Sunday, July 02, 2023

Sunday Smith #74: .32-20 Hand Ejector Model of 1905 - 3rd Change, 1910


Smith & Wesson made literal millions of their famous Military & Police model medium-frame revolver in the .38 Special caliber, but only a little bit more than a hundred thousand in .32-20 Winchester.

The .32-20 was a popular round for small game in Winchester and Marlin lever action carbines, and matching revolvers from Colt and Smith enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the early 20th Century.

While Neal & Jinks's indispensable book claims the Model of 1905 - 3rd Change only came in four- and six-inch barrel lengths, this example is quite clearly a 5" gun and Paul Scarlata wrote up a 6½" model in his review for Shooting Times, so take the Jinks info with a grain of salt.

The pictured revolver is one of 20,499 Smith & Wesson .32-20 Model of 1905 - 3rd Change revolvers made between 1909 and 1915.