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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 09-15-2018, 08:48 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Default 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style

In September 1954, a two tone engraved 357 graced the cover of Argosy magazine.



It was a beautiful gun with tasteful engraving and smooth target stocks with an ivory diamond set in the center, making it a must have for the 357 enthusiast.

RJ E**er, Chief of Police in Wisconsin Rapids, WI must have been smitten by it, as a couple of months later (11/1/1954) this beauty was shipped to him.





... with his initials engraved on the right side of the barrel shroud:









... and the ivory diamond smooth stocks



My guess is that Chief E**er saw the one on the cover, contacted the Factory and said, "I want one just like the Argosy gun, with my initials on the shroud" and two months later, that is exactly what he got.

Thanks for letting me share,
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Old 09-15-2018, 09:03 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Nice lookin' pistola.......how's it shoot?
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Old 09-15-2018, 09:52 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Smokin....
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Old 09-15-2018, 10:00 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Richard,

Quintessential!

The actual engraving on the gun shown is even better than the cover gun!
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Old 09-15-2018, 10:26 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Awesome Richard!
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Old 09-15-2018, 10:59 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Veeeery nice! The ivory diamond inlay in the stocks really complement the gun nicely. It looks even better in person. I enjoyed seeing it as part of your display in Reno.
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Old 09-15-2018, 12:40 PM
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Who was the engraver? Did he (or she) do both the Argosy gun & Chief E**er's gun ? What do the SWHF records show for your gun? I'm sorry, but this engraving, while flashy, is not the skill or quality of A.A.White, or the classic engravers, like the Youngs or Nimschke, etc. Scrolls are uneven, poor overlaps, broken borders, etc. Ed.

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Old 09-15-2018, 08:47 PM
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Very nice revolver. Thanks for showing us.
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Old 09-15-2018, 09:24 PM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Beautiful isn't the right word but wow...nice...
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Old 09-16-2018, 04:32 PM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by opoefc View Post
Who was the engraver? Did he (or she) do both the Argosy gun & Chief E**er's gun ? What do the SWHF records show for your gun?
The engraver was most likely either Harry Jarvis or Virginia LeBlanc - both factory engravers. It letters as Class A engraved. The only thing that the SWHF has is the invoice that confirms what the letter says and also indicates that the "Gonzalez Stocks" were "Hand Made".


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Originally Posted by opoefc View Post
I'm sorry, but this engraving, while flashy, is not the skill or quality of A.A.White, or the classic engravers, like the Youngs or Nimschke, etc. Scrolls are uneven, poor overlaps, broken borders, etc. Ed.
Factory engraving is often not near the quality of aftermarket engravers (I own several AA White engraved guns that are outstanding). Although, I've seen guns engraved by White, the Youngs (particularly the sons Oscar and Eugene) and Nimschke that were not what I would consider high quality. Engravers have to eat. Sometimes they turn out "bread and butter" guns (quick jobs that are nice but not great) and other times they spend the time and turn out masterpieces. I would caution persons to be careful that they are not comparing one engraver's masterpiece with another engravers bread and butter jobs. Factory engravers got paid to turn out work. Some of it was done with more speed than others.

Sometimes "skill" is turning out something on deadline that is flashy and nice. There are really no borders on the frame engraving pattern of this gun, more of an open border style with the background stippling/lines allowing the raised surfaces to be highlighted. This gun is still Class A factory engraved and I find the style, pattern, coverage and execution pleasing. Do I have guns that exhibit more time, effort and precision? - yes. But, they do not diminish my enjoyment of this beauty - which is very representative of what the factory was turning out in the early and mid 1950's.
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Old 09-17-2018, 01:07 AM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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I choose bread and butter! It’s a work of art. Not everyone likes the same thing and that’s ok. Just beautiful RK.
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Old 09-17-2018, 01:43 PM
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Yes, the two guns are very representative of the 1950s S&W engraving by Harry & Virginia, who were good journeyman engravers and turned out work quickly to meet the demands of the market, but neither were close to the masters of the past - just compare these guns to any of the S&W exhibition guns of the turn of the century, or even the later Kornbrath guns.
Did the invoices show how much was the cost of the "Class A" engraving? Ed.
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Old 09-17-2018, 05:51 PM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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That's a stunner, whoever did the engraving. I really like the stocks.
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Old 09-17-2018, 06:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by opoefc View Post
Yes, the two guns are very representative of the 1950s S&W engraving by Harry & Virginia, who were good journeyman engravers and turned out work quickly to meet the demands of the market, but neither were close to the masters of the past - just compare these guns to any of the S&W exhibition guns of the turn of the century, or even the later Kornbrath guns.
... or compare it to the Rentzschke factory guns of the late 1950s...













... or Willig engraved guns of the 1970's...









...or Francolini engraving from the 1980's









I would agree that the work of Jarvis and Leblanc is not the highest quality that I have in my collection, but I'm not sure that either of them were ever given the license, commission or endowment to turn out an exhibition grade gun. My point is that it is not fair to compare the exhibition grade guns of any one engraver with the more production oriented guns of another engraver. You're comparing apples and oranges. That's kind of like comparing a Louis L'amour novel with a James Michener epic... Both very enjoyable to read, but way different in depth, breadth, scope, size of font, and number of pages. I am of the belief that you have to enjoy each for what they are.

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Originally Posted by opoefc View Post
Did the invoices show how much was the cost of the "Class A" engraving? Ed.
It just showed the total cost - $174 (I think from memory).
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Old 09-17-2018, 10:22 PM
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Richard,

Thank you for sharing that historic, magnificent magnum with us.

I have Rolls Royce taste and a Chevy budget. I admire the Rolls' details and appointments, and sometimes I can afford the Chevy. You have an eloquent way of defining the differences in the two, and I always appreciate your sage interpretations of reality.
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Old 09-17-2018, 10:28 PM
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357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style 357 Engraved 3.5" Pinto - "Argosy" Style  
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Absolutely stunning Richard!!!!!
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Old 09-18-2018, 12:51 PM
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Richard, Excellent dissertation. I agree that the "apples & oranges" exercise may be seen as unfair comparison, but my point was to make clear that the two original 1950s era engraved S&Ws by the factory's shop engravers did not come up to past production of S&W's engraved products. Students of engraving would have never considered these two guns as stunning, ( Flashy, maybe) , but only as examples of "hurry up and fill the order" products, with multiple engraving errors. Not even close to being "Masterpieces." Your later posting of the 1970s S&W engraved guns are guns that are quality engraved. Very nice, indeed. Ed.
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Old 09-20-2018, 09:04 AM
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Smile

... a few more photos of some of the details:

Yoke face:



Trigger guard:



and Knuckle:



Thanks for your comments and thoughts,
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Old 09-21-2018, 05:16 PM
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I learned something else today. Thank you. Exhibition, vs 'factory' production quality. Certainly evident in the photos. My eye has always been able to see the difference, but I never had the words / understanding to differentiate. If I'm lucky, I find the scratch, or Pawn Shop engraving on guns I encounter here (living where the cattle drives ended - Ft Worth, where Wolf and Klar sold so many blingy nickel revolvers with ruby-eyed MOP grips to cattlemen with bulging pockets).
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