Fantastic pictorial essay. I'll contribute to keep it going.

Others here could outpace the images and the rarity of these two Babies, but they've become my pride 'n' joy, and I'm told they're a bit rare, to boot.

Baby Chiefs Specials in 3". The old one, 30375, shipped July 1953 and has the 1st style flat latch. The new one, 42829, shipped May 1954 and has the 2nd style flat latch.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Although they did not leave the factory as anything rare, or even a pair, they became a rare pair of 8.375" 5-screw 357's over the last several years at the hands of some talented craftsmen...

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

First my thanks to the sharp eyed folks who revived this thread for those of us who don't always pay close attention to what's going on around them.

Next, I am once again struck by the diversity within this group. We range from just plain folks through accumulators, collectors, advanced collectors, to those at the top of the heap---the students. And here we have the work of Mr. Priwer----one of those students---of the summa cum laude variety.

Ralph Tremaine

Their many of us on the forum that are now wealthy money wise ,but wealthy in the love of Smith & Wessons . I will never own such a collection but appreciate collections of others ,and their willingness to present them to others that enjoy them . A heart felt thanks for letting us enjoy them along with you

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age is just a number

My original post for this thread had pictures of two 3" 2-tone model 19's; one a round butt, and one a square butt. I'm adding factory letters for both of them, here.

The round butt gun is very special. Here is the factory letter for it.





The pictures I have do not snow the special trigger guard features of the gun; I can get better views of that.

The square butt revolver does not have the significant story as the round butt, but it is all correct. Here is its factory letter.






Regards, Mike

Thanks for the show Mike. Outstanding! You just saved me a trip to a museum, because that's what you have there!

Not up to Mike or Richard's pairs, but I'm pretty proud of these.
The two earliest known (shipped and s/n'd) 6" Regulation Police Targets: 266xxx (1917) and 276xxx (1919)

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

Thank you Mike for the additional info on those 3" 19-2s.

I purchased these two 1950's factory engraved guns separately, but somehow it felt right to pair them up for a photo shoot. The Pre-27 (believed to be engraved by Russ smith) shipped 12/28/1955 and the much smaller Frank Herbert engraved "Baby Chief" shipped 11/10/1954. Overall they make a fun pair and you can see the common ancestry in the design.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan