I was fortunate enough to purchase this special revolver last month. Not only is this gun stunning, but it has some great provenance to go along with it. Major General Richard Joseph O’Keefe, who had quite a career in the Air Force, had this revolver engraved and silver inlaid in Germany for his son, Joseph K. O’Keefe (JKOK). The revolver has the initials (JKOK inlaid into the sideplate) of his son Joe who I purchased this revolver from. Major General O’Keefe presented this revolver to his son Joe in 1956. I am not sure if he had this gun engraved in the early 1950s, or if he had it done directly after WWII and kept it for a few years before presenting it to his son Joe. In August of this year, Joseph had nearly completed selling off his gun collection, and it was then I located this revolver. He told me this was one of the last pieces of his collection that he was selling. Amazingly, he stated that he had a son (perhaps he has another child as well, I cannot remember) that has no interest in guns, so despite the incredible provenance, he decided to sell the revolver rather than bequeath it to his son.
During the phone conversation we had before I decided to purchase the gun, Joe casually mentioned that his dad was a West Point graduate from the class of 1930! Wow! I thought to myself. He informed me that each graduating class from West Point has a yearbook known as a “howitzer” and I was lucky enough to find the 1930 Howitzer on ebay. His dad played football and lacrosse at West Point and lettered in both. He also participated in some other activities and sports at West Point. I had Joe type up a provenance letter and sign it, and he was generous enough to copy some photos he had of his dad. There was a fair amount of info about the Major General online. His obituary was in the New York Times when he died in 1993 and he is of course buried in Arlington.
As for the gun itself, it’s a 4in 38 special Victory model with a solid rib added, most likely before the engraving. The engraving obliterated the “V” prefix on the SN but the “V” prefix is still present on the rear of the cylinder and the bottom of the barrel. The owner and myself erroneously thought the gun was a 1905 4th change M&P at first because the "V" prefix was missing from the butt. I discovered what it actually was after I got the revolver. The grips are custom stag and were made specifically for this engraved revolver judging by the silver border around the top of both grip panels. The engraving is exquisite IMO and its nearly full coverage. The hammer, trigger and ejector rod are jeweled which is about the only thing I don’t like about this revolver. The gun is signed by the engraver "A. Reich Darmstadt." Darmstadt is a city in Germany. I tried to research the engraver but I was not able to find much. I tried researching "Adolph Reich" and amazingly there was an artist by that name, who was around at that time, who also did learn engraving apparently. I could not find any other engraved pieces by him, guns or otherwise. His paintings are in museums throughout Europe.
Its finds like this that keep us all going!
Enjoy!
Below is the provenance letter that I had Joe type up and sign. It covers the basic history of the revolver.
I was fascinated researching the Major General and the more I found out, the more I wanted to learn about him. I was very fortunate to locate the 1930 West Point howitzer on ebay right after I bought the revolver.
Here is a scan of Major General Richard J. O'Keefe's bio from the 1930 Howitzer.
Here is that bio made easier to read
Here is a pic of the Major General and some text about his football prowess. Apparently he was a pretty good football player while at West Point.
The Major General was also co-captain of the lacrosse team. Here he is (left) with the coach (center) and the other co-captain (right).
The Major General was head of the "USMTM" from 1949 to 1951. He had an amazing career.
There were two main career bios on the Major General that I could find - one from West Point and one from the Air Force. Here is that West Point bio. This bio is older than the Air Force bio.
Here is the Air Force bio of him. Apparently this was compiled after his death. The West Point bio was made around the time of his retirement.
Here is an interesting career achievement summary of the Major General from "Together We Serve" a site which has career summaries of many military personnel.
As I said, Joe was one of the most understanding and considerate gun owners that I ever had the pleasure of buying a firearm from. He understood my needs for the provenance as a collector, and he was able to find some nice photos of the Major General.
Here is a photo of the Major General and his wife, Louise. If I had to guess, this photo dates from the 1950s to perhaps the early 1960s.
Here is a photo of the Major General upon meeting Richard Nixon. I am not sure when this was, but I suspect it was prior to Nixon being elected President.
Joe told me that his father was an avid sportsman, hunter, and gun collector. Here is a photo of him after a successful elk hunt. I am not sure the time period of this photo.
Here is a photo of the Major General after a deer hunt. Joe told me this photo was taken ca 1990. I believe he told me this photo was one of the latest photos he had of his father. The Major General passed away in 1993.
Here is the New York Times obituary of the Major General.
The Major General is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to find a few interesting S&Ws. Some were bargains, some are rare, some I had to have, and still others are special in their own right, but this S&W speaks for itself. One of my favorite S&Ws, without a doubt
During the phone conversation we had before I decided to purchase the gun, Joe casually mentioned that his dad was a West Point graduate from the class of 1930! Wow! I thought to myself. He informed me that each graduating class from West Point has a yearbook known as a “howitzer” and I was lucky enough to find the 1930 Howitzer on ebay. His dad played football and lacrosse at West Point and lettered in both. He also participated in some other activities and sports at West Point. I had Joe type up a provenance letter and sign it, and he was generous enough to copy some photos he had of his dad. There was a fair amount of info about the Major General online. His obituary was in the New York Times when he died in 1993 and he is of course buried in Arlington.
As for the gun itself, it’s a 4in 38 special Victory model with a solid rib added, most likely before the engraving. The engraving obliterated the “V” prefix on the SN but the “V” prefix is still present on the rear of the cylinder and the bottom of the barrel. The owner and myself erroneously thought the gun was a 1905 4th change M&P at first because the "V" prefix was missing from the butt. I discovered what it actually was after I got the revolver. The grips are custom stag and were made specifically for this engraved revolver judging by the silver border around the top of both grip panels. The engraving is exquisite IMO and its nearly full coverage. The hammer, trigger and ejector rod are jeweled which is about the only thing I don’t like about this revolver. The gun is signed by the engraver "A. Reich Darmstadt." Darmstadt is a city in Germany. I tried to research the engraver but I was not able to find much. I tried researching "Adolph Reich" and amazingly there was an artist by that name, who was around at that time, who also did learn engraving apparently. I could not find any other engraved pieces by him, guns or otherwise. His paintings are in museums throughout Europe.
Its finds like this that keep us all going!
Enjoy!
Below is the provenance letter that I had Joe type up and sign. It covers the basic history of the revolver.
I was fascinated researching the Major General and the more I found out, the more I wanted to learn about him. I was very fortunate to locate the 1930 West Point howitzer on ebay right after I bought the revolver.
Here is a scan of Major General Richard J. O'Keefe's bio from the 1930 Howitzer.
Here is that bio made easier to read
Here is a pic of the Major General and some text about his football prowess. Apparently he was a pretty good football player while at West Point.
The Major General was also co-captain of the lacrosse team. Here he is (left) with the coach (center) and the other co-captain (right).
The Major General was head of the "USMTM" from 1949 to 1951. He had an amazing career.
There were two main career bios on the Major General that I could find - one from West Point and one from the Air Force. Here is that West Point bio. This bio is older than the Air Force bio.
Here is the Air Force bio of him. Apparently this was compiled after his death. The West Point bio was made around the time of his retirement.
Here is an interesting career achievement summary of the Major General from "Together We Serve" a site which has career summaries of many military personnel.
As I said, Joe was one of the most understanding and considerate gun owners that I ever had the pleasure of buying a firearm from. He understood my needs for the provenance as a collector, and he was able to find some nice photos of the Major General.
Here is a photo of the Major General and his wife, Louise. If I had to guess, this photo dates from the 1950s to perhaps the early 1960s.
Here is a photo of the Major General upon meeting Richard Nixon. I am not sure when this was, but I suspect it was prior to Nixon being elected President.
Joe told me that his father was an avid sportsman, hunter, and gun collector. Here is a photo of him after a successful elk hunt. I am not sure the time period of this photo.
Here is a photo of the Major General after a deer hunt. Joe told me this photo was taken ca 1990. I believe he told me this photo was one of the latest photos he had of his father. The Major General passed away in 1993.
Here is the New York Times obituary of the Major General.
The Major General is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to find a few interesting S&Ws. Some were bargains, some are rare, some I had to have, and still others are special in their own right, but this S&W speaks for itself. One of my favorite S&Ws, without a doubt
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...hopefully I get that one too 
