It is an older hand ejector marked as a 38 special. The thing is it is engraved. Is there a way to tell if it is factory engraved? Would it be marked anywhere on the gun? I will probably buy the darn thing ir it is factory otherwise I will pass on it. I can possibly make pics available if the lady doesn't care. She also has a Remington Model 81 in 300 Savage. Probably the cleanest one I have ever seen. With an odd(to me) feature. The leather sling is spring loaded and rolls up in the stock. 2nd one I have seen in the last 5 days...both the same caliber

Is it K or N frame for starters ?
N frame I'd jump on it.
Target or fixed sights? ...target I'd jump on it.

If the trademark is on the left side it may be factory engraved....best I can say with the limited info.

__________________
Paul
S&WCA #2726

Photos would (really) help here; a factory engraved gun is generally pretty recognizable. If it is a high quality but not factory job it still may be worth extra.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Not even the experts can tell you anything based on the zero information you have offered. Will need the model, caliber, serial of the gun and a couple clear photos.

__________________
No life story has happy end.

It is a K frame gun. stocks are not original She said she actually has two engraved "pistols". Bought a sporterized 03 and an Ithaca 37 16 ga..(don't know why I bought it!) Will get the serial out here. Lady said she might allow me to take pics.. Strange woman....

"Strange woman...."

Redundancy.

Don't beat me, we're all strange in our own unique way.

I have never seen or heard of such a sling arrangement, with the exception of an old Sears J. C. Higgins .22 semiauto rifle which had a fabric sling which was on a spring-loaded roller in the buttstock, sort of like how a window blind works. The .300 Savage is the ideal caliber for a Model 81. Much like .308 ballistics, ammo is still available (but not so common these days), and .300 Savage cases are very easily formed from .308 brass cases. If you handload, the .300 Savage can be downloaded greatly, and it will still function the 81's action. Full .300 loads are not very pleasant to shoot in the 81's long recoil action.

I would buy both the model 81 and the revolver if they are priced right. Either are easy enough to sell or use for trade down the road. I have a pre model 8 in 35 Remington and love shooting it with light loads.

Not actually the topic of this thread, but the 8s and 81s are my favorite rifle and I might be more interested in the 81 than the revolver (depending on what the revolver turns out to be).

"I have a pre model 8 in 35 Remington and love shooting it with light loads."

Neat. I have an old advertising poster showing a pre-Model 8 in .35, but I have never seen a pre Model 8. Back then it was called only "The Remington Autoloading Rifle." Teddy Roosevelt took one along on his famous 1909 African expedition.

How many like it have you seen? Buy it and get the question answered later! Strike while the iron is hot and all that stuff. Tomorrow may be to late. Carpe diem!

Hey Sheet, be careful dealing with Strange Women. They have a habit of coming back and biting you in the butt. If you buy, get a signed receipt.

__________________
Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

As far as recoil the only factory loads comfortable to shoot in the 81 was the 25 and 30 Remington. Never shot a 32 even though I have ammo for it but the 35 and 300 are both somewhat stout! Never seen a pre model 8 but I recently sold a pre model 10 pump... It was originally called the Remington Repeating Shotgun. As far as the S&W...I will take another look look this evening and may buy it if she is reasonable on the price. I also want to see the other "pistol" She didn't bring the 81 or the handgun out till after I had bought the others.. Not 'nuff cash with me. If I had known I would have hit the safe before leaving home.

Gotta love an 8 or 81. Mine in .35 Rem was a gift from a neighbor, no one in her family was interested in "that old rifle" despite that that her father bought new in 1937...
And I don't find the .35 "stout" at all???

Attached Images

DCP_2497.JPG (194.8 KB, 156 views)

Just go buy the thing so we can see it at least.

__________________
Paul
S&WCA #2726

I bought mine a few years ago from a guy up in the NE. We don't see many down here in Florida. Mine was made in 1908.

