You all know how this story starts:
I walked into Kittery Trading Post, like always.
On the shelf amid a few other nice old guns was this pre-war K38, 6" barrel, diamond magna stocks, and some nice bluing.
Engraved on the frame, left side under the cylinder, is Loyd Wright.
What do you folks think?

Attached Images

	IMG_0821.jpg (142.8 KB, 490 views)
	IMG_0822.jpg (108.9 KB, 479 views)
	IMG_0823.jpg (137.6 KB, 476 views)
	IMG_0824.jpg (71.3 KB, 373 views)

Awesome did you buy it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

__________________
Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Considering Frank spelled it with two "L's", doubtful . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I see "Loyd Wright" Jest sayin'.........

Maybe it belonged to this guy Loyd Wright - Wikipedia

__________________
Forum consigliere

I know. Only reason I didnt buy it honestly. I have no need in my collection for a 6" K38, but I think this one is nice.
Turns out Mr. Loyd Wright is a Harris County judge and a bit of a shooter.

Seems like a pretty great price for a K38 Target with magnas, a HBH and perhaps a bit of researchable history. I'm pretty sure that it would have come home with me for that price. But then, I have a soft place in my heart and a hole in my wallet for the pre-war K-frame target guns.

__________________
Richard
Engraved S&W fan

I would imagine if Frank Lloyd Wright, did own a handgun, it would be worth some coin now.... Big time.

Loyd Wright was an attorney whose clients included Charlie Chaplin.

Bill

Think I would have bought it. Also, thought I had seen that same name inscribed in the same way recently; there is a pretty nice Registered Magnum on one of the national auction sites (also offered by Kittery) with it. Did you see others with that name engraved besides the K38 Target?

Jeff
SWCA #1457

"Buy the gun - not the story." Heck I'd buy that gun!!!!

I didnt see anything else with similar inscription. I did not buy this gun, but instead left with yet another pre-64 Winchester 94 30-30 with terribly damaged wood. Stripped and on my bench now for refinishing.

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode about Jon Voight's Chrysler LeBaron.

A pre-war K-38 (that one would probably have been from 1939) would be a good acquisition even with the name engraved. I doubt if many were made.

Boy, it’s hard to convince Google that I know how to spell and am NOT searching for Lloyd Wright

The spelling of Loyd isn’t exactly common. There is a judge by the name of Loyd Wright, but he appears too recent for this gun.

My bet would be on the Loyd Wright linked by Cajunlawyer. He fits the time frame. I finally found a photo (among lots of pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright’s structures ) showing him in 1955 with Nixon; Loyd is on the left.

Attached Images

8EC1D846-4DEB-4763-B4BA-9380F3543442.jpg (65.5 KB, 117 views)

They also have his Reg. Mag listed on GunBroker.com. Both are very beautiful pieces.

670476 & 670484 are a special order pair of K-32's, built for the Springfield, MA PD. They also have hump back hammers.

Regards, Mike Priwer

Did you mean John Voight?

Unlikely. FLW was a bit of a weirdo but was very into music and architecture (the latter being obvious), not firearms.

Frank Lloyd Wright - Wikipedia

(c) Wikipedia

My childhood home was a FLW design. Of course FLW did not personally design it, but it was a copy modeled on the lines of the FLW midwestern brick prairie house which was built sometime just after WWI. My father often got questions about whether it was a FLW house because of its appearance. He usually fibbed and said that it was. Wonder what a FLW-designed gun would have looked like?

That's a good question that crossed my mind as well. Being familiar with his architecture however, I'm pretty sure I would not want to see it.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

Based on my personal and professional experience it would have had long , interesting lines , it would have attracted a lot of attention and compliments ; it would have been extremely difficult and expensive to maintain. Any gunsmith who disassembled your FLW designed gun would have looked at the innards , pushed back from his bench, stroked his chin and said "Why oh why did he design it like this? NOW what do I do???"

It would have looked like a Star Wars gun and made of plastic.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

No, he meant Jon. Jonathan Vincent Voight.

__________________
Oh well, what the hell.

IMHO, ITS A BEAUTY......

ITS HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE THAT ANYONE OTHER THAN THE FAMED ARCHITECT WOULD HAVE OWNED A REVOLVER ENGRAVED LIKE THAT. PERHAPS IT WAS PRESENTED TO HIM AS AN AWARD FOR SOME ACHIEVEMENT.....

FOR UNDER $700. I WOULD BUY IT. RESEARCHING IT WITH A JINX LETTER, AND A INQUIRY INTO HIS LIFETIME TO DISCOVER HOW HE CAME BY THIS REVOLVER, WOULD BE AN INTERESTING AND ENJOYABLE PURSUIT--TO ME AT LEAST......

DOCUMENTED PROVENANCE LIKE THAT, SHOULD ADD VALUE TO THIS FIREARM. I DON'T KNOW IF SUCH RECORDS ARE SEALED, BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO FIND OUT WHO SOLD THE GUN TO KITTERY. IF IT WAS AN HEIR OR A RELATIVE, THAT PERSON MAY KNOW HOW FRANK LOYD WRIGHT CAME TO OWN IT---OR IF IT WAS EVEN HIS GUN....

__________________
'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

It wasn't his gun, unless he changed the spelling of his name.

Mike Priwer

And forgot his first name was Frank!

