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06-13-2008, 01:28 PM
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I know this is the wrong thread, as the gun is about 1952. BUT - this is one
of Congressman King's gun. He was a 17-term CA Congressman, and died in about
1971 or so. Among his many accomplishments is the co-author of the
Anderson King bill, which, when signed into law in the early 1960's, is better
known an Medicare. Photos courtesy of Bill Cross .
The gadget on the end of the barrel is a choke. If you look closely at the picture
of the grips, you will see the birds-eye maple under that awful coloring someone added.
This last picture is the signing-into-law of Medicare. Congressman King is seen looking
on, rather approving. He is to the left of the signing table. Lots of other luminaries
present, that day !
Regards, Mike Priwer
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06-13-2008, 01:28 PM
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I know this is the wrong thread, as the gun is about 1952. BUT - this is one
of Congressman King's gun. He was a 17-term CA Congressman, and died in about
1971 or so. Among his many accomplishments is the co-author of the
Anderson King bill, which, when signed into law in the early 1960's, is better
known an Medicare. Photos courtesy of Bill Cross .
The gadget on the end of the barrel is a choke. If you look closely at the picture
of the grips, you will see the birds-eye maple under that awful coloring someone added.
This last picture is the signing-into-law of Medicare. Congressman King is seen looking
on, rather approving. He is to the left of the signing table. Lots of other luminaries
present, that day !
Regards, Mike Priwer
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06-13-2008, 01:38 PM
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Mike,
Thanks for posting such a beautiful and unusual gun.
IMHO, that gun belongs in this section, too.
I wonder if the combination of smoothbore and barrel-length present(ed) any legal problems for anyone other than a Federal legislator?
Don
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06-13-2008, 02:01 PM
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Definitely qualifies as an Any Other Weapon (AOW), but that's just a $5 tax stamp, not the $200 that a full-auto weapon requires.
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06-13-2008, 02:02 PM
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Mike,
Do you have any idea what the Congressman needed/used that gun for? It ought to make a pretty good snake gun...but it doesn't look like it spent much time in a tackle box. On the other hand, maybe that's how all the bluing wore off the barrel and cylinder
All kidding aside, that's about as distinctive a gun as I've seen in a long time.
Bob
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06-13-2008, 02:03 PM
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Mike:
Will they not let you in the post war section?
Ed
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06-13-2008, 02:09 PM
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Mike...Your 44 Military is a great gun and certainly one of the most unusual S&W firearms I have ever seen.
DHenry...The BATF&E recently classified this handgun as a "curio and relic".
Bill
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06-13-2008, 02:17 PM
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I call myself a post-1950 5 screw N frame collector, and this is by far my favorite. Thank you for sharing, and thank Bill for the wonderful (as usual) photographs. I'm in awe.
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06-13-2008, 04:43 PM
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WTH is up with this board? I've been message boarding for quite some time now, cars and machine guns mostly and thought I was pretty skilled in the photoing department.... But I have never seen the type of fantastic photography as what is presented here. I'm almost ashamed to post pics in the same thread with others here.
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06-13-2008, 04:46 PM
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Mike that is awesome! And interesting too.
I'm glad you did post it here, if it was in the post war section there would be several suggestions to have it cut for moon clips and the barrel shortened by now.
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06-13-2008, 05:38 PM
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I'm a little confused. Why a smooth bore?, and what's up with the choke. The purpose of this gun?
DW
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06-13-2008, 05:58 PM
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Too Cool!!!!!!!!!!
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06-13-2008, 06:35 PM
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DW, and others
Generally, the Cecil King guns were presentation guns. As such, they tend to be
unique. 0450, for example, is a 1st model K22, presented to him in July of 1947. The
grips are post-WW2, but the gun is defintely pre-WW2. It was given to him in return
for his help in arranging for the second V1 to be presented to President Truman about
a week later. Right around this same time, a couple of registered magnums were
made up for President Truman and his military aide Col. Vaughn. o450 and V1 were
presented about a week before President Truman reorganized the military, establishing
the Department of Defense, and naming Adm Forrestal (sic?) as the first Secretary of
Defense. Pesonally, I think that these four guns were all a marketing effort by the
factory.
