Exactly 25 years ago the S&W Collectors Association held its 18th Annual
Meeting in Bellevue, Washington, June 23 - 26, 1988. At that meeting,
there was a display , by David Damkaer, titled "Rare Pairs". This display
featured revolvers paired together, for this display, that were very
similar, yet different. For example, a 6.5" 38/44 Outdoorsman from 1940
paired with a 6.5" Registered Magnum from 1937. Another pairing was
a .35 Automatic from 1917 paired with a .32 Automatic from 1929.


Clearly, the guns were not factory-identical pairs, but they all had
a lot of underlying similarities, and provided an interesting contrast
within the pairing. The "Rare Pairs" display was accompanied by a
bound document, that discussed each pairing, along with pictures
of the pair.

This concept is a very interesting idea, and provides another way to
think about S&W revolvers. Being the 25th anniversary of that meeting,
and of that display, it seems like an appropriate time to add to the
concept with additional "Rare Pairs" of revolvers.

Post-WW2 .38 Military & Police
-------------------------------------

The pair of guns here, on the exact 25th Anniversary date, are two
2" .38 Military & Police revolvers: one is chambered in .38 Special, and
the other in .32 Long. Both are 5-screw square-butt frames with
magna stocks, and blue finish. The .32 Long was shipped Aug 12, 1949
to Fishman Sporting Goods in Springfield, Ill. The.38 Special was
shipped April 25 1951 to Thomson & Haugue in Concord, NH.

The first picture is of both guns :



The next picture is a close-up of the roll marking on the .32 Long
barrel:



The next picture is a close-up of the roll markings on the .38 Special
barrel:



1899 Military & Police Targets in .38 Special Caliber
-------------------------------------------------------------

The next four sets of pairs are the four barrel lengths offered for
the Model of 1899: 4-inch, 5-inch, 6-inch, and 6 1/2-inch. Each pairing
has a blue and a nickel finish pair of guns, in each of the barrel lenths.

The first set is the 4-inch 1899 targets:





The next set is the 5-inch 1899 targets:





The next set are the 6-inch 1899 targets:





The last set are the 6 1/2-inch 1899 targets:





4-inch 1899 Military & Police in .38 and 32-20 Calibers
----------------------------------------------------------------

The next pair of guns are 4-inch Models of 1899 with service sights
in both offered calibers: .38 Special and 32-20.





Early Model of 1902 6.5-inch in .38 and 32-20 Calibers
----------------------------------------------------------------

These two guns are early Models of 1902, which introduced the
extractor lug under the barrel. With the exception of this lug, the
barrel is the same as the Model of 1899. It has a straight taper with
a flat area hanging down below the barrel, to fill in the gap between
the barrel and the extractor rod.



1902 1st change & 1905 .38's in two butt configurations
-------------------------------------------------------------------

This section has two sets of pairs. One set is 5-in targets,
and the other set is 4-inch fixed-sighted revolvers. The difference
between the 1902 1st change and the 1905 revolvers represents the most significant
development in the K-frame line of revolvers: the introduction of the
square butt, at about serial number 58000. It is not an engineering
change, but rather a separate model. It is known as the Model of
1905, and was produced in parallel with the Model of 1902 1st change.
With the exception of the butt configuration, both guns are identical
4-screw frame revolvers.

The serial numbers of the two models are intermixed; there is evidence
to suggest that small blocks of each model were serial-numbered
separately.









4-inch 1902 1st change .38 with target and fixed sights
------------------------------------------------------------------

These two revolvers are virtually the same gun, but with two different
sight configurations: adjustable (or target) sights, and fixed sights.
These are about 1000 serial numbers apart. When the 1st engineering
change occurred, a shoulder was added to the barrel. For the 4-inch
barrel only, there was not enough room for the patent-date roll
markings on the top of the barrel (using the same die), so they were
moved to the right side of the barrel. This lasted until some time
in 1916.





Two very scarce 4-inch 32-20 serial-number-series target revolvers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These two revolvers are very scarce. Both guns are serial-numbered
in the 32-20 series, which is separate from the .38 series. The
refinished one is from 1907, and is chambered in 32-20. The other
is from 1910, and is chambered in 32 Long. It is a K-frame target,
and it is in 32 Long: its probably the first ( or second ) K-32, and
one of the very very few 4-inch K-32s.





3-inch Two-tone Model 19's in square and round butt
--------------------------------------------------------------

These two .357 K-frames are about serial number K620000. They are
both 3-inch barrels, and show the two butt configurations. The round butt gun
is a very scarce gun; its history is detailed in the factory letter following the
pictures.









Jarvis-engraved 3.5-inch .357 Magnums
--------------------------------------

This is a very special pair of fully engraved guns, by Harry Jarvis. The guns letter as being shipped
in December of 1952, including the special carved grips. The front sight blades are perhaps the rarest
part of these identical guns. It is known as a Blanchard front sight blade, and was only offered for a portion
of 1952. Some conflict occurred between Norman Blanchard and the factory, and it was resolved by
not using the Blanchard design for the red insert. Note the contour of the insert.



The Blanchard sight was described in the first edition first printing of the 1952 Centennial Catalog. Shortly
after, the conflict occurred. The factory issued another version (first edition second printing) of the catalog,
the only difference being the description of that red insert. These next two images are those pages from
the two first-edition printings of the catalog.





5-inch 38/44 Outdoorsman
--------------------------

These two sequentially-numbered guns were built as a factory pair. They were built as a pair because
one of the two has the following engraving on the side-plate: "From Ed McGivern to F W Millington".
When building an engraved gun, it was the policy to build two identical guns, in case something happened
during the engraving. They were shipped on May 23 and May 24, 1933, to Millington and to a Dr Applegate
in Racine Wisconsin. I acquired the Millington gun first, not knowing about the second gun. Years later,
the Applegate gun showed up.



K-22 and K-38 matched pair for Fred Miller, Service Department Manager
---------------------------------------------------------------------

This pair of guns was made up special for Fred Miller, the Service Department Manager and member
of the factory pistol team. They were delivered to him in March 1940. The special grips are carved
Roper stocks.



5-screw and 4-screw 4-inch K-32's
----------------------------------

These are blue 4-inch K-32's, one with a 5-screw frame (K69XXX) and the other with a 4-screw frame (K366XXX).
The 5-screw frame has a narrow-rib barrel with a Patridge sight blade; the 4-screw frame has the wide-rib
barrel with a red insert ramp front sight. The wide-rib barrel was the factories design to have all three
caliber K-frame targets weigh the same when loaded. This significantly changed the OD of the barrels
from what they were with the narrow rib.





2/3's of a pair of 1899 8-inch targets
-----------------------------------

This next picture is one of two known 1899 8-inch target revolvers. The other gun is a nickel gun - and No,
I didn't steal the barrel from that gun - which I do not own. This one was shipped to Dr Sayre, who was
the captain of the US Olympic team in 1908 . The extra nickel barrel comes by way of Jim Fisher, who
found it in a lot of barrels he acquired.




Mike Priwer