Shipped on December 16, 1935, this first year .357 Magnum is one of the favorite guns in my collection. I imagine it was a fine Christmas present shipped to Inspector A.C. Anderson.










Merry Christmas to all and thanks for letting me share,

Attached Images

	RM 649 L on Box.jpg (90.3 KB, 1002 views)
	RM 649 R on Box.jpg (87.7 KB, 1008 views)
	RM 649 Package L On Box.jpg (152.1 KB, 1018 views)
	RM 649 Package R.jpg (137.7 KB, 1004 views)

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Thanks for sharing.

It’s my birthday gun. 17 years too early.....

Beautiful piece of art. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas.

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

The Inspector must have been a paper pusher with his gun kept in his desk drawer!!!


That is SWEEeeeeeet collection ...... ever find a picture of the good Inspector?

WOW! I had to see that the day before Christmas? Congratulations, RKmesa. Merry Christmas to the forum.

That pushes all the right buttons for sure. Thanks for sharing that one and Merry Christmas.

What a treat that is. Gorgeous gun, really cool research, nice photo. Thank you for sharing that!

Simply outstanding Richard!! Thank you so much for sharing with us. Merry Christmas, Bob.

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SWCA #2785
OGCA #35078

Richard, I see that I am the only one who entered the drawing for the Christmas Gun Give Away! Thanks so much. Am I responsible for the shipping or is that included? Merry Christmas to you. Tom

They don’t get much better than that. Fantastic piece

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Some Might Say.

Oh my... that is Outstanding

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Beau
SWCA #3106 - SWHF #643

Oh my god I am in love!! Don't tell my wife.

Merry Christmas!

Absolutely beautiful gun! That had to be one of the first ones with the Magna grips. Thanks for sharing, and Merry Christmas.

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John
SWCA #3401 SWHF #737

RK, you owe me one. I’ll take this one! Thanks, and Merry Christmas!

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Terry Lester

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

And it is I who thank you for sharing.

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Expect the unexpected

An entirely reasonable assumption--------but as it happened, #'s 643, 644, and 645 were also delivered with Magnas; albeit had been ordered with the standard grip (grip adapters attached).

The somewhat fickle owner changed his mind once he learned of the Magnas, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ralph Tremaine

WOW just wow.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

Simply outstanding, there is something about those prewar 357's with 3.5 inch barrels that just say "badass" Thanks for showing us. Also Merry Christmas.

Wow. Just wow.

The original owner is a tough one to find. Looks like his name was Andersen. Born in Denmark.

Here he is in the 1930 census. The street address is 210 S 35th Ave in Omaha.






And here is his and Mary's marriage license:




And here he is with Mary, 'til the end of time:

Alfred's son (Richard R, 6 years old in the 1930 census), went on to become the chief of police in Omaha.

This 1974 write-up about Chief Richard. R. Andersen mentions his father, the original owner of that beautiful RM.

357Magster, very impressive you found all of that information.

That is a beautiful revolver, to bad the inspector never got to really shoot it!

Found something else. Pertinent part is in green font:


BAILEY RATED AS VERY DANGEROUS

'Ordinary Boolegger' Rises to Leader in Crime; Pal of 'Killer' Burke

KANSAS CITY, Sept. 4---Harvey Bailey is rated by authorities as one of the nation's most dangerous criminals.

He was regarded as so desperate that federal authorities did not take him from the jail recently when he was arraigned on kidnapping charges.

A United States commissioner went to the jail for the hearing and officers armed with machine guns were posted about.

Bailey, early his career of crime called "just an ordinary bootlegger," is under a murder indictment here as one of the machine gunners who killed four officers, one a department of justice agent, and Frank Nash, federal convict, in an ambush at the Union Station plaza June 17. Nash, Oklahoma train robber, died in the effort of his gangster friends to free him.

