Went to the Patton museum today and tried to get a picture of Patton's S&W .357. May be a repost of others but did not see it with a search. Anyhow best pic I could get as it is behind glass with plenty of lights shining on it.....

Thanks for sharing that.

I was there when I was a kid. It's nice to see it again.

Best,

Michael

Yes thanks for the picture! I have been there several times but I guess its been 10 years since I had seen it and I had forgot that it had that grip adapter. I spent more time looking at his Colt SA as I had read an article about the notches he had cut in the grip and wanted to see where he had put them. After I found them I happened to look at a Remington 1858 Army .44 in the Civil War section and there was 5 notches cut in the grip in the same location as on the Patton SA. Very nice museum for those that have never been.

I didn't recall the grip adapter. I suppose that the walnut grips are somewhere adorning a converted .455 HE 2nd as replacements for plastic "stags" after being purchased at a gun show for $25.

I first visited the Patton Museum at Fort Knox in the fall of 1970 when my wife and I drove there from Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis where I was attending the Adjutant General Corps Officer's Basic Class OBC 10-71. I visited there again in the 90s and it had grown in size by 4X. I saw the the General's .357 both times. I don't remember the grip adapter either, but at the time, I didn't know much about the Registered Magnum and probably didn't pay attention to detail.

Bill

I think it has always been there. It shipped with the grip adapter attached.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

quote:

Originally posted by kwill1911:
I think it has always been there. It shipped with the grip adapter attached.

I believe kwill1911 is correct, every picture I’ve ever seen, and the few times that I have seen the gun in person, Patton’s .357 has had the grip adapter on it. It looks like they have also changed the display at the museum. The last time I was there (has been a while) the magnum was displayed with the left side up. I remember because the left side grip on this gun is plain without Patton’s initials. For anyone that has old issues of Guns & Ammo around you might want to dig out the August 1971 issue. Patton’s Registered Magnum and his Colt are on the cover and there is also a nice article on all of the handguns that he owned.

The book "Fired in Anger" about famous firearms says that Patton got the grip adaptor
for "his rather small hand".

They've changed the display since I was there in June of 2006. It was in a case with Patton's 'Green Hornet' tank uniform.





As you can see in the close up pic, it's not in pristine condition. One would like to think that the wear is from his WWII use of the gun, but then knowing his additude towards keeping things shiny, I also wonder if it wasn't abused/neglected some after his passing too.

I was there in 1984 taking basic tank training.I enjoyed see the patton display and the old tanks.

Thank for the pix