I just thought I would display my .455 Mk. II 2nd Model. It is interesting because it is a commercial variation. There are no martial markings or proof marks at all. All finishes are original.

That one's in really good shape! Great photos, too. Thanks for posting.

I like the .455 HE models quite a bit and need to pick up some unconverted specimens. I have both a first and second model, and both have been converted to .45 Colt. Furthermore, the second model was converted to a target model after WWII. It is a great .45 Colt shooter, and accurate as all get out, but it doesn't have a lot of originality left to it.

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David Wilson

That is a nice gun and photos. Thanks for posting. I am always glad to see old guns in nice shape. Larry

Man, that is beautiful! Where on earth did you find it??

Back in the late '70s, I had a MK II that had been converted to .45 Colt. .45 Colt cartridges loaded with Keith bullets came right to the end of the cylinder. It was a good shooter.

The condition of your revolver is OUTSTANDING!

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Whoever has had that in the past cared for it well. Beautiful!

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Always bet on stupidity.

That's beautiful! I nailed a nice .455 New Century Commercial earlier this year... came out of the deepest, darkest woods of Western Maine... Have you lettered it yet? I wonder if it shipped to a Canadian Distributor....

Thanks to all for your kind comments. These old revolvers are treasures to be preserved for now and for the next generation. I do intend to get a letter on this one, but just haven't done it yet. I think the commercial production of the .455 Mk II was extremely unusual, and I would like to know more about the origin of this particular piece.

Yes, the various caretakers over the years have been careful with this one. It is pristine internally also. The bore and all chambers are as new. Its action is smooth as silk. The revolver is completely un-molested and will certainly stay that way in my hands.

Does anyone have any information about the commercial production of these? This one certainly didn't go to England, because under British law it couldn't have come out of customs without being proofed. Did Canada have mandatory proof also? I'm thinking so, but can't say that with authority. Did S&W produce any .455 revolvers for U.S. customers? Seems unlikely. You can see this piece is something of a brain tease to me. Maybe someone here can help sort it out.

Canada has no proof laws like the British system, and we had or have particular no arms industry except when Winchester bought out Cooey firearms, but back to the question, there are a few hundred I imagine commercila 455 MKII here in Canada atleast, I have one ,a good few friends have a few, great gun you picked up, any gun shipped to Canada has no proof marks other than S&W markings if ordered direct from S&W, so I would letter your gun to see if it shipped to Canada since you did pick it up from a very close location to our nations mutual border, cheers Dale Z in Canada!

Some statistics on the .455/second model:

Serial number range 5001 - 74755, so about 70,000 were produced.

The majority went to the British. The Canadian government purchased 14,500 directly from S&W, according to Neal & Jinks. Roy Jinks in HOS&W also observes that the Canadians bought a total of 724 revolvers chambering the .45 Colt cartridge, but the specific serial numbers were not recorded.

There are a few commercial models, some of which were distributed in the United States. I half-recall (but don't completely trust my memory) that a few dozen .455s with high serial numbers -- maybe the last ones in inventory -- were shipped to a Midwestern City. St. Louis? Kansas City?

I can believe that revolvers in the commercial Canadian market may not have been subject to proof marking, but what was the situation with direct-purchase Canadian revolvers that were eventually released to private use? There is a crown-over-30 stamp on the butt of my .455/second, as well as a crossed-pennant stamp on the left side at the rear of the frame. Not the tidy, small, deep stamp familiar from British revolvers, but a larger stamp that was half polished off when my gun was refinished. Photos:






ADDENDUM: On reflection, I realize that I am confusing proof marks (which these are not) with acceptance marks (which these may well be).

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David Wilson

I think that the "Proof Markings" were usually applied when these guns left service and were sold into commercial channels.

.455 Commercials were not always sold into the Commonwealth countries... this .455 HE1st New Century (AKA: "Triple Lock") was shipped to Shapliegh Hardware just after Christmas, 1917.









