Smith and Wesson Pre-World War II registered .357 Magnum revolver

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myhero23

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Hello guys, I am new to the site and also new on the forum thing so please bear with me.

I work at a small gun shop in Bogue Chitto, Ms. and I have a few questions I need help with. The shop recently purchased a pre-war .357 magnum. We contacted Smith and Wesson and here is the information they provided to us about the gun.

The revolver, serial # 56787 and registered number 3804 was shipped from the factory on 6-2-38. The revolver was one of 54 sent to the Mississippi
Highway Patrol at Camp Shelly in Hattiesburg. All of the revolvers were configured the same way. They were shipped with 5 inch barrels, baughman quick
draw front sight with plain ramp base and a square notch rear sight. They were blue finished with a butt swivel and checkered walnut grip with grip
adopters attached. The revolvers were sighted in at the factory at 25 yards using .357 magnum ammunition using a 6 o'clock hold.

I know that the revolver's grips have been replaced at one time with pearl grips and the butt swivel has been removed.

My questions are as follows.
I know that the one factory grips and missing butt swivel detract from the value - would it be a wise investment to try and find original grips or should the gun be left as is when trying to sell it?
What is the best way to sell it. Gun Brokers ?
Any idea on the value of this gun?

I have attached pictures of the revolver. Any help would be greatly appreciated

105_4835.jpg

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Best way to sell it would be to offer it in the for sale section of this forum. You will find the serious S&W collectors here and may get a better price than on one of the auction sites.

Sorry I can't help on price.
 
Thanks zonker5. I'll most probably do that as soon as I get some info on the gun.
 
Others should be along shortly that will know a lot about these revolvers but I just wanted to let you know that your gun has the VERY desirable "Humpback" hammer. It was an option back when this gun was produced. That should only help when you sell it.

Roger
 
Welcome to the forum,

the price of the grips and grip adapter would probably be more than you would recoup in selling the gun because of the condition. A pair of Service style stocks will cost approximately $200 and a Prewar grip adapter will set you back around $500. It appears to have been refinished at some point in life which will keep the value under the 2K mark. Still an nice RM with some great history. Now if you will just get those ugly fake pearl grips off of it we will all be able to breath easier :D

Dan
 
Welcome to the Forum, and congratulations on finding a very scarce Registered Magnum. It appears to have its original finish, and in combination with its law enforcement history makes it very collectible. You also appear to have the factory historical letter, which is important to verify it is original (aside from the swivel and stocks). The hole in the bottom of e grip frame seems to have been professionally plugged; you can find original stocks for it (1930s N frame service stocks), but the steel grip adapter would be more difficult to locate. Finding these stocks or "pre-war Magna" stocks would be appropriate for this gun. Their absence lowers the value slightly.

I'll leave a value estimate for those here who deal I these regularly, but it may take an in-person examination to establish this. Hope this is helpful.
 
If you take the grips off of the gun and take pictures of the grip frame we may be able to tell you if the gun was reworked by Smith & Wesson. they marked the guns they reworked with a date stamp.
the reason I said it was refinished is because of the blue being over the plug of the lanyard ring.

Dan
 
This is what the Wesson grip adaptor and service stocks would look like...

TroutandaMagnum003.jpg


I would make every reasonable attempt to replace those hideous Jay Scott stocks with the original equipment.

Even refinished, as your Registered is, with it's police provenance, desirable barrel length and humpback hammer, it has substantial value.

Are there rework dates under the stocks that look like this?... (Read 5-36 or May, 1936).

45545ColtHE2Conversion27659005jpg.jpg


If so, you are in luck as it tends to suggest that the refinish and alteration was perhaps done by S&W, and that hurts the gun's value a little less.

If the rework was done by S&W I would hazard that this could easily be a $2500-3000 revolver to the right buyer. More typically, or if the alteration was not S&W I would say that $2000 more or less would be a more accurate price. Others may disagree as 5" Registereds make some guys pretty hot...

Good Luck with your sale.

Drew
 
I agree with Dan that the gun has been refinished at some time in the past. Finding the correct type of service stocks would be in order to get maximum value from the gun in an auction. The letter does not state that the humpback hammer was original to the gun, so it may be a later replacement. You have the factory historians letter, and I would suggest you also get a S&W Historical Foundation Research package for the gun, as that will add to the value and show the original order paperwork & any other correspondence between the MHP and S&W, including what the hammer configuration was on the original 54 guns. ( Note: Ser. # 56710 was in this 54 gun order and was shipped with a humpback hammer, Baughman front sight & butt swivel ) . Ed.
 
