4" nickel Triple Lock with King sights - Waco auction

Here's a letter that's nice to have tucked away:




This 4" Triple Lock was the reason that I was watching the Waco auction. I like the ribbed TL that mchom ended up with but this is the one that really spoke to me.

Even after 113 years the timing is spot on perfect. The action is smoother than a buttered baby, but it has the same sticky feeling as the 2nd HE that was part of he same auction. In this case there is some green colored goo oozing out around the trigger....I'm pretty sure that it's packed full of some kind of grease as a preservative. I'll have to do a deep cleaning before this one goes to the range. I've never opened up a triple lock before so if there are any surprises waiting for me in there please drop me a line.

The gun has quite obviously been refinished, possibly multiple times. Most of the markings are extremely faint and can only be seen in the correct light. There is some corrosion underneath the grips. I've seen much worse on newer guns.

The bore and chambers are a bit rough, but again I've shot guns with worse looking bores that did just fine. We'll find out after the deep cleaning.

Without further ado, here it is.....
























































Edit to add: The close up picture of the cylinder has what looks like a crack in one chamber. That's actually a dog hair. Welcome to my house.

Also, for those that keep track, hammer price for this one was $1,550.

Awesome TL. Glad you brought it home. Congratulations !!

Outstanding! That would have caught my eye if I'd watched that auction. Congrats.

That is a really cool Triple Lock ! I love the old King Sight modified revolvers.

I have a 4" nickel Triple Lock as well, but mine is not near as nice as yours. The serial number looked familiar so I went and looked, sure enough mine is #2486 so it is only 24 away from yours.

As another example of Smith & Wesson shipping back in the day, #2486 was shipped May 13,1912, over a year after yours was shipped.

Congrats on a really sweet old S&W !
Tim

tt66 said:

That is a really cool Triple Lock ! I love the old King Sight modified revolvers.

I have a 4" nickel Triple Lock as well, but mine is not near as nice as yours. The serial number looked familiar so I went and looked, sure enough mine is #2486 so it is only 24 away from yours.

As another example of Smith & Wesson shipping back in the day, #2486 was shipped May 13,1912, over a year after yours was shipped.

Congrats on a really sweet old S&W !
Tim

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Brothers! I hope someday we can get them together and listen to them swap stories over a beverage....

The King's modifications, adjustable rear sight, wide spur hammer & the reflector front sight with the Baughman style ramp were probably state of the art gunfighting gear back then. Today it's old school cool, that's still pretty fashionable to collectors who appreciate that stuff.
This looks like quite a package for an old time lawman. The only thing I question is the use of a ramp blade with white line to compliment the reflector King sight base. I always seem to get the impression that the reflector sight base was coupled with a brass or stainless bead. But for a 4" barrel fighting man's gun I guess this setup works also
Sweet package, Thanks for sharing with us & especially divulging the price which I think was fair.

I received information on the original owner along with the gun. It'll take me some time to transcribe it but I'll get it posted here.

Yes, it was very much a fighting man's gun. Given the history of the gentleman in question, I would not be surprised at all to find out that this one had been fired "with intent" many times.

T44spl said:

The King's modifications, adjustable rear sight, wide spur hammer & the reflector front sight with the Baughman style ramp were probably state of the art gunfighting gear back then. Today it's old school cool, that's still pretty fashionable to collectors who appreciate that stuff.
This looks like quite a package for an old time lawman. The only thing I question is the use of a ramp blade with white line to compliment the reflector King sight base. I always seem to get the impression that the reflector sight base was coupled with a brass or stainless bead. But for a 4" barrel fighting man's gun I guess this setup works also
Sweet package, Thanks for sharing with us & especially divulging the price which I think was fair.

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I have been trying to find that blade in old King catalogs. No luck yet. Most blades say king on them so it might be a add on at a later time. Still a very cool set up.

Very cool revolver. Gotta love the Triple Locks w/King sights.

The grips and sights look pretty good. Where this revolver falls down is the buffing and refinishing. I might try and find another one in better condition and use the sights and stocks on that one.

Edit ; and the hammer.

I'll have a deep dive posted in the 'smithing section in a few days, but here's a teaser.

The old girl still shoots just fine.

10 shots, Weaver stance, single action, 10 yards:




Edit to add: No, I didn't run full-house Elmer Keith style loads through it. Missouri Bullet Company calls their 240 grain LSWC the ".44 Elmer K". The load was that bullet with 6.5 grains of Unique and a Federal primer.

Very nice! I have read several posts now about this Waco auction, how is everybody in the know about this? And how do I find future similar ones

Cotis said:

Very nice! I have read several posts now about this Waco auction, how is everybody in the know about this? And how do I find future similar ones

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I missed out on the first one back in July.

I first saw it on proxibid

From there I found you could attend locally

BaylorCattleGuy said:

I missed out on the first one back in July.

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Here is the story of the one of the previous owners of this gun from the documentation received with it. There is no author attributed in the document, it is simply referenced as "information from the family."

Reproduced word for word here:

William (Bill) Wilton Swanwick
Born in 1899, Santa Fe New Mexico

Bill Swanwick's grandfather rode with Quantrell's Raiders in the Civil War, and he grew up listening to his father's stories of the Civil War and the westward expansion of the 1870's. His father died when he was a young boy, and left his mother destitute. She sent he and his younger brother to an orphanage where they worked the orphanage farm in return for their keep.

In 1916 at the age of 17, he packed his meager belongings and rode a horse out to San Diego and joined the US Navy. The following year he was part of the landing party, ashore in China defending American interest. Shortly thereafter, he was unaccounted for when his ship sailed for it's home port. In later years his only comment was, "I shoveled coal on a Chinese freighter to get back to the States." In his time in the Navy, he was taught how to shoot a rifle, a revolver, and sometime later, perhaps in the Navy or soon after, he learned to fly an airplane.

Young Swanwick, with his love of shooting with rifle, pistol, and shotgun, soon became an all round sportsman with a love of the outdoor life. He was a mercenary before the world was aware of such a designation whose kind were then known as Soldiers of Fortune. With these skills and his fluency in Spanish, he moved back and forth across borders easily. Indeed he held Police and Agency credentials, both north and south of the Mexican/US border, and was respected in both countries. Later in the '30's and '40's in Mexico, Central and South America, he set up an International Detective Agency and was very successful, with international clients such as Greyhound and Continental Railways, etc., as well as a large list of private clientele.

As the accompanying photo shows, Swanwick was a Hemingway type in dress and manner, seated upon his mule somewhere in Mexico, with a Winchester in a saddle scabbard and a pistol and a knife about his person. He was an international hunter, shooter, world traveler, and a self-made millionaire -- all these achievements with a 3rd grade education. In later years, he tried out for the Olympic Shooting Team at the golden age of 85. As the Los Angeles Times stated, "The mystery-shrouded Col. William Swanwick may be the oldest to attempt to make the Olympic team, but he didn't finish last." Through the years he supported, trained, traveled, judged, shot and played a significant role, at his own expense, for the US Olympic Team.

He lived till the age of 92, practiced daily at his own shooting range, till the last year of his life. At his death, his sone was following in his steps shooting at a match in California. His love of guns was obvious, with a gun collection of over 700 various individual pieces, both antique and modern. He was known as "The Colonel" to his family and friends, as this was the rank conferred on him by the Federal forces in Mexico.

That's a good looking mule!

Congratulations always wanted a triple lock even that old girl shoots so good��

Simply...WOW!

P.S. Loved the comment about the dog hair ))

Very nice revolver and back story. Do you plan to have that beauty restored to its factory finish? Except the upgraded parts. Seems they are a value adder,

Not planning on restoring it. This one will stay "as is"....that's part of the charm for me.