K-32 the Next Step

[Green Frog]

Well, my quest for a K-32 took another step forward last night. Some time ago I was fortunate enough to acquire a NOS barrel for an early (taper profile, narrow rib) K-32 barrel and a like-new K-22 cylinder assembly to rebore. The hold-up in the project was to obtain the proper center fire K-frame with both adjustable sights and the matching front profile. It turns out that even though the 6" guns all went to wide ribs fairly early on and the early are hard to get in affordable states, the Combat Masterpiece and Model 15 types kept the needed profile much later.

My favorite place to dump money, Gun Broker, had a listing for a Model 15 of proper configuration and affordable price going down last night and I grabbed it up. Although it is a 3 screw frame rather than the 5 screw I would have preferred, hopefully it will mate up well with the barrel and I'll be in business. I should have the gun in hand about the end of the week and after checking one last time to make sure all of the individual parts match up properly I'll make the final decision on who will do the assembly for me. Stay tuned for further developments.

Froggie

[Harry O]

Keep us updated. I have not seen an Old Model K-32 on a gunshow table in the last 20-25 years. I have seen 4 or 5 total outside of museums. I remember the first one that I passed on. It was about double what the K-22 and K-38 cost. Too rich for my blood. The next time I saw one, it was 3 or 4 times what a K-22 or K-38 cost. And so on and so on, always increasing the cost spread.

The very last one I saw was called a "Canadian K-32" on the tag. Someone had an original K-32 barrel and either an original cylinder or rebored one. They attached them to a S&W Model 10 frame with one of those add-on adjustable-sights that attached in the top rear sidepanel screw. Naturally, the rib on the rear of the barrel just ended above the Model 10 frame. It looked like hell (Bubba would have been proud), but was not much less than a real K-32. That was the last one (or parts of one) that I ever saw.

A few years later, I bought a New Model K-32 and had the cylinder rebored to 32-20. It is one of my most accurate and best liked guns.

[Houndog]

If you want an original K32, Cabelas in Bristol TN. has one, or they did the last time I was in there. I don't remember the price as I wasn't interested in one.

[MT Gianni]

Congratulations Froggie I will follow with interest.

[Green Frog]

If you want an original K32, Cabelas in Bristol TN. has one, or they did the last time I was in there. I don't remember the price as I wasn't interested in one.

If they do (or did) have a K-32 the price would probably be out of my reach or else it would have been a Model 16-4. I had one of the latter about 25+ years ago when they first came out but never really warmed up to it. Of course now that I'll have my own "home-built" copy, I'll probably stumble on an original at a giveaway price. Life is like that!

Froggie

[Dale53]

Froggie;
I am looking forward to seeing the "K-32" when it gets finished. If it is anything like your last custom, it'll be a winner, for sure!

I am the proud owner of the 16-4 (6" double underlugged barrel) and it is all I could have hoped for. I had long hungered for an original K-32 but I was always behind the price curve. Now you could buy a pretty good used car for what one would cost. When the 16-4 hit the market, I nearly broke my arm getting the money out of my pocket. It shoots extremely well with both .32 S&W Longs (my own cast bullet reloads) and .32 H&R Mags (also my own cast bullet reloads). Off a bench either will shoot under 1" at 25 yards on demand.

FWIW
Dale53

[Green Frog]

I often regret the 6" Model 16-4 I bought and then sold when they first came out (along with the 4" and 6" Dad got at the same time!) If I had kept one of them, it would have probably been bored out to 327 Fed Mag by now from its 32 almost-Mag original chambering. Of course then I would have missed the challenge of tracking down the parts for Project 616 and the excitement of having it built. Of course I also probably wouldn't have been inspired to build my current K-32 homage, and of course having two guns is better than one!

I also wish (perhaps even more strongly) I had kept the Buckeye Special Blackhawk Combination 32. By now it would have had the 32 semi-Magnum cylinder poked out to 327 and it, along with the 32/20 cylinder, would have made a great test mule. I guess I'll just have to get along with my Blackhawk Eight-Shooter in 327 Fed Mag and my Navy Arms/Uberti SAA in 32/20 to do those jobs. Sometimes you just gotta do what you can with what you've got!

Froggie