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In early 1976, Hiram's Gun Shop in El Cajon, California sent a 22 Jet Model 53 to S&W to be engraved for Elvis Presley with a Bicentennial theme. Russ Smith did the engraving and inlays.
If you would like to view the pics as large as possible, click here: Elvis Presley Gun
Enjoy!
For many years, this gun has been part of the Gary Garbrecht collection.
The gun has two cylinders in 22 Jet and 22 L.R. It is cased in a walnut case lined with suede.
The inlays are gold and silver and the flag is enamel.
Both sides of the barrel have silver stars beside the markings:
The front sight insert is Gold.
A Minuteman and Silver Stars:
Both sides of the barrel have silver stars beside the markings:
The Liberty Bell in Gold and Silver:
Hiram's was smart enough to be sure they got some advertising from the gun!
Russ's signature:
Oddly, he also signed it under the grips. My GUESS is that he signed it under the grips first, and was later given permission to do the visible signature.
Both cylinders and the barrel are numbered to get them back together after bluing. Pics are in the album linked above if you want to see them.
There is an unusually large amount of provenance with this gun! Gary and Russ became good friends and visited with each other. They talked a lot by phone and in writing.
Let's start with the serial number:
A letter from Russ stating he did it:
Russ gave Gary a glossy 8 x 10 of himself:
Russ typed up a summary of his career for Gary:
Russ gave Gary the original drawing he made for this project:
Here is a note from Russ to Gary given with the original Job Card for this project. Both sides of the Job Card are shown:
These photos were taken by Russ himself in 1976 and some are dated on the back. Thanks to Mike Kennelly for selling these to me. Mike acquired them directly from Russ while writing his book on engraving.
The large pic at top center has this photo of Russ actually engraving this gun taped to the back:
The backs of the small pics are dated:
This is a GREAT piece of provenance. It is an internal S&W employee Newsletter that mentions and pictures this gun in an article about Factory engraving. Gary had many Zerox copies of it, but his heirs did not locate the original. THANKS to my friend Don Mundell for giving me an original!
The next three pics are from the Newsletter:
This is an original auction catalog for an Oct, 1988 Julia auction that sold this gun. This is Russ Smith's copy of the catalog and is addressed to him. Again, Gary had Zerox copies, but I did not get an original from the family. Thanks again to Mike Kennelly for selling it to me with the pics that Russ took.
The top of the case:
If you would like to view the pics as large as possible, click here: Elvis Presley Gun
Enjoy!
For many years, this gun has been part of the Gary Garbrecht collection.
The gun has two cylinders in 22 Jet and 22 L.R. It is cased in a walnut case lined with suede.
The inlays are gold and silver and the flag is enamel.
Both sides of the barrel have silver stars beside the markings:
The front sight insert is Gold.
A Minuteman and Silver Stars:
Both sides of the barrel have silver stars beside the markings:
The Liberty Bell in Gold and Silver:
Hiram's was smart enough to be sure they got some advertising from the gun!
Russ's signature:
Oddly, he also signed it under the grips. My GUESS is that he signed it under the grips first, and was later given permission to do the visible signature.
Both cylinders and the barrel are numbered to get them back together after bluing. Pics are in the album linked above if you want to see them.
There is an unusually large amount of provenance with this gun! Gary and Russ became good friends and visited with each other. They talked a lot by phone and in writing.
Let's start with the serial number:
A letter from Russ stating he did it:
Russ gave Gary a glossy 8 x 10 of himself:
Russ typed up a summary of his career for Gary:
Russ gave Gary the original drawing he made for this project:
Here is a note from Russ to Gary given with the original Job Card for this project. Both sides of the Job Card are shown:
These photos were taken by Russ himself in 1976 and some are dated on the back. Thanks to Mike Kennelly for selling these to me. Mike acquired them directly from Russ while writing his book on engraving.
The large pic at top center has this photo of Russ actually engraving this gun taped to the back:
The backs of the small pics are dated:
This is a GREAT piece of provenance. It is an internal S&W employee Newsletter that mentions and pictures this gun in an article about Factory engraving. Gary had many Zerox copies of it, but his heirs did not locate the original. THANKS to my friend Don Mundell for giving me an original!
The next three pics are from the Newsletter:
This is an original auction catalog for an Oct, 1988 Julia auction that sold this gun. This is Russ Smith's copy of the catalog and is addressed to him. Again, Gary had Zerox copies, but I did not get an original from the family. Thanks again to Mike Kennelly for selling it to me with the pics that Russ took.
The top of the case:
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