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07-19-2017, 05:49 PM
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A needle in a haystack ...
Just bought this letter and I am wondering what the gun is. Based on the serial number (64722) I think it's a circa 1905-1906 M&P hand ejector. Does that sound right?
Anybody out there have it?? (I know ... I know ... wicked long shot!)
[IMG] [/IMG]
Here's my translation of the letter:
Gentlemen,
I am shiping you express today one #64722 cal 38 special revolver to be repaired. This arm will need a new hammer nose & stud (?). When fired the primer (?) projects back against the frame and binds it in a way that it will not revolve after an shot is fired. So please repair this and ship COD or make me a price and I will send the amount at once.
Yours truly Jack Gunn
BTW, how great is his name for a guy who sells guns? Doesn't get any better!
Would the S&WHF have a record of the repair?
Last edited by 357magster; 07-19-2017 at 06:34 PM.
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07-19-2017, 09:59 PM
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Nice find, although that s/n indicates a .38 M&P 1st model of 1899 Army-Navy revolver.
The photo does not open up.
Unless it's on S&W letterhead, no, the S&WHF will have no record of it.
The hammer nose is the hammer mounted firing pin and the stud is the cross pin retaining the firing pin in the top of the hammer.
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07-19-2017, 10:19 PM
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Based on the date of the letter ( 1929) and the serial number, a Military & Police K frame has to be the gun, as we know no other S&Ws were made in .38 Special caliber before 1929. Sounds like Mr. Gunn may have been shooting his hot reloads and the primers were blowing back out of their seats in the brass. I wonder if Jack Gunn was any relation to my old friend, Bill Gunn, President of S&W in the 1970s? Ed.
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07-19-2017, 10:39 PM
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Looks like S&W did the work on it. Shows receipt date of 15 Mar 1929.
I wonder if the other date stamp of 1 Apr is the date of completion?
Neat piece of memorabilia.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
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07-19-2017, 11:32 PM
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If it is SN 64772 and a .38 Special, it would be either a Model of 1902 or a Model of 1905 (depending upon whether it has a round or square butt), that was probably shipped from the factory in 1905 or 1906. Your assumption is correct.
Last edited by DWalt; 07-20-2017 at 12:31 AM.
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07-19-2017, 11:37 PM
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You guys are probably too young to remember Peter Gunn but you may remember the theme Peter Gunn which is the same theme for the video game Spy Hunter ...
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Last edited by model3sw; 07-20-2017 at 05:54 AM.
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07-20-2017, 03:38 AM
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I do remember Peter Gunn. In the late 1950s we didn't have a television, but my aunt did. My brother and I used to go to her house to watch Tom Mix, Roy Rogers and other Western heroes. I also remember watching the Peter Gunn TV show at her house on more than one occasion.
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07-20-2017, 07:35 AM
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Back during its first run in the late 1950s, I thought Peter Gunn was the coolest show on TV. Not too long ago I watched several episodes on one of the oldie channels and it seemed a lot more hokey as seen through considerably older eyes. But the Henry Mancini score was still good.
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07-20-2017, 08:47 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DWalt
Back during its first run in the late 1950s, I thought Peter Gunn was the coolest show on TV. Not too long ago I watched several episodes on one of the oldie channels and it seemed a lot more hokey as seen through considerably older eyes. But the Henry Mancini score was still good.
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If I did all my chores and got good grades in school i was allowed to watch The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Superman on a Saturday, however, under no circumstance could I watch TV on a school day. I, also, thought those shows were fantastic at the time. Now, I agree, those same shows seem REALLY hokey.
We had a new (then), cutting edge of techology, Dumont TV, Wollensak tape recorder and a Zenith High Fidelity (pre stereo) record player with the arm that looked like a snake's head. That was in 1958.
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07-20-2017, 08:49 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by opoefc
... Sounds like Mr. Gunn may have been shooting his hot reloads and the primers were blowing back out of their seats in the brass. ...
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I think it's more likely that Mr. Gunn was sending it in for a customer who had problems with it.
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07-20-2017, 09:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hondo44
. . . Unless it's on S&W letterhead, no, the S&WHF will have no record of it . . .
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It's amazing what a S&WHF search can turn up .
Attached are among the correspondence that surfaced on a McGivern Model that Bill Cross researched for me. Needless to say the number of records that can be found vary greatly by individual search.
Russ
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07-20-2017, 09:48 AM
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I love old letters about S&W. Back in 2010, I bought a 1957 copy of Smith & Wesson Revolvers by John Parsons. The book contained correspondence between George "King" Cole and Henry "Hank" Means in 1960 & 1961. I found out through Roy Jinks and Ed Cornett that George Cole was an early SWCA member and Hank Means is a Life Member of SWCA.
It seems that George was offering to buy a short barreled 44 Triple Lock from Hank for $210, sell a 44 Triple Lock for $125 and a 357 Magnum for $150. He also sent the book I have now to Hank. I especially liked the entry where George had tried to send an Australian Model 3 in for repairs, but the company said they only worked on S&W guns.
Hank Means was reportedly a Marine Captain in 1960 and in his letter, he had to turn George down on a 320 Revolving Rifle deal . . . one can only wonder what the price was.
Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy seeing how the S&W collecting business was handled before the advent of the Internet.
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07-20-2017, 10:12 AM
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My only one somewhat close by is #59794. It's a .38 M&P Model of 1902 First Change Target, 6 1/2" blue (with a square butt) shipped/delivered to a S&W Foreman noted as Edward H. Burton on February 26, 1906. Roy went on the hunt for such a person---couldn't find him---did find an Edward H. Burt.
Roy notes this gun is in the serial range for a round butt rather than square, and speculates this person may have been involved in the design of the square butt.
Ralph Tremaine
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