Roy Jinks Letter ????

[RoyB]

On November 12 of last year I sent a completed form along with a check for $50 to get a S&W Model 3 authenticated.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/other/LOA.pdf

The check was cashed on November 19, 2014

I've not heard anything as of February 11, 2015

Does it usually take this long?

 

[moralem]

Yuuup........

 

[Watchdog]

On November 12 of last year I sent a completed form along with a check for $50 to get a S&W Model 3 authenticated. Does it usually take this long?

Last I heard, Mr. Jinks hadn't gotten to the October letters yet, so I'd say you have a ways to go.

 

[DWalt]

Someone recently said that 4 months is the current normal wait time. One problem is that the system is probably overloaded with letter requests regarding very common guns which won't benefit very much from being lettered.

 

[opoefc]

Don't knock the system. It's those letters for common guns that keep S&W contracting with Roy, as the $50 goes to S&W, not Roy. If the bottom line becomes a loss entry for S&W, it will be "Good Bye" factory letters, so tell every body to always letter their Victory Models and pre 1930s dealer shipped guns! Ed.

 

[MARKO77]

I sent one to Roy in Sept or early Oct got the letter last month be patient.

 

[M294Ever]

Someone recently said that 4 months is the current normal wait time. One problem is that the system is probably overloaded with letter requests regarding very common guns which won't benefit very much from being lettered.

I'll bet that 95% of the guns he letters do not benefit from it.
Possibly more than that.

 

[rct269]

The (BIG) backlog came into being while Roy was getting a new knee (near as I recall---hip maybe)---and recovering therefrom------which takes awhile. The letter requests kept on coming---and piling up. He came back to work and started on the pile----and six or eight or a gazillion other things he does.

As I recall (and this one is foggy), he said he can do about four letters per day. I'll wager more than four new letter requests arrive per day. At this point I'm tempted to suggest doing the math.

So, do the math.

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Al Bondigas]

Stay calm

I sent My request 10 Oct 2014, with every thing required, photos and all.

I received My response 6 Feb 2015.

Looks like You have about a month to go.


Lots of luck.

Al

 

[smith17]

One problem is that the system is probably overloaded with letter requests regarding very common guns which won't benefit very much from being lettered.

Why don't you volunteer to determine which guns will benefit the most from being lettered.
Ed

 

[peepaw]

My last letter took about five months.

 

[DGT]

I received my letter yesterday. It took 16 weeks. Well worth the wait.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

Someone recently said that 4 months is the current normal wait time. One problem is that the system is probably overloaded with letter requests regarding very common guns which won't benefit very much from being lettered.

Please explain to me exactly what are "Very common guns"? I have a very common nickel pre War .38 M&P 4 inch, Should I get it lettered? I did. Guess what, it belonged to Harold Devine. If you don't know who he is, look him up.

 

[ol777gunnerz]

Roy Jinks letters

I found a post by Mr. Jinks after searching this site, he said very rarely was a gun shipped to an individual, S&W sends him all over, plus his vacation time, zero help & other duties severely limit his letter lookup time. He implied if it was up to him, it would not be done. A plain letter showing shipping date to a company for models made in huge numbers will not add anything to the value of most guns, this was his opinion.

 

[rct269]

Please explain to me exactly what are "Very common guns"? I have a very common nickel pre War .38 M&P 4 inch, Should I get it lettered? I did. Guess what, it belonged to Harold Devine. If you don't know who he is, look him up.

And I have Philip B. Sharpe's K-22/40. The only reason I have it is because NONE of the prior owners bothered to get a letter. I say that with a certain degree of conviction, because if they knew the history of the gun, they'd still have it-----or the price would've been double/triple/quadruple/??? what I paid.

I reckon I might have paid double without too much of a problem, but any more than that would result in a severe beating about the head and ears administered by the BOSS LADY!! No thank you!!!

Ralph Tremaine

And having read "ol777gunnerz" most recent post above, I very likely have two dozen or more guns shipped to individuals. I also have a question----rhetorical though it may be. How do you KNOW to whom it was shipped until you get a letter-----Hmmmmmm??!!

 

[DWalt]

Statistically, would anyone like to estimate what percentage of the multiple millions of S&W revolvers made over the last 150 years would have any semblance of historical significance which would be revealed by a factory letter? My guess would be maybe 0.01% absolute tops. Sure, there are many specific examples demonstrating the value of a factory letter (and some people win the Powerball lottery also). If I had any inkling that there was something odd, unusual, or historic about a gun, or if I suspected it had significant rarity or value, then I would certainly letter it. But so far, that has never happened. And probably never will. If someone thinks it's worth $50 to learn that their M&P was blued, has a 4" barrel and checkered wood stocks, and was sent to a hardware store in Mobile, Alabama on April 14, 1956, why should I care?

 

[Watchdog]

Please explain to me exactly what are "Very common guns"? I have a very common nickel pre War .38 M&P 4 inch, Should I get it lettered? I did. Guess what, it belonged to Harold Devine. If you don't know who he is, look him up.

Harold Devine? The boxer?!? Wow! That's great!

 

[amazingflapjack]

I emailed him through S&W and he gave me an estimate on when it would be done.

 

[gkitch]

While location as to where the gun was shipped, and to whom, is of interest in a factory letter it is the original configuation of the gun that is of high interest to most collectors. Factory letters increase the value of certain guns merely by confirming these details.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

I found a post by Mr. Jinks after searching this site, he said very rarely was a gun shipped to an individual, S&W sends him all over, plus his vacation time, zero help & other duties severely limit his letter lookup time. He implied if it was up to him, it would not be done. A plain letter showing shipping date to a company for models made in huge numbers will not add anything to the value of most guns, this was his opinion.

Please PM me with the post you read. He does now post on the public side, so, you didn't read a post from him here. I know Roy and I've never heard him say he would like to stop doing letters.
I'm calling Bravo Sierrto your comments.