RKmesa put up pictures of this one on another thread a while back in response to a request from a member. Then he opined it deserved its own thread. Okay, but it'd be nice if it had any sort of story to tell---aside from being pretty spiffy.
Terry Wagner sent some pictures of a 1st Model Single Shot to me a while back. It's drop dead gorgeous---and was carrying Ropers----and an Olympic barrel (Yep---a 1st Model with an Olympic barrel!!)----and had been shipped to Dr. So&So, a famous champion target shooter. Now THAT is something that deserves its own thread!!
This one, on the other hand--------------------------------------------------------------------------------???
I've wanted one of these for a long time----couldn't make a compelling case why I actually needed one---but I've never been one to be confused by facts.
So anyhow----here's this rug. The tag says TRIPLE LOCK KING on it. I open it----and I am SMITTEN!!! I suppose I always thought in terms of a K frame version, but we all have to make sacrifices.
Take a look, and you'll see what I mean.
... and a photo with a different background that highlights the beautiful color in the ivory:
This one left the mother ship in 1915---went to distributor in NYC---from there to a retailer somewhere----and from there to a consumer. How'm I doing so far?
And right about here is where things get peculiar. By all appearances, it went into a sock drawer then----and it stayed there until August 23, 1938----or sometime after---August 23, 1938 being the patent date on the rib. Then it was treated to a trip to San Francisco where a milling machine had its way with it. When you pop the rib off, and have a look, you can't help but be impressed by the sheer genius of the folks who thought it up, and those who did the work. All things considered, it had to have been jigged off the bore centerline, and it was all downhill after that----and then it was shipped back to wherever it came from.
At this point, by all appearances, aside from test firing at S&W, and again at King, the gun had never been fired. The turn line suggests it had been played with a bit, but that's it.
So--------------now this sucker is ready to go!! And where did it go? It went right back into the sock drawer---and as it stands today---right here and right now, aside from the testing---it's never been fired---at least not so you'd notice.
There was a time when I decided all my guns needed to be sighted in. That led to weekly trips to the range with a bag of guns for a while. That in turn led to more like work than fun, and it stopped. Maybe it'd be fun to do it again----with just this one.
EPILOGUE: These are the first pictures of a gun I've ever taken----and the first of anything at all I've taken since film went out of style----more than a few years!! It was a bit of a challenge to learn enough about these new fangled cameras, but having sat here for more than a few years since my son gave it to me, I decided I should at least open the box. The first thing I learned is what you see isn't necessarily what you get. The first two pictures are what you get. The last one (with the white background) is what you see----AND what you get---which is to say that's what the gun really looks like---the colors are right (and the white background is the only difference). I don't understand all I know about that, so I'll study on it for a spell to decide if I care. If a white background is the answer (as it appears to be), I'm not all that driven to know why---at least not right now.
Ralph Tremaine
...Ben
...Ben