Attached Images

model8.jpg (75.2 KB, 114 views)

heres the old S&W i found
...1930 35rem

Attached Images

IMG_0997.jpg (137.7 KB, 176 views)

Evidently you didn't read the original post. All I asked was whether there was a way to tell if it was factory engraved. I got to look at it in hand and sadly in my opinion it is not. Engraving is ok but not great..I decided to not mess with it for the price she is asking($650). I think it is a victory model and is in 38 sp. Serial V1880XX. She kinda thinks she has gold with the engraved pistols and will not allow pics don't know why. Her house her rules. I am going to buy the reloading stuff she has cause the price is good. Won't give me a price on the 81...I offered 600 but she said no. Oh well. Oh the other pistol is a what looks to be military 45 that has been engraved also

Beautiful Rifle...and they sure worked fine for Frank Hamer and the boys when they put the Barrow’s in the ground.

__________________
Danny
SWCA #3370 - SWHF #672

With that serial number, WW2 is under way, and S&W would not have had time to engrave a Victory model. They were too busy running 24/7 back then.

Having said that, there is always the very remote possibility that they did engrave one for someone special. One never knows, but I would bet against it, given the opportunity.

Mike Priwer

I would be willing to bet it was engraved overseas possibly Germany quite a few were.

__________________
Randy

Another happy 81 owner here. Mine is also in .300 Savage and was shipped in 1945, so it's a birth-year gun. Condition is extremely nice for both its age and its presumably utilitarian life: no rust, smooth action, over 95% blue finish remaining, only a few small dents and scratches in the wood.

To the OP's central question about characteristics of factory engraving, I would suggest checking out the section on engraving in the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, Fourth edition, by Supica and Nahas. Amazon sells it, and you might get lucky with their "look inside" feature and find some relevant info on the fly. Beyond that, since the names of individual engravers from different eras are known, you could search this forum for "engraving" threads and identify the names of candidate engravers in the '30s-'50s. Then search the forum on those names to see if you can turn up examples of specific guns they are known to have engraved.

I would guess, as others have said, that the Victory you inquire about was probably decorated out of the factory -- maybe even abroad -- before it returned stateside from its service area. That's assuming foreign distribution, of course, but a lot of Victory revolvers never left the US, and some of them have been found with later "pawnshop engraving" added in hopes of boosting their commercial appeal. It's hard to say much that is specific without photos, and I understand why they are problematical in this case. I hope the approaches I suggest will be helpful if you choose to pursue the question.

__________________
David Wilson

There were two Model 8s present at the ambush (one of which may have belonged to Hamer), but those who have thoroughly studied the events of that day believe that Hamer himself probably pulled the trigger of a Remington Model 11 shotgun.

I drove city bus for years and had many interesting customers. One "strange little lady" would talk to me about her late husband and his love for fishing, which I shared. She invited me to her house with the intention of selling me her late husbands fishing gear as they had no children or family members to pass it on to. I did not have much money back then and had all of $50 on me in case there was a good deal to be made. It was all stuff from the late 40's to 50's, he had died in the 60's. All neat stuff, glass eyed lures, hand hammered hooks, some stuff still in the box, a large tiered fishing box, wood fly rod, reels, etc. I told her that I did not have much money but would be willing to pay $50 for everything. She said that she knew it would be put to good use and agreed to my offer. I took the stuff home and used it over the years, it was always the special stuff that I would use when nothing else worked. We continued to see each other over the years, she was always pleasant. I did not see her for years, one day I approached a bus stop and recognized her. Oddly her name was Mrs. Crook, she got on, I said "Good morning Mrs. Crook." She looked at me, recognized my face and angrily said "Your the Son####### that stole my bamboo flyrod." I politely said "I'm sorry, but I had paid you for some fishing gear years ago." She said "I learned that the bamboo flyrod was worth hundreds of dollars." I knew better than to argue with a customer and gave her my phone number to talk over this issue privately. She did call me, I told her that yes some bamboo flyrods can be worth hundreds of dollars, her husband's was made by Montgomery Wards and although of a certain value, certainly not worth more than a hundred dollars. She said "You only paid $50 for all of my husband's fishing gear, you ripped me off." I then told her that I made an offer, you accepted. She said "You took advantage of me." I told her that all I had was $50, made the offer, you accepted, end of story. I then added that "I thought you were being kind to me understanding that I did not have much money and gave you all that I had to spend." I also told her that I continued to use her husbands gear and have valued it highly. I then made the cardinal mistake of offering to "Make it Right by Her." She said "How much money are you offering?" I told her I would be willing to give her $100 if it would settle her hash and make her feel that I had not taken advantage of her. She said "I'll take the $100 but don't think for a minute I don't believe you didn't take advantage of an old woman." I drove over to her new place of residence, handed her a $100 dollar bill. She snatched it out of my hand without so much as a KMA, turned and closed the door. I did see her from time to time, she never acknowledged my attempt at civility, just glared at me. In all honesty, I traded the Montague bamboo flyrod to a guy that hand tied the most beautiful large lake trout trolling flies using Polar Bear fur for a value of around a couple hundred bucks retail or a dozen or so flies. I still have all of the other stuff, absorbing into my fishing gear, I never sold any of it, I passed the tiered fishing box onto my son who also received other gear over the years, I repurposed the fishing creel to carry different scented baits. It was a very good investment even with added $100.

