Quote:
Originally Posted by rickga
Got my factory letter today, (see below). Not a S&W factory job but, from what I've been reading on this forum and elsewhere, may have been a special order that went to S&W and they forwarded it to M.W. Robinson Co. for fulfillment. Anyone know of a source for more information on this arrangement or have an idea of the value of this gun ? Any info would be appreciated.
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In Smith & Wesson's early days, they wholesaled their guns through a single sales agent (1860's terminology for a "distributor") that handled sales to individual stores and such. At first this was J. W. Storrs; that business passed to M. W. Robinson later on.
Sometimes Robinson would commission the engraving on a gun, and sometimes it was the business that Robinson shipped the gun to that would commission the engraving. Either way, it's a step (or two) removed from Smith & Wesson, such that you're probably not going to learn much more about the engraving from that side of things.
I note that the engraved grips have a name on them, and you'll probably get more traction by trying to track down that name. If you post a close-up of the engraved grip, I'll do my best to track down some information for you; this is the sort of research that I live for.
Mike