Just sold for $50,000 + buyers premium.

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George Jamison

Looks like Chase will get to go to college.

Doesn't surprise me. More iconic than an Elvis gun.

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

And the 1946 Mexican in that auction went for a hammer price of $27,500.

In six to 10 years we'll see both those guns offered at twice the prices they went for today. I won't be buying either of them then, either.

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David Wilson

I saw the estimate before the auction and 50k was the upper estimation.
It did achieve that amount I'm happy someone could afford to buy a piece of history like that.

As a thread drift, I bought a nifty Mod 10-5 at auction for $300 ....

OK.

I'm all out.

GF

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SWCA #2420

Only 108 Registered Magnums were shipped with 4.5-inch barrels. Gary Cooper's is one of them, and bears serial number 2960. The gun was carried by Cooper as a personal defense weapon for a time.

The holster was made by none other than Arvo Ojala, famed Hollywood gun rig guru.

The gun is also lettered, of course.

I totally understand why the gun went for $50K. It's extremely well documented...there'll never be any question as to its provenance.

For those of you who are interested, here is a quote from the Rock Island website:

"According to Edward Cornett, in an August 2007 dated email and a July 2006-dated Smith & Wesson Forum post, Ken Craig bought the revolver with the included holster from Kerr's in 1962, and the stocks and holster had been custom made for Cooper.

Cornett stated that the holster, while not marked, was the workmanship of famed Hollywood quick draw coach to the stars, including Cooper, and holster designer, Arvo Ojala. The leather holster is hand inscribed "COOPER" on the back. A .45 Colt bullet key ring marked "ARVO OJALA/*HOLLYWOOD*" is also with the gun.

The accompanying factory letter confirms the registration number, 4 1/2 inch barrel, McGivern front sight and deep "U" notch rear sight. When it was shipped on September 20, 1937 to the W.H. Hoegee Co., Los Angeles, California, the revolver was sighted at 50 yards and had Magna stocks.

Currently the revolver is fitted with non-medallion checkered target stocks which were put on the gun by Gary Cooper. The revolver has standard S&W factory markings with "REG. 2960" stamped on the inside of the yoke. Matching serial numbers are found stamped in the ejector shroud, rear cylinder face and butt. The assembly number "11618" is stamped on the yoke and crane.

This is one of only 108 Registered Magnums manufactured with a 4 1/2 inch barrel. Gary Cooper memorabilia with this lot includes Larry Swindell's "The Last Hero: A Biography of Gary Cooper", six 8x10 inch movie/actor promotional stills, two 8x10 inch portrait illustrations, "Screen Greats Series No. 6: Gary Cooper" magazine and 7 October 1940 edition "Life" magazine which displays Cooper on the cover. Provenance: Chad Gripp collection."

It's also interesting to me that the holster is stamped "44 S&W".

Jeez. I wonder how much his 350SL Gullwing brought? Big Larry

A Mercedes is one thing.

Cooper's 1931 Duesenberg makes it look like a Soap Box Derby car.

There was a lot more to Gary Cooper, by the way, than the simple cowboy or American hero he portrayed in his films.

Cooper, in that photo, is leaning on a full size Phaeton. The Gable picture I attached was another (different model) Duesenberg, not his SSJ.

Without referencing the Duesenberg books, the SSJ model Duesenberg were the model that only 2 were manufactured ... one for Gary Cooper, the other for Clark Gable. Clark Gable's was 1 foot longer than Gary Cooper's.

Of other famous owners of Duesenbergs was Tom Mix who owned several and died in a "sister" car, a Cord, in 1940. (ref: "sister" Cord / Auburn / Duesenberg )

Here are the 2, famous, SSJ's: Model SSJ

Whether it be the RM of either Clark or Gary, or the Duesenberg(s) owned by either one, be prepared to plop down some serious cash.

I believe the same owner of Gary Cooper's RM also owns Clark Gable's RM.

Back about 30 years ago I went on a quest to find Clark Gable's RM from a 1981 auction catalog when it was sold. After several years (the pre-internet days) ... I tracked it down. I wrote the (then) current owner twice. I did not get a response to either letter.

Both Cooper's and Gable's RM were on loan to the NRA museum IIRC, also Jimmy Stewart's. Correct me if I've misstated any of the above.

Oh, I researched to find Gable had the Gullwing coupe. Did not know Cooper had one, too.

Yes, just found online ... only 2 SSJs were made, one for Cooper, one for Gable ... see: The Clark Gable 1935 SSJ Duesenberg in Los Angeles | The Old Motor

Attached Images

Gables Duese.jpg (164.5 KB, 470 views)

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

If I remember correctly, several movie stars of that era bought Registered Magnums. I saw Clark Gable's RM in the NRA Museum.

I may have posted this background info elsewhere on the Forum, but as mentioned above. my friend, Ken Craig, and I were tipped off by a friend at Kerr's gun shop in Hollywood that they were going to be receiving Gary's guns from his widow, Rocky Cooper. I contacted Rocky and got the list of guns being consigned and when the Reg. Mag came in , Ken bought it and turned it over to me for resale to a S&WCA collector. Ray Brazille, acting as agent for Ray Cheely, bought the gun from me. I had gathered a package of related paper items, photos and magazines, etc. and marked the holster "Cooper" to identify it from the other Arvo Ojala holster & rigs I had, as it was not a .357 Mag marked holster. Argo had made it using a .44 cal.marked N Frame holster. My "deal" with Ray Cheely was that if he ever decided to sell it, I would get first right of refusal. Unfortunately, after Ray's demise, Sheryl Cheely , not knowing about my arrangement with Ray, sold the gun to another member of the S&WCA, who I believe sold it to Chad. I don't know who bought it today, but I know who ran up the bid! Ed.

Clark Gable's RM at the NRA Museum:

NRA Museums:

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

Ed, When I grow up, I want to be like you !

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

Wow ,you guys are an interesting bunch for a country boy like me to be hangin with.

The auction was certainly a wake-up call on Registered Magnum prices. I was the under bidder on the one with the peep sight. I think those of us who assembled RM collections 15 or 20 years ago find the prices have risen so rapidly that it is difficult to add new acquisitions!

He had one alright. He lived somewhere in the desert and was clocked by a police officer at 140 MPH on his way to work, as the story goes. My good friend Kurt Mauer was a bartender at the Thunderbird in Palm Springs, and he and Coop were friends. Kurt had a 350 SL Gullwing also. He bought it with the money his Dad gave him when Kurt came to America after spending the war as a POW in a British prison. He was wounded at Monte Casino after he jumped out of a Glider. My friend Kurt knew all the famous movie stars. He showed me a picture once of him, Coop, Jimmy Stewart, and John Wayne. Big Larry

Very interesting thread, thanks to all who contributed!

Vinnyselene77

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"GUNS UP"

Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper & Clark Gable were hunting and shooting buddies. Stewart bought his Reg. Mag. when they first came out. Reg. # 100, formerly in my Reg. Mag. collection, now owned by another S&WCA member. Gables is owned by Ron Peterson, well known gun dealer & collector. It's on loan to the NRA Nat'l Fire Arms Museum. Cooper bought his Reg. Mag. later on. John Wayne had many different firearms over time, as he was an avid hunter and we sometimes hunted in AZ. and Baja, but I don't think he ever had a Reg. Mag. Ed.

Those guys were actors back in the day when men were men. Although a few of the current crop of actors are still interested in hunting and other manly pursuits, too many of today's "leading men" would succumb to a case of the vapors if they were exposed to a real gun anywhere but on a carefully controlled movie set. More's the pity. I can only dream of hopping in a Deusey with Jimmy or Clark or Gary and bringing along my Registered Magnum and my Model 21 Winchester to roar out to the desert for an afternoon of casual shooting, followed by a big meal back home and a good glass of bourbon by the fire place.

Froggie

Sorry, but I had to do this. A couple million will get you one. No, this is not Coops car. Big Larry

I had the privilege of seeing and holding Cooper's RM at Cheely's. The grips are very large, to big for my hands.
Here is a better photo of the holster.

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SWCA 1932 SWHF 135

One more photograph. Click on the photo to see it larger.

And a question for the experts. Is it just the light or my eyes, or is the left stock slightly altered to accomodate the cylinder release? In this photo, it looks as if it has a small cutout. Or maybe it's just a shadow?

When Tim Mullen was writing his MAGNUM book we had a discussion about why someone would order a 4.5" RM. The obvious answer is: because he wanted one. But, we did speculate about whether any of those orders came from an owner of a 4.5" New Service who liked the barrel length. Presumably, the owner of a 4.75" SAA might have ordered a 4.75" RM. Part of the fun of RMs is speculating on barrel length choice. I just got assigned a new article on the RM for a non-collector magazine so will try to convey what it might have been like to fill out the order and make all of those choices about bbl length, sights, etc.

Sal, you're right, of course. I didn't dig deep enough into all the Cooper photos and info that's available.

Great info. THANX.........

