Most of you will remember 7-8 weeks ago I acquired a registered magnum at a great deal. That story for those that care is located here;

Pawn shop find; Reg Mag 1713

Today, right at 6 weeks after shipping off my request form, I received the factory letter back from Mr Jinks. As you can see, it was shipped on 12/22/1936to a hardware store in Washington DC. (Fries, Beall, & Sharp Co.). miraculously that company is still in business. Likely a dead end, but I will contact them anyway on the off chance that they still have some sales records, and additionally I will get copies of any original order documentation that the S&W historical foundation may have. Obviously I have little hope that I’ll ever find anything else, but I know you guys like updates so I thought I’d share this letter with you guys.

Thanks, John

Attached Images

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Great letter! Perhaps the SWHF will find documentation to the person ordering it with a military or government affiliation.

Do you feel cheated spending 15% of what you paid for the gun on the letter?

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Cheated? Hardly...... I’m quite blessed and I know it. In most every aspect I have more than I deserve, If I had to give an adjective..... fortunate, very fortunate.

Way cool. Good on you.

Quite a great find, congratulations. I have not even seen one in person. Someday.

Congrats. Not sure who got the deal of the year- your pawn shop find or the guy who got a RM in exchange for a rack and pinion job. Great stories.

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Illegitimi non carborundum

That's a great letter. The fact that it was not ordered or shipped with a lot of extras is actually pretty nice as it seems from the pics thats its pretty much original as shipped which helps with value. i.e the barrel has not been cut down.
The other GREAT news is that Roy has already told you there IS information at the SWHF on the original order which is where you want to go next of course. That is where the value / providence is anyway.
Who knows who ordered it? Maybe just someone with the money to do such a thing but maybe it was someone famous (government type)_ who had it shipped to a hardware store to keep it on the downlow. Only the docs will reveal the true identity. Good luck again and please keep us informed.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

Thundertrap... Did you read this story ?
Old 357 magnum
Incredible 2 Reg mags purchased or bartred within 2 months of each other. Both at prices that are about 10 cents on the dollar more likely 5 cents on the dollar from their true resale value.
Yours at $530 and the other Op for a rack and pinion job on a van.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

I don’t ever find those deals . Congratulations and thanks for the update.

What other info are you wanting to find out from the store? The letter seems pretty detailed.

Thanks for posting! You are a blessed man! But obviously sometimes with hard work comes blessings!

OP, I don’t like you either.....least ways not until I find my own $500 RM.

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Earl Battey

Yep, I read it, and I loved it.

Well, I’d love to know who purchased it.... did the hardware store buy it to resell or did somebody in or near D.C. have them order it? once it left the hardware store where has it been? It’s obviously been well cared for and rarely fired...... but the holster that accompanied it suggests it was purchased to carry and use... so was it? And I suppose my ultimate unanswered question is, how did it finally end up in the pawnshop where I found it?

The pawn shop is definitely the most likely place to find that answer. And odds seem to suggest that the most likely answer is that someone probably died and someone else that has absolutely no idea whatsoever about firearms in general and collectible firearms specifically just took it somewhere that would take it off their hands for some cash.

The shocking magic is that it happened to end up either mis-priced or absolutely mis-identified. And due to the nature of the pawn business, there should be no regrets by anyone, honestly.

My take? I'm thrilled for you and I've also like your attitude in all the posts on this subject, especially post #3 in this thread.

Fries, Beall, & Sharp Co is an equipment supply business these days. I'm about ten minutes down the road from them. They are a small family run business that's been around since 1906 as advertised on the side of their delivery trucks. I'd remain optimistic about them still having records on this gun order.
Chuck

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

Ah.... I see. That was I guess the first thing that hit me is you might want to know who bought it.

That's a lot of detail though... Will be interesting to see if you get all those answers.