Thanks for posting.

I'm going to have to dig out my old gun digest.

ddj

Reminds me a bit about what someone said about weaponry in WWII, a marraige of man and machine (think of a ball turret gunner).

These men and women at S&W were the hearts and brains of the machines they used to do their jobs.

__________________
Buy American
Vote Responsibly

This thread was one of the best ever!!! I'm looking forward to more of these articles. That's what puts the thrill of acquiring some of the older models.

__________________
... fortunate son...

That article evokes memories of my earliest recollections of shooting culture. The guys down at the barbershop were exactly like the guys in the photos. The guys down the street at the gunshop were exactly like those guys. The rich history of what we have is reflected in such old time media.
For what it's worth, I have a fairly good collection of old Lyman reloading gear and literature dating back to the 1930& '40s. I have a complete parts list for the old style Tru-line dies, and can assemble die sets from parts boxes. When i see old timers at the funshop or at shows, I like to pick their brain for a little glimpse of what ot was like in their day. I am often amazed at some of the things those fellows were doing with their ballistics & firearms technonlogy...50, 60 years ago or longer.
That article ought to be required reading for anybody who is serious about firearms and shooting. Good post.

I add my thanks for this very interesting post.

As 'gunnerbern' mentioned, no one is wearing hearing protection, unless plugs of some kind are being used.
Can you imagine how profoundly deaf you would be after test firing hundreds or thousands of guns under those conditions--even with plugs? I permanently damaged my hearing by just one afternoon of shooting a .22 handgun outside--I'd fired .22 rifles a lot and never really thought I needed ear protection; didn't realize until I got out with the handgun how much louder it would be with the shorter barrel, and was too stupid to quit shooting and go get some ear protection.

Homes in my neighborhood were almost all built by Army officer retirees of the WWII era. My father was one of them, and he and the others were all deaf to one degree or another from years of exposure to small arms fire, artillery, mortars, etc.. It apparently wasn't "manly" to complain about your ears hurting back then--if someone was particularly sensitive to the noise he was told to break off the filters from cigarettes and stick them in his ears. You know that didn't help much!

ps. Can this be added to the 'notable post' section, please?

Ya but now the question is: Are those Roper stocks on that gun???

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

It has been for awhile.
Near the top, in "General"




Yes.

__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Wonderful post, especially for those who don't have access to old Gun Digests. The 1954 edition was my first, at age 15. What a thrill it was then to read the stories, among them this excellent account.

Thanks for posting.

Regards,

Dyson

unreal, mechanical engineering at its finest

very labor intensive, I wonder how many abor hours have been reduced due to automation and MIM technology these days

Nicely played Sir... Bet you could use some hearing protection.

Always nice to see how it was done in the old days. Lots of tedious work, but look at the end result; revolvers to last a lifetime or several lifetimes.

Thats some nostalgia. thanks

__________________
Dyin ain't much of a livin

It's great to see photos of truly handcrafted guns. Can you imagine what it would cost today to produce a revolver this way? These phots should be made a permanent part of the S&W Forum.

Picture #54. Did you notice the breaktop schofield that was being restored in 1954 and other breaktops in the rack? Okay, how do they do things different at the factory today?

Thanks for posting these for all to see!

Outstanding, thanks for posting. Really makes one appreciate the "old" ways, and the quality of the products made when the machines were only as good as the operator's skill. (Not that CAD-CAM-CNC doesn't require skill, no slight intended!)

I guess eye-pro wasn't in vogue back in the day.

__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

I was given a tour of the "new" factory in early 1952 by Carl Hellstrom, as a part of group of Army Ordnance personnel from Aberdeen. The site was swamp land and had to be drained to be usable for the plant construction. A fascinating experience and, yes, many of the employees were dressed just like the ones in the photos ( they were probably the same people) as I think the Gun Digest article was probably photoed on late 1952 or early 1953, as the this 1954 edition of the Digest magazine was out in late 1953. There were several workers that had been there over 50 years. I've been through the factory several times since, with the S&WCA members, and it's always interesting to see the latest changes and new machinery now making S&Ws untouched by human hands through most if the manufacturing steps. Ed.

for the post. I really like things like this. I happen to have a large collection of GDs so will go to my 1954 issue and peruse this some more. Thanks again. I gave you a "like" for it.

Thanks Lee!

As an 'old-school' tool & die maker myself , who learned on machines like that , from skilled craftsmen like that , I highly enjoyed it!

Those specialized machines were often designed and built to make a single part. Sometimes more than one machine was used as one machine merely performed a single operation on a single part.

Very cool!

hard to believe that the fellas operating machinery are wearing ties! Ahhhh.... the good ol' days are gone.

Chief38

Been there, done that....wow, great post Lee, what a reminder, brings back memories, and hopefully gives these folks an "idea", glimpse into the entire process,,,yes boys and girls , thats how they dressed back then........THANK YOU

__________________
dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

I just realized tonight that this album had a glitch that I somehow caused which made the pics invisible.
They are now back up.

__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett