Rex Firearms Co. ?

gjamison

gjamison

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Has anyone have any information on rex firearms co. i have a couple of gun's that letter to this company. any info would be great...
 
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I am not sure when Rex Firearms in NYC started, but in the 1950s, they were the firm recommended by S&W if you wanted an engraved, two-tone, or otherwise special S&W. According to a person who lives in NYC and visited Rex in the 60s, their showcases were full of beautifully engraved and finished S&Ws. In 1957, a person in LA wrote S&W about acquiring an engraved and gold inlaid 44 Magnum, and was told to order it through Rex (See gun in Expert Commentary...it is the one with the gold polar bear on the side plate). Rex also contracted with Alvin White to produce some of the best engraved and inlaid S&Ws in existence.

You can see Rex's advertisements in the American Rifleman in 1955 and 1956.

I believe Rex remained in business until the early 70s. I have a Class C-engraved Model 19-3 that was shipped to them in 1971. I also have a .357 Magnum with a two-tone finish that was shipped to them in 1952.

Rex Firearms and H. H. Harris in Chicago (Evaluators in Quantico, VA is a third) were two of the largest and most well known S&W distributors in history.

Bill
 
Here you go

Format8072.jpg


Keith
 
thanks guys. i have a pre model 24 that was shipped there, it was in a order of 10 revolver's all shipped with the same configuration. i will post pic's on another thread.
 
Keith...do you know the month and year of the ad? I would like to add it to my collection. I notice the .357 has a Blanchard front sight that pre-dates S&W's red ramp.

Bill
 
I started as a gunsmith in New York City in 1948.
My little shop was located in a building on Broadway and Houston St.
In the early 1950's I was contacted by a new company located at 743 Fifth Avenue.
They wanted a gunsmith, so I took them as a part time enterprise.
My own telephone was set up in their office as an outside extensionfrom my shop and were great friends with the owners.
The rent on Fifth avenue was exhorbitant to say the least, and the firm relocated to an office at 137 East 57th St.
We sold many hundreds of regular Smith & Wesson revolvers and the early [ pre-39] 9Mm pistols, the .22 autos and .38 Spl pistols. ( Still have and quite often carry my 9Mm serial 13XX).
Our showrooms had on display not only the engraved and inlaid guns, but the plain ones as well.
We used to 'Simoniz" the bright blue guns so that they looked like jewelry.
One of the Rex specialties was delivery to the airport and embassies for foreign customers. ( Who often paid well over the 'American' prices for the merchandise).
When the original owner passed away suddenly, the attorneys came in and started to operate the business.
I could not tolerate their manner of operation and ceased my connection with Rex in 1956.
I left and moved my own shop to Broome Street, next door to the [then] New York City Police Department Equipment Bureau.
My shop was there until my retirement from New York in 1992.
Rex was sold to a new group, who as nice as they were, did not know the gun business, had no gunsmith, and eventually ceased operations.
Many of the guns sold by Rex had action work that was done by me.
 
Tired Gunsmith said:
I started as a gunsmith in New York City in 1948.
My little shop was located in a building on Broadway and Houston St.
In the early 1950's I was contacted by a new company located at 743 Fifth Avenue.
They wanted a gunsmith, so I took them as a part time enterprise.
My own telephone was set up in their office as an outside extensionfrom my shop and were great friends with the owners.
The rent on Fifth avenue was exhorbitant to say the least, and the firm relocated to an office at 137 East 57th St.
We sold many hundreds of regular Smith & Wesson revolvers and the early [ pre-39] 9Mm pistols, the .22 autos and .38 Spl pistols. ( Still have and quite often carry my 9Mm serial 13XX).
Our showrooms had on display not only the engraved and inlaid guns, but the plain ones as well.
We used to 'Simoniz" the bright blue guns so that they looked like jewelry.
One of the Rex specialties was delivery to the airport and embassies for foreign customers. ( Who often paid well over the 'American' prices for the merchandise).
When the original owner passed away suddenly, the attorneys came in and started to operate the business.
I could not tolerate their manner of operation and ceased my connection with Rex in 1956.
I left and moved my own shop to Broome Street, next door to the [then] New York City Police Department Equipment Bureau.
My shop was there until my retirement from New York in 1992.
Rex was sold to a new group, who as nice as they were, did not know the gun business, had no gunsmith, and eventually ceased operations.
Many of the guns sold by Rex had action work that was done by me.
Click to expand...

That is very cool!!
 
Tired GS,

Ive got a great (98%) 4" Model 1950 Military (pre-M21, .44 HE Fourth Mod. Military) that shipped to Rex on March 14, 1955. It has a glass like action and if you had a hand in it, I certainly appreciate your work. A belated "Thank You!"

Bob
 
Bill, I had to go hunting for the magazine tonight and finally found it, the ad is in Guns magazine July of 58. I noticed the sight insert also and actually knew what it was, thanks to the forum! I also came across this one from Guns January 58.
gunsjan58.jpg
.

I'll post a couple more in a new thread that you might find interesting.

Keith
 
bettis1 said:
Tired GS,

Ive got a great (98%) 4" Model 1950 Military (pre-M21, .44 HE Fourth Mod. Military) that shipped to Rex on March 14, 1955. It has a glass like action and if you had a hand in it, I certainly appreciate your work. A belated "Thank You!"

Bob
Click to expand...

Bob - I spoke with TGS on the phone a couple months back about a Rex gun. He was very helpful and he mentioned that he had is own trademark stamp on all work he performed. His first name is Robert and he used two different marks. The one is a "R" that is almost 3/16" tall and then he has a mini R that is hard to see with the eye. Look on your frame under the grips....................
 
Keith...thanks. The old ads bring S&W's history alive for me. It is also interesting to note the stocks on the 44 Magnum in ad have the relieved area on the left panel. Unusual for plain stocks back then.

Bill
 
this is all great information. thank you so much. i wish there where a company like this today.
 
Since my pre model 29 44 magnum was shipped to Rex Firearms in NYC, I dug around for some information. It's mentioned as being shipped to them on June 7th, 1956 (S&W factory letter
dated May 23, 2016).

Lo and behold I found this thread from 2009 which for me was very interesting!!

Thanks to Doc44 and Tired Gunsmith for all of the great info!!
 
Last edited:
Glad this thread was brought back up! Kinda hoping Keith Brown will see it and repost his ads that are gone now.

How many here are like me (everybody I am sure), and would love to be able to turn back time, to be able to go into a store like Rex Firearms Company and look at the display cases?

Of course, now that I think about it, I would like to do the same with Heiser, SD Myres, and many others too!:D
 
boykinlp said:
Glad this thread was brought back up! Kinda hoping Keith Brown will see it and repost his ads that are gone now.

How many here are like me (everybody I am sure), and would love to be able to turn back time, to be able to go into a store like Rex Firearms Company and look at the display cases?

Of course, now that I think about it, I would like to do the same with Heiser, SD Myres, and many others too!:D
Click to expand...

both building locations of Rex are still there. at this point in time its hard to imagine a gun store at either location. times sure changed.
 
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