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Watchdog, Yes , there is a slight indentation on the left stock to accommodate the cylinder release. When Ray Cheely was examining the gun at my sales table at the S&WCA Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ., he removed the stocks to see what stamping might be on the grip frame. In doing so, he broke one side panel in two at the bottom. The stocks overlapped the grip frame by a small margin at the butt and like S&W hard rubber stocks, you must lift them up straight from the frame or you will chip a piece out of the butt end, as seen on many hard rubber stocks. Ray did not lift up the stocks straight enough and one side broke off at the bottom. He was very embarrassed, of course. I doubled the price at that point ( just kidding ). Obviously he had them expertly repaired . I don't think the stocks were made ( after market) for the gun, but were adapted from another gun. I got the gun before there was a S&W Historical Foundation, so I never saw the original order invoice and any paperwork between S&W & Cooper, or his dealer, so I don't know whether Cooper specified a 4.5 in barrel, or not. Regardless, it's a "cut barrel" Reg. Mag, as all Reg. Mags started out as 8 & 3/4 in long and then were cut to order, if the buyer did not want the longer barrel. Probably the only S&W model that a cut barrel can increases it's value ! Ed.

One of the most interesting threads in some time.

I always thought 5" was perfect for an N-frame. Balance of overall length and sight radius. I don't like 3.5", too short, but 5 seemed right. Until I got to handle a 4.5" N-frame (The one that's the topic of this thread) out in Boise. The person who purchased it let me handle it and I found perfection was 1/2" shorter. IIRC there was also a 4.5" RM there that was originally shipped with a peep sight! That one was different. Elmer Keith had one of his early 44mags shortened to 4.5" and later engraved.

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PTLAPTA!

That's quite a story! Thank you so much for all that additional information. Plus giving the story of this gun a more human touch to go along with all the tech information.

It is, isn't it? This is what makes the forum worthwhile to me, this is why I joined.

Might this be the one you're thinking of? Except it didn't come with the 4.5-inch barrel.

Registered Magnum Number 2966. Serial Number 53689.

Registered to Henry Lenz of Gloversville, New York.

Click on the photo to view it larger.

No, the one I saw was at S&WCA in Boise and it was a 4.5" RM that lettered with peep sights. I don't think it was in RIA auction. Out of curiosity, how much did the RIA above go for?

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PTLAPTA!

The peep sighted RM went for $19,000 before buyer's premium. I was the under bidder on it. In re, the 4.5" guns. I agree they are a nice barrel length. The first one I bought I got from one of the auction houses that had misidentified it as a 5" gun. The barrel looked short to me so I blew up the page photo and did a ratio measurement between the cylinder and the barrel and deduced it was a 4.5" model. I was right and it lettered as a 4.5."

"I can only dream of hopping in a Deusey with Jimmy or Clark or Gary and bringing along my Registered Magnum and my Model 21 Winchester to roar out to the desert for an afternoon of casual shooting, followed by a big meal back home and a good glass of bourbon by the fire place." with a few hot starlets for entertainment. Both Gable and Cooper were well known for their prowess with the gentler sex. I don't think Jimmy Stewart was the type.

Coop and Mr. Gable were notorious for their exploits with many stars.
You are quite correct. Mr. Stewart never, to my knowledge, strayed from his wife. They had a great marriage. We need more like him in the world today. He was a true gentleman. Big Larry

Group, I little more background for this thread on Cooper:
Several years after Ray Cheely bought the gun from me, he asked me to write him my recollection of the gun's history and connection to Gary Cooper, etc. Here's a condensation of what I wrote Ray: ( Aug. 11,2007 )