As an old retail gun dealer with a shop, I had a lot of encounters with the little old lady. Was taught early on to get a relative involved in the sale.
Lots of signed paper work and payment by certified check at their bank. Never had a problem.

__________________
Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

I bought all of the reloading gear for a very good price. I did get a receipt and had a friend with me when she told me her price... She offered me the S&W for 400 dollars and I turned it down. I think she had someone tell her it was not all that valuable. I did get some pics...she lowered her price to 350. yeah yeah yeah...I finally did buy it. I figure any S&W 38 special is worth $350 especially when dealing with widows and orphans. No it's not beautiful but whoever did the engraving did a little nice work. I will try to get pics in the light of day..

Well, I'm glad you finally bought it.

Can't wait to see the photos.

Gun show in Lander on the 18th and 19th! Hope to see you.

__________________
Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Several years ago I was attending a local gun show when this "little old lady' came up to a dealers table with and old 1950s handbag that contained an old S&W revolver with a bobbed hammer. The dealer turned her down saying he only dealt in old Colts. I started up a conversation with her and she pulled out a nickel plated S&W which was marked .32. She informed me that it was her self defense gun since her husband passed several years ago. She said that she had 6 bullets in the old purse in case she needed to use them. The gun was in excellent condition with factory service grips and the serial number put it close to 1940 timeline. I met her price and went home with the gun, 6 bullets, and the 1950S-60 green purse. The gun was a 32-20 and the 6 rounds were 32Long. I still have all three items and often think that I'm glad she never had to shoot the old gun. Don't you love gun shows.

Love good stories and gun shows..bought a few and sold a few at them. Next weekend we have one locally. Hope I find something neat. Pics are added below I hope and no I am not a photographer.. Gun is in as found condition but should clean up to be a bit better. Has a little chikin scratching on the back strap and front strap. When I finally got the gun in hand(out of a display box on the wall) I did realize it was probably not factory. She did say her husband must have had it done but spent no time overseas.

Attached Images

	DSCN0331.JPG (218.4 KB, 131 views)
	DSCN0329.JPG (201.4 KB, 130 views)
	DSCN0330.JPG (204.0 KB, 117 views)

Looks like a victory model to me and the engraving sure has a German feel to it. My bet is whie he did not go overseas this Smith has.

__________________
Randy

I do not know anything about
Engraved guns but like 8's and 81's

"The gun was a 32-20 and the 6 rounds were 32Long. I still have all three items and often think that I'm glad she never had to shoot the old gun."

Oh, don't sell that combo short. Back in my cop days, I worked two separate murders where the firearm used was a .32-20 revolver loaded with .32 S&W Long cartridges.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Trying to post a photo but having trouble

Attached Images

322B9B1C-7906-482F-8651-1652ED37E048.jpg (23.6 KB, 39 views)

One more time

Attached Images

64AE14B9-D953-448F-88DF-F010A0105EA2.jpg (23.6 KB, 19 views)

“32-20 Blues” by Robert Johnson late 1920s with some ballistics analysis:
She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light
She got a .38 special but I believe it's most too light
I got a 32-20, got to make the caps alright