I wondered about that myself. I spent some time visiting with an old fella that had been friends with Slim back before the war. This guy had a RM too. He carried it during WWII and told me it still hangs on the wall in his living room. He was close to 90 at the time and the way he got his gun and what he did with it is a whole 'nother story. Anyway, I asked him how Slim could afford such a revolver back then. He told me the RM's were well known in the Jackson area at the time and that they "were sort of like the iPod - everyone had to have one." Bottom line, these were gun guys, and they would eat hardtack for a few months if that was what it took to get what they wanted. Kind of like some of us still do today!