Hello,

I am new member and wanted to post picture of the S&W Highway Patrolman bought by USMC Lt. Col. Spanjer at Evaluators shop owned by former USMC General Van Orden.
The signature on receipt belongs to Flora Van Orden and here is more info on Ralph Spanjer:

https://slsp.manpower.usmc.mil/gosa/...N_TYPE=General

Attached Images

S & W 357 001.jpg (70.4 KB, 550 views)

Welcome to the Forum. That is a HECK of a first post. Congrats on owning that HP.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thank you. I hope you guys on this Forum will appreciate it more than guys on other milsurp or C&R gun forums - that's why I posted it here...

Great Post... Welcome to the forum..
Your Gonna Like It Here..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

What an exquisite Model 28! Thank you for sharing it, and its provenance with us on the forum.

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FBINA, 204th Session

Welcome to the forum! We look forward to hearing more about your interests in S&W revolvers.

brick26

Welcome to the forum.

Congrats on owning part of history.

That HP with history is priceless.

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S&WCA # 2045

WOW! Great find. Provenance is everything on these and Evaluators is about as good as it gets.

There's been quite a bit posted here on the Evaluators, and its worth searching up.

Oh, BTW, welcome to the forum!

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Great post on one of the more popular models here. Welcome!

Todd

Thanks for posting this. Outstanding revolver & I
really enjoyed seeing that Evaluators receipt.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

Outstanding specimen and superb provenance to boot! Welcome to the forum.

Cheers;
Lefty

An excellent revolver made more interesting by the identity of its former owner. Congratulations on owning a fine firearm with a great history.

And welcome to the forum. I think you will like it here.

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David Wilson

This is an understatement!!!
Great gun and Soldier

I am curious though. The list of medals mentions a Vietnam service medal, but the biography skips that time period. What gives??

Curtis, the Army has soldiers. The Marines have Marines. Big Larry USMCR (60-68).

Welcome to the forum, Brick. That is a great Highway Patrolman.

Okay, group, does anyone know if Evaluator Limited's sales records still exist and are available?

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Bill Bates

Some of Evaluators records are in the hands of Mr. Peter Senich, the Sniper book author such as One Round War. He sent my friend copies of the original receipts for my Van Orden sniper rifle, sold by them at Camp Perry National Matches to the US Army in 1954. I used to have communications with Mr. Senich, but I quit collecting sniper rifles some time back and have lost contact. I know he lives in Florida and does share his vast knowledge. Big Larry

I stand corrected

An old Forum member contacted some of the family a few years ago and determined that the family did not keep any of the old records. Presumably they were destroyed or otherwise disposed of.
Here's another Evaluator's Ltd. receipt for a pre-Model 15 Combat Masterpiece I picked up a couple years ago:

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John

Curtis, you know how us Marines are. Thank you for your service to our country and Semper Fi from an old Marine. Big Larry USMCR (60-68)

Heres my Van Orden signed by the General. Big Larry

New member...1st post.

I have been a Randall Knife and Heiser leather collector for a few years. I was looking to sell some holsters on eBay and I found an old one from Evaluators before it was stamped Ltd. It's on eBay now for you quick-draw Chief's Special fans.

I know you can't post an active link here, but could you please either send me a PM or give a little better hint? I tried Evaluators holster, Chief holster, and a couple of others and couldn't find this thing your are selling.

Froggie

Search Heiser holster on Ebay, sort by time, newest, and scroll down about 20 items - can't miss it.

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Dennis
SWCA #2409, SWHF #353

Found it... Thanks! I looked right over it because of its cosmetics. That one is a little too rough for me to carry my sweet Baby Chief in.

Froggie

I am late to this thread but the gun is even even more interesting because Flora Van Orden is the person who suggested the name "Highway Patrolman" to S&W and it was adopted.

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John. SWCA #1586

Welcome! What an impressive way to introduce yourself to the Forum! You have a significant weapon, as you are well aware. There are a lot of fans of the Highway Patrolman here. Have you visited the Ultimate Highway Patrolman thread yet? Yours would make a great contribution.

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Even older, even crankier....

I bought a simular gun in 1957 - about the same price.
DeviceCat
[email protected]

DeviceCat, tell us more about the Combat Masterpiece you purchased.
We love pictures and good stories!
Evaluators was a significant supplier to military and government folks in the Washington, DC, area.

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John

No, Bill. After mom died, I personally either burned them up or watched as the people picked them up to archive them in their various agencies. She asked me not to touch anything or do anything until then, and I respected her wishes. I just stayed with her until she passed on at the Fort Belvoir Army hospital. A doctor poked a hole in her stomach while he was changing the tubes and she bled to death as she was screaming at him, "What in the h___ are you trying to do, kill me?" This was shocking talk from the refined Virginia lady. She was really ticked, for sure. Her living will orders were not to be intubated in the first place but they didn't pay any attention. She had gotten pneumonia from the casein in the tubed supplementation she was getting. When one is intolerant to casomorphine (casein, the dairy protein), the body develops antibodies against the foreign protein and the lungs fill with mucus. She was in so much pain because of heart disease, that it was a blessing in disguise. The person who did the autopsy said the bottom 1/3rd of her heart had been dead a long time before her physical death and each breath must have been awful. She never complained. She entertained a Naval Intelligence friend and his wife on Sundays, and even though her doctor told her not to eat fried chicken or cheese sandwiches, she would take one piece of bread off the sandwich and say it was 'lighter' and broil the open face cheese sandwich, not knowing that she was making plastic out of the cheese when she did that, or that the chicken that her friends brought her when they came had just as much cholesterol as a steak. She was afraid of hurting their feelings or making them feel strange so that they wouldn't come, so she never suggested a different meal, because she was so bored with ordinary conversation, like what one would hear at a senior citizens' center, after being called up by secret service agents and told "Look at the headlines on tomorrow's paper!" or giving her the latest tidbit that would never be published because it was top secret! She was like my dad's father, Col. George Van Orden, who started the Solesbury ? (near New Hope) volunteer fire department near their home in Pennsylvania because he was dying of boredom after retiring!

Did you know her, John, and can you tell me any stories about my mom?