[Kevlar]

These photos, taken with my cell phone camera, are posted here courtesy of my cyber-whiz daughter, Jill.

As you can see, the front sight is target style, but the gun has a plain fixed sight in the top strap, not adjustable. Six-inch barrel and a wooden stock on a square grip. It looks a bit nicer in the photo because it was wiped down with a silicone cloth right before I started taking pics.

Is this sight arrangement unusual? Could this have been done — replacing the front sight -- at a later date?

Kevlar

 

[Wiregrassguy]

These guns came with a forged front sight. So, unless it was a special order, the sight was added later. Probably when the gun was refinished. I don't recognize the sight blade by its shape. If aftermarket, the manufacturer's name is typically stamped on one side of the sight blade. Or, it could have been made by the gunsmith that did the work.

Edit: The SCSW says some of the RP guns came with target front and service rear sights. So, it could be a factory original.

BTW, the gun appears to be a Regulation Police from 1920 or 1921. We'd need to see the butt frame to tell for sure. Do you have a SN?

 

[Kevlar]

These guns came with a forged front sight. So, unless it was a special order, the sight was added later. Probably when the gun was refinished. I don't recognize the sight blade by its shape. If aftermarket, the manufacturer's name is typically stamped on one side of the sight blade. Or, it could have been made by the gunsmith that did the work.

Edit: The SCSW says some of the RP guns came with target front and service rear sights. So, it could be a factory original.

BTW, the gun appears to be a Regulation Police from 1920 or 1921. We'd need to see the butt frame to tell for sure. Do you have a SN?

Yes, the serial number was listed in my first post about this revolver in the topic .32 Long Target Revolver Age? I don't have it on me at this time, but you could find it there.

Kevlar

 

[Kevlar]

The serial number is 1465XX. Hope this helps.

Being a total newbie to this realm, I have no idea what a Regulation Police model is. Can you fill me in on them?

Kevlar

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Hmmm. Do you know from where on the gun the SN was taken? The correct location is on the front grip strap of the grip frame, not inside the yoke with the cylinder open. Anyhow, the SN you have is too low for a Reg. Police. They began at about SN 260000 in 1917. The bottom of the wooden grips should be stamped "Pat. June 5, 1917." The conversion grips will fit on a regular round butted hand ejector with some mods.

S&W made the REgulation Police models in .32 S&W Long and .38 S&W. The .38 has Regulation Police stamped on the barrel. These models differ from the I frame Hand Ejector versions by having a stepped or rebated backstrap. The grips are designed so the wood on the back covers up the lower 1/3 of the backstrap to convert the grip from a round butt to a square butt. The front grip strap is exposed. The wood grips also extend about 1/4" below the bottom of the grip strap which is enclosed. This made for a handle that was easier to grip. S&W did something similar with their small frame target models. The I frame revolvers have small round butt grips that are sometimes hard to hold in larger hands. Back in the day, .32 Long was a popular police handgun. In 1924, my grandfather purchased one to carry while he was on the farm and transporting valuables. They look like this.

While the .32 Hand Ejector looks like this.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

I figured it might be easier to post some pictures than to try and explain. So, here are pictures of my Grandfather's Reg Police.

Rebated Frame and grip extension

Patent Date Stamp

Also, note the SN is not stamped on the bottom of the grip frame like on Hand Ejector models.

 

[Hondo44]

Kevlar,

For all the reasons Guy posted above, you do not have a Regulation Police Model, just RP stocks.

1. I can see in your photos that there is no serial # on the front grip strap which an RP would have.

2. The stocks leave a gap at the front toe of the grip frame which is rounded. Although early RP Models had rounded front toes, the grips would fit tightly there, no gap. Most RPs had the sq toe Guy shows above and the RP stocks would fit tightly as his 1st photo shows.

3. So you have a .32 Hand Ejector with modified RP stocks (because the back strap is not rebated for them) installed. The RP stocks are also post May 8, 1920 when the toe was left sq for easier grip fitting.

4. If the serial # 1495XX matches the butt and barrel #s, it's still a 1912 vintage gun.

5. The front sight is not a factory configuration. Therefore most likely added when the gun was re-blued as Guy posted.