.357 magnum transitional postwar box

registered magnum · #1 07-15-2011, 01:01 PM

need some info everyone. i recently purchased a 3.5" pre 27 and it came with a gold box. i looked at the wax marking on the bottom and it has an s67000 serial number range marking. so i looked it up and it would be about 1947 which according to 3rd edition would be a postwar transitional .357 magnum. do you guys think this is correct? if it is they only made 142 guns what do you think this box is worth?

DCWilson · #2 07-15-2011, 01:21 PM

That sounds to me like it could be a righteous .357 Magnum transitional box. Just to make sure an opportunist didn't put a low number on the box after it left the factory, let me ask if there is any boilerplate language printed inside the lid. A printed date of 1950 or 1955 would kill the chances that the box was actually what it appears to be. Also, I had it in mind that most of the few .357 Magnum transitionals were numbered in the S70000-S72000 range. I could easily be wrong about that, and S67xxx might be a real .357 Transitional number.

Wasn't quite sure from the way you phrased the question: Is your gun a transitional, or is the box simply a container that holds a later revolver?

If original, I'd think the box would have to be worth at least a couple of hundred to a box collector. Somebody with a transitional .357 but no box might be willing to go a whole lot higher than that.

registered magnum · #3 07-15-2011, 01:32 PM

the gun that I got is just a pre model 27, the box has no other dates on the inside and it is for a 3.5" gun.

bmg60 · #4 07-15-2011, 01:34 PM

Hi
I have a data base on all the 357 Transitions that we have seen
the numbers are all in the S-71xxx and one in the S-72XXX
the lowest number i have is S-71116 and the highest is S-72001
and all the shipping dates are in 1948 and 1949.
Hope this helps.

My best guess is that they would have been shipped in a gold box
or a two piece Maroon box. most of the 142 were police orders.
and the most common barrel length was 5 inch and 3 1/2.
we know of 3 8 3/8 and one 6 1/2 and one 6 inch.

jim

DCWilson · #5 07-15-2011, 01:40 PM

Can you post pictures of the box? Top, bottom, end labeling, even inside.

registered magnum · #6 07-15-2011, 01:58 PM

i can put up some pictures. the only thing is my camera is not very good. i will get some pictures. so if the labeling is correct what would this box be for? the box is for a 3.5 blued gun. the smith and wesson third edition says the first guns were produced between dec 5, 1946 and the end of 1949. thanks for your help. will get some pictures

mokuloa · #7 07-15-2011, 02:12 PM

I have an older factory letter dated 6-4-2002 documenting a transition .357 in my collection. The letter says in part, "The fact is that the company began manufacturing a few .357 Magnums as early as 1946 from left over parts to take care of special customers." It goes on to state; "1946 one revolver, 1947 six revolvers, 1948 112 units were produced." It might not be what we all want it to be, but if I had that box I'd letter it.

bmg60 · #8 07-15-2011, 06:17 PM

HI
what is the serial number on the box if it is a S-67xxx serial number it is 90% sure that it is not a 357 transition. none of the target guns in N frame are in that serial number range. the box was used for a heavy duty
or 44 fixed sight gun. or some body just wrote the serial number on the box. I would not spent 50 dollars to find out it went to a heavy duty.

look up the serial number in the data base for number close to it and see what they are.
jim

29-1 · #9 07-15-2011, 08:28 PM

Well, here is at least one that came in a prewar box.

Chuck
S75935 shipped 5/50 in a pre-war RM short box.

DCWilson · #10 07-15-2011, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmg60

HI
what is the serial number on the box if it is a S-67xxx serial number it is 90% sure that it is not a 357 transition. none of the target guns in N frame are in that serial number range. the box was used for a heavy duty
or 44 fixed sight gun. or some body just wrote the serial number on the box. I would not spent 50 dollars to find out it went to a heavy duty.

look up the serial number in the data base for number close to it and see what they are.
jim

I was kind of thinking the same way. What if someone took the bottom of one box and put a later .357 lid on it? One of the reasons I wanted to see pictures was to look at the image of the gun on the top of the box. If it has a low-spur hammer, then no way is it a box for a transitional .357 Magnum.

I'm still not quite clear about the box dimensions. I understand that it is marked for a 3.5" barrel, but would the box also accommodate an N-frame with a longer 6.5" barrel? I don't know how many box sizes the company used for its guns with different barrel lengths. A small box that would accommodate a 3.5" gun might also have accommodated a 4" Heavy Duty, but it would never have contained a 6.5" HD or Outdoorsman.

handejector · #11 07-16-2011, 06:10 PM

I doubt the Transition mags were shipped in gold boxes, but they might have been.

How do we even know that top and that bottom left the factory together? Go to a few country estate auctions, and you'll see stuff get really jumbled. I've been at live auctions and grabbed the auctineer at the pre-sale preview to help him get guns in the right boxes! At one sale, I pointed out that two boxes on the shelves with the reloading 'junk' and other odds and ends went with two guns on the gun table........

A guy called me from several states away one day-
"you buy boxes?"
yes
"I have a bunch I'll send you if you're interested"
tell me about them (I became interested after the description)
He mailed me a very large box with 20-30 boxes in it.
I had asked all the normal questions, like how did you get these, got any guns, WHAT else ya got?????
Turns out he ran an auction co.
man died.
wife said 'come get this stuff and sell it'
they matched all the guns they could to boxes, and sold them at auction.
these were the leftovers. they came to me with gold and blue and maroon parts mixed.
They sorted out rather well, with only two parts leftover.

ditrina · #12 07-16-2011, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by handejector

I doubt the Transition mags were shipped in gold boxes, but they might have been.

How do we even know that top and that bottom left the factory together? Go to a few country estate auctions, and you'll see stuff get really jumbled. I've been at live auctions and grabbed the auctineer at the pre-sale preview to help him get guns in the right boxes! At one sale, I pointed out that two boxes on the shelves with the reloading 'junk' and other odds and ends went with two guns on the gun table........

A guy called me from several states away one day-
"you buy boxes?"
yes
"I have a bunch I'll send you if you're interested"
tell me about them (I became interested after the description)
He mailed me a very large box with 20-30 boxes in it.
I had asked all the normal questions, like how did you get these, got any guns, WHAT else ya got?????
Turns out he ran an auction co.
man died.
wife said 'come get this stuff and sell it'
they matched all the guns they could to boxes, and sold them at auction.
these were the leftovers. they came to me with gold and blue and maroon parts mixed.
They sorted out rather well, with only two parts leftover.

I love a happy ending>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

1Aspenhill · #13 07-16-2011, 09:10 PM

Jim,
If Roy says one was shipped in 1946, the S67000 range would be correct.
Bill

mokuloa · #14 07-18-2011, 10:08 AM

The box most likely has the number of another model on it. It was because Roy said one shipped in 1946 that I suggested lettering the number (box). However, Jim's transition data base of all known transitions has the (well documented) November 1946 gun numbering in the 71XXX range. Of course with pictures and a serial number we could get more serious then just WAGing our way around the subject. Personally, I would love there to be another 1946 gun, or at least the hint of one.