Stumbled across this one online last week. Said to have belonged to Victor Connett, a sergeant for the Palo Alto PD from 1945-1967.

Pre War Heavy Duty (first year production) 5" with King reflector front sight with King ramp insert and King Micro rear sight assembly. The sergeant must not have liked the glare from the mirror in the base as he painted overtop of it!

The engraving is alleged to be Orville J. Kuhl (by a friend and forum members estimate). The pictured duty belt, flap holster (marked G. F. Cake - Berkley Cal.), ammo slide, handcuff case, and Peerless handcuffs were included with the sale. It was wearing a rather worn set of pre war magna stocks when I got it but since they were not correct and the gun was engraved for service stocks, I put on these giraffe bone pre war service style stocks with original medallions.

Overall a pretty interesting BBQ/duty gun!
























Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

__________________
Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

That's very nice.

__________________
Oh well, what the hell.

That is an awesome revolver, definitely a 10 in the coolness category. Thanks for showing us.

Holy cow! What a gem!

Something about that engraving style is familiar. I am pretty sure that within the last five years I have seen a forum thread on a gun with that same (or very similar) dots-in-diamonds pattern. Maybe in the Bay Area of California? Maybe a father-son engraving business? Dad retired and the son continued the work for a while but was never as active?

Or maybe I am blending two or three different partial memories. Not an uncommon experience in recent years. I mention all this in case it triggers something in the recollection of others.

__________________
David Wilson

WOW!! Awesome acquisition. If that gun could only talk....... hardcase60

__________________
You want me to do what?

Kris, you can go to the Peerless website and send them the cuffs' serial and they'll reply with when they were made and where shipped to.

__________________
SWHF #448

A definite beauty. Thanks for sharing.

__________________
Mike
S&WCA #3065

How's it shoot?

THAT is just wonderful.

Stu

Nice looking piece Kris. The wear mark on the left side of the trigger guard makes me wonder if it might've been carried in an Audley holster....

Mark

__________________
S&W Forum Member #721

Wow that is a beauty!!!!

That ole boy had S T Y L E !!!

Nice Kris. Definate upgrade from W&K engraving. Cool piece.

Charlie

Very nice grab!! Quite a unique engraving style. Congratulations

That is a King with some Bing for sure!! Thanks for the pics.

This thread is really interesting

Pawn Shop Engraved Pre-War Mags

__________________
Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Kuhl is the engraver whose name I was trying to think of several posts up in this thread, and it turns out you had already mentioned him in the first post. I need new glasses.

Now that I compare the work on this HD with Kuhl's work on other handguns, I have to say that I see similarities in the design vocabulary -- leaves, vines, flowers that might be either hibiscus blossoms or Matilija poppies. (For non-Californians, Matilija poppies are one of the glories of this state's native vegetation, and as a California resident Kuhl would have been familiar with them; the plant is also found in some areas of other western states and northern Mexico.)

Having said that, I'm not sure I think the technique of the engraving is a close match to other examples of Kuhl's work. I don't see the dots and small circles on other guns that I see here, and I'm not sure the diamond lattice on the forward portion of the frame could be his. On other guns, Kuhl meticulously honors factory stampings to a degree that is missing here. This engraver seems to have cut his design right over the factory stamps, though it is true he incorporates elements of the gun's physical features in the pattern. Note the vine that runs right through the serifs at the top of the W in the company logo. It also looks to me as though a line crossing the front of the sideplate may originally have matched the slot in the front sideplate screw. I acknowledge those are the kinds of things Kuhl might have done.

So maybe it's Kuhl's work, maybe it's not. I haven't seen anything to distinguish the work of Kuhl Jr. from Kuhl Sr., so that's a possible explanation. I imagine Kuhl took simple commissions as well as the larger more ornate ones, so a less complex fast job is something to consider. It's certainly true that Kuhl and King knew each other and that Kuhl worked on some guns that passed through King's shop. It hard to argue identity from a sometime thing, but the King connection on this gun is hard to ignore.

I'm willing to believe that this is Kuhl's work, but it will probably take some stronger comparables or additional circumstantial evidence to convince me.

Whoever the engraver was, this is still a marvellous S&W in all its aspects. I'm more than a little envious, and I congratulate you on the pickup.

__________________
David Wilson

Beautiful engraving! What detail, and very artful. Glad to see this one! Surprised by the wear with all the intricate beauty.

Kris: As I mentioned ea4rlierr...there is something unusual about a floral carved gun going into a basketweave holster... but then it has King sights. Oh my.

__________________
Randy
Provenance nerd

I'm yore huckleberry! (Or some kind of berry anyway)

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

What a cool duty gun. I love it when fine firearms are honestly used like they were meant to be. Even if they happened to be engraved. Somebody must have been awful proud of this piece, and you now own it.

I've always been slightly envious of all the King modified gun owners, with such things as the sweet front sight options they did, like reflector bases. I'm constantly wanting to know how the sights help or hurt, meaning I want to try them!!!

I really like the reflector base concept with something like the gold/ivory bead maybe, or a colored patridge type? I'm not sure of what all the options were. Seems like in theory the reflector base would help if there was something there worth "lighting" up. However, the sweet gun showed above has a reflector base for a plain black ramp sight. Nothing against the gun, but I don't see how that setup benefits anything. Wonder why it was chosen?

Apparently it was the sergeants BBQ duty gun.

__________________
Get off my lawn!

I know that some engravers hid their ID or initials in inconspicuous locations on their works. Have you looked the gun over under magnification to see if any such marks exist? Does anyone know if Kuhl so marked his work?

Either way, a cool gun and I am not a collector of guns with scratches on them.

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

Sweet rig ya got there, again!! Thanks for sharing.

Victor Morton Connett: 1912-1989
Survived by his wife Dorothy and children Vikki and Robert.

There is minimal newspaper coverage of his time in uniform, and it resides behind a newspaper subscription paywall.
He was born in OK and lived most of his life in CA.
A motorcycle enthusiast in his youth during the depression.







Some personal tribute and Genealogy. Victor Morton Connett (1912 - 1989) - Find A Grave Memorial

I did some more digging and don't think I'll find any provenance online that connects Vic and the revolver.

His children and grandchildren might be helpful if you were inclined to pursue info.

Before his wife passed, she compiled a short biography of her life with Vic. No mention of the revolver in it, but it is a touchingly sweet memory of their lives together. https://www.familysearch.org/patron/...x=ArtCtxPublic

Vic and Dot.

thank you (AGAIN) for all of your help bigwheelzip!!!! I found an email for Eileen (Vic's niece) and have sent her an email. I hope to update the thread with more information

__________________
Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Your very welcome.

Vic and Dot's kids are senior citizens themselves now, and their contact info is public. Dot's Bio mentions the names of the grandkids, Leslie and Jennifer, who must now be middle age.

Since your willing to pursue the provenance, I'll see what contact info is around, and IM you the results. Might be a fun backstory there.

Another great find, and the complete package is certainly a plus. The giraffe bone stocks with the PW medallions is the perfect touch.

__________________
Rick
SWCA #2727 , SWHF #435