Thank you to the SWHF for saving the history of our Smith and Wessons..

Without them, this information would have been lost.. FOREVER!!
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE MAKE AN EFFORT TO JOIN.. IT'S A ONE TIME FEE ( TAX DEDUCTABLE) AND HISTORY IS PRESERVED...

First the letter from Mr. Jinks..

While the grips are out being restored by DWFAN here she is wearing Ivories..







That was the tip of the Iceberg.. This is the information from the SWHF..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

Sal:

Very coooooool! Please add a photo of the RM as well so that we can see it as it stands today.

Thanks for sharing,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Sal-

THAT is very very nice addition to a standard letter huh????
Wow.

Yeah, YEAH! You did well!!!!!!!

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RIP Shipmate

That is awesome Sal.. we need to give the SWHF more $$$ so they can get their records digitized in to the 50's and 60's...where some of my prizes are Or I need to get e REG Magnum.... because it's all about me
Mike

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

I love it when the SWHF turns up rich record sets like that! I got copies of the order and invoice for an early .38/44 Outdoorsman from the Foundation, and they make a great supplement to the Letter that came to me from Roy Jinks.

I love the urgency expressed on behalf of Mr. Lambert. The man needs a quick-draw, short-barrel high-powered revolver right now. I guess the concrete block business in 1940 was a little rougher than the construction supplies sector is today.

Sal, does the King sight base have the usual embedded reflector? Seems to me such a design wouldn't have much point since the blade is a ramp sight. Light reflected back up would slide right across the surface of the ramp without illuminating it much at all.

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David Wilson

Thank you sir.. it was a great surprise to find that many records..

If you look close Mr. Lambert was the Superintendent of a COAL MINING company..

As for the reflective sight ..no it had a plain ramp..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

D'oh! I'm an idiot!

I saw the word "block" and stopped thinking. Stopped reading too, apparently.

Yes, coal. That would certainly explain it.

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David Wilson

That area was Hatfield and McCoy territory.
The coal mining towns were pretty rough back in those days, I'm told.
I have a 2d Model .44 HE which shipped to Pike Co., KY, just a few miles down the road. in 1927.

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John

...back in those days the miners, mine owners, and unions were all at each others throats...

...according to James L. Ballou's book "Rock in a Hard Place" the Bluefield Hardware ordered and sold 25 Browning Automatic Rifles between 1919 AND 1922...

Anybody know what happened to the humpback hammer?

Wonderful provenance! Congratulations.

Sal...thanks for posting the photos of the documents and for the kind words about the S&WHF!!! It is always a pleasure when we can provide the "missing history" about a particular gun or group of guns. We don't always turn up this much information, but you never know until you do a search.

Bill

I was wondering about that too,
It appears there is no quote for the work or the part from S&W and that the hand written notation didnt make it to the final letter or the gun, Did the handler overlook the customers request to S&W ?

Great question.. but I don't think we will ever know at this point..

Here is a close up of the hammer that is on the gun..

My question is what hammer is it?? The hammer looks correct .. until I realized that the U.S. Pat Roll mark is missing on the backbone of the hammer..

Now we do know that the gun went back to the factory in..June of 1947 and again in September of 1950.. based on the dates stamped on the grip..

What we don't know is what was done at those times..

If anyone has information on this hammer without the U.S. Pat. roll mark, please share your thoughts..

Thanks..

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

i believe it is called a concentric hammer....with the grooves on the sides....thats all i know

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Kris
OGCA, NRA LM

Thus, you have a "Groovy" hammer!

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RIP Shipmate

not the answer I was looking for but....very small rinshot

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

I have a answer for you.
the hammer that is installed is a post war Transition Hammer from a 357 Transition. If you look at the picture it shows a cutout for the post war hammer block.
this hammer was installed when it went back to the factory in 1947.
I hope this helps.
Jim Fisher

And THIS ladies and Gentlemen is why we LOVE THIS PLACE..

Jim.. thanks so much for clearing that up.. Now do I leave it or replace it with the correct hammer?? ..

Interesting question.. as a "Newbie" in this RM arena, I am not sure what the answer is..

But I do know that I want to preserve S&W History..

Thanks
Sal

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SWCA #2306
DAV in honor of POP

Sal:

Keep your eyes open, but RM hammers come along very infrequently. But with your luck, in the next week or two, you'll probably find a pristine HBH at your local antiques store for $50.

All the best,

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

Did the factory ever install the postwar hammer block safety on any factory returns other than K-frames? If that happened in this case, following Jim's observation a humpback hammer would not even function in the gun without a profile modification.

I think I would take the position that the gun in its current configuration preserves its individual history because the changes, as far as we know, were all made at the factory.

Not everybody liked the humpback hammer. If you have a short thumb, it's a long reach to get up to that hammer spur. Perhaps Mr. Lambert eventually decided he didn't like it and asked the factory to swap a standard hammer back into the gun on a postwar return.

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David Wilson

Thanks for sharing Sal.
What a wonderful archive of material.
And a beauty of an RM.
I learn something everytime i read through
the posts on here.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Sal...I would leave the revolver as it is. Its prior owners began to modify the .357 fairly early in its life and each considered what they had done an improvement. Since most of the changes are well documented, I believe you have a very nice and "historical" package.

Bill

WOW! That hammer is scarce as they get!

Sal
the hammer that is in your gun is worth more than a registered mag Hammer.
they only made 140 Transition guns. And I would guess that they made only about 10 percent extra for parts. Thats only about 15 extra Hammers.
I agree you have all the documentation leave it is it is a very nice Registered.
Jim Fisher

What a great resource this forum is as I have been able to view this thread and research this fine revolver that I now own.

It now wears custom stocks from .44maggett and unfortunately I didn’t receive any of this paperwork when I purchased it but hopefully I can follow up with the seller and get it since I’ve made other purchases before from him.

I never thought I would be able to afford a 3.5” RM, but this fell well within my budget. I think also knowing the seller helped too.

I’m super happy with this fine specimen regardless of the refinish.

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On an amazing Reg Magnum !!!

Thank you I’m quite proud!

All documents are inbound after speaking to the seller last night in email.

The forum members here a by far, above and beyond any other internet gun forum. Kudos!


And Craig, congrats on the new Magnum

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On the Oak Savannah

Thanks buddy it’s my first and I kinda feel like a new parent!😁

The Elusive Reg Mag has eluded me all these years...
While rereading this post noticed that in post 14 bottom pic you can make out matching grooves on the frame edge inside the hammer channel,
My guess is the grooves on the hammer did that to the frame instead of the frame just scraping the case coloring off the hammer as happens to some tight side fit smooth sided hammers.
Pretty neat.