4th Model SS, Straight Line

[Retired W4]

I finally snagged a Straight Line Single Shot. This one, in the mid-13xx range is no museum piece like the last one I bid on, but this did not cost 5 G's either. It came with the metal box but it is in pretty bad shape. The box restoration will be an upcoming project. Also shown is the 1st Model and 3rd Model Perfected.

If I ever get a 2nd Model and a "transitional" model I'll have a complete set.

 

[leonardocarrillo]

A few years ago I got a straight lines without a box or accessories, it shows that its previous owner fired it frequently, even on the handles it has a section to improve its grip, the problem I have is that it is missing the firing pin and in Argentina I don't have no possibility of getting the original replacement, for that reason I am thinking of taking it to a gunsmith to make a new firing pin.
How much this can affect its value as a collector's weapon.
I would greatly appreciate your opinions.

 

[rct269]

Well, not to sound like I'm bragging, but I ended up with a complete set---sort of---didn't have a transitional---never even saw one to be had. That aside, I was a certified single shot nut, and when I got close to having one of each, it became a life's mission---and I'd almost made it---all except for an 8" 3rd Model. I'd never even seen an 8" 3rd, and figured my chances of getting one were slim to none---and Slim left town last week!! (There are 3-4 8" 3rds on the Club Gun List, and I'd about decided that's all there were anywhere!!----not so!!)

Then, out of a clear blue sky, this forum member, an avid big game hunter who lived in Arizona, and who every year made the trek northward to where those GREAT BIG deer critters called Elk and Moose are to be had, stopped at a little gun shop in Utah----and because there's a God in heaven, there was an 8" 3rd Model---a very spiffy one---and he snapped it up---and called me when he got back home.

Here's what an honest to God complete set of single shots looks like-----without a transitional: 6/8/10" 1st Models--6/8/10" 2nd Models--6/8/10" 3rd Models--an early and late Olympic Model--an early and late Straight Line.

Getting that early Olympic Model was another favor from above. I used to carry around a .22 Long Rifle cartridge to try in any 10" 3rd Model I came across---in search of Olympic models----and I didn't even know there were early versions. So here's a 3rd Model, and I try the cartridge, and it sticks out too far!!! My knee-jerk (and totally off the wall) reaction was it was chambered for a .22 Short---never mind it didn't stick out anywhere near THAT far!------and never mind it said .22 Long Rifle on the barrel!! I called Jinks to see if they ever made a 3rd Model in .22 Short. He gave me his stock, standard response to dumb questions like that---"They would do anything anybody would pay them to do." I went home without that gun.

I went back to the same show (Louisville) the next time around, and that pistol was there again---still! I figured the good Lord was looking out for me, and bought the gun. I called Jinks again, and asked a better question this time----and got a better answer. There are two different versions of the Olympic models---early and late. The early ones had an even shorter chamber, and were the topic of a significant number of complaints about the difficulty to seat the round. So S&W lengthened the chambers----by a whole .025" (+/-). (This happened somewhere between #'s 10617 and 11112 (my early and late examples), and that was as close as I ever got.) As an aside, I tested both guns for accuracy, and they produced identical results---which perhaps needless to say, were VASTLY superior to the standard 10" version.

And that's the tale of a complete set of single shots from a total lunatic fringe collector who kept on keeping on---no matter what!!

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Retired W4]

A few years ago I got a straight lines without a box or accessories, it shows that its previous owner fired it frequently, even on the handles it has a section to improve its grip, the problem I have is that it is missing the firing pin and in Argentina I don't have no possibility of getting the original replacement, for that reason I am thinking of taking it to a gunsmith to make a new firing pin.
How much this can affect its value as a collector's weapon.
I would greatly appreciate your opinions.

Here as a close up of the firing pin for your gunsmith. It's not the typical S&W firing pin.

 

[rct269]

Well my Straight Lines are long gone, but the picture tells me the firing pin is fit and pinned into the hammer. That being the case, it should be child's play to make a new one. It stands to reason that portion of the pin inside the hammer is cylindrical, and the retaining pin either goes through it, or through a notch on the top or bottom. That mystery should be easily solved by sittin' and starin'. The finished length of that portion of the pin outside of the hammer is a matter of cut and try---following a wild guess at the outset.

As to its impact on value------zip-zero-nada!

Ralph Tremaine

As an aside, there is both the patent drawing and an X-Ray photo of the SL in N&J which may be of some value. They were most certainly of value to me when I bravely, but perhaps foolishly decided to take my first one apart for its welcome bath. That said, it actually worked when I got it back together---SURPRISE-SURPRISE-SURPRISE!!!

As to the finished length of the pin outside of the hammer, the patent drawing shows the comparative lengths of the portions inside and outside of the hammer (the interior length likely being the depth of the hole) An easier path to the outside length is to ask a forum member with a SL to measure it.

 

[leonardocarrillo]

Thanks for the information, it's not in my nature to have a gun that can't shoot.
But since this is a model of which not many copies were manufactured (perhaps 1800) I had doubts about incorporating a non-original spare part.

 

[rct269]

Thanks for the information, it's not in my nature to have a gun that can't shoot.
But since this is a model of which not many copies were manufactured (perhaps 1800) I had doubts about incorporating a non-original spare part.

Well there are significant spare parts---and insignificant spare parts.

In this case, "Don't sweat the small stuff!"

I count myself as one of THE nit-pickers--as in if it ain't absolutely letter perfect, it's TOTALLY unacceptable! A firing pin is very likely an item I might very well ignore. In this case, on the other hand, you want (REQUIRE!!) a gun you can shoot. Me----I want them to be squeaky clean, and once I get them that way, I'm not about to mess them up by shooting them----unless there's something I want to learn---even when it means I'm going to negate all that soaking and scrubbing at the outset---I can do that over again.

Ralph Tremaine