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If you don't have a firm idea of value the auction is the best way to offer it. The bidders will tell you exactly what it's worth.

I would lose the plastic grips and start it at $1,000. I would guess it will sell for $2500 - $3000 based on a couple I recently saw sell.

Hope the shop didn't screw the person who sold it too badly.
 
My first impression was also that the gun was likely refinished (due to some softness in the lettering and the large logo on the sideplate). Good find anway. My one RM is one that is never leaving my collection.

Rob
 
Here's a Non-Registered that the letter states.........was shipped from our factory on December 4, 1940 and delivered to Mississippi State Highway Patrol, Jackson, MS. The records indicates that this handgun was shipped with a 5 inch barrel, blue finish, and checkered walnut magna grips. This shipment was for 35 units all 5 inch barrel, blue finish.


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As you can see it had the barrel cut to 3 1/2 inch and it was reblued, maybe several times, as the S&W emblem is faint and so is the lettering. It has four return dates stamped in the grip frame: 8-47, 8-50, 2-58, and 3-65. It also has a [dot-dot] ..72 stamped in the grip frame. It also had a butt swivel and the hole was plugged and blued over.

As far as value all I will add is I paid around $1500 for this one a few years ago. Maybe I overpaid, maybe not. I just know I had to have it. I really enjoy shooting it.

If you come up with a price it would be nice to offer it here where someone would get it that would really appreciate it for what it is. If that doesn't work out then there is always the auction route.
 
Thanks all for the information. I am still trying to process all the information. We are still trying to figure out what exactly we want to do with the revolver. As soon as we get all the fact about the gun I'll more then likely post it for sale here to see if there might be any interest in it.
 
Anyone else have a feeling we'll see this listed for $4000 in a few days ?

No doubt the private messages are blowing up the OP's mailbox.

I know high end pool cues and I have seen this happen lots of times. Its always interesting when threads like this pop up and it usually ends one of two ways. A guy makes an offer thats too good to refuse in private and you never hear anything else or the seller decides that if people are offering $2000 its got to be worth $4000.

All because some guy cleaned out his grandpa's closet and sold an old gun or pool stick for a couple hundred bucks.

Yeah. I am a pretty cynical guy.

I do appreciate the OP posting pictures of the gun though. It is a great piece of history. Hopefully it goes to someone who appreciates it and will care for it.
 
If you say so jcin. I am only a person that asked a simple question because I needed some infomation.
 
myhero23 said:
If you say so jcin. I am only a person that asked a simple question because I needed some infomation.
Click to expand...

Hey man nothing personal. Like I said I'm glad you posted the pictures. I have just seen it so much with other collectables it kind of amuses me.

Good luck with the sale.
 
myhero23 said:
If you say so jcin. I am only a person that asked a simple question because I needed some infomation.
Click to expand...

Forgive us if we are somewhat jaded. As a group we are often exploited in the fashion that JCIN indicates. Many come here for cheap answers to expensive questions.
 
JCIN said:
Anyone else have a feeling we'll see this listed for $4000 in a few days ?

No doubt the private messages are blowing up the OP's mailbox.

I know high end pool cues and I have seen this happen lots of times. Its always interesting when threads like this pop up and it usually ends one of two ways. A guy makes an offer thats too good to refuse in private and you never hear anything else or the seller decides that if people are offering $2000 its got to be worth $4000.

All because some guy cleaned out his grandpa's closet and sold an old gun or pool stick for a couple hundred bucks.

Yeah. I am a pretty cynical guy.

I do appreciate the OP posting pictures of the gun though. It is a great piece of history. Hopefully it goes to someone who appreciates it and will care for it.
Click to expand...

This board is the greatest single resource on earth for quick answers about S&W's.
Why shouldn't people come here?

Situations like this benefit everyone involved.
I would assume the seller who took it in the shop benefitted because they took the offer.
The shop benefits from the profit. We DO like to see gun shops stay open, don't we?
The collector fraternity benefits from the discovery of the gun and its entry into the 'collector realm'.

Of course, looking at the upside will never entertain the cynics......

Is it supposed to be better for the old guns and cues to stay in that closet deteriorating till they're completely worthless?
Look at the pics again. Whoever owned it did not appreciate it, nor care for it well. It is dry and dirty.
I used to religiously encourage people who approached me with heirloom guns to "keep them in the family". Not so much anymore. As the decades passed, I saw some of those guns again, and they had degraded seriously. Now, I quickly analyze the situation, and proceed the way that I think will benefit the guns and the people the most.
 
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