I don't know the background as to this smoothbore. Cecil King was a well-known
sportsman, and also , at some point, a member of the board of the NRA. He represented
the Southern California district, and King Boat Harbor in Redondo Beach was named for him.
He was an influential congressman.
What you see in the pictures is what the factory made; a two-tone 44 military with
red post front sight, special maple stocks, and a target hammer. In that configuration,
about the only thing it could be for would be shot shells. Here we are , 50-odd years
later, wondering how it got ordered, and why !
Regards, Mike Priwer
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06-13-2008, 06:47 PM
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Mike, that is beautiful! I've never seen a choke for a revolver before -- extremely cool!
Say, are you now collecting Cecil King guns?
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06-13-2008, 06:53 PM
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May well be the most unique revolver I have ever seen.
Would be great for rabbits in thick pines.
Man, that was the day, when you could put in an order for a custom gun from S&W.
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06-13-2008, 07:00 PM
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Hey Mike, are the chambers bored straight through or stepped like a regular cylinder?
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06-14-2008, 06:27 AM
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J
I don't have access to the gun right now. I'll let you know later this coming week.
Later, Mike Priwer
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06-14-2008, 06:50 AM
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Mike, fantastic gun! Is it possible the grips are Amboyna or Desert Ironwood Burl? On a gun that unusual perhaps they used an exotic wood and either could look like that naturally.
Bob
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06-14-2008, 07:01 AM
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J
The cylinder is bored straight through. There is no shoulder.
Bob
The gun was shipped with birds-eye maple target stocks. I beleive those stocks
currently on the gun are the original stocks. If you look closely in the vicinity
of the medallion, you will see a bit of that darker finish on the medallion. I
will get it cleaned off - one way or another.
Later, Mike Priwer
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06-14-2008, 09:33 AM
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Mike, that's a shame about the stocks.
Bob
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06-15-2008, 05:23 AM
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FABULOUS gun, Mike.
I really wish we knew what he had in mind for it.
On the stocks- that finish looks an awful lot like shellac. If so, it is super-easy to remove with denatured alcohol. If you don't have any denatured alcohol, you can test it with a Q-tip dipped in whiskey or vodka before you run out to buy some.
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Lee Jarrett
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06-15-2008, 06:29 AM
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That is one amazing gun. What about that front sight? I'm sure it came from the factory like that, but...I wonder how it was regulated and for what kind of shotshell. I don't recall seeing too many shotshells for handguns of any type or manufacture in the early sixties.
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06-15-2008, 07:11 AM
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Unbelieveable gun!
Swissman
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06-15-2008, 07:40 AM
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Mike:
COOOOOOOL! Also not sure what it would be used for, but in the "looks", "interesting" and "what the heck" departments, that revolver would have to be at the top of the list.
Bill:
Stunning photos as usual.
Thanks for sharing,
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06-15-2008, 07:44 AM
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Mike,
I may have missed part of this story, but is the shot-conversion factory, or was it perhaps done by Jim Harvey in Connecticut? He had a "Super .44/.30-40" that used cylinder length Krag cases in a reamed through cylinder.
Very interesting piece-Thanks for sharing!
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06-15-2008, 09:07 AM
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With the exception of the dark coloring on the stocks, the gun is factory
original. What you see is exactly how it was made up, and shipped.
Lee - thanks for the suggestion. Its easy enough to test that ! I was
thinking about paint thinner . DW suggested acetone, but for romantic reasons,
I like the idea of a drop or two of whiskey !
Regards, Mike Priwer
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06-15-2008, 09:35 AM
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Mike, I agree! You should have a drop or two of good whiskey before you soak those grips in acetone.
What an interesting gun.
Thanks, Jerry
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06-15-2008, 01:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by handejector:
FABULOUS gun, Mike.
I really wish we knew what he had in mind for it.
On the stocks- that finish looks an awful lot like shellac. If so, it is super-easy to remove with denatured alcohol. If you don't have any denatured alcohol, you can test it with a Q-tip dipped in whiskey or vodka before you run out to buy some.
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Lee, do you have any suggestions for the particular brand of whiskey or vodka that Mike should buy?
(I've actually found some bourbons that I would expect to have their taste improved with the addition of shellac)
Bob
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06-15-2008, 03:59 PM
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Quote:
Lee, do you have any suggestions for the particular brand of whiskey or vodka that Mike should buy?