As Mr. Jinks indicates, it was a contract over run that had not shipped prior to the British modification of their contract that resulted in the .455 HE2nd...

Drew

The Dominion of Canada proof mark is crossed pennants with a Crown in the upper quadrant a P in the lower and D C on the sides, sometimes just the crossed pennants are used, you will find it on S&W and others.
An odd looking maple leaf with a P at the bottom was one of the marks used by Long Branch.

As Dale Z stated Canada does not have commercial proofs.

John Claydon
SWCA 348

A little more info: Per Roy Jinks, this revolver shipped in December 1917.

I saw one of the MK II's in about NRA VG condition except for some freckling on the trigger. This was last week in a specialty gun store that caters to collectors in a ritzy part of town. They wanted about $1100. It remained in .455.

I paid the lordly sum of $31.58, tax inc., in about 1965 at Gart Bros. in Denver for mine. Alas, I had to sell it and other guns when GI Education Bill checks were late.

Still, I'm amazed at how much they've appreciated now that they're collector's items instead of just old surplus guns.

I never fired mine. Couldn't find any .455 ammo when I could afford it. It was close to NRA Excellent, too. I miss it.

Thanks for the nice photos, Cap'n.

Some of the later 2nd Models were shipped to Shapleigh Hardware, St. Louis. Ray Brazille had one on his table at the Denver Show in 2011, and Hugh May had one this year.

I too have a first model that went to Shapleigh in December, 1917 (#12847).

Frank S.
SWCA 2052.

That is a beautiful gun! shoot it with pride!

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Always bet on stupidity.

Wow! That is a beautiful revolver, photographed beautifully!

My .455 HE 2nd Model was shaved for .45 ACP. It has what I believe are Australian acceptance and unit markings.

EDIT: I take that back. It is still original caliber (it is my Enfield Mk VI that was shaved for .45 ACP/AR). The marking are "4MD" over "24 on the right side of the frame. SN is 555xx.

I had forgotten that I made a little web page for it long ago. http://www.teddydog.org/sw/he455.htm



Rob

I'm thinking this could be one. I'll have to get a factory letter to find out.

Now go out and find some ammo.

I don't have any boxes of vintage ammo, but I'm not hurting for ammo from my loading bench.









Loading .455 Mk II

I just bought 500 rounds of Fiocchi .455 for my s&w.

Attached Images

DSC_0766.JPG (104.1 KB, 76 views)

Oldgrunt, that's a nice looking .455. You will like shooting it.

Thanks for posting, and welcome to the forums.

Curl

I have a 455 #69451 that went to Canada. Pretty close to yours and almost as nice condition. They are a real hoot to shoot.

I have one just like cptn's
My grandpa had it in his drawer for 65 years. Never used it much.
I remember as a boy he would put cotton gloves on to handle it.
I'll post parts of it.

That one's a beauty. Thanks for the link.

Wow. That is a great one.

The OP posted a link to this thread in my thread this morning. I was amazed at how pristine the OPs revolver is, never having seen one like it before! And so I was going to “like” his post, and discovered I had “liked” it before at some point in the distant past.

This is why links to old threads and resurrected threads are important. This recycled information once again becomes “new” over time. I had no recollection of this thread whatsoever.

Also, I clicked on the “Similar threads” links below, and Roy states your revolver shipped in December 1917 and also writes “neat gun”. If Roy writes that—I’d be inclined to get a letter on it!

Where did you buy the conical lead bullets or did you cast them?
I see the Hornady brass, I'll have to check Starline.
I'd love to shoot my 1st, as I've never shot a TL and my 2nd too
I'll post some pics, the 1st is lettered to Remington Arms for a British contract.

Hornady made a run of those bullets some years ago. I was just lucky enough to buy some when they were available. Same as the brass.

Curly

You might have a point there. I just figured it would say it was shipped to Shapleigh Hardware in that big liquidation shipment, given the timeframe.

Curly