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- SMITH AND WESSON 38 SPECIAL SERIAL NUMBER DECODER MANUAL
- SMITH AND WESSON 38 SPECIAL SERIAL NUMBER DECODER SERIES
He believed in the concept so much that he placed a special order in 1911 for 1,000 of these revolvers. 22-caliber model with a 6-inch barrel and adjustable sights. A San Francisco gun dealer named Philip Bekeart came up with the idea for Smith & Wesson to build on the. 22-32 Hand Ejector had an interesting beginning. 38 Special, which is still in the catalog. Smith & Wesson resurrected the name, written “LadySmith,” in 1990 for a 9mm semi-auto and later for a J-frame. Among the early Hand Ejector models were small-frame. It was in production from 1902 through 1921, with three model changes and serial number ranges. 22 S&W cartridge (which was the same as the. Made on the tiny M-frame, it had a seven-shot cylinder and was chambered for the. Its rarity makes this version of the K-32 one of the priciest S&W collectibles. 32 S&W Long, only about 94 were made throughout the 1936–1941 period leading up to the beginning of World War II. It was also made on the K-frame and could be considered the predecessor of one of the rarest Smith & Wesson models: the K-32 Hand Ejector First Model (K-32 Target). The last variant remained in production until 1940. They remain very popular more K-frames have been manufactured than all other Smith & Wesson revolvers combined. K-frame models are still being made and are now well into their second century. The K-Frame RevolverĪnother major contribution to firearms history from Smith & Wesson occurred in 1899 with the introduction of the first K-frame revolver-the. 2 These differences were relatively minor for the first four model changes, with somewhat more significant variations internally with the fifth change.
SMITH AND WESSON 38 SPECIAL SERIAL NUMBER DECODER SERIES
32 Hand Ejector Model of 1903 remained in production until 1917, with a series of five changes over that time period. In 1903, the Second Model was introduced, along with several design improvements. The Bohlin silver grips add a fine touch. Its nickel finish was redone at the Smith & Wesson factory. 1 This Hand Ejector First Model belonged to a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Silver Mounted Posse in the 1950s. It was not a big success on the civilian market, but a few major police departments, including Philadelphia’s, adopted the model as a service revolver. 32 Hand Ejector First Model-was made for only seven years. The Model of 1896-which would later be known as the. 32 S&W by 1/8 inch to increase its powder capacity, and this required a slightly larger frame. Smith & Wesson lengthened the case of the. It was made on a new frame size called the I-frame, which had been designed for a new cartridge, the. 32 Hand Ejector Model of 1896, its year of introduction. The first revolver to be given the name was the.
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This allows the cylinder to be loaded or for the fired cases to be “hand-ejected” by pushing back on the ejector rod. “Hand Ejector” is a reference to the loading and unloading procedure, whereby the shooter releases the cylinder to tilt out of the left side of the gun. Toward the end of the 19th century, Smith & Wesson began work on a new-style revolver-one with a solid frame that would soon replace the popular top-break models the company had been known for since the 1870s. When referring to the basic design, all Smith & Wesson revolvers made since 1899 can be described as “hand ejectors,” but my plan here is to provide a bit of history on the original named models. The focus of this column is on Hand Ejector models of the pre-World War II years with “Hand Ejector” in their official names. Author Jim Supica wrote in Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, “The Hand Ejector is the style of handgun that epitomizes Smith & Wesson.” Introduced in 1896, its basic design is still in production, not only by Smith & Wesson, but also by many other gun manufacturers around the world.
SMITH AND WESSON 38 SPECIAL SERIAL NUMBER DECODER MANUAL
This series of solid-frame, double-action models with swing-out cylinders and manual case extraction has certainly stood the test of time.