S/N is 669768

I'm not certain who Major R.O. Bassett Jr is yet, hopefully that might shed some light on who BMB is.

The side plate does appear to have been nickeled. I think. It's not as high polish as my one other nickel gun, not sure if I just need to polish it up with some flitz?

In any case I'd love any information anyone can shed on the Major here, this was a bit of an unexpected acquisition for me and I have a couple other things I need to spend my current reading time on before I dig into Bassett.

Overall I'm very pleased with this gun, the condition isn't perfect, its fairly obvious it was used quite a bit, but it's perfect mechanically.

Update:

It was in fact a gift from his wife!

What a wonderful gun, very glad you have it. Had wondered about the sideplate but your photos show it much better. No info to share on the man himself but am sure you will turn up the story given time. Another added to you collection and a better place it could not have landed.

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kbgrips.com

Glad you ended up with this one! Very Interesting!

Yeah, at the price I just could not resist.

After a bit of googling I think I sorted out who he was, sadly he died in '41 in a car crash.

One interesting snippit though was this:

Richard Oscar Bassett, Jr., Army pistol and rifle champion. Richard died of injuries suffered two ... Richard Oscar Bassett (born 1893). Bassett, Ephraim (Elder) ...

I'm wondering if BMB was some kind of match, like this was a trophy gun?

Or, it could have been a family member, since the last of the three characters on the bottom line is B.

Yep, that was a thought, I just found this:

Richard Oscar Bassett, Jr. b. 31 Mar 1893 New York d. Deceased: Bassett Family Association

There appears to be a Brita M. Who was his wife.

That would make for a BMB.

Sixgun,
This must be one of the items that caused your "sell off".😀 Between it and the Ivory grips, you done good. I like the gun, love the hammer, but the grips are "to die for"!! The right side of the hammer still has some nice case colors. If it were mine, I would hit the side plate with some Flitz......but I like shiney things. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good detective work.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

So people say flitz, and I bought some, but I think I bought the wrong one, it seems they numerous products.

Which specific flitz do you use?

And yeah.. the sell off was mostly about me feeling bad about spending some money. I usually moderate my post-married life purchases more, but this stuff just flew at me and I couldn't not buy it.

This gun in particular was such a ridiculous thing. When I first noticed it the gun had about a thousand dollar buy it now, and I think like an 800 opening bid. Which, frankly, is quite fair. I proceeded to try to get all my friends to buy it. No dice, none of them would.

So I just kept watching it and thinking this will be another one that got away, that's just life.

Then a day before the auction ended the seller dropped the opening bid down to 600 and took off the buy it now. I can only speculate that they were trying to attract some bids? In any case, by that point I think I was the only one watching it. I just couldn't pass at that price.

I still feel guilty.

I hope that means you feel guilty for getting it at such a good price, and not guilty about spending the money! If you feel too guilty, I would take the grips off your hands to make you feel less so. The Flitz I use is in a gray toothpaste like tube. A little goes a long way.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I think it was his widow Brita M Bassett, if his obit was correct. Interesting backstory on the pistol.

Richard Oscar Bassett, Jr. b. 31 Mar 1893 New York d. Deceased: Bassett Family Association

You want the Flitz metal and fiberglass polish that comes in a tube like toothpaste.

That is some fine, gnarly, popcorn stag grips!

[QUOTE=boykinlp;140952636]Sixgun,
If it were mine, I would hit the side plate with some Flitz......but I like shiney things.

Hey Guys,

I've said this before but I see a lot of guys on this forum using Flitz on there blued guns. I've been a gunsmith/ metal finisher for almost 50 years now and don't see that as a great idea. Flitz is great product but every time you use it on a blued gun you are taking some of the bluing off. Bluing is rusting process that penetrates into the gun steel. Some processes penetrate deeper than others but all of it is very shallow---like measured in 10ths of thousandths. Flitz is a metal polish that is mildly abrasive. When you polish with it you are removing the metal that has that shallow layer of bluing. Nickel on the other hand is pretty thick. Just my 2 cents worth but I'll never use it on a blued gun.

[quote=Taj;140955158]Excellent thing to note.

I'm just now playing with this tube of Flitz I just acquired...but only on my Nickel guns (all 1 of them + this side plate).

I certainly see what you mean, and I would absolutely avoid it on bluing to, when polishing this side plate as requested I have been very careful to avoid the rest of the blued gun. I do quite like the effect however, it does a nice job on nickel.

My nickel gun is cleaning up nicely, I've needed to actually do it for a long time but the last time I tried it I had the wrong flitz product, which did nothing. This stuff in the tube though is doing a very nice job. I'll post the results after I do some tinkering to get my camera rig set up for photographing nickel.

I love unique old guns like that- regardless of value. That’s very cool OP

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Some Might Say.

You and me both!

For a long time now I have close to only been buying guns that I think have a story that I can suss out. Guns that have character are more likely to have been owned by a character.

I've been very fortunate to now own an outsized number of guns that I have documented ownership of. Either through the history letter itself, or through the wonderful resources the SWHF provides.

So, I'm still really bad at photographing nickel but the flitz did work nicely on my one nickel gun, which I think you will enjoy. But none of my pictures of the nicely flitz'd sideplate on the gun this thread is about actually came out.

Anyway, enjoy this little thing (which was one of my first big wins as far as finding some history goes):





















I have to dig out my other clips from newspapers, there's a ton of them. Actually, I need to pay for some of the other news papers on the guy, and put it all in a book at some point. There's a lot about him online.

The good thing is that his name is so unusual that there's only one guy he could be (due to age), so despite not knowing where the gun shipped to the unusual name worked out great for me.

If you do some more digging online one thing that becomes clear is that he was a flamboyant rich kid who raced cars, bicycles, golfed, and put on 'Rose Ballets', which I had to look up to find the modern term for such things; Drag Shows.

At first I thought this gun was something someone had bought for a disinterested sweetheart or wife, but reading up on Stein (who never married or had children) it becomes more and more clear that he bought this gun for himself. The stories are always about him and his group of friends, men friends mostly. In the end it is my firm belief that this is simply the most fabulous little bicycle gun you are ever likely to find.

[QUOTE=SixgunStrumpet;140955261][quote=Taj;140955158]

Excellent thing to note.

I'm just now playing with this tube of Flitz I just acquired...but only on my Nickel guns (all 1 of them + this side plate).

Sixgun,

I don't see an issue with guys using Flitz on their nickel guns and have cleaned a few with the stuff myself. It is a great polish and it may in fact make a blued gun look better, you just have to remember that it polishes metal, and that it is removing a little every time you use it. Blued surfaced are pretty shallow. You also need to make sure you get all of it off of the surface of the metal. Not sure about all of their products but I do believe some have a bit of ammonia in them and this can be hard on a finish if left on it. A good wipe down and a some Ren Wax should do the trick.

Hell, I'm your friend and you never told me to buy it!!!!

I would have jumped on it to save you the guilt!!

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Tom Graham SWCA #2303

The K-22 Outdoorsman is nice but that .32 Safety Hammerless is unbelievable, WOW!

[quote=Taj;140955158]Taj,
I am not sure if you noticed, but the sideplate on this interesting gun is nickel. That is where I was suggesting the Flitz use, not on the blued parts. Using it on blued guns is taking a chance, but many do it with good results.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I have to agree. I found it many years ago now on gunbroker with the purse and a very reasonable buy it now price. I stared at it, knowing it in no way fits my collection, but with the original purse, pearls, and nickel, it was just the most perfect little 'guy gave this to a disinterested wife who left it in the sock drawer for 100 years' gun I had as of yet seen. The fact that it turned out to not be the fact after I lettered it was just a huge bonus.

Boy, looks like this would have been, 7 or 8 years ago at this point.

The first and only full nickel gun I have purchased to this date, the sideplate on this gun being the second 'nickel gun' I've acquired in my life.


[quote=boykinlp;140956669]It does seem a little odd to me that they nickled the side plate.

I was actually hoping more people would comment on it, I've not seen such a thing before, the closest has been Ed McGivern's guns where he riveted a plate to the side of the gun and engraved that.

I will say that the fit of the plate is why I had to buy it, since it doesn't have obviously rounded edges and such. I didn't think it was a factory job, but I still thought it might letter out fun.

Then of course, it has the HBH.

Letter Day!

It was in fact a gift from his wife!





Now, about that nickel... done later? If so, why?

It seems a lot of his life was in Savannah. I recommend contacting resources in Savannah. Savannah is REAL big on preserving history.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I really enjoy seeing the history on these old guns. I've got a 6" K 22 four screw pre 17 with the name "Hugh Harrison" nicely engraved under the cylinder release. The gun is cosmetically challenged but is in good mechanical shape and a very good shooter. If I got it lettered I would almost double what I have in it. I have had it for about 20 years and bought it cheap to use for a plinker and fishing gun. I have tried to look up Hugh Harrison but being it is a common name there are too many to choose from.

[quote=Taj;140955158]I agree with you Taj that Flitz IS a mild abrasive. However, I have used it many times on my blued guns with no ill effect. I am careful that when I use it, if I see any color on my application rag, no matter what I’m using it on, I stop.

Just my experience and not trying to start anything here but have used it on my blued guns for years.

Digging a little more into Bassett's background, he was a career Army officer who transferred in 1938 from Ft Sam Houston as a Captain (03) to the U. Nevada, Reno to teach ROTC; Infantry and Tactics. He was promoted to Major during that time. Because he was at Ft Beginning (intentional misspelling), home for all things Army infantry then and now, in 1941, he may have been part of the Infantry School staff though his obit lists him as a student and by then he was a LT Col so probably was on the staff, or he could have been assigned to one of the Infantry units that were mobilizing for WWII. Patton was assigned there as 2AD CG in April, 1941, just a month before LTC Bassett's car accident. He sounds like he was a fine soldier.

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

I also enjoy the history associated with firearms. It is sad that LTC Bassett died just when things were ramping up for WW2. Who knows what he would have achieved had he lived just 5 more years.
His wife sounds like a great person, even though she was young enough to be his daughter. It could have been a belated wedding present.

I was most fortunate to get a little of Mike Helm's time at the S&W Symposium. I cannot thank him enough. We found some really interesting things, and I was hoping to find something out about the nickel sideplate.

Didn't figure anything out about that, but. Something came up that made this gun make *much* more sense.

On the invoice if you look close you will see this little bit:



It didn't register what that actually meant. With a bit of digging, Mike figured it out:



(I should note that I chopped some information out of the letter as it pertains to another gun that I don't own, and I don't feel like that information is mine to share).

What is mine to share is the clarity on what my K-22 is; personally ordered by D.B. Wesson for Brita (that he misspelled as Brica in this letter, oops).

Suddenly the extremely specific configuration of the K-22 sighting, with the HBH, makes sense. Brita and Dick were friendly with D.B. and Brita wanted a special gift for her (clearly a gun nut based on the information I cut out) husband. D.B. knew just what she should give him.

Of course none of it explains the nickel side plate... Still hoping someone out there knows the deal with that.

Attached Images

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	signal-2023-07-30-143740_002.jpg (48.5 KB, 545 views)

IMO it would be nuts to polish the patina on the sideplare of the Major’s K22. It so perfectly matches the finish on that beautiful revolver.

Such a lovely gift to receive, he must have regretted leaving it behind when he passed.

Did anyone else notice the gun at the top of the invoice?




Here is the top part enlarged a bit-




A 6-3/8" Reg Mag........
Typo? Or real?

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	8tM6CZoh - Copy.jpg (135.1 KB, 426 views)

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Do we know who owns that REG MAG now?

That way lies madness.

Spending a little time sitting behind Mike as he worked some of the SWHF magic at the Symposium showed me a world of guns that may still exist out there somewhere. Guns I lust after.

Bassett was clearly a gun nut of the highest order, I'm in no way surprised that D.B. liked him.

Here's the thing. I redacted part of the deep gun nuttery in that letter because I'm worried about the implications of some of this SWHF information, in particular as it regards Faking.

A big part of why I love, absolutely LOVE, S&Ws, and particularly modified S&Ws is because I haven't had to worry about fakes. The gun is what it is and what I see is what I get. That dramatically raises my pleasure and comfort level buying funky guns (like the one this thread is about).

Take for example the amazing...typo? Very odd custom order? That Lee just pointed out:



Had I his eagle eyes I may have redacted that because I would worry some unscrupulous gun plumber might chop a gun and present it as the super-rare type referenced in this *actual documentation!*

Frankly, the bit I cut out of that letter, and the other correspondence between D.B. and Dick, revealed at least 3 other guns Dick owned that I lust after. And the one I cut out was both an insanely desirable gun, and could be faked with relative ease.

Ultimately, I think that as much as I would be inclined to share information freely, the implications of what is actually in these records has caused me to take a step back and evaluate just what some of this information could do to the wonderful world of S&W collecting.

I am currently inclined to think that the best thing to do is to spread the understanding that there is shockingly cool info in there, and everyone with an odd gun should absolutely see if the SWHF can find documentation. But for now at least, that information should only come out when the gun itself surfaces.

These are just my personal thoughts. I haven't actually discussed this with anyone really. They have been percolating since the Symposium, and crystalized a bit when I looked at posting this wonderful clarification of why this particular K-22 exists.

Faking is a problem that we have always had to deal with. We will always have to deal with it.
I am in favor of data being shared simply because I love these wonderful products. After 50+ years though, there are few variants that I have not seen and even handled. So, it is not as easy for me to get excited about some fairly rare and/or high condition guns. I like to see the special orders and unusual stuff. I can even get interested in just the documentation of such whether the gun ever surfaces or not. The guns may never surface, so it would be nice to know they once existed. Your method of withholding the data till the gun surfaces could deprive the collector/student community of some data forever.
To deal with faking is not difficult, but it does require due diligence on the part of buyers.
The first part of that diligence is education. Buyers must start studying the commodity. Education is rarely both cheap and quick. Cheap will not be quick, and will require years/decades of astute observation combined with a good memory and a discerning, observant ability. Quick will not be cheap because one must either be extremely lucky in encountering rare and/or high condition guns at low or fair prices, which is not likely on a constant basis, or take the more common path of buying from reputable dealers and auctions at current market. We call it 'spoon feeding'. "Current market" from big dealers and auctions can be very high for rare/high condition guns. I have seen it many times- a guy or lady come into some money or make some money or retire and finally have time to pursue gun collecting. They pay top market prices but accumulate some fine guns quickly. Inflation and growing demand will protect their investment and when they cash out they will make a profit, break even, or lose a little that they can just chalk up as the cost of entertainment like golf, travel, hunting, etc that we pay to enjoy.
Bottom line-
Fakers are defeated by due diligence. Learn it or buy it.

__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Your guy was
Lt. Col. Richard Oscar Bassett, Jr.
B. 13 Mar 1893 • Albany, Albany, New York, United States
D. 23 May 1941 • Fort Benning, Chattahoochee, Georgia, United States

The engraved "BMB" was his wife Brita Marjory Bassett (nee Jabelonsky)
B. 26 Apr 1915 • Spokane, Spokane, Washington, United States
D.1960 • Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States
They had a son Col. Richard Oscar Bassett III
B. 21 Oct 1938 • San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States
D. 8 MAY 1985 • Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States
He married and had a son Richard Oscar Barrett IV and a daughter, living

He was head of Army ROTC at U Nev, coached their coed rifle team, was considered to be an expert pistol shot, culled from various newspaper articles I found.
You have quite a find there.

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Bassett Richard Oscar Jr WWI service record.jpg (117.3 KB, 11 views)

Attached Files

	Bassett, Lt. Col. Richard O. obit Reno_Gazette_Journal_Sat__May_24__1941_.pdf (300.7 KB, 15 views)
	Bassett, Lt. Col. Richard Oscar Jr. obit Evening_star_Sun__May_25__1941_.pdf (320.4 KB, 12 views)
	Bassett Lt. Col. Richard Oscar rams train pg1 The_Columbus_Enquirer_Thu__May_22__1941_.pdf (246.7 KB, 12 views)
	Bassett Lt. Col. Richard Oscar rams train pg2 The_Columbus_Enquirer_Thu__May_22__1941_.pdf (192.8 KB, 9 views)

Another obit/summary

Attached Images

Bassett, Lt. Col. Richard Oscar Jr. obit Knickerbocker News, Albany NY 23 May 1941.jpg (100.3 KB, 54 views)

The only substitute for money is knowledge.


RE: polish
What about Simichrome?

Interesting data-
He was 22 yrs older than his wife.
He was driving at a high rate of speed on a Wed morning at 2:48 when he hit the parked train.
He died at 48.
His wife died at 44 or 45.
Their son, R.O.B., III, died at 46.

__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Like I said, I hadn't discussed the thoughts, so I am glad for your counterpoints.

I think maybe another part of my issue is that I don't know that I feel like it's *my* information to share. Usually I like sharing anything and everything I know, but this one just seems different.

Maybe I'm being silly, but what Mike was doing at the symposium for people was so special. I have some other pages he dug up for me that I still need to post (unredacted) that are such a treat. I would hate to cause any trouble for the SWHF.

"....high rate of speed on a Wed morning at 2:48...."
plus graduating next day, months away from home and wife = alcohol?? party?? gotta make reveille????
Nothing good happens after midnight, as the saying goes.
Marriage wasn't his first. He married the daughter of a prominent physician in a low-key, small ceremony in 1918, and she was back home living with her parents in 1925 according to a Syracuse NY census. She was a year younger than him, unlike his second wife at 15 years younger.

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	Bassett Richard Oscar & Totman Clara Josephine marriage 1 Apr 1918.jpg (69.0 KB, 16 views)
	Bassett RIchard O and bride Clara Josephine Totman marriage 1918.jpg (202.6 KB, 21 views)

Gorgeous. Congrats.

Caleb,
What you should do is talk to Mike Helms and get his opinion on sharing the info. With his blessing you should be good to go.
I think we all would like to increase our knowledge.

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David Reynolds

Had a moment last night thinking about what grips belong on this gun, and a stray thought occurred to me.

I wonder I thought...and drifted off to sleep.

Woke up, getting some stuff together for the gunshow, remembered last nights thought.

Grabbed my Kearsarge carved box #2

It fits!



He made it for an HBH gun!?!



It closes and latches!



I am over the moon right now. Also, this means that the grips that will go on this gun are... now somewhat restricted. In the best possible way.

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I LOVE it in the Kearsarge display case!

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Now if I can just get my wife to follow Mrs. Bassett's lead.

A perfect combination, absolutely love the gun ! Modified has the largest collection of carved Kearsarge boxes I know of.

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kbgrips.com