. It was some kind of presentation piece to someone of importance in the past according to historic people at Smith and Wesson. Just thought i would share.
Hello
That Gun appears to be
a Pre World War II 32 Hand eject. They are
Very common and
many, many Thousands were made. I would have to see
a factory History letter to concur it was owned by
anyone of importance as S&W did not Make it a practice of
Gold plating the parts like that, which makes me wonder if the gun has been refinished ?. The Hammer & Trigger should be
case Hardened, and the cylinder release should be
Nickel, along with the
cylinder rod should be Nickel plated to match the frame of the gun.
Did you get a factory letter with it to show just who owned it ? It is an
I Frame which was the second smallest frame S&W ever Built. The Only Frame smaller in a revolver would have been
an M Frame of which they built the
tiny lady Smith revolver chambered in .22 Caliber. Those grips look to be
More modern than the gun is, as the Mother of Pearl after Market grips made back in that
time span had a Lower profile like the ones shown on my
1925 Regulation Police revolver below. These Two revolvers are almost alike, but a
Regulation Police revolver has a Rebated frame on the back strap area to make the gun appear to be
a Square Butt configuration. In The late 1950's when S&W assigned Model numbers to these revolvers yours was given
the Model 30 designation and mine was given the
Model 31 designation with the Only difference being the Rebated back strap on the Back of the Grip Frame. I would say if you haven't got one with it to letter that Gun. Sadly,
Most do Not come back to anyone Important, but in Your case I hope yours does as someone told you that evidently at S&W ? I would call back and
ask for that Person and ask them if they would be willing to
pay for The Factory Historical letter if it should not prove to be anyone Important ? The Only Person I know that could determine
Just who owned this Gun is Roy Jinks the factory Historion and I know he is not going to Tell anyone that until They
spend the $50.00 for a Factory letter.
I Picked mine up shown below at a Local Gun show and it was owned by The
Evansville, Indiana Police Chief Harry Anderson back in the late 1920's also shown. Harry carried mine strong side in a Flap Holster while riding in an
Experimental Then Motorcycle Brigade he was in charge of. Before that, They answered all Calls
on Bicycles. Mine is
totaly Original and I paid
$210.00 for mine and have shot it several times. I am
Not Knocking your gun, or trying to be Mean here as it looks to be in very Nice condition, and I am Just
stating Facts and what I have
Observed in collecting S&W's for the Past 30 Years But I feel
someone is Pulling your Leg about it belonging to
anyone important or that the
Gold Parts are factory finished as it is Not Normal to see Part's of Gold on a Factory S&W as they did not have
that type of finish at the factory. These Little guns are fun to shoot and the round for them is Mild Pressure so they can be shot and enjoyed, I say shoot it..If you don't mind sharing with us
what did you Pay for it ? I hope this helps, Hammerdown