Ray & Sheryl, This is what I can recall about Gary Cooper's .357 Registered Magnum, serial number 53692, Registered number 2960. John Beckwith and I operated an antique gun store in Encinitas, CA. from the 60s to 1985., called " John Beckwith's Guns & Relics." Dr. Ken Craig, a friend of John's and mine and fellow S&W collector, was John's dentist. John was well known in the gun fraternity and had been connected to the movie business in the 1930s and knew most of the Hollywood crowd. The store was just north of the Del Mar Race Track ("Where the Turf Meets the Surf") and quite a few famous actors and Hollywood luminaries visited the store when at the track or on their trips to TiJuana. It was a watering hole and mecca for after hours get togethers by the Rich & Famous of the Hollywood scene. I recall times when Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne, Jimmy Durante, Leo Carillo ( who lived nearby), Buddy Hackett, Howard Hawks, Bing Crosby, etc., who were all gun collectors, happened by while I was there. (Cooper had already passed away by the time we opened the store )
At that time, Kerrs' Gun store in Hollywood was the place where all the Hollywood crowd bought their guns & gear. You could spend a few hours there and see any number of movie people. The manager there was a friend of ours named Gerry Knight. About early 1962, Gerry told us that the store was going to buy all the Gary Cooper gun collection of 26 guns from Cooper's widow Rocky Cooper. In the collection were two S&Ws, a K 22 and the Reg. Mag. My gun fund was rather low at the time, being a Civil Servant with wife and 4 kids, so Ken Craig bought the Reg. Mag. from Kerrs. Included with the purchase, was a holster I marked "Cooper" made by Arvo Ojala. Arvo was a friend of mine and I recognized the holster as coming from his shop, and I showed the holster to Arvo several years later and he verified it as one made for Cooper. I later learned that Warren F " Andy" Anderson, an employee of Ojalas and also a friend of mine, actually made the holster for Cooper sometime in the mid 1950s. There was some conflict between Andy and Arvo as to who really invented the steel lined quick draw holster that Arvo patented. Andy left Arvo's shop and opened his own shop in Hollywood in 1957, called " The Gunfighter" and became a mecca for the Hollywood actors, including Gary Cooper, who were appearing in the western movies & TV series popular at the time. ( The opening scene in "Gunsmoke" shows Matt Dillon (James Arness) in a shoot out with a gunslinger. That gunslinger is Arvo Ojala.) They all learned their quick draw skills from Arvo or Andy. Gary's Reg. Mag. stayed in Ken Craigs collection until I made arrangements to buy part of his collection and broker the rest. I had the gun for awhile until you bought it from me at the S&WCA meeting in Scottsdale. As you know the gun was shipped to W.H.Hoegee & Co., Los Angeles, CA., the S&W distributor, on Sept. 20, 1937. Quite a few west coast shipped Reg. Mags., including Jimmy Stewart's R.M. # 100, went through Hoegees or Calif. Hardware Co. as they were the two major S&W distributors . Kerr's and other gun shops got their inventory from those two wholesalers. I was never able to get any evidence that Gary Cooper ordered the gun from S&W. My assumption is that he bought it from Kerr's inventory, as he did many of his guns. That's all I can recall now from my notes and files regarding Gary Cooper's Reg. Mag. I never could find a photo of him with the gun, although I gave you some photos of Gary in his gun room with other guns. I never met Gary Cooper, however I think we would have hit it off, so to speak, both being western raised on ranches, he in Montana and myself in AZ. and got our start as Western movie extras. He went a little farther in that business than I did! Good Luck, Ed.

Hope this adds a little more color to the thread on Gary Cooper's Registered Magnum!
Ed.

What a great post, and so informative. Thanks so much.

Just made one of the forum's best threads even better.

What a great thread!!

These are the threads I enjoy. I love the histories of these guns and who used them.

Anyone thought of putting together a book of these guns and histories? I would hate for these stories to be lost in time. Not to mention the provenance they provide for these guns.

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Watch & Pray

Can't...help...myself....

With respect, you mean provenance, not providence.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

Yes that too.

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Watch & Pray

Don't forget the cigars!!

The gullwings are 300SL's, not 350SL. The engine was 3.0 liter, not 3.5.

As a bit of an aside, my grandmother lived and worked at Pahaska Teepee and then at the Irma Hotal in Cody, Wy from about 1919 to 1925. Her father, my great grandfather, managed both and owned Pahaska for a time. Pahaska was, and still is, located just outside the east gate to Yellowstone Park. The famous old Yellow Yellowstone Park buses used to run from Cody to the Park past Pahaska and through the east gate every day, and they always stopped for lunch at Pahaska, both going out and returning to Cody - it was a two day trip then. The bus drivers were known as "gearjammers." They did everything! Drove the bus, acted as tour guides and generally took care of their vehicles and the tourists who rode in them. The buses they drove would have looked much like this:



One of the Gearjammers during the summer of 1923 (maybe 1924) was Gary Cooper. Of course, he wasn't famous then. Grandma was in her early 20's, Cooper was about two years younger, and she saw him just about every day. She apparently got to know him pretty well. She never discussed details with me, but I always had the impression she was quite smitten with him. She always said he certainly was a charmer! Seems like he had great taste in handguns too!

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Everybody could shoot

The last time I had a conversation with Ed (opoefc) was at the January Las Vegas gun show, and I think it was 2015. I suggested that he had many stories that should be recorded. He didn't seem to think it was that important. I love these stories and so often I've seen the old collectors of my father's generation, here in Australia, leave us and their stories have died with them.

I had a few guns in the RIA auction but nothing to match Chad's.

Frank S.

Wyo, I love your story. I am a many times visitor to Cody since 2003 and have good friends there. Was there last May and will be back next May after the Denver Gunshow.

This thread with all this great information is one of the reasons why, this forum is far and away the best on the internet. You guys are outstanding!!!!

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George Jamison

Don't forget Jimmy Stewart's military service. He stayed in the Air Force Reserve after WW II and retired as a Brigadier General.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Yes, couldn't agree more about Mr Stewart. He's one of my favorites and an American hero. I'd love to have one of his firearms.