This S&W K-32 Masterpiece (pre-Model 16) revolver has a special order 4 inch barrel and is built on the 5-screw frame. The standard barrel length for this model was 6 inches. This is one of only 3,630 K-32 Masterpiece (Model 16) revolvers S&W manufactured over a 26 year period starting in 1947. It is the rarest of the standard K-Masterpiece series. The accompanying factory letter (two page letter with first page absent) states the revolver was shipped on March 4, 1949 and delivered to B.W. Folsom, Warren, Ohio, with a special order 4 inch barrel, blue finish, and checkered walnut grips (currently wearing a set of Magna grips numbered to another gun). This shipment was for 10 units ordered with a 4 inch barrel and S&W charged an additional $6.00 for each of the 4 inch barrels. The included S&W invoice confirms the 4 inch barrel and lists the serial numbers for all 10 guns in the March 4, 1949 shipment. These 10 guns were the first 4 inch K-32s ever manufactured and other than two others produced in 1951, the only 4 inch barrels built on the 5-screw frame. Matching serial numbers on the butt, cylinder, and barrel. Provenance: The Dave Ballantyne Collection

Very fine, retaining 90% original blue finish with thinning to brown and extensive pitting mostly on the cylinder. 95% original case colors remain on the hammer and trigger. The left panel as a small chip long the front edge of the left panel, otherwise the grips are fine with a few minor handling marks and overall crisp checkering. Mechanically excellent.