CAPTURED ON GOLF COURSE

Bailey and Wilbur Underhill, another killer, led the break from the Kansas State Penitentiary last Memorial Day in wihch eleven prisoners escaped by kidnapping Kirk Prather, then warden, and two guards.

Bailey, a middle aged man of massive stature, was sent to the Kansas prison August 17, 1932, to serve ten to 50 years for the $32,000 robbery of a Fort Scott (Kan.) bank. After his escape he was captured on a golf course in Kansas City with two Chicago mail train robbers and returned to prison.

Witnesses at the Fort Scott trial identified him as the leader in the $2,000,000 holdup Sept. 17, 1930, of the LIncoln (Neb.) Bank & Trust Co., known as the "world's largest bank robbery."

A few weeks before his arrest on a Texas farm, Bailey and five of his gang sent a letter to an Oklahoma City newspaper confessing the robbery of a Black Rock (Ark.) bank, for which others were under arrest.

They authenticated the letter with finger prints, which proved to be genuine. Bailey was reared on a farm in Sullivan County, Missouri, and served in the World War.

HE ACTS ON HOLIDAYS

It was on the Bailey farm that Fred (Killer) Burke, then called "America's most desperate criminal," was captured. Burke now is serving a life sentence in Michigan for slaying a policeman. Bailey confessed he provided the hideout for Burke.

Calm and affable during his confinement in the Dallas jail, Bailey asserted he would "beat" the kidnapping and murder charges against him.

Holidays are red letter days in the criminal career of Bailey.

It was on last Decoration Day--May 30--that he led the Kansas State Prison break. Today--Labor Day--he escaped from jail, but was recaptured.

On St. Valentine's Day, 1929, eight gangsters were lined up against a garage wall in Chicago and mowed down with machine guns. Bailey has been suspected in connection with the massacre, as was Burke.

OMAHA, Sept. 4---Former railroad associates of Harvey Bailey shook their heads in wonderment today as they heard of his latest jail breaking escapade.

"How did Harvey get that way?" they asked.

Railroad men here knew him for nearly fifteen years as an honest and hard working fireman and engineer on a Council Bluff-Fort Dodge run in Iowa, to them it was incredible that steady old "Bill" Bailey should have become a notorious criminal, an expert with a machine gun. Detective Inspector A. C. Andersen of Omaha knew Bailey well.

JUST AN ORDINARY BOOTLEGGER

"He always looked like a sort of hick to me," said Andersen. "He ran a garage over at Silver City, Ia., and he used to hang around here. He was sort of big and stooped, and he looked like he'd spent all his life walking between the furrows. He certainly didn't look tough and it never occurred to anybody he'd ever turn out to be a killer."

Police Chief Condit of Lincoln, Neb., who checked up on Bailey as the leader in the big bank robbery there, said that after Bailey left Omaha he hung around Minneapolis, St. Paul and Chicago, gradually getting into faster company and eventually becoming a leader. Condit considers him the most dangerous desperado in the country.
(Plain Dealer ~ September 5, 1933

Last one ...

Odds are Inspector Alfred C. Andersen is in this photo (October 4, 1934):





The photo accompanied this article. I put a red square around the A. C. Andersen mention:

^^^^Now that's some detective work right there.
Got on Google Earth to see what the house looks like now. Still a very well kept old neighborhood I'm happy to say as a lot of them are not.

A bank is at the location where Alfred's house once stood.

I wonder if Alfred or his kids sold the RM?

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Where we go one, we go all

357Magster:

GREAT WORK!!! What fun additions to all of the info that I already have. It does look like the name is Andersen from my historical foundation paperwork as well.

Here is a photo of Inspector Andersen when he was a new patrolman:




Here are the documents from the Smith& Wesson Historical Foundation:










Also, if you note in the first letter from Inspector Andersen, it appears that REG 649 was to be a gift for Chief Robert P. Samardick. It also looks like Inspector Andersen owned REG 252 and that he also wanted a set of magnas for his gun (which S&W later supplied).

