akguy1985
Member
Great article, thanks for sharing. I'd really like to get my four inch 28 no dash back. I sold it a few years ago at a gun show.
The story of the Highway Patrolman revolver...
- Thread starter PALADIN85020
- Start date
StrawHat
Member
While not my first 357, the M28-2 was certainly my favorite. I liked it so much I used it as the base for my 45 ACP.
Kevin
Kevin
howiema
Member
John, great article Thank You for taking the time to do it. I have always rgearded the 28-2 as one the special revolvers in my collection and your article reaffirms it. I had an old beat up 28-2 and sold it by mistake. I found this one last winter and it will be with me forever.
Pete
Pete
PALADIN85020;138482326 Less than 100 were reported to have been made with 8 3/8" barrels. (c) JLM[/QUOTE said:
mr-mom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Thanks for the great article John. I appreciate the time and research you've done on one of my favorite S&Ws. Having gotten tired of babying the Model 28s in my safe, I've picked up both a 4" and a 6" just for shooting. A Model 28-2 has always been in my shooting bag when in the field or on the range. I've also gotten two friends and my son onto the 28s.
Dave
SWCA #2778
Dave
SWCA #2778
OP
I have conflicting hearsay evidence purported to come from family members both pro and con on the issue of the name suggestion. As to Mrs. Van Orden's first name, I still need verification on it. Roy Jinks, in his classicThe History of Smith & Wesson gives her name as Florence. If anyone has her daughter's "handle" here, I'd like to give her a PM. Thanks for the correction on the business name.
John
kwill1911
Member
Here you go:
"My dad was Brig. Gen. George Owen Van Orden (the Beast), and my mother was Flora Mitchell Van Orden (Beanie) and the two of them started Evaluators, Ltd. in Triangle. Mom designed the S&W Combat Masterpiece. She drove to S&W's offices to draw her ideas on a piece of paper: a weapon with a shorter barrel and different configuration on top, and she also designed a grip adapter and spring loaded holster so that her 'boys' in combat could draw down and save time. I worked in the office of Evaluators for awhle during high school, and learned to love the feel and shine of the weapon. Men and women in the services would come and tell things to mom that they couldn't tell to their wives or husbands, because mom and dad had security clearances. I know she taught at least 2,000 FBI agents how to shoot and helped to improve the scores and effectiveness of thousand more law enforcement personnel. My brother, a retired Col. in VA, and I are very proud of both of them. Mom was the East Coast champion in 1941 and 1942 with a Colt 45 and her wall of medals was only surpassed in numbers by my brother, George Mason Van Orden's. She never got a dime for her design. All she wanted was to save the lives of those who were in jeopardy across the seas when their M-16 jammed in combat conditions by supplying a small weapon that would be easily carried and on target accurate. I would love to hear from people who had met them and who had bought the K-38 Combat Masterpiece. My email address is [email protected]. I help vets reverse & cure chronic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease with the same program that ex-president Clinton is on. I do not charge for my services."
You might find this thread of interest too: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...-anyone-know-evaluators-limited-quantico.html
"My dad was Brig. Gen. George Owen Van Orden (the Beast), and my mother was Flora Mitchell Van Orden (Beanie) and the two of them started Evaluators, Ltd. in Triangle. Mom designed the S&W Combat Masterpiece. She drove to S&W's offices to draw her ideas on a piece of paper: a weapon with a shorter barrel and different configuration on top, and she also designed a grip adapter and spring loaded holster so that her 'boys' in combat could draw down and save time. I worked in the office of Evaluators for awhle during high school, and learned to love the feel and shine of the weapon. Men and women in the services would come and tell things to mom that they couldn't tell to their wives or husbands, because mom and dad had security clearances. I know she taught at least 2,000 FBI agents how to shoot and helped to improve the scores and effectiveness of thousand more law enforcement personnel. My brother, a retired Col. in VA, and I are very proud of both of them. Mom was the East Coast champion in 1941 and 1942 with a Colt 45 and her wall of medals was only surpassed in numbers by my brother, George Mason Van Orden's. She never got a dime for her design. All she wanted was to save the lives of those who were in jeopardy across the seas when their M-16 jammed in combat conditions by supplying a small weapon that would be easily carried and on target accurate. I would love to hear from people who had met them and who had bought the K-38 Combat Masterpiece. My email address is [email protected]. I help vets reverse & cure chronic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease with the same program that ex-president Clinton is on. I do not charge for my services."
You might find this thread of interest too: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...-anyone-know-evaluators-limited-quantico.html
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Great article, and I don't want to nitpick either, BUT the numbers on the first year guns appear to be off. S115,927 should have been the last gun per this article, but I own S116,709 (pictured), which shipped 9/54 per Roy.
Attachments
OP
I would not confuse serial numbers with the number shipped. The number 8,427 (shipped) is referenced in both Jinks' The History of Smith & Wesson and in the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson. Guns are shipped in no particular order at S&W; certainly not sequentially by serial number. I would not be surprised if one serialized earlier than S115,927 was shipped in 1955, and I'm sure that with S&W's system, others with higher numbers also shipped in the first year. This is further complicated by the fact that the serial numbers for all N-frame revolvers were intermixed, and production batches of frames varied from 50 to 300 in number. The only way to determine when a specific serial number was shipped is through Roy Jinks as the official company Historian.
Just a couple of examples of the haphazard serial shipping: I have a Kit gun with a frame serialed in 1940, but it was not shipped until 1951. I also have a Model 64 that was finished in 1994, but kept for promotional use at the factory and not shipped until 2001. Never say never at Smith & Wesson! You should certainly be proud that you have a first year Highway Patrolman, documented as such by Roy Jinks, but the serial number is irrelevant.