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

It seems they put white out into the inscription to make it stand out ,probably hoping someone would think it is this famous guys gun and jump,on it. I would call their bluff and ask for proof or ask them to sell the gun for 6 bills out the door if they said no with no counter offer I would confidently walk to the door and open it and walk thru go to my vehicle get my checkbook go back and buy the gun .

Its really hard for me to believe that Frank Lloyd Wright wouldn't know how to spell his own name. But maybe that's why he sold it.

Originally Posted by RobertJ. View Post
Did you mean John Voight?

No, he meant Jon. Jonathan Vincent Voight.
__________________

Missed the Seinfeld reference, huh?

At least two guns owned by "Loyd Wright" are for sale by Kittery Trading Post. The .38 and a Registered Magnum (#3700). Both are properly represented as being owned by Loyd Wright, an attorney who clients included Charlie Chaplin. There are no references to Frank Lloyd Wright.

Bill Cross

1) Frank Lloyd Wright had an ego as vast as Montana , all adjacent states , and that medium size country to the north. No way would he have had his name represented in any form other than in full.

2) For reasons stated above , it is unlikely in the extreme that FLW would have his name inscribed in such plain , utilitarian type such as that on the subject revolver.

IMO there is no way that the OP K38 was inscribed with the name of the architect at his request. Either it is a case of someone with a similar name , a Bubba job , or combination thereof.

That said , A K38 target in that price range would have me looking more than once ... but the crude engraving would be a deterrent ; it not nice to the eye , and explaining it would get old real quick.

You folks dont know me well enough, I suppose, to get my humor. I know of course that FLW and Loyd Wright are not remotely possible connections, and that the architect was not a gun guy.
There are at least three Loyd Wrights in law offices that are of some note. Previously mentioned Texas judge, California attorney, and a town court fella in Valley Forge PA. The Texan and the movie lawyer are the only ones know to be shooters. These guns fit the time period of the California guy. I should have titled this thread "definitely some non architect's gun" to prevent you folks taking me too seriously.

Nice looking revolver and if it was local I would buy it in a sec if the bore was decent.

No 'white-out' in the engraving,,it's cut 'thru the bluing' and left that way.

Actually the lettering is quite good as far as judging it from an engravers standpoint. Nothing fancy, just standard Roman lettering, nice clean cuts and even serifs ect.

No room for mistakes of course even on simple small jobs like this. You can't make an oops in to a tree or a squirrel.

'Loyd' could have been about anyone in any phone book in the nation. He doesn't have to show up in Wikiknoweverythingpedia.
He could have just been an everyday guy that just liked his K38 and had his name put on it. Or someone put it on it and gave the revolver to him.
Maybe he was Loyd the Barber.

For that price I probably would have bought the gun..Nice looking K38.

It is so that in between Loyd and sqidsix a guy named Frank owned it

In view of the info that Bill has provided, especially the RM with the same inscription for sale at the same place, I think we can eliminate Loyd the Barber

To borrow and mis-apply a saying by Freud, sometimes a cigar is actually a cigar.

Does anyone really know that the inscription is for the 'notable attorney'?

From the GB listing on the RM...
"....A PREVIOUS OWNER HAD THEIR NAME ENGRAVED INTO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE GUN.."
"...UPON DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH IT APPEARS THAT LOYD WRIGHT, THE PREVIOUS OWNER, WAS A WELL KNOW ATTORNEY ..."

'A' previous owner becomes 'THE' previous owner all in one paragraph description.
No paper work,,no picture of Loyd the Lawyer sporting his RM at the local SASS shoot. No Letter. No anything.
What research was done??,,the same 3 second Google Search everybody else has done in attempts to find Loyd?

Untill I'm shown proof of this very famous Lawyer's ownership,,, it still could be any Loyd,,,and maybe he was a Barber.


I'd still buy the 38 for the price.

Yep, I’m sure there are people somewhere who know the definite answer; they’re just not aware we need them here

Bill Cross may even have the answer at least regarding the RM in the SWHF records.

Absent actual verified documentation, we’re dealing with relative probabilities, nothing more.

Yes, it could have been an ordinary guy named Loyd Wright. But what’s the fun in that?

The conjecture based on the time frame, the quite uncommon spelling of the name, the existence of at least two handguns on the market with the same alleged provenance, one of them, the RM, not an everyday use gun, but indicating a somewhat more discerning owner, all combine to create a possible provenance which would not be anywhere enough for me to pay extra based on it, but which objectively lifts the possibility clearly above a “could have been anybody” dismissal.

'...Absent actual verified documentation....relative probabilities....
...conjecture based on the time frame....the same alleged provenance...
..not an everyday use gun,,,indicating a somewhat more discerning owner,,,,create a possible provenance,,,objectively lifts the possibility.....AAAAHHHHH!!!

Isn't this all just the plain old 'Buy the Gun,,Not the Story' thing?

It's still Loyd the Barber's gun till some something comes forth that officially says it's Loyd the Lawyer's gun.

I do hope someone gets a great deal on these revolvers and that they do turn out to be of value due to their prior ownership. Searching for and then finding what was not obvious when first viewed with few clues to go by is one of the satisfying ventures of the hobby.
This has been a fun discussion...at a time when it was needed..Thanks!

It was still in there yesterday, but I never did see the RM in question anywhere about the place. Probably in a safe to prevent Squids from playing with it.

The Pink one?