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Only ninety-six Smith & Wesson K-32 Hand Ejector Target revolvers were produced, with this historic example being shipped to
400
Extremely Rare, Documented Smith & Wesson K-32 Hand Ejector First
Model Target Double Action Revolver Shipped to Famed Handgunner Ed McGivern
with Factory Letter - Serial no. 675715, 32 S&W Long cal., 6 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. This is one of only 96 K-32 Hand Ejector Target revolvers Smith & Wesson manufactured from 1936 to 1941. These
revolvers are found in the 653388-682207 serial number range and are built on the square butt K target frame with 5 screws and pinned 6 inch round barrel. It is one of the rarest pre-war K frame revolvers manufactured
by S&W. After World War II this model became part of the K-22/K-32/K-38 Masterpiece series of target revolvers. The included factory letter confirms the 6 inch barrel, McGivern gold bead front sight, hump back hammer, blue and checkered walnut grips. The letter also states the revolver was shipped on May 10, 1939, to famed exhibition shooter and shooting instructor Ed McGivern of Lewistown, Montana. The McGivern sight (a gold bead on a black
post) is named after him. This is the same type of sight on this revolver. The accompanying S&W invoice for this revolver also confirms the configuration as well as Ed McGivern as the recipient. Matching serial numbers appear
on the butt, cylinder, and barrel. Also included are original loose pages from S&W Vice President Dan Wesson’s personal scrapbook. Glued to these pages are period newspaper articles documenting Ed McGivern’s success at setting pistol shooting records as well as photographs documenting his exhibition shooting. In one photograph
McGivern entertains a crowd of people looking on as he shoots a tin can in the air. This photograph is signed by McGivern.
Ed McGivern (1874-1957), “the World’s Fastest Gun,” was fascinated by fast shooting after witnessing a shootout in Sheridan, Wyoming, and he learned sign painting from his father. He lived in Lewistown from 1924 until 1949. Even after gaining fame for his shooting, he earned much of his living painting for Graham’s Sign & Poster Shop and later his own business called McGivern Outdoor Advertising. He is easily one of the most famous and renowned exhibition shooters and handgunning authors of the 20th century and also trained law enforcement officers locally and with the
FBI. He published “Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting” in 1938. He held many records in his day for fast and accurate shooting and still holds some, such as drawing and firing 5 shots into a 1 inch group at 20 feet in less than half a
second (recorded as 9/20th of a second in August 1932). He could shoot dimes thrown into the air and preformed fast shooting demonstrations with guns in each hand. He preferred double action revolvers and claimed he could shoot
faster with a revolver than any semi-automatic pistol could keep up with. In fact, his rate of fire is said to be faster than an AK-47. One of his recorded stunts was hitting a can thrown roughly 20 feet in the air six times with a Colt double
action revolver before it hit the ground. Elmer Keith said McGivern was “the fastest and finest double-action revolver shot that ever lived and probably ever will.” Some of his handguns are on display in the National Firearms Museum, and very
few of his guns are in private hands today. This revolver was displayed at the S&W Collectors Association Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, in June 2011.
LOT 479
famed handgunner Ed McGivern