Thanks for all your help on the historical research and merry Christmas to all of you!

Very fun to find some of the history of these fine guns,

Attached Images

	IMG_0001.jpg (44.2 KB, 474 views)
	IMG_0002.jpg (51.7 KB, 473 views)
	IMG_0003.jpg (36.7 KB, 472 views)
	IMG_0004.jpg (25.9 KB, 472 views)
	IMG.jpg (38.4 KB, 470 views)

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Yes, noted, yet Inspector Andersen got the Registration Certificate in his name. I wonder if the Chief ever got the gun. Anyway, might be interesting to see what history is available on Chief Samardick!

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Terry Lester

Terry:

The registration certificate is one of the reproduction ones offered by the historical foundation as a fundraiser and beautifully calligraphied by Roy's wife Jean - NOTE it is signed by Roy Jinks. I ordered the certificate before I had all of the information from the Historical Foundation - but I too wonder if 649 ever made it to the Chief - see the December 2 1935 order form and note that the chief's signature and information is crossed out and Inspector Andersen's info is written in to the left...

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Why do you say that? That revolver has been shot. And well taken care of obviously.

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Expect the unexpected

I found quite a bit about Robert P. Samardick. Numerous newspaper articles. Some controversy. Can post if RKmesa wants to see it.

I'd love to see it and include it with the gun.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Okay, here you go ... Robert P. Samardick:


1930 census:






1940 census:






WW1 registration card:






WW2 registration card:






And here are some newspaper articles, arranged in chronological order ...


12/16/1919:




2/20/1920:




3/31/1920:




4/4/1920:




9/8/1920:




4/20/1921:




5/20/1921:




6/6/1922:




Manifest from a trip he took in 1957. Found it interesting that he changed his birthplace from Montenegro to Chicago. This was during the height of the cold war, so I guess he wanted to hide the fact he was born in what was a communist country in 1957. Strictly conjecture on my part, but this is definitely him:




There's probably more out there. Will poke around some tomorrow.

What a great thread. Had to read it twice to garner all the information. WOW !

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

All historical info surrounding this gun may makes it very special but the gun itself is a very attractive one.
What a beauty!

That is absolutely beautiful and the slobber factor is very intense!!

Congrats on another beautiful acquisition! The history accumulated here on the gun's owners is really fascinating!

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Drool.....
Some more stuff on Andersen

Attached Images

	Andersen Alfred Carl Otto birth record Denmark 1880.jpg (121.5 KB, 10 views)
	Anderson Alfred C 1910 census Omaha Nebraska police patrol.jpg (220.1 KB, 9 views)
	Anderson Alfred C 1920 census Omaha Nebraska detective city police.jpg (216.2 KB, 7 views)
	Andersen Alfred Carl Otto 1940 census Omaha Nebraska.jpg (218.4 KB, 8 views)

Some more Andersen data

Attached Images

	Anderson Alfred Carl WW1 draft registration Omaha Nebraska police officer.jpg (56.4 KB, 6 views)
	Andersen Alfred Carl Otto birth record Denmark 1880.jpg (121.5 KB, 8 views)

Thank you all for the comments, the incredible research, the likes and your contributions to the history of this fun revolver. I have very much enjoyed this thread and have learned a ton.

REG 649 has definitely been shot. In addition, it came to me with an extra 8 3/8" post war (1950's) barrel that also numbers to the gun. So at some time in its past, REG 649 was fitted with a long tube, and I imagine that it was also shot during that era of its 84-year life. A very fun gun.

Another note: The small box in the photos, is one of only two that I have ever seen for sale (I bought the other also, but it went to a friend who had an almost perfect 3.5" Non RM that was in dire need of a box). The above box numbers to a post war 3.5" .357, but looks great with this gun - and it will remain mated to it for as long as I own it. REG 649 most likely shipped in a large Type I box, as I believe that was the only box available for the .357 Magnum in 1935.

Thanks again and Happy New Year,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan