Pictured below is an example of the ultimate in "Bekeartness" in a .22/.32 Hand Ejector, being that it's from the inaugural batch made in 1911 and also one of those actually shipped to the Phil. B. Bekeart Co. in San Francisco.
A fresh examination of Smith & Wesson records has revealed that a previous and supposedly authoritative list of the original .22/.32's consigned to the Phil. B. Bekeart Co. had mistakenly included a handful of serial numbers that actually went elsewhere, an error compounded by also omitting a few more than that which could in fact be documented as being delivered to Bekeart.
It has now been definitively established that of the 1,044 made in that initial 1911 production run (serial numbers 138226 through 139275), 294 were actually received by Bekeart in that same year. There were six separate shipments, four in June, the first of these numbering 30, and then in quick succession three more of 60 each, another in August of 50 more, with a final group of 34 going out in October.
There are still some unresolved questions surrounding these earliest .22/.32's. The total quantity logged does not quite match up with what the serial number range implies, with six serial numbers being unaccounted for. This discrepancy could be due to their not being completed and possibly scrapped, or perhaps those six numbers ended up being ordinary .32 caliber Hand Ejectors. Maybe it just reflects a bookkeeping lapse. But all that's conjecture.
Another curiosity is that the left stock of each revolver had a number stamped on its bottom, starting at "1". The progression of these stock numbers only roughly corresponds with the serial number sequence, so it's not possible to deduce what stock number ought to be associated with any particular serial number. It certainly wasn't a normal Smith & Wesson procedure to apply these additional numbers, and one can't help but wonder if it was especially done at Bekeart's behest. That the practice continued for some subsequent production of the model, however, tends to undermine that argument.
A last mystery would be how many of the 1,044 and/or the 294 are extant. This likely will never be known with any certainty, although someone may be able to make a statistical case for a certain percentage of them surviving.
A fresh examination of Smith & Wesson records has revealed that a previous and supposedly authoritative list of the original .22/.32's consigned to the Phil. B. Bekeart Co. had mistakenly included a handful of serial numbers that actually went elsewhere, an error compounded by also omitting a few more than that which could in fact be documented as being delivered to Bekeart.
It has now been definitively established that of the 1,044 made in that initial 1911 production run (serial numbers 138226 through 139275), 294 were actually received by Bekeart in that same year. There were six separate shipments, four in June, the first of these numbering 30, and then in quick succession three more of 60 each, another in August of 50 more, with a final group of 34 going out in October.
There are still some unresolved questions surrounding these earliest .22/.32's. The total quantity logged does not quite match up with what the serial number range implies, with six serial numbers being unaccounted for. This discrepancy could be due to their not being completed and possibly scrapped, or perhaps those six numbers ended up being ordinary .32 caliber Hand Ejectors. Maybe it just reflects a bookkeeping lapse. But all that's conjecture.
Another curiosity is that the left stock of each revolver had a number stamped on its bottom, starting at "1". The progression of these stock numbers only roughly corresponds with the serial number sequence, so it's not possible to deduce what stock number ought to be associated with any particular serial number. It certainly wasn't a normal Smith & Wesson procedure to apply these additional numbers, and one can't help but wonder if it was especially done at Bekeart's behest. That the practice continued for some subsequent production of the model, however, tends to undermine that argument.
A last mystery would be how many of the 1,044 and/or the 294 are extant. This likely will never be known with any certainty, although someone may be able to make a statistical case for a certain percentage of them surviving.
