I guess we need to be careful about what we say here. I got some hate mail from Don/Club Gun Fan because a while ago I advised a poster here not to bother getting a letter. Don works with/helps Roy so he has kind of a vested interest in seeing more letters ordered.
I have no such loyalty to that cause and feel a poster here needs to hear it the way I see things. If the gun you're asking about is a modern gun of fairly high production and in the usual configuration, its a waste of your money. The guns that need a letter are the ones with an unusual feature that would benefit from the letter. Older guns could be shipped to individuals or police departments or famous folks, like maybe John Dillinger or whoever. I tossed that name in because hero's aren't the only names that could turn up.
The other possibility is that you'll get the "null" letter. One that says your gun is open on company books. As much as we like our guns, the company didn't always keep the best of records. When you pays your hard earned cash and then learn nothing, it kind of sours you to the gamble you took. Its like a lotto ticket except you don't have the chance of winning millions. For the folks who spend like there's no tomorrow, go ahead.
Some of the bigger resellers letter their guns as a matter of course. Or at least most of them. When they charge big bucks for a gun, they expect it to come back correct. Any less reflects on their reputation. Sometimes you even get a gun that you can be pretty sure won't letter. In that case, it just doesn't make sense to toss out the money. And example of that is my prewar K32. Its what I would call "in the rough". I would guess it started life as a K22. got the firing pin hole welded up and a standard hammer installed, along with a 32 caliber barrel and cylinder. There's no chance in hell its right. David Carroll even asked Roy about it. He said its on a page of K22s with no shipping information on any of them. I don't need a $75 letter to tell me its a lunchbox gun. Its best feature other than the caliber is the barrel that hasn't been finished. To all appearances, its still a rough forging. Except its been installed pretty well, roll marks are deep and great.
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Dick Burg
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