. I think it will make a nice little trail gun once it gets a proper set of grips.
 
These $200.00 deals amaze me! Especially at a dealer!

Is is the lighting, or is the front lock retainer pin missing? (I'm sure it isn't actually called that)
 
Out of curiosity, can you tell us what the RH side of the barrel says, or post a clearer picture of it? The 3rd picture in the 1st post is out of focus.

There are some interesting variations in the rollmark S&W used on different .32-20's, and I'd like to know which version you got. :)
 
That gun has been reblued. I also think the front sight appears to have been replaced/moved but it is a very good job. Those sights were made as part of the barrel, so any sign of welding or silver solder would mean a sight replacement.

Jim
 
That looks like a real nice shooter, I havent ever shot a 32-20 but I bet it will shoot nice. Looks like a good addition, I could not pass that one up either for only $200, Please post it again once you get thoes grips made.
 
"Actually the lettering does not go under the front sight but stops right at it."

The lettering should be well clear of the front sight base, in essence centered between the front sight and the frame. As it stands right now, there's not enough room between the lettering and the front sight base for it to have been lettered at the factory. The lettering machine/die wouldn't have cleared the sight.

In the one picture I THINK I can see some indications of silver soldering. It won't take bluing like steel will.

I agree that it was extremely well done, though.
 
I added a couple pictures of the front sight, I agree with you that it must have been shortened, but whoever did the work certainly knew their work well and I doubt it was done recently. Any silver you see in the photographs below is lighting, I cannot see any sign of a silver solder line. I thought perhaps it was returned to the factory, but my guess is they would have just re barreled it rather than going to the trouble of shortening an existing barrel.

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Well I'm on the subject, does anybody sell replacement parts for the cylinder pin catch. As was mentioned this is missing a pin and the catch is not operable. I haven't done anything to it yet (and perhaps nothing needs to be replaced), but will have to address this issue before I shoot it. If necessary I can machine out any parts that are needed, but I would rather get original factory parts.
 
Congrats on finding a nice deal! My police positive special .32-20 is in a dead heat with my single-six .32 mag. as my favorite trail gun. Enjoy:D
 
Man, I think you got that for a steal, barrel cut, refinished, whatever. My favorite dealer has one in nickel that looks like it's been dragged behind a truck, literally, and they're asking almost twice what you paid.

Congratulations.
 
OK, I just spent some quality time in my gunsafe with a couple of K frames from that era, including my 4" .38.

When I first looked at your pix, it appeared that the front sight was sitting literally on top of the lettering, or so close that it was touching.

You say it's not... and looking at the photos again it appears that it could be a shadow making it seem as if the sight base is on top of the lettering.

How much of a gap is there between the sight base and the lettering? It should be about 1/8th of an inch.

Based on what I was seeing on my 4" M&P .38, and your close ups of the front sight, I'm thinking that your gun is actually a factory 4".

A factory barrel 4" with a decent original blue should bring between $400 and $600 these days, I would think.

So yeah, you got a deal.

Want to turn a quick 33% profit? :D
 
An amazingly high number of 32-20 revolves are found with bulged barrels. I don't know why. But a huge number are seen with shortened barrels. I suspect the former is responsible for the latter.

Great deal for $200. I have sort of thing going for 32-20s. Got this early Smith for $250, No bulge and that's good because it would have been a shame to cut that elegant 6.5" barrel.


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This Colt was cut when I got it. No idea what the original barrel length was. I thought it was worth the $159 asking price.


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As I said, the more I look at the additional pictures that Alex provided, the more I think the barrel is factory. Either that, or that's perhaps the very best front sight resolder job I have ever seen.

Both my Smith & Colt have 6" barrels; fortunately neither is bulged.

Were the bulges at the rear of the barrel, nearer the forcing cone, I'd be inclined to suspect someone was shooting the high velocity ammunition made specifically for the Model 92 Winchester.
 
It's been awhile since I looked at the numbers, but I believe that they are roughly comparable out of a handgun.

Of course, the .32 Mag. does what it does in a smaller, higher pressure package.
 
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