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If Mike's buyin', I hate to be choosy! But George Dickel 12 yr old is smooooottthhhhh....
The reason I said try whiskey as a test is because not everyone keeps denatured alcohol around. It is my understanding that it is ethyl alcohol, which is what we drink, "DE"natured by adding methanol. This makes it poisonous, and does away with the necessity of paying federal alcohol taxes, making it available as a cheap solvent. I am certainly no chemist, though.
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06-15-2008, 11:01 PM
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Quote:
He had a "Super .44/.30-40" that used cylinder length Krag cases in a reamed through cylinder.
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That's what I was thinking. I experimented with full cylinder length shot shells for my .41 mags made from .303 Savage brass. I thought about having one bored straight through but decided to just buy a shotgun instead.
Looking at the Handloaders Manual of Cartridge Conversions both .30-40 Krag and .405 Winchester brass could be used to make shells fo the .44.
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06-16-2008, 02:47 AM
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Holy smokes, Mike. What a great gun. Thanks.
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10-11-2013, 02:31 PM
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the choke is identical
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10-11-2013, 08:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DWFAN
I'm a little confused. Why a smooth bore?, and what's up with the choke. The purpose of this gun?
DW
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Every now and then a quail will land in a tree and not come down. Not very sporting, but if the purpose of the hunt is meat on the table, take the quail with the hand gun. I've done that more than once with a 29-2 loaded with bird shot. Maybe Congressman King was a quail hunter. That is a very distinctive gun.
How many chokes come with the gun?
Last edited by Retired W4; 10-11-2013 at 08:35 PM.
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10-11-2013, 09:58 PM
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First of all, what a beautiful and unique specimen.
Another hypothesis: The 50s saw some interesting recreational uses of firearms, such as the indoor "mini-skeet" phenomenon with smooth bore .22 rifles and shot shells, as well as aerial shooting and quick draw. My guess is the congressman wanted this for aerial targets or hand-thrown clays. A cylinder-length Krag case with over-shot wad would hold enough shot to make it interesting, especially with a choke.
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10-12-2013, 01:07 PM
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Isn't there a federal prohibition on smooth bore handguns? (GCA68?)
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10-12-2013, 11:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by H Richard
Isn't there a federal prohibition on smooth bore handguns? (GCA68?)
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Generally, yes. The congrssman's revolver was classified as a C&R gun by the BATF.
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09-15-2014, 11:51 PM
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I've been poking around looking for other things and I noticed a picture of this gun on google.
I have to say. Wow. Just. Wow. I've never been insanely desirous of a pinto before now, but that gun. What a serious peach that is.
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09-16-2014, 09:20 PM
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This is how the stocks look after I cleaned off that dark coating.
Regards, Mike Priwer
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09-16-2014, 10:18 PM
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Ready for some quick draw trap shooting?
What a unique beauty...thanks for sharing.
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09-16-2014, 10:44 PM
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Thanks for sharing this Mike. It is an outstanding example of the width and breadth of this hobby, or should I say passion...
Dave
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09-16-2014, 10:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikepriwer
This is how the stocks look after I cleaned off that dark coating.
Regards, Mike Priwer
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Mike--could you show the WHOLE gun again with the stocks fixed per above? I would like to see the beauty of the compete package and bet others would too.
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09-16-2014, 11:30 PM
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After WW@ a lot of guys took 38 & 44 handguns & had a gunsmith work 'em over to make snake shot guns. Bored out the cylinders & took the rifling out of the barrels. Some put a choke in the muzzle, others were left cylinder bore. A barber friend of mine in the Sierra Foothills went out every spring & shot a gunny sack full of rattlers for their hides. he knew where the dens were & waited with a few boxes of #9 shake shot shells he reloaded. Most of the guys in town had rattler hat bands & belts.I think Joe had a 44 S&W with 30-40 cases trimmed down. Anyway, it's been years ago, Joe is gone & my memory fades.
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09-17-2014, 01:26 AM
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.303 Brit. brass will make shotshells for that beauty as well as .30-40, without the necessity of trimming the rims.
Larry
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09-17-2014, 04:51 AM
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Glad this was brought back up. I missed it the first time. Very interesting gun!!
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09-17-2014, 10:27 AM
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A considerable improvement on those grips.
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