Lately I've come across several early sixties S&W revolvers in beautiful condition but one or the other sideplate had engraving on it, usually acknowledging someone's retirement from law enforcement, with a name or initials, etc. What's your opinion on these? Does it hurt the value or stay the same, or what.

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Get off my lawn!

My opinion...it depends on...
1) provenance (famous guy, lots of newspaper hits, or big case)
2) quality of the work
3) rarity of the gun involved

If the work is good and there is an above average career represented, then there may be a premum. No name retiree, not so much. But if the gun is rare, need to add that in.

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Pace

I've got one of those. It's a 4-screw , yet it's stamped 14-2. DoB according to ser.no. was 1960 , but the engraving noting presentation by a former county sheriff says 1965.

Then some nitwit scribbled his last name in the sideplate with a sharp scriber.

But I was looking for a shooter and for $200 in otherwise mint shape , , , ? Eh!!!

I prefer unmarked revolvers, but well-executed inscriptions don't bother me unless they get overlong. One of my prewar Kit Guns has a prior owner's name professionally incised in the sideplate; chronology and circumstances lead me to think it may have been a gift from family, possibly a boy's first handgun. An early .38 Regulation Police has a company name precisely engraved on the left side under the cylinder release. In both cases I consider the inscription part of the gun's history.

If I just wanted a shooter grade specimen of a particular model, an inscription would not drive me away. If I was looking for a collector grade specimen, the inscription might tip me away from acquisition unless it involved an individual of some historical interest.

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David Wilson

In the past I've bought all sorts of guns. Some uglier than others. We do need to differentiate between honest to gawd engraving as done by a professional engraver, scratching by some clown, and then the more dreaded "Commemorative" decorations. The fact is, some companies way over did the commemorative kind of thing. Every police department, every state, lots of historic events we haven't even heard of all get their special edition. Some even have ugly gold color put on in gaudy patterns.

If you're buying a shooter, ignore the decorations and beat up the seller because of it. In my experience the special editions and what not function just as well as the plain Jane models. Sometimes you can even get them on the cheap. That makes it a good bargain.

My good buddy John Walters got took on an engraved presentation gun just before he passed away. He listened to and then bought into the story, not the gun. We had a huckster at the National Gun Day show who always had a big display. It covered several tables and each gun was not only engraved, but it had photo of some alleged great person, complete with a bunch of newspaper articles confirming his greatness. I guess the guy with the display did a lot of footwork, because google didn't return anything much.

We all retire (OK, some of us have). The companies we sweated blood for, or the police departments all feel an obligation to present us with some plaque (plaque is what clogs our arteries). Its only fair we feel good about our years of service. The reality is they may have been glad to get rid of us. It costs a little to have something scratched into an object. Back when I was buying silver (at $8.40 an ounce troy) I picked off all sorts of cups and bowls with things engraved in them. All it did was remove a tiny bit of silver from the weight of the object. Almost none of it adds back as much as it cost to have done.

But if you have a different opinion, come see me. I can jack up the prices to make you feel really good!

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Dick Burg

I agree with rburg, it has to be "somebody" of note to "possibly"??? (not to me) make it more 'worthy' ..but far too many are just as noted above, "presented to so -so" ( social fraternal organizations) so really nothing special, gotta be priced right,,,,,BUT if in any way "factory" work, so ordered, then "bingo" ( jackpot partner)......
you either have to "like" the model, or its "rarity", or be one hell of a deal as far as I'm concerned.....................

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dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

I have two, an M&P Target dicretely elecro-penned through the logo with the name of a lieutenant and Chicago Police; the other a 4" .32-20 with the name Harry Boyle on a slick sideplate. The latter I bought as a shooter, so priced. Before simply getting the piece buffed I did a bit of research. Turned out the guy was General Manager of the Arizona biltmore for many years. An innkeeper to the rich and famous. The on-line seller was within 10 miles of the place. Downloaded his bio from their website. The engraving stayed put. My guess is its value neutral with pronenance. I may eventually gamble on a letter but figure if one of the owners (the Wrigley (gum) family) or a regular guest gave it as a gift there would be a sentiment and signature.

Speaking of commemoratives, remember the various Colt "Commemorative" Model 1911s from the late 60s-early 1970s (I think). Lots of engraving, in a nice case, but Colt could hardly give them away at the time, and they were selling for ridiculously low prices for awhile. I think the price has recovered somewhat, so long as they are in like-new condition, unfired, and complete with the case. Many rusted in their case due to neglect, even though unfired. Fired ones still bring no premium over an un-engraved specimen in the same condition..

The one I was looking at was a gift for retirement from fellow officers at a precinct. The price was too steep so I passed on it and instead purchased a 4" 3 digit serial 1953 22/32 to go along with my 2" 4 digit serial 1953 22/32 gun.

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Get off my lawn!

That sounds like a really good move!

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Oh well, what the hell.

Those three conditions listed above make sense. As do the renowned R. Burg's observations on quality of the work. I went through a phase of fancying engraving as I got to know one the top engravers 30 years ago.

As he was starting to get good he did up a 1911 with about 1/4 coverage for my wife. It has her name on it. Nice, but value is minimal as she is not famous (yet). I had him do two retiree revolvers (a M60 and a M66) with about the same coverage and names; again, nice, but nothing all that special outside their family. Just for the heck of it I had him put my name on the backstrap of my old work gun like Civil War Colts; minimal work and I am sure, minimal value to anyone but me.

About 20 years ago when I still read SGN I saw a Kit Gun for sale with Ed Murrow's name engraved on the backstrap and some plausible provenance. My call was about 48 hours late, but I would have paid some fairly serious money for it as I was an admirer of his work.

Came the day I green-lighted myself to have my engraver friend do me up a 1911 in first-class fashion: complete coverage, gold line inlays, French grey, ivories, lined walnut case, the works.

NO name on it as that would probably knock the value down by about 50% right off the bat. But it's a nice heirloom, and if it ever goes outside the family it will still be a work of art and hold its value very well.

To each his own.

I like engraved presentation guns, but not "Personalized" engraved guns. If they have names, etc on them I pass. (Unless it was a really famous person, but then I wouldn't be able to afford it.)

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I don't believe that commemoratives have any special value. There was always at
least several hundred of each one made up; the Texas Ranger model had a production
of 10,000 . That was more than enough for anyone who wanted one or two or three.

At the other end of the spectrum, presentation guns given to someone important
are well worth the money. Its important that the person being honored was well-
known, somehow or other. It could be a well-known Law Enforcement person, it
could be an important Government official, it could be someone important within
a company, etc. It could be an important target-shooter, or the presenter himself
could be an important person.

For example, here is a 5" 38-44 target presented by Ed McGivern to F W Millington.
Millington was considered to be one of the best double-action shooters of his time.
We all should know who McGivern was. (The two guns were made as a factory
pair, in case of an engraving mishap.)



My favorite presentation gun is a 1907 .38 M&P target presented to Charlie Call
on his 25th employment anniversary with S&W. He started working for S&W in 1882,
and gun was presented to him in a ceremony in May 1907. He worked a total of
64 years for S&W, retiring ( or dropping dead ) in 1946 at the age of 84. A member of the factory
shooting team, one of his contributions is the Call bead front sight blade.



Regards, Mike Priwer