John
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BigBill
Absent Comrade
Coming from a guy who only owned ruger 357 revolvers me, your right I put the s&w m28 & m27 right up there as s&w's finest revolvers in 357mag. I put the m27 & m28 right up there quality wise with the colt trooper/lawman & Python. I like the ruger too for a modern rugged revolver. But the s&w n frame just feels right in my hand. There's only two guns that feel right in my hand the s&w revolvers and the 1911 auto. These feel like they were made to fit my hand only. The balance of the s&w n frame is spot on. I like colts, rugers, and s&w revolvers but I put a plus ++++++ on the s&w revolvers.
The story about the s&w m28 highway patrolman is awesome.
I went from no n frames in 357mag to owning five in a month.
As soon as my online dealer posted them I grabbed them. The planets and stars were in the right place in the universe, big bill had his gas money saved up from being retired. It was December my Christmas shopping was done and I jumped on these awesome s&w revolvers, I have 2/m28, 1/m28-2, 1/m27-2 blued, 1/m27-2 in nickel all 6" barrels. How can we pass them up? Locally I havent, never, ever seen a used m28 or m27 here for sale in decades, never even one. I guess everyone who purchased them are hoarding them. No rugers or colts till recently. No used ones in the past.
Think about how many s&w n frames are showing up during the time of the Dirty Harry movie run?
Besides all the m29's being sold the 357, 41, 44spec, 44mag & 45lc n frames were being sold too I place of the 44 mags. I look at how many there are for sale now that are dated in Dirty Harrys years?
The desire to own a m29 continues to this day.
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Very interesting, John, thanks for sharing.
I have two M28-2s. One an S serial number and the other an N. Both 4". The N one was the carry gun of a small town Iowa Police Chief. It has a serrated rear sight leaf. I know that wasn't standard. Could it have been factory installed?
Jim
I have two M28-2s. One an S serial number and the other an N. Both 4". The N one was the carry gun of a small town Iowa Police Chief. It has a serrated rear sight leaf. I know that wasn't standard. Could it have been factory installed?
Jim
OP
One of the cost-saving measures effected on the Highway Patrolman was the non-serrated tang/leaf on the rear sight, and that was certainly standard on this gun. The only variances I know of were cited in the OP.
My best guess is this would probably be a user-installed sight, as there was never an "official" option other than choice of stocks and barrel length. I myself have installed a white-outline rear sight on one of my revolvers, just because I liked the contrast this type of sight gives for quick shooting. I've also installed red-insert front sights on all my mountain guns, again for contrast with the target. Someone in the future will wonder about that, but I'll be dead and gone, and won't really care.
But as I often say, never say never with S&W. There's the off chance that someone knew someone at the factory, and this could have been done there. Special orders were not common on this utilitarian revolver. A factory letter might tell you, but I'm not even sure it would be mentioned unless the gun went directly to a specific individual. Bottom line is that I doubt its originality on the gun.
John
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It is always a pleasure to see and read about Smith & Wesson's N-Frame .357 Magnum revolvers. They are my favorites.
Highway patrolman
Thanks for the history lesson.
As a kid I liked the Smith & Wesson .357 my dad's friend had.
I always wanted one.
Thru the years I kept looking for an older Highway Patrolman. A few years ago I found one, made in 1961. I always wondered if the grips were factory. I now believe they might be the optional target grips you mentioned.
The revolver had a scope mounted on it, so I kept it on. You are right about the .357 at 100 yd shots, with the scope, I can group 6 shots in about a 4" group.( I did miss a few ground hogs at that distance )
Thanks for the history lesson.
As a kid I liked the Smith & Wesson .357 my dad's friend had.
I always wanted one.
Thru the years I kept looking for an older Highway Patrolman. A few years ago I found one, made in 1961. I always wondered if the grips were factory. I now believe they might be the optional target grips you mentioned.
The revolver had a scope mounted on it, so I kept it on. You are right about the .357 at 100 yd shots, with the scope, I can group 6 shots in about a 4" group.( I did miss a few ground hogs at that distance )
No, those grips are not factory.
OP
Those are not factory target stocks. Check the original post for a picture of factory stocks. Earlier ones were walnut with diamond-pattern checkering. Later ones, such as the the ones illustrated in my post, were made of Goncalo Alves wood, and the checkering omitted the diamond center. Later ones also had the "football"-shaped scooped-out section in the upper part of the left stock.
John
PS - check inside the crane recess in the frame for the model number. If you have a 28-1, you would have an extremely valuable gun. Few were made, mostly in 1960, but possibly some in 1961. The 28-2 came on stream sometime in 1961, and it is relatively common.
Very nice article John! Oh, and k22, the WSP Heavy Duties were 6 1/2". One sits in my safe, along with two Commemoratives.
As others have stated, you can not just add the number produced to the starting serial number to arrive at the year end serial number. There were other models numbered within this series.
The other factor to consider is "what is a first year gun?" Since production for most S&W's does not start on 1/1/XXXX, technically and according to Roy Jinks, if a gun was first produced on 4/15/1954, then a first year gun would be any gun made until 4/14/1955.
I know this because I own one, S129,113 that was produced in early April 1955 and is considered a first year gun.
samandglove1
Member
Great article. My only comment is that I think you are a bit off with the initial serial number. I have S106374 which left the factory in May 1954. I always thought the first Highway Patrolman was S103500.
Here is the thread for my gun.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/379044-cant-too-many-nicer-highway-patrolman-pic-heavy.html
