S&W 32 6" barrel value?

D

deerslayer303

New member
Hey Guys,
I want to purchase / trade for this 32 from my father in law. The thing is beautiful. It has a 6" barrel and the finish is fantastic. I had it over here one day for a complete disassembly and cleaning. I fell in love with the thing. I don't know what model it is It just says 32 S&W Long CTG on it. He wants a new sub compact auto 9mm and I told him I would buy what he wanted for the 32 in trade. What do you guys think this piece is worth roughly?
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It is a .32 Hand Ejector. No model number, just the simple name. Given the serial number it would be possible to look and see which "change" it was and the general era in which it was made.

I won't guess a dollar value. On the one hand, it looks very nice, but on the other, they made an awful lot of .32s over the years and they do not bring the bucks that the bigger guns do.
 
I can't be certain from one picture, but I think that gun has been reblued. If that is the case, whether its value was decreased or increased can't be determined without knowing its previous condition.

Jim
 
It sounds like that beauty might be worth quite a bit to you---because you fell in love with it. The market value may be less than the value of owning it is to you.
 
I think its worth the price of a New Kel Tec P11 or Sccy CPX2 which is what he wants for Concealed Carry! I'm gonna go ahead and order his pistol so I can bring this baby home with me. Such a cool little wheelie. And I may try and take a couple tree rats with it for the pot. :D
 
Can you:

1. Take a better picture that's better lit? It's hard to make out some of the characteristics of the gun.

2. Take a picture of the other side?

3. Give us the first couple digits of the serial number so we can put a manufactured date on it? (Serial number is on the bottom of the butt).
 
Mike Irwin said:
Give us the first couple digits of the serial number so we can put a manufactured date on it? (Serial number is on the bottom of the butt).
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I'd suggest all but the last 2 digits (e.g. 542xx), as .32HE serial numbers were well into 6 digits by the start of WWII.

Also, the serial number should be repeated on the rear cylinder face, and on the barrel flat above the ejector rod. Note that the official serial number is on the butt; non-matching serial numbers in these two other places indicate replacement parts, which will lower the value somewhat.
 
It looks as if it has what I call the "fat sleeve" ejector rod head, which came after the mushroom shaped one.

I just don't know, however, if the fat sleeve overlapped with hard rubber grips...
 
Mike Irwin said:
It looks as if it has what I call the "fat sleeve" ejector rod head, which came after the mushroom shaped one. I just don't know, however, if the fat sleeve overlapped with hard rubber grips...
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Good catch re: the ejector rod head. Perhaps one or the other has been replaced.

Didn't the 3rd Model have the "fat sleeve" head? All the 3rd Models I've seen had wood stocks rather than black hard rubber grips. Of course, the serial# will tell us the real story.
 
I'm sorry Mike that is the only pic I have of it. I took that pic when I had it here for a cleaning. I'll try to get some more. I didn't even think to take a pic of the serial number.
 
That serial number would make it a .32 Hand Ejector Third Model, and almost at the end of the run, probably late 1930s or early 1940s before production ceased in 1942.

My Standard Catalog says nothing about the grips, but I just feel that that is very late for the hard rubber grips.

The only way to tell for sure would be to remove the grips, which is often very difficult because they often weld to the frame and can fall apart or break very easily, and see if they are serial numbered to the gun.

Hard rubber grips were offered on the .38 breaktop until its run ended in 1940, and I believe that those grips would also fit these guns, so it's possible that they were offered on the Hand Ejectors this late.
 
FWIW I know that wood round-butt stocks were available on Third Models of this vintage; I've examined a blue 3-1/4" Third Model with wood round-butt stocks that were numbered to it, and it had a serial number substantially lower than this gun.

That said, like Mike Irwin, I'm not going to categorically dismiss the possibility that the black rubber grips are original. I simply don't know enough about late prewar .32HE's to be certain.
 
"FWIW I know that wood round-butt stocks were available on Third Models of this vintage"

Wood stocks were available on Model of 1905 second models prior to 1910.
 
Thank you guys so much for all the info. I know a lot more about it now. And when I get it in my possession I will post up what I find. I do know that I took that pistol completely apart for cleaning (which it wasn't dirty at all under the side plate). The grips came off without a problem.
 
She belongs to ME

Well guys I took my F.I.L his brand new SCCY CPX2 today that set me back a whole 265.95 OTD, and brought the Smith home with me. Not a bad trade I don't think. I still can't stop smiling. It came with an old leather holster that has a springed metal tab that locks into the pistols trigger guard. You have to push the tab with your fore finger to draw it. And it came with an old box of Remington ammo. Upon close examination, it has some holster wear on the muzzle (see pics) and the finish is wore off the butt / backstrap. The rest of the bluing on it is beautiful and all the stamped lettering and numbers are deep, crisp, and clearly legible. There is a small piece of the rubber grips chipped and missing on the butt. All three serial numbers match.
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