I’m looking at a Smith for sale. Just looking... Anyway the gun has SN 575xx and registration number 4693. So an RM,right? Except it didn’t ship until April 1940, 6 months or so after the registration process was ordered to be stopped. So a NRM? Did this gun sit for 6 months? Do those numbers seem low for a 1940 gun? What do you think? Dave

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Illegitimi non carborundum

I think if it has a registration number and all the serial numbers match, it is a Registered Magnum. It could have been ordered before S&W shut down the registration process.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Is it an unusual barrel length? I would call it a Registered Magnum, but that's just me. Some of the KCPD guns had Reg #s stamped, but as a Law enforcement agency shipment, some collectors don't include them.

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PTLAPTA!

5 inch barrel. It had to be made before the cut off date and sat a while.
But these were built to specs, were they not?

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Illegitimi non carborundum

It is definitely a Registered Magnum. It would be interesting to know why it shipped a year later than 4692 (shipped in April 1939). Registered Magnums have REG. numbers well into the 5000 range (5415 is the highest I have researched) and were shipped by the end of 1939. I researched 4693, but no records came up.

Bill

REG. #5415 must have just squeaked in as the program was closing. I have non-Reg SN 60148 which, according to Roy, had been assigned REG #5422 but the program was shut down before it was stamped and so sold as a non-Registered magnum and shipped December 10, 1939.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

Dave,

Tread lightly and ask questions. Feel free to email me about 4693.

Reg 4693 - Range Day

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SWCA: 3154
SWHF: 552

..........and how is THAT for a cliff hanger folks??

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

Nothing wrong with the gun if represented for what it is. It’s a great shooter.

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SWCA: 3154
SWHF: 552

Talk about a cliff hanger!!!! Gun is represented as 99% and “near perfect”. No pics of butt frame, no mention of rebluing. Asking
$9000.
Wasn’t gonna buy it Kurt, thankfully. Was just lookin’. On re-reexamination, I can see a little fading in the logo and the side plate screw hole is dished. Can you imagine spending $9000 for a $3400 gun?.?
This is wrong.

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Illegitimi non carborundum

Dave:

I'm glad that you found out more about the gun prior to buying, but in answer to your original question RM vs NRM - Roy in his letter listed it as a "Smith & Wesson Pre World War II, Registered Magnum, Caliber .357 Magnum, revolver..."

Source: Reg 4693 - Range Day

So, I would agree with the consensus above - it's a Registered Magnum.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

I appreciate the discussion about this Magnum, but why was there ever any doubt about it being a Registered Magnum?

Bill

On Oct 16, 1939, the order was given to stop placing the registration number o n guns. Perhaps I’m mistaken ( I am at home, where I’m always wrong), but I seem to recall reading that guns shipped after that point should be considered NRMs. ?? And that Roy doesn’t consider RMs that shipped to law enforcement as RMs cuz they weren’t eligible for the certificate process.
Straighten me out pls gents. Dave

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Illegitimi non carborundum

Registered Magnums were shipped into November 1939. Just because the order to discontinue the registration process was given in October, it, like all directives, would have taken time to implement. And there were guns in the pipeline.

Magnums with REG. #'s 5413, 5414, and 5419 shipped in November 1939. It appears Magnums shipped beginning in December did not have REG. #s.

I suspect REG. #4693 was made much earlier in 1939, but for some reason not shipped until about a year later.

Bill

Back when I uploaded the pre-war Magnum database to the old Yahoo! Group, Roy and I had a discussion about this and agreed that it there is a REG number on the gun then it should be called a "Registered Magnum." Remember that S&W did not use that term; they were just .357 Magnum revolvers. Some collectors like to pick nits about guns shipped to LEOs without registration cards or those at the tail end of production when options were limited and they became "Non-registered Magnums" (another made up term) but there is no reason to complicate things. Since only 10%-20% of them ever were "registered" to begin with it is a meaningless distinction, IMO.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208