I'm finally getting ready to send for my factory letter. I would have already sent for it but the $50 charge just really hacks me off. I've GOT to know the truth about my nickel revolver though. Hats off to the other companies that will still help you out without charging for it but the list is getting shorter.

Few of us have experienced all the headaches involved in sorting through over one hundred years worth of handwritten records numbering in the millions. I believe that $50 is well earned.

Be thankful you aren't sending a letter off to Colt. It would be costing more and taking longer.

I think 50 dollars is a bargin for the S&W letter.

bob

I think $20 would be a bargain!

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RIP Shipmate

I've spent 600.00 dollars on letters this year after putting off getting some for my plain jane Smith's for years. I think it's worth it. Letters add to the value of the revolver, and to the fun of collecting. Take this old round butt, serial number 300xxx. Shipped to Shapliegh Hardware Co., St. Louis MO on May 24, 1919. The letter states it was shipped with checkered walnut gold monogram grips. So now the hunt for the right type of grips for this revolver begins.

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OGCA Member.

My sentiments exactly.

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

$50 is a bargain, call Colt or the Cody Museum and get a quote on a letter.

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John. SWCA #1586

It takes time to look up your gun, write a letter and get it mailed back to you.

If it's not worth it to YOU, just don't do it.

Whining about it here just makes you look like...well, a whiner.

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'Merica!

Blah Blah Blah. I guess Ruger loses money then, right? I don't think so. Even SIG only charges $9+. Still stinks no matter how much you defend it. I'm doing it so that I know exactly what I have, for me, not because I just want to give away $50. What other option do you have? I guarantee you I'm not the only one that feels that way.

I'm with you Gav.

Ken

Which reminds me, I need to send out one for the 1905 4th .32-20. I've speculated on it but want to know for sure. I don't like the $50 charge either, but it is quite a bit of work for a unique history.

I hadn't given any thought to Ruger, I'll probably request for the Blackhawk too.

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Fast is fine;accurate is final

The other option you have is don't buy the letter. No one is forcing you. Apparently, plenty of people think it's well worth it, because there's usually a backlog of requests.

Does SIG and Ruger have a guy with the knowledge of Roy Jinks? A guy that's been with the company as long as he has? You get what you pay for...and it adds value to the gun.

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'Merica!

Man, if I had a cool piece that I wanted lettered, I wouldn't hesitate to spend the 50 bucks. Actually seems pretty cheap to me.

My only gripe is when they send you a letter and the information is not complete. For example;
I bought a used 27-2 made in 1961, after shooting it a bit I sent it in to the factory for refinish and had it nickeled in 1984.
Well I had it lettered sevearl years ago and the letter did not reflect it had been factory refinished--- an error in my book, especially if I'm paying for factory documentation.

Another thing to remember that Sig and Ruger haven't been in business as long as S&W combined. However, I would only get a letter for a rare or significant model. My 4006, even though it is a great gun, won't be getting a letter. It is not a special gun. When I manage to find a true collectable, it will be getting a letter.

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J.D. Roy

G-Mac,
I realize that no one is forcing me. I'm not cutting on Roy either. Not at all. I bet he'd give the info for free. The bigger point of the OP was that I was finally going to find out the truth about my pistol and , secondarily, the hold up was the $50 fee. I agree that IF IT TURNS OUT THE WAY I HOPE IT DOES, it will be money well spent because the pistol will then be the "crown jewel" of my humble collection. I can spend the money but I don't have to like it.
As for Ruger, I just called them up and gave the serial number. I got my answer on the phone in the very same conversation. SIG stopped giving info in January and now requires a fee of $9+. I found that out when I called this week just trying to confirm whether the finish was factory or not.
To some of us, $50 is still a fair amount of money and not just pigeon feed. I will also concede that technically I'm whining because none of y'all can change the fee charge.

I beg to differ on that point.
I know I wouldn't give it out for free in his place, probably more like $75 or $100 just foe having to *put up*- I mean deal with the *nuts*- I mean collectors in this hobby.
Even at $50, it's a labor of love.

He does give the shipping date free if you are a member of the SWCA. Well worth the membership fee!

When it was first $20, that was more then than it is now, if adjusted for inflation.

The biggest advantage of it going to $50 is now there is a bit less of a backlog- it was approaching 6 months!

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Lost it all in a boat accident

The biggest advantage of it going to $50 is now there is a bit less of a backlog- it was approaching 6 months!

So the price was raised to stop people that couldn't afford it from gettting one.Sound fair if you can afford it.


Ken

Well, I'm past the fee now anyway so let's move on and just hope I've got what I think I have Maybe it will end on a very high note. If it comes back as factory nickeled pistol, I may even donate the $50 for the next poor man that can't afford to find out.
I'll report back once I get the results

(I still think it's too much)

I have to send one out--been stalling around--but it will add to the interest and value of the gun.

Last time I did that was around 1963 on a 1st gen. Colt SAA. Cost a whole $5.

$5 was still a little chunk back then. I just hope mine is what I think it is. If so, it's a pretty rare piece. I'll be waiting with fingers crossed. I still love it, even if it was nickeled after it left. I just hope it wasn't like buckeyeshooter1's deal where it was factory nickeled after the fact and they didn't document it. Do they even document that kind of rework?
I've got a letter from Winchester on one of my 1903's and it details the after the fact upgrades on it. Of course they all happened before it was ever shipped.

Oddly enough, I was just reviewing a thread on it when you posted yours.

That's exactly why you letter some/most/all your guns. If you read the Expert Commentary section, one contributor eventually letters all his Smiths for this very reason.

We need more members in the Foundation so this digitization can move along in a timely manner. Any forum members reading this, please consider joining the Foundation. Can you image getting a letter that John Doe was the person your grail gun was shipped to and then you could find out what other Smiths he bought? Wow, that'd be the cat's meow...

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Barry, youngest son of Claud

I really don't have anything to say that hasn't been said so I'm just posting to run up my post count.

Yup, fifty bucks is a lot of money to me too. I hear ya. I have several guns I've been wavering back and forth about lettering and haven't yet. But, I just figure the $50.00 is the price of doing business. I also figure if I ever sold the gun it would be worth at least that much more...because the letter goes with the gun.

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'Merica!

Well wish this po boy luck. I hope I roll snake eyes

$50 is a lot of money??? When $50 starts becoming a lot of money to me I will stop buying guns. I don't smoke or drink a lot of adult beverages. But I bet in one month I likely burn through more than $50 in soft drinks and candy bars and I bet most of us on this board "waste" money the same way. The $50 you spend on the letter gives you a tangible item that will increase the value of the gun in the long term, that is unless you are lettering a modern gun from the last couple of decades that is nothing special. The only reason I haven't lettered the one gun I want to letter is I have been too lazy to pull it out of the safe, print off good pics and then mail them off to Roy. I don't make a fortune for a living as you can see from my sig line, I'm in the Marines, on the enlisted side, so I certainly don't make much money.

On the backlog thing. It was up over 6 months because folks were buying a brand new gun and then wanting a letter for it. That's their right if they so desire. But, what's the value of knowing that your gun was shipped from the factory on a certain date to Davidsons or RSR or one of the other big stocking dealers?

Bill

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US Marine, 16 years+

I don't believe that a factory letter is worth it for for most common guns made since they stopped shipping to individuals. Finding out what distributor or hardware store my 4" Model 28 was shipped to in 1972 is just not worth $50.00 to me. I limit my factory letter requests to older guns with unusual configurations where there is at least a chance that I will learn interesting information about the gun or at least a name of the person that it was originally shipped to.

I hope to get there some day but I haven't been able to no matter how much I have in my pocket. By self admission, I may just be a tight wad. I'll probably be worm food before $50 becomes a paltry sum to me.
If my pistol turns out to be what I think it is, I'll be one happy tight wad

One of thee fine agternoons the beabcounters at Ruger will decide that NOT charging for a letter is a missed opportunity at revenue.

FWIY Bill Sr, had zero use for thiose of us that bought and collectedt "USED" rifles. He was NOT in favor of supporting the collector or giving the information away for free. As a hardnosed business man he saw no advantage to his bottom line to support the collect or purchaser of a used weapon from the secondaru market that added exactly ZERO to Sturm-Rugers bottom line other than to cost them money.

Yes, you can still call and get the information. What you get is original configuration, original caliber and ship date. While helpful it really doesn't address when you gun actually shipped or any special features or..................... If Kim or one of the other girls gets it wrong they don't really have a knowledge to know what they just told you makes no sense. They just read the records, if the exist, some don't.

I called last week on a very very early 130 prefix rifle. Kim identified it as a "facory #1 in the "C" configuration. Probably not. There MIGHT be a dozen rifles thought of as "C" configuration made in the 67-69 period in a non prefix rifle.

Many truley rare Rugers won't letter at all. They were pulled off the line and altered per Bills request and then shipped out. The Ruger records almost always reflect what they were, BEFORE they were altered.

We actually have a bet going on the #1 Site about just when they are going to either stop providing the information and/or charging for it.

I've owned a couple hundred S&Ws in my life. I've lettered exactly 5. What in the world is a letter on a 29-2 shipped in the 70s or 80s going to tell you? The only caviate for me is if it might be something rare. ie: a factory 5" gun, nickled 53? etc.

The S&W bet is that I've seen id sthat when Roy goes to meet the big gun maker in the sky, so will the S&W letter. Thus the push to get as much research done now while it's still possible.

S&W has already sold of the old parts, and the archives and the factory museum. The non money making letter won't be around much longer.

Neither Ruger or Sig are near as old as S&W. Sifting through mountains of paper to find one gun among hundreds upon hundred of thousands sucks. I'm surprised they even bother to do lettering. Not like they make any money off of it.

For those moaning about the cost of a S&W letter, a Colt letter will set you back from $75 to $450 depending on the gun. Also their long time historian, Kathy Hoyt, retired a month or so ago and I don't what's left there as far as knowing Colt history.

Bob

i know,you would plow through over 150 years of records,write the individual the letter specific to said gun and do it for free..as mentioned before,join the SWCA and shipping date is free for the asking

kennyb...Maaate...Maaaate.I never said it should be free did I ???.It doesn't bother me really what they charge,I would not get a letter unless I had say a Reg mag or something that rare(Maybe).That's my choice and if anyone wants to get a letter for everything they have,well go for it.


Ken

What is this gun you have such high hopes for?
What is unusual about it?

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I'll post pictures of it but they're not the best. It's a 17-3 K22, 8 3/8" barrel in nickel. Do you think it's worth getting a letter for?

Well, it is definitely worth a letter if orig. If real, that $50 will make you WELL over a thousand $$. I wonder if your opinion will change then.....

However, you had another course of action that could have possibly saved you $50.

You could have posted good, clear pics of the gun, particularly some details that would have been asked for- like closeups of the grip frame.
Quite often, some of the people on this board can tell you much just from pics.
I realize everyone does not have a good digital cam and good photo setup, so it may have been more time and trouble and even money than the $50 letter.

Good Luck!

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I doubt if my opinion would change, if that were the case, but it would make the fee fade into the back ground. This one doesn't have the "N" on the cylinder, etc. that most folks would ask about. I think the only way I'm going to find out for sure, is to just bite the bullet, spend the money and let S&W sort it out. At the very least I'll get a letter for the gun. As for pics, I've got a top of the line camera that operates me. I can't seem to master it. I can't take a close up for squat and usually have to get my wife to help out.

Hmmmm. My wife and I spent over $50 on dinner Sunday night. That meal was mediocre at best and it is now nothing but a memory.

A S&W letter on company letterhead, embossed and signed by reknowned historian, author, and gentleman Roy Jinks will last forever if properly taken care of.

I "lettered" my S&W's just a short time ago when they were $30 each. I saw it as a bargain. None of my guns are particularly collectible, but dating them and seeing what part of the world they were originally sent to is just interesting to me.

Sometimes people think things in life will last forever. I wonder how valuable that $50 would be if something happened and historical letters stopped being issued tomorrow? Forever.

That's when a mere $50 would seem a pitance.

Consider that a Colt SAA costs $150 minimum for a letter.

Consider also that most gun manufacturers can't and won't issue a letter of any kind. Documenting S&W's guns going back to 1852 by hand is very difficult work.

I thank Roy Jinks for performing a service that, apparently, some think is thankless.

I thank Roy Jinks for performing a service that, apparently, some think is thankless.

Where in this thread does it say that,Everyone comes back with their own version of what is being said here...The only thing said was the price was a bit steep,Thats all.Nothing about Mr Jinks at all.Don't forget S&W gets the money right.So don't go putting words in peoples mouths about being thankless for Mr Jinks work.

Ken

I agree. Nobody said anything derogatory about Mr. Roy. S&W is a big corporation with firearms rolling out the door everday and I doubt if they're going broke or they wouldn't still be there. I'm sure he is paid out of corporate funds like all of the other employees and I doubt if he has too much "say so" over what they charge for anything including those letters. I still say Ruger is not going busted by doing for free. BUT, I'm not so dismayed that it's stopped me from being a S&W customer. I'd like to shake the hand of whomever decided to make a 5.45X39 upper for the M&P15 too.

I have never lettered a gun...I do however letter the used underwear I buy since I like to know who wore it before me.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I'm looking for someone that can tell me about my HK P7s I bought used from police agencies, when they were made and who owned them before me.

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

There you go. Lighten it up a little . You wouldn't want mine. If I'm done with em, they're done. Ain't even fit for rags.

That's why I'll stick to farming.
T.M.I!!!!

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Lost it all in a boat accident