.22/32 HFT Third Degree of Bekeart question

[mrcvs]

From this thread, Post No 6:

Bekeart 22-32

“3rd class of Bekearts is the remainder with grip number order of assembly from #1045 to #3000, shipped to Bekeart or not, after which grip #s were discontinued, but there is no official factory 'list' of serial numbers for this class, albeit there are accumulated partial lists from lettered guns; the grip number and with grip serial number matching the gun, being sufficient to identify them along with a factory letter.‘

Question: What’s the highest serial number that has a numbered stock? It’s not necessarily such that the highest numbered stock is also the revolver with the highest serial number.

Conversely, what’s the lowest serial numbered revolver without a numbered stock? Is it possible or probable that there are lower serial numbered revolvers without numbered stocks and higher serial numbered revolvers with numbered stocks, these being higher than some lower serial numbered revolvers without numbered stocks?

 

[JSR III]

OK, well first a few corrections based on observations from my .22/32 database. The information about the first 1050 was transcribed by me directly from the factory records in Dr. Roy Jinks home office a bunch of years ago. So it is 1050 and not 1044.

The first run of the .22/32 HFT's was for 1050, with serial numbers 138226 through 139275. Assuming that a second run was also for 1050 that brings us to 2100 produced with stock imprint numbers. In this group the lowest number to show up so far is 1094 and the highest is 2071. That would support my theory of the second run being stock numbered between 1051 to 2100.

Lastly we have the 490 consecutively serial numbered guns that went to M.W. Robinson in 5 shipments on Jan 31, Feb 18,21,27 and March 19, 1914. That would make a total of 2590 shipped with stock numbers. Again the lowest number recorded in this group so far is 2117 and the highest is 2582. And my theory is that these should number from 2101 to 2590 and that would agree with recorded numbers so far.

In my database of over 2000 examples, I have never recorded a .22/32 HFT with a stock imprint number higher than 2582 which appears on gun 208260 that shipped to M.W. Robinson in the 3/19/1914 shipment. This would coincide with my theory that the total shipped with a stock number was 2590.

After the Robinson 490 gun shipments I do not record any other guns with a left stock bottom imprint number.

The next guns to show up in my database were shipped in late 1914 and early 1915 and I never record another stock imprint number except a couple of fliers wearing stocks from an earlier gun.

This would also coincide with the fact that this gun was cataloged by S&W in 1915. My feeling is that once the gun became a cataloged item the left stock bottom imprint number was eliminated.

As an interesting side note based on my new interest in S&W Model ones, I have learned that M.W. Robinson died in 1892 and J.W. Storrs passed in 1912 who Robinson took over S&W's business from. So who was at Robinson in 1914 that ordered and received the 490 guns in early 1914.

So the investigation continues............