We have all had difficult journeys when trying to find just the right gun for the right purpose, but the following is one about a gun escaped me for over 5 years. Nothing special, but turned out to be a tough gun to find in decent shape.

I picked up a somewhat shabby 38 Military & Police box in 2015. It was for a 4” blued revolver and from the turn of the Twentieth Century era. After repairing the box, I posted on the SWCA side in August 2015, seeking any help with information about what was written on the bottom of the box. It turned out to be a very interesting box. The box bottom held clues to who the owner was and what he did for a living, where it went and when, and what it was used for.

First line on the box in ink was a fellow by the name of W. B. Luck, Big Springs Texas. Since the box was from early 1900s, that helped narrow down when WB was born. Assuming he was an adult when the gun came into his possession, he would have had to be born in 1880 or before. The box also had West Texas Bank, Big Springs, TX, which was another clue. Fortunately, there was only one WB Luck from the appropriate timeframe found on Ancestry.com search and he was born in 1870. He lived in Victoria Texas in 1900 and was a bookkeeper. By 1910 census, he lived in Houston Texas and was still a bookkeeper.
On to the second line, in ink was the same hand as the name was written - West Texas National Bank. With the help from members in West Texas, it was learned that there was a West Texas Bank that started business in February 1903 in a rented building and started construction on a new bank in 1909.

Last but not least, there are the remnants of a Norvell - Shapleigh Hardware Co. sticker on the box. This business was located in St. Louis back when the city was still a regarded as the gateway to the west for goods and services. This very large business was both a hardware store, distributor, and a mail-order house for most of the Middle-west and Southwest part of the country. Prior to 1900, the name was Shapleigh Hardware Company, but upon the founder’s retirement, in 1901 it became the Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Company.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

With all these bits and pieces of information, I set about finding the “appropriate gun” for the box, but did not know it would take 5 years to find it! With the help of others, it was determined that the gun needed to be a 38 Military & Police Model 1902 and not a Model 1899, since 1899 boxes did not state Military & Police, but rather only 38 Military. Second, I had to find the right ship date revolver to match yet another very faint writing on the box, May 21, 1903. I decided that serial number needed to be under 30,000 to qualify. There were only around 11,000 of this model made and most likely a very few in good condition. From time to time, I found one, but almost all were badly worn and I decided that would not fit a gun that set around in the box at a bank for who knows how many years. Early this month, I finally found what I was looking for, a nice 90% plus 4” Blued Model 1902, serial number 28,769. Roy told me it was shipped in May, 1903, so the box and gun are a great match and a long empty box now has an age appropriate gun to fill it.

To make a long story longer, the possible scenario is that the gun/box was likely shipped in early May 1903 to St. Louis, where it was ordered by H. B. Luck and delivered by May 21, 1903 to the newly formed West Texas National Bank, where he was a bookkeeper. Now I can be assured that this particular revolver was made very close to the original Model 1902 occupant and theoretically in time to make the trip to Big Springs, TX by late May.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Seems worth the wait. Beautiful addition to that nice box, Gary!

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

I guess the box didn't have the serial on it?

I have a couple guns that shipped to Shapleigh's in the 1950s. Both letters call the store Shapleigh's with no mention of Norvell. This post is the first I ever heard of the name change.

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No life story has happy end.

The name lost Norvell again in 1918.

Read all about the company’s long history here:

http://www.thckk.org/history/shapleigh-history.pdf

It has one, but all attempts as deciphering it have not worked. Only know that it had 5 digits, and there is only a "1" and an "8" that I can see. The 8 is the second number and the 1 is the fourth, but I would never match that!

The gun I ended up with is 28,769, and is not in perfect perfect shape, but neither was the box.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

I have heard of looking for a box to fit a gun, guns to go with holsters and grips. First one of someone looking for a gun to fill a box. But, then it was an interesting box and I congratulate you on both your tenacity and your success.

Admit it, Gary, wasn't that fun? I love it when a plan comes together.

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Good job, Gary. A long search but I bet it was worth the wait!

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Mike H

Perhaps the most surprising part of this adventure was that the original 4" 38 Model 1902s are tough to find. They only made under 13,000 of this model in all barrel lengths, but not many show up for sale. I am just happy that the box was not for a 32 Winchester, since only 4500 of those were made!! I know that long barreled M&Ps were the big sellers for both 1902 and early 1905s. Looking at the SWCA database, it can be estimated that only around 2300 4" Model 1902s were made, so maybe I should have checked the stats before making the journey.

I have always had concerns that the value estimates for this model were high in SCSW4. Supica & Nahas state that a Very Good condition gun is worth $600, Excellent is $800, and As New is $1700. Having tried to find one, I now have a better appreciation for these numbers. I was fortunate that I did not have to pay that amount for mine.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

What a fascinating story, I’m glad to have stumbled upon this. The trail you followed from the writing on the box must have been?? Exhilarating
And the gun,NICE

Glad you brought this thread back since it reminded me that I later found images of original West Texas National Bank and its replacement that likely opened in the very early teens. Historical plaque states that construction of the "new" bank construction started in 1909. The original bank is gone now, but the new bank that opened is doors maybe 1910 or 1911 is still there.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Very happy this thread was resurrected, as I missed it the first time. Great story, great perseverance, great reuniting of a firearm and a box that were undoubtedly in the Smith & Wesson plant simultaneously.

Warms the heart!

Gary:

Your box restoration work is first class. Thanks for sharing the photos of that package.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

A most excellent quest. Kudos for your persistence.

Great story, great gun and box. The plaque on the bank confirmed what I was thinking. It's Big Spring, TX, not Big Springs. I landed at the airport there in the 90's and the whole airport was infested with prairie dogs. I asked the people at the FBO if it would be OK to come back with a rifle. They said "Bring it on". Sorry about the High jack.

Actually, Gary's box restoration is way beyond first class. He's done two for me, the most significant was an original box for a NM #3 I had. Both the gun and the box were excellent---aside from the fact the box was severely warped every place it had a place!! I had no idea such a mess could even begin to be corrected--------but.

It came back to me letter perfect---even accompanied by a made to order wooden form designed to keep it that way----and it did.

Ralph Tremaine

Having been asked about the other box Gary did for me, it was also an original---for a .44 2nd Target. I really don't remember its faults, aside from a LARGE ugly stain on top---might have had a busted corner or two.

Whatever, it came back with everything fixed that needed to be fixed---except for the stain. It was GONE!!

Ralph Tremaine

Indeed it is singular. I lived about 30 miles west of it for several years. The main industry there is cotton farming. There was a former USAF base there, Webb AFB. I think that was where the famous Hangar 18 was where they stored captured UFOs It was later converted to a federal prison, sort of a Club Fed for white collar crimes. I once worked with a guy who ended up there on a banking fraud charge. He was in for couple of years. He later told me that life inside wasn’t that bad but you could never forget you were a prisoner, mainly because of constant head counts day and night.