One of the guns that I had the most difficulty in finding for my collection of NYPD guns was a Smith & Wesson Terrier with the appropriate provenance.
While I am confident that several thousand Terriers went to the Department, I can only find records for about 1,700.
Once Chiefs Specials came out, the days of the Terrier were limited. Some cops still bought them for the small size, but most guys wanted something in .38 Special and Terrier sales started declining as Chiefs Special sales started increasing. In 1967, when the Department mandated .38 Special as the caliber for all on- AND off-duty guns with no provisioning for grandfathering, the Terrier was finished with the Department.
It took me a few years but eventually I tracked down a Terrier that I could document and that particular niche in my collection was filled. As most collectors will tell you, once you find that elusive gun that you have spent years looking for, a half-dozen will suddenly come out of the woodwork.
A great example of this was when I walked into the Glendale S&W Symposium last year and there were –TWO—Terriers on a table, side by side, and they were both NYPD. When it rains, it pours!
Recently I was cruising the online auction sites and was searching for NYPD guns that might be undervalued and candidates for my collection. I don’t really need more than one of each model, but if the price is right, I’m not adverse to bringing another gun in. Also, it’s always possible that the gun that turns up might have something special in its background.
I saw this Smith & Wesson Terrier #54915 for sale. It lettered in my records so I threw a bid at it and wound up with the gun. So what did I get?
It was not a bad looking gun. The blueing looked good but a little ‘soft’, especially under the bright lights. Also, the barrel stamping on the right side seemed vestigial at best.
A quick look under the barrel revealed this:
A factory refinish mark.
Since the factory would usually stamp a re-work date under the grips, I popped them off and had a look:
On the frame near the toe was a stamp indicating a factory job ca. December 1957.
Since the grips were already off the gun, I figured I’d have a look at them:
The grips looked pretty good, but I was a little disappointed that the serial number was not stamped on them.
After having a chance to look the gun over, I started the research.
First off, although I am still awaiting a factory letter, tis invoice did turn up showing a shipment from S&W to the NYPD Equipment Bureau at 400 Broome Street (across from HQ). The gun was part of a 20-gun shipment that seems to have shipped on or about 03FEB1950.
The gun does not appear to have sat around on the shelf to long once it landed at the Equipment Bureau. Sales Book 48-50 p. 160 records the sale of S&W Terrier #54915 on 13MAR50 to Patrolman Cyril T. JORDAN, shield #19224.
An image of Det. Jordan was found in the 26SEP66 issue of Newsday (Suffolk Edition) showing him testifying at a Senate subcommittee on rackets and unions.
I did some digging around and after a bit of searching was able to establish contact with the officers son. He was rather helpful and suggested I contact the sister, who was more knowledgeable about family matters and also had all of their Dad’s things, including some more of his guns.
I did some more digging and called the sister. She was a delight to speak to and marvelously helpful.
Her Dad, Cyril T. Jordan was born in England and emigrated to the United States as a small child. During the Second World War he served in the Marine Corps. (oo-rah!) as, according to the sister, “… a China Marine…”. He joined NYPD in 1949 and made Detective 3rd grade around 1955, picked up Detective 2nd grade in the early 1960’s and retired as a Detective 1st Grade in 1969. After that he started working for the State of New Jersey as an investigator until around 1976. Most of his time in NY and NJ was spent investigating rackets, unions and the mob.
He is mentioned briefly in Michael Brown’s book ‘Marked To Die’ (ISBN 0-671-45090-5).
The sister mentioned that she still had some of her Dad’s guns and was kind enough to pull them out and describe them to me over the phone. I was hoping she had his on-duty gun (M&P C84218) but she did not. There was a short barrel Model 19 and a 2 inch M&P and some automatics. There was also a box for another S&W that she did not have but that contained a pair of wooden grips, one of which was numbered…..54915! Found my grips!
She also mentioned tha she had boxes of her Dad’s old paperwork, such as surveillance reports, notes and files dating back to mob investigations in the 1950’s and 1960’s. She stated she was at a loss of what to do with such things as she and her brother no longer wanted them. At the right time, I may offer to help her with this problem.
So, I managed to get myself another NYPD S&W Terrier.
Best,
RM Vivas
NYPD Terrier #54915
...Ben
Linear Mode
