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S&W Antiques S&W Lever Action Pistols, Tip-Up Revolvers, ALL Top-Break Revolvers, and ALL Single Shots


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Old 03-01-2012, 09:07 AM
swissdagger swissdagger is offline
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Default Factory Case ?

Dear Experts,have I here a factory presentation wood case?

Thanks for your help
Stefan
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Old 03-01-2012, 02:41 PM
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Stefan, I doubt it's factory. Construction details, such as the staples at the corners are not seen in the factory cases with which I'm familiar. A factory letter for the gun might indicate whether it was shipped as a cased gun on a social order, however the large majority of these guns went to distributors a part of a larger gun order, and then the distributors provided after market cases, or other embellishments. Ed.
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:51 AM
Driftwood Johnson Driftwood Johnson is offline
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Howdy

Ed, far be it for me to question your S&W expertise, but it looks to me as if the corner joints of the case are splined, not stapled. A thin wood spline glued perpendicular to the joint for reinforcement. It also looks like a couple of the joints are coming apart.

I respectfully defer to your superior knowledge about whether or not it is a factory case.
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Old 03-02-2012, 11:14 AM
cflier cflier is offline
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Factory cases for S&Ws of that era are few and far between. It is much more common as Ed says to see the cases made up by the big distributers. Even those aren't common though. I can't read the inscription on the lid. The few factory cases I have seen didn't have a name inscribed on them and they invariably had a paper label glued onto the inside of the lid showing directions for operation. Having said that, if it were my gun and case I would letter it because with Smith & Wesson one can never say never. To me it looks like some of the cases I have seen with guns that shipped to Europe. Are there any European proof marks on the gun.
Mark
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Old 03-02-2012, 11:47 AM
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I'm with Mark. The first thing that crossed my mind when I looked at the picture was "European Casing".
(Not that I wouldn't mind owning it..)

I've been looking for a case for an engraved Mod 1 1/2 tip-up. Kind of like to have a M.W. Robinson case (or replica thereof) but would happily take one like shown.......
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Old 03-02-2012, 01:24 PM
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Driftwood, I can't argue with your observation about what's holding the corners together. Splines or staples? They could be something added long after the case was originally made to hold together shrinking joints. Bottomline is that it's not a factory case, and does have European features. Ed.
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Old 03-02-2012, 02:45 PM
swissdagger swissdagger is offline
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I dont have a factory letter but I have a letter from the first owners widow and a license from the nephew, a Mr.Joseph Sears Lovering, who got the Revolver 1940.
No european marks on the Revolver.
I think the wood case was not made in Europe.

Thanks
Stefan
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Old 03-02-2012, 04:52 PM
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Now that is nice!
Is there a story on how the gun got to Switzerland?
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Old 03-02-2012, 04:57 PM
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Stefan, A factory letter is probably going to say the gun was shipped to M.W. Robinson, NYC. Robinson could have cased it for the buyer. If you send for a letter, let us know what it says. I notice the NY License says the gun is 45 caliber, which I assume is an error. If it's really a .45 cal., it has to be .45S&W Schofield caliber. and therefore a very rare special order gun. Most of these guns are either .44S&W Russian, or .44-40 WCF. The latter caliber having a slightly longer cylinder to to use the .44-40 WCF round. I have one of this model in caliber .44S&W Special, with no serial number, so odd calibers were made. S&W would make anything you wanted to pay for. Ed.
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Old 03-02-2012, 05:24 PM
swissdagger swissdagger is offline
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Dean,no more infos about the Revolver.

Ed,that`s an error on the license,the revolver is in the cal. .44 Russian.
I try to find out how to order such a factory letter.
Stefan

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Old 03-02-2012, 05:40 PM
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Stefan-----

Not to hijack, but these people were heavy hitters back then. ( had a lotta money! )
486 Park Avenue does not seem to exist anymore but 502 is a Trump Building ( 486 would have been corner of East 59th...new building there) and the guy that took posession of the firearm lived here:

17 Lawrence Ln, Bay Shore, NY 11706 MLS# 2409625 - Zillow
Just 6 years old when he got the gun! Whatever he sold, he must have sold A LOT of it!
For sale now, if you have 1.2 MILLION!!! ( it would be a great addition to the gun-- think of the provenance!)

So, there is where that gun lived !! If only it could talk, huh? Might have been shot off one of those balconies!

Click here for Factory letter app: http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore.../other/LOA.pdf

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Old 03-02-2012, 07:29 PM
cflier cflier is offline
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Swissdagger,
That's a really great gun with some terrific provenance. I am almost certain that it is not a factory case. It is also not in the style of most of the cases sold by the the big New York Distributers. It peaked my interest though and I did some digging. I found a case in one of my catalogs that is very similar and is described as the French Style of case. That is from the Ottman Collection Auction book. No one can say for certain where the case was made. It very well could have been the US and still have been the European style. Many European artisons and engravers moved to the US from Europe at about that time. It is a beautiful case and anyone would be proud to own it. It is interesting to me that the state of NY was taking finger prints for issuing a carry permit before 1905. Great gun, great provenance.
Mark
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:14 PM
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Mark,
If you look closely, that permit was issued in 1942 to the nephew......
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:55 PM
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You're right Dean, I didn't look closely enough. It wouldn't be a 44/40 though as S&W didn't start producing those until 1886. The wifes letter says 44 so probably a 44 Russian.
Mark
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Old 03-02-2012, 09:52 PM
J. R. WEEMS J. R. WEEMS is offline
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Post CASE JOINTS

Just to add to the above. Splines were not used to hold corners together. Rather, they increased the surfaces to which glue was applied to better hold the joint together. JMHO
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Old 03-02-2012, 09:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swissdagger View Post
I dont have a factory letter but I have a letter from the first owners widow and a license from the nephew, a Mr.Joseph Sears Lovering, who got the Revolver 1940.
No european marks on the Revolver.
I think the wood case was not made in Europe.

Thanks
Stefan
This little story took a twist that I never expected.Seeing where the gun is now,I never would have imagined that it was once owned by someone not twenty miles from where I live.Quite a difference between a 1940's Suffolk county license and the current one.
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engraved, presentation, russian, schofield

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