Last year, I showed off the special order 5" Combat Masterpiece that I was fortunate enough to acquire. It spent 24 years in service with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, until it was retired in 1976.
When it arrived in my hands, it was wearing Magna stocks that date from 1964 (based on the serial number stamped inside the right grip panel). This compares favorably to the Patrol's maintenance records which show the gun being turned in for refurbishing on March 30, 1965. I believe these stocks were placed on the gun by the armorer at that time.
Last week, I was able to obtain a very nice set of Magna stocks that date much closer to the gun's original shipping date of October 3, 1952. The serial number impressed on the inside of the right panel on these stocks points to 1956. They are the correct shape for the era.
I think this revolver looks better wearing these!
Here are some photos. The first two show the gun wearing its new stocks. The third photo shows it with the stocks that came on it when I purchased it sitting alongside it.
The final photo was taken when I first took delivery, while it still wore the stocks from 1964.
Comments are welcome.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Not too many of the MSHP Combat Masterpieces survived with their original stocks . . . you've done well to bring her back as close as you have. Thanks for giving her the attention she deserves.

Russ

Jacj - so you are the other bidder that kept buying those high shoulder Magnas! I have been looking for a 1950 era set for quite some time and had to settle on a heavily worn pair for my K-38 Masterpiece. I did what I could and ended up with a decent looking pair for now.

Let me know if you are done bidding on these style stocks, so maybe I will be able to find another pair at a decent price.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Gary
I'll keep an eye out for a good pair for you!

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

That's a really cool gun. I don't worry so much about having exactly the right stocks.

I wonder why they wanted a 5" barrel so badly they were willing to special order it and I assume pay extra for it?

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No life story has happy end.

Jack:

Nice find on those stocks! That returns the revolver to its original configuration. It looks great! When I look at the pictures together, it is amazing how much better it looks with the original stocks.

Good show!

Best regards,

Shawn

They look like there a very nice fit. I like revolvers with a little history wear.

Very nice 5" tapered barrel !
The only 5" I have handled had diamond target grips but 1952 is actually when the plastic medallions first appeared,

I have three 1952 Masterpieces around K132000 all with the plastic medallion high shoulder Magnas

If interested in close up pics Some Combat Masterpiece eye candy

To the best of my knowledge, all of the players in the original decision are now deceased, but my educated guess, based upon a little history and upon some talks with some of the people before they died, is that Missouri had a tradition of 5 inch barrels. In 1931, when the agency began, they used M&Ps with 5 inch barrels. They went briefly to 5 inch Colt Official Police revolvers, then to 5 inch Heavy Duty revolvers. The Combat Masterpiece was the next in line, and I suspect that the explanation is that simple - tradition.

After the entire force was equipped with the 5 inch CM, they then began buying standard 4 inch CMs. All of the people involved in that decision are also deceased, but it is believed that they needed the next batch faster than S&W could do the special order, or that S&W was unwilling to do the order for 30 or 40 guns, the size of the typical new recruit class, or that they were out of the original tapered 6 inch K38 barrels, which is the likely source for the MSHP 5 inch barrels.*

For about the next 23 years or so, they had some troopers using 4 inch and some using 5 inch. All troopers used the 5 inch holster, which simplified the supply chain. All of the CMs (both 4 inch and 5 inch) were traded for Model 66s with 4 inch barrels in 1976, and many troopers bought their issue revolvers. Compared to the number of 5 inch revolvers out there somewhere (365 in the MSHP order, and perhaps a small number shipped to commercial distributors (I think we know of maybe 2, one to Los Angeles and one to H.H. Harris, if memory serves), a relatively small number have been accounted for (under 50, I think).

As you know the 5 inch Missouri gun differs from the ISP 5 inch in that the ISP was a Pre-14 K38 Masterpiece, as it had the straight walled barrel. The Missouri gun is really a 5 inch Pre-15 as it has the tapered barrel and the frame bevel cuts on the front corners in the manner of the CM.

*As to the tapered barrels, some of us believe the guns were made up using left over original tapered K38 Masterpiece barrels that S&W still had in inventory. The original 6 inch K38s had tapered barrels, then they offered the straight barrel, which became more popular, and that was probably the source of the barrels for the MSHP order. The prices were exceedingly favorable for the order, at a little under $50.00 for two batches of the revolvers, and a little over $50.00 for some of the revolvers. Thus, either a lack of barrels for new orders after the original 365, or the fact that a new batch was needed for new recruits before a special order could be filled, or the fact that S&W was unwilling to do a special order for 5 inch guns probably contributed to them transitioning to 4 inch guns for all new troopers thereafter.

EDIT: Although Roy Jinks was acknowledged in the article Russ and I did for the S&WCA and for the MSHP magazine, I need to acknowledge Roy's assistance here on this Forum. As the MSHP serial numbers are spread out considerably, Roy probably had blurred vision from reading over records for many thousands of revolvers in order to assemble the list that went to Missouri. And, he did so over the long Thanksgiving weekend the year we did the article. He joked in an email that all he had to do that weekend was to eat and read serial numbers. It really was sort of like looking for "needles in a haystack." Just to show how good Roy's work was, in the final reconciliation, Roy's serial number list matched EXACTLY to the MSHP index cards, which were rescued from records slated for destruction. The whole process was painstaking, but at least now we can state with relative certainty the facts surrounding this unusual variation of Combat Masterpiece. So, thank you Roy and Russ (linde on this forum) for all the hard work.

From their beginning in 1931, the Missouri Patrol selected 5" Smith & Wessons . . . their first issue was a 5" M&P and in 1948 the 5" Heavy Duty.

By 1952 when the Patrol special ordered the 5" Combat Masterpiece, S&W had phased out the 6" tapered barrel K-38 Masterpiece due to declining demand in favor of the now-standardized 6" Heavy barrel that the market preferred. We don't have confirmation but suspect the factory had tapered 6" barrels left over that they didn't want to waste and made the Patrol an attractive offer. Some day I'll look up the standard pricing of the 4" and compare it to the purchase price of the special ordered 5".

It wasn't long after the initial order that the Patrol began accepting the factory-standard 4" CM (I suspect the 6" tapered barrels ran out). Trooper preference for the 5" continued with a lot of jockeying for position to get a 5" when one became available over their issued 4".

Russ


Oops . . . I see Shawn types faster than I do and covered the history very well. As you might be able to tell, we worked together on the research of the 5" MSHP CMs.

Great history guys,
Do you have a database of the serials for the 1930's MSHP 5" M&P's issued ?

Engine49guy
Refer to the SWCA Journal, Vol. 45 #1, Spring 2011, page 21.

I have to give a lot of credit to Shawn and Russ, since it was reading their work in the above-cited Journal article that set me on the road toward adding one of these interesting revolvers to my collection of postwar K-38s. I'm deeply grateful for their research and for their assistance in gaining documentation on this gun both while I was in the process of acquiring it and after it came into my home.

For those of you reading this who have not already joined the SWCA: here is a good example of why anyone with a serious interest in S&W revolvers should become a member.


Edit: I see I misread Brad's question - he's asking about the predecessor guns to the HD's used by the MSHP. My mistake. Nonetheless, I'm going to leave my post stand, for the edification of others.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

No, I'm sorry to report we don't. Unfortunately the M&P records were not part of the records found.

Russ