The S&WHF provides two services in support of the collecting of S&W firearms, namely, letters of authenticity authored by Roy Jinks or Don Mundell and documents that add to the provenance of a S&W firearm(see examples below). The search for documents can only be done after a firearm has been lettered as information supplied in the letter is essential to searching the records of S&W for documents. Firearms dating from 1920-1967 can be researched for documents, whereas, all S&W firearms can be lettered. The limitation of 1920-1967 results from the fact the paper records of S&W from only this timeframe were digitized and indexed by the Foundation. No other records were available. Records prior to World War II consist of orders, correspondence, invoices, and miscellaneous documents, but post WW II records only consist of invoices and in some cases, serial number lists. All correspondence was destroyed.
The cost of a letter of authenticity is $100 with discounts allowed for members of the S&W Collectors Association and S&W Historical Foundation. The wait time for a letter depends on the type of firearm being lettered, but can be as short as a few weeks to as long as six months or more.
The cost of a search for documents is $25 and $10 per page for the documents supplied. If a Foundation Letter (see generic example below) accompanies the documents (as is the case for many Registered Magnums), the cost of the letter is $60, but $45 for a member of the Foundation.
There is no charge if no documents are found.
Documents concerning repair and refinish of S&W firearms do exist, but only for a very few firearms. I have found some records for collectors, but most of time I do not find anything.
I hope this answers most of your questions about the services provided by the S&WHF. If not, please post your questions below and I will answer them.
Bill Cross
Chairman, Board of Trustees, S&WHF