Waiting a long time for a Factory Letter

[oldnavynukespook]

It's been 3 months since we sent in a request for a Factory Letter on my wife's 2nd Version Ladysmith. Check cleared long ago. Is Mr. Jinks backed up? How or who would I contact to check on it?

[murphydog]

Based on recent information, you will probably see it in the next 2-4 weeks. Just received two letters that took just short of 4 months...the historian is a one-man operation and needs vacations too .

[Hondo44]

You'll get it for sure. Every ph call or e-mail just slows him down a little more.

Thanks for your service to our country!

[oldnavynukespook]

Thanks for the feedback, gentlemen! Figured that was the case but "snail mail" has been known to get lost.

[Art Doc]

Needs to be more than one man operation. As long as it is expect longer and longer waits. About 4 months is the norm. Next year...who knows?

[H Richard]

I am concerned that some day Roy will be no longer able to do this and does S&W have any plans to continue the service?

[STCM(SW)]

I sent one in on a pre M24 on Dec. 31, 2013.
Recived it about two weeks ago.

[gmborkovic]

I dont mean to stir things up on the letter issue, but I will. Fellow members, just be patient. I have several letters in the mill that Im sure will be given the greatest attention to. Mr. Jinks is not fourty years old. He has a family and other interests. We members have created the swamped condition Mr. Jinks is facing.

[rct269]

My most recent letter order was mailed on January 6. The letter arrived yesterday.

If memory serves, January 6 was prior to Roy's time-out to get a new knee. That took however long it took---and the letter orders kept coming. I don't know the accuracy of it, but at a point in time (post knee) I was told he had a letter order backlog of approximately 800. It seems likely the flow of orders has continued apace since.

What's going to happen when Roy can no longer provide letters? Another thing I don't know the accuracy of is the Connecticut Valley Arms Museum will be providing letters after that. Fine----then what?

Good question! I don't know either. Here are a couple of things I do know. Colt charges $100 per letter----unless they have to do any extra research. What does extra research mean? I don't know either. Not too long ago, one of our brethren was singing the praises of Colt's serial number on-line look-up system----enter the number, mash the button---Voila!!----the model and year of birth appear as if by magic. WOW, that's pretty slick!! I entered the numbers of four of the five Colts I own. The results? Zip, Zero, Nada!! Colt's whiz-bang system never heard of any of them----all of which are plain vanilla, everyday guns. Extrapolation: It pretty much stands to reason most Colt letters cost more than $100. All things considered, it pretty much stands to reason letters from the CVAM are going to cost "more than" too. I personally don't care. I have letters on every S&W I own. I need (and am very unlikely to find) exactly two more guns to complete my collection. If I get lucky, it really doesn't make any difference how much the last two letters cost; but there are a whole bunch of other folks----both today and tomorrow who do (and will) care. My condolences to them!

Better News: Ruger letters are FREE!!! And they're worth almost exactly every penny of what they cost.

STCM(SW)'s tag line would appear to be prophetic-------"The worst is yet to come".

Ralph Tremaine

[Absalom]

Originally Posted by rct269

Good question! I don't know either. Here are a couple of things I do know. Colt charges $100 per letter----unless they have to do any extra research. What does extra research mean? I don't know either. Not too long ago, one of our brethren was singing the praises of Colt's serial number on-line look-up system----enter the number, mash the button---Voila!!----the model and year of birth appear as if by magic. WOW, that's pretty slick!! I entered the numbers of four of the five Colts I own. The results? Zip, Zero, Nada!! Colt's whiz-bang system never heard of any of them----all of which are plain vanilla, everyday guns. Extrapolation: It pretty much stands to reason most Colt letters cost more than $100.

Allow me to respectfully disagree about some of your Colt comments. I've got three Colts, from 1901, 1911, and 1917, all of whom showed up accurately on the online system. I also got them lettered. Instead of speculating about "stands to reason", you could just look up the very detailed price list by model which the Colt Archives have put online. The price depends on age and model. I've paid $75 for two of mine and $100 for the third; for some models that I'll never be able to afford to own, like original 1851 Navys, it can be up to $300. That's not cheap, but Colt has been smart to spin off their Archive as a self-sustaining subsidiary with a staff, and succession is not a problem. If you are considering a high-stakes transaction where several thousand dollars may be involved, you can pay extra for an immediate answer within a few days. Of course it's pricey, but you are paying for the service, not the piece of paper.

[JP@AK]

The "800 letters" info likely came from a post I made. I talked to Roy on the phone shortly after he returned to his post following his surgery. He said when he got back to his desk there were 800 letters stacked up for him to address. That is a big pile, my friends!
He has been whittling away at it ever sense, and from what I can determine he has made substantial progress, as your reports of delivered letters attest. We need to be thankful for him and for all his efforts. He provides to us a tremendous service, and the people who work with him doing records searches are to be commended, even though we do not know their names.
My suggestion is that we be thankful, gracious and patient.

[JSR III]

You have to remember that if not for Roy, there would be no history or history letters. The companies that have owned S&W over the years since D.B. and Horace, are in business to make and sell todays guns, not report the history of ones that some former owner of the company sold years ago. Although I see the value of history letters as a collector, I am not sure that the money folks at S&W see the same advantage.

Roy also has duties to attend store openings and special events, attend conventions like the NRA, the Shot Show and the S&WCA to name a few. Add in time off for well deserved vacations and things like knee surgery and you are lucky that the wait time is under a year. In addition, he answers hundreds of emails and phone calls and does shipping date requests for members of the S&WCA, one of the significant bonuses of membership.

So, all in all, I would say that getting your letter in 3 to 4 months is great.

[mrcvs]

I sent in a letter for a New Model 3 on the 23rd of December and received it on the 15th of April...just be patient....

[Dan M]

Originally Posted by rct269

Better News: Ruger letters are FREE!!! And they're worth almost exactly every penny of what they cost.

Ralph Tremaine

Ruger at this time has suspended the Letter Program that they were providing for 10 bucks a letter before suspending.
and you are right they weren't worth the effort anyways.

Dan