Many of us collect and view guns like they are literaly the holy grail or the shroud of tubin. Some of us like the guns that were actualy owned by wyatt earp, hickock or elmer.
Why does not one of us like to research the average worker that assembeled them at the factory? You know, like researching factory records to find out who emma schnell was, who was assigned to put the lockwork together on the day she built my triplelock? For that matter can anyone tell who designed it? Inquireing minds want to know.
Or if it was possible, would we really care?
We make a idol out of the gun, or someone that wrote about it, or someone who bushwacked someone with it, what about the low paid uninteresting unknown person that built it?

I think I would care.
Great post, and thought provoking.

Ive pondered this in a wider scope, particularly invention and innovation.
just who was the joker who thought up the concept of the compact disk ... metal reflective film to be read by a laser ... quite the unsung heros here.
such brilliance seems to be rewarded with being shelved and doomed to remain nameless

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it just needs more voltage

Yes, I already do. Although, there are likely a lot of guys ahead of me.

I have...somewhere..a list of the guy's marks on who assembled the 39's and same time frame 41's.

There are a few, very few "old line" guys left at S&W that can identify some of the marks made on guns and who made them.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Kind ov reminds me of the story of some church or theater hired some world famous organist to play for them for a huge fee. The music was going then stopped. The guy pumping the bellows wanted a little respect!

Time has fogged my memory. In 1957 my grand father came home from work and said he built a coffee pot. He worked at the largest sheet metal / air conditioning company, Hovland's Sheet Metal, in Eau Claire, WI.

Some one from National Presto Industries (Eau Claire was the national headquarters) wanted a coffe pot without a round pour spout. My grand father made the first one out of stainless steel sheet stock sized to fit on the standard heating element that NPI used on their 'spoutted' coffee pots. Several months later when the pot was in production, NPI gave him one as a gift. My grandmother used it until she went to a nursing home in the late 1980's.

Presto®: Company History Coffee pot is half way down the page.

Ludvig S. Holm is lost in history. A craftsman who did his job without any glory, recognition, or extra financial reward.

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S&WHF 366

it's kinda like studying history. We can know almost anything we want to know about the kings, wars and religions of (for instance) the 14th. century but precious little about how the ordinary person lived and did things.

As regards those who made the fine firearms of the past, one thing is obvious. They took great pride in their work. Examine a fine firearm of yesteryear and you get the feeling of holding something made by people, as opposed to the machine made, mass produced guns of today. Yes, I know that machines were used then too, but that touch of the skilled craftsperson comes through strong.

I think the world would be a much better place if everyone today took great pride in their work. But alas, it seems that even getting many people to work at all is asking too much, let alone expecting them to take pride in their work.

Shroud of tubin? Is that like inner tubing with a scarf or something?

I'm sure collectors want guns with a historical provenance...but I'm not a collector and so I buy handguns I like because I like them, and not because someone else owned them. In fact, I prefer new guns to used.

Now, if I had lots of money, I'm sure I could enjoy having a collection of some rare firearms just to look at...but I don't, so I can't, and probably won't ever.

We do care.

You've missed a lot of the little bit that's available-

Smith & Wesson (MA) (Images of America)

History of Smith & Wesson: Nothing of Importance Will Come without Effort

Raw Steel to Smith & Wesson (Pic HEAVY)


Images by Roy shows a lot of the working folk.
History by Roy tells a lot of personal stuff about the management and some data on designers.
Lots of pics in "Raw Steel".

I know you mean more personal stuff, but don't miss what you can get!

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Just my thoughts but can it be ther guns of today are assembled on converyor lines as opposed to being made by gunsmiths of years past. A handmade gun from a real gunsmith is going to be more treasured in history than who was employed dropping in trigger assemblies for the 1911 on May 03, 2009.

The individuals involved in producing and inspecting a gun make for interesting stories. Here's an example. This M1903 Mark I Springfield rifle was in my rack for years before I noticed this inspection stamp and researched it.



This was Elmer Keith's stamp at the Ogden Arsenal in Utah. I actually have a gun that was inspected, handled and approved by a legend in the firearms world. I'm honored to have it.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Who was Mr OFF?

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Still Running Against the Wind

I thought he was your uncle on your Dad's side......

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I thought he invented insect repellent.

My brother has a M21 Winchester that was made in the 40s and a few years ago he got to meet the man that assembled it. We think that is really neat. He said he thanked the man for making a good gun and the man told him if he ever had any trouble with the gun to let him know and he would fix it. Larry

I've never heard of inspectors' marks on S&W 39s and 41s (I guess there's a lot of things I've never heard of). I have each, and I'd sure like to see a listing of the inspectors and their marks.

Me .02 is for history and handfitting. Not just for quality, but because someone did take pride and make sure all the ins and outs were in nice shape and functioning correctly. Craftsmanship seems lost on most new things today. To me, a firearm that was hand assembled has "character" and "soul". CNC machinery is an incredible thing for sure. I still like to know that a higher functioning primate(no offense, Lee) put my stuff together.

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Go big or stay home

With no Indians, there would be no Chiefs. Every Brave is needed when there is work to be done.

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Go big or stay home

My model 14 was inspected by #12 or at least that what the box says, I wonder if it's the same #12 that inspected my last batch of BVD's.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Naw, from everything I read, the squaws did all the work. The braves did hunt, tell the squaws where the kill was and send them to take care of it. Actualy, I do live like that. Theresa does all the work. I entertain her just a little while she does all the carpentry etc around here. She claims to be a small part indian, so maybe that helps.

Actually it was Ms. Off. Maggie C. Off, to be precise.

Yes. For answering correctly you will receive two free books of Green Stamps, that you may redeem in 1973 if you can locate it

No. I am not intrested who was putting my revolver together. Simpley the fact is that he or she was told to do so. She or he was not planning the revolver. Just doing their job. I am more intrested how its works and the history of it.

AH, Green Stamps...

I remember those!

My thoughts exactly. When you pick up a "plastic" gun, you get something that was poured in to a mold. No personality at all. Put it with twenty more like it, and I doubt you can pick it out. Pick up an old Smith, and it talks to you. It has personality, and you can pick yours out from all the rest. I'd love to know about the individuals that labored over the gun. Just seeing old pictures of the old S&W factory gives me chills.

Hey Merril. I'd be interested in emma schnell. I used to have a crush on her in grade school.

You must be pretty old, I think she was my mothers aunt!

Correct, I could put my Glock 19 together with a bunch of others and I couldn't find my own gun. But I can see a pic of a gun that I used to have and I know that gun instantly if it is an older S&W Winchester or Colt. Actually I have seen pics of guns that I still own, posted on the internet by others who liked my pics enough to snatch them. But that is another story

Some years ago I was working on a variety of museum guns--"conserving" in the current parlance. The lockwork on an original Sharps is a world apart from even a nice replica like the Shiloh Sharps. And when I took the case-hardened breechblock out of a still-minty 1865 Spencer the workmanship and colors took my breath away.

Another thing that is striking is to see pictures of mechanics, machinists, and assemblers from those far-off days, wearing ties at work...they obviously took pride in who they were and what they did.

I had a favorite uncle who was a tool and die man. Wish I had known him better (I was just a kid, and he lived quite a ways away).

I wouldn't have minded inheriting his '55 T-Bird, either; he was a car guy and traded it off on a '65 GTO...

I have a .32 Hand Ejector, four and a quarter inch barrel. Maybe 50% finish but the bore and chambers are perfect. The action was the definition of 'stiff' when I bought it for $140. Very bread & butter sixgun.

Having been down this road before, I took it home and stripped it down almost completely. Sure enough, full of hardened oil.

After soaking and cleaning, I began to exaime the action parts. They are different that the parts used in later guns. There's alot more of them and you can see how the action has been simplified over the years.

Handling the individual parts and seeing just how well they were finished really gave me the sense of the craftsmanship in the gun's construction. They were beautiful! I could see my moustache hairs in most of them they were so well polished. You could cut yourself on alot of their edges. Those interior parts were never intended to be seen by the customer and I was probably the first person the see them after the side plate went on all those years ago.

All six of the cylinder's throats measure .3120, exactly the same as the bore. Of course the peice shoots like it measures too, just as one would expect.

Those were the days . . .


Cat

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Think for yourself.

I can tell you this.. I have two dear friends, that have been with S&W over 34 years each..both are Master Gunsmiths..still there.. each has has worked on one or more.. ( mostly more) of my guns.. we get together at least once a year.. last week was one of those times.. Mel, tuned and adjusted three of my Smith's.. about two days later I got an email from him thanking ME for letting him work on my "N" frames.. I can't speak for the new generation.. but those two men are still of the "Old School" and miss it..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP