Brought the Russ Smith two tone engraved 44 Mag to meet up with a blued Russ master engraved 44 Magnum from another members collection
Russ is a fabulous artist and looks like he engraved the S&W logo for the blued engraved revolver. It is signed under the grip panel RJS (was unable to get a photo to turn out). I understand that this was a no-no to do with factory pieces, and very cool to see once uncovered. Only had a cell phone for pics that hardly do the revolver justice, and excited to share!! Will try and get a pic of the initials posted soon and enjoy!!

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SWCA #2948
SWHF #431

Another Russ Smith engraved an inlaid with gold 44 Magnum dating to 1965. It was engraved for Keith Perks, owner of Springfield Firearms, Cornwall, England, who was S&W's distributor in England. When England outlawed handguns, this one, along with several others were rescued by sending them to S&WCA Founding Member and owner of G. T. Distributors, Bill Orr. The stocks on this revolver were also carved by Russ Smith to match the engraving and are the only example I know of. R. J. Smith 1965 is lightly inscribed on the right hand side of the grip frame.

The second 44 Magnum is Class A-engraved by Russ Smith and shipped in December 1956. It is a fairly early example of Russ's work and exhibits the deep engraving cuts. Finally, the only 5-inch 44 Magnum Class A-engraved by Russ Smith and shipped on September 11, 1957. You can see the similarity in the engraving between the 5-inch and the 44 Magnum shipped in December 1956.

Bill

All of the above are beautiful Factory engraved .44's.

Thanks for sharing,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Russ Smith Engraved 44 Magnums...

Attached Images

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KSK...The 44 Magnum engraved in the oak leaf pattern is one of my favorites. It was also the revolver Gary Garbrecht thought was the highlight of RJS's engraving career at S&W.

Bill

Karl:

I agree with Bill and Gary - this oak leaf engraved 44's is one of my favorite RJS engraved guns. I wish he would have done more in the oak leaf style.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Gentlemen, it is a favorite of mine as well and a beautiful example of Mr. Smith’s work. It really sparkles in the right light. Thanks for the nice compliments!

Here is a picture of the engravers initials located beneath the left stock panel on the blue 29-2 in the original post.
I don't possess any photography skills so I would like to thank the member who kindly passed this photo along from his archive.
I never had this photo in the other originals.

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Birds like shiny new toys too.

I remember watching Russ as he was performing his art at S&W. It's amazing how they use their tools like we would use a pencil. I also had the pleasure of watching Domingo Jaquin (sp?), another true artist and both were very humble guys.

Those are some beautiful revolvers that you all have posted.