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Old September 5, 2012, 07:16 PM   #1
mec
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30s M&P Target =modifications.

This one has a very well done action job and an odd Hammer. Locals who can give good educated guesses about such things think that the action job and the hammer come from Kings Gunshop. Has anybody seen a hammer like this?
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Old September 5, 2012, 09:39 PM   #2
Jim Watson
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Not JUST like that. Most of the Kings were "Cockeyed" with the spur widened to one side. I think the checkering was borderless, too.
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Old September 5, 2012, 10:04 PM   #3
mec
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I did find one picture of the cockeyed king hammer. the checkering was borderless.
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Old September 5, 2012, 10:32 PM   #4
mec
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at first glance, the grips look like 1920's vintage but they are not serially marked and the upper portion is both concave and lacking any shield

The frame is round butt but somebody wanted the full profile grips and made walnut spacers fore and aft to fit square butt grips. The serial number is 602,000s. Supica and Nahas don't provide much information but one reference said that McGivern shot some sort of record in 1934 with one of these in the 640,000 range. The elevation adjustmentis counter intuitive - reverse thread or something- like persisted on the windage adjustment on later S&W sights.
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Old September 6, 2012, 02:54 PM   #5
James K
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I think those grips might be factory, but the hammer is not. It appears to be a custom job with the wide spur welded onto the original hammer.

The 602xxx serial should date to the early-1920's.

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Old September 6, 2012, 10:02 PM   #6
Archie
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Fairly common modification

The widened hammer spur was done to make thumb cocking easier and more secure when shooting timed and rapid fire strings.

King's Gunworks in the Los Angeles area did a modification called the 'King Cock-eyed Hammer'. The hammer spur was build up on the left side (for a right handed shooter) and then shaped and checkered. I've not seen a symmetrical spur treatment, but I'm not the final authority.

It looks like a quality job. That was a premier target revolver in that day. They still shoot pretty well.

Don't change anything on that old beauty. If you want some other configuration, sell that one to a collector and buy a different one you like.
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