A neat steel frame pre-39

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Wow, just wow! That one checks all the boxes. If there had been more steel frame First Gen guns (to make them affordable) I would have probably snarfed one up and not had to build my stainless framed Franken-Smith. I saw the jaw dropping prices early on and knew that was not to be. That one definitely deserves a home with a serious collector like yourself. Well done!
Froggie!
PS did this gun or the later guns come with a complete "tool kit"? If yes, which SAT would that one have had?
 
Mr. Froggie, none of my early 39s came with a kit. I have a few later guns with un-opened complete kits. I can not attest they left the factory that way. The ones I have, contain the alum. fluted handle. The packing people never seem to miss putting some kind of kit in with the revolvers.
 
At one point I owned 1132 in LNIB condition. It had the green booklet and a cleaning kit that included the rod, brush and mop but no SAT. AFAIK, there is no way to know for certain what shipped with these guns but there is one data point for you. It shipped to the same destination as Mike's "new" gun.
 
Mike, this is definitely one of the earliest steel frames and a great gun. I'm waiting for you to disclose all the anomalies it has making it unique for a pre-39. Maybe you can get get some answers here about them. Congratulations.
 
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Yes, you are wrong. It was a commercial dealer owned by Gen. Van Orden. If you do a search on this forum you can learn quite a bit about the Van Orden's. We've been visited by his daughter and his grandson.
 
My understanding from reading and conversations from older collectors was that Evaluators was a solely owned business by the General and his wife.
But had a very close working relationship with the power at the factory.
And worked with a lot of law enforcement agencies.
 
Have received copies of invoices to Evaluators dated July 7, 1955 and
July 12, 1955. The July 7th inv. was ordered over a 4th of July weekend.
The typed notation is for " 9MM DA SEMI-AUTOMATIC" qty 15.
The July 12th invoice was ordered by phone on the 12th and sent out the same day. The typed notation is for " 9MM AUTOMATIC DA AIRWEIGHT".
qty. 15. Notice the absence of "AIRWEIGHT" on the July 7th invoice?
I have been told these were the first, two invoices for commercial release of the new 9MM auto. With the proximity of the invoices, it indicates the first 15 guns must have been sold quickly.
 
Hay Bork,
I've got No. 1086 and I'm pretty sure it, too, is an "Evalulators."

It might be on one of the two invoices you have. I'd love to know, of course. However, I've got a ("a," that's funny) Roy Jinks letter on it but I'd have to go to my fire file, dial up the combo - oops, first must find the little piece of paper upon which the combo is written (You know, I've been hankerin' for a tatoo...) Then leaf through a sheaf of Dr. Jinks' letters (I like to pretend I'm better organized, but no ....).

So, for now, I'll let you do the legwork. If you need some images, Just holler.

And I've never me a Pre I didn't like. I'm happy for ya, Man!

Later - DC
 
A bit of the mystery solved with remembered info. Of the 15 pre-39s on
the July 7,1955 invoice, 1051 is the steel frame and 1150 and 1151 are both alloy frames. The two guns were in Richard McMillan's 39 display
in 2018. So, that is 3 of the 15 accounted for, 12 more to find. Mr. MacMillan was handing out some pics and write ups on the 35 mod-39s
in his display. Fortunately a close collector friend of mine picked me up a copy. More later. Mike
 
I have examined 1051 a little more closely since I got it. I removed the upper assembly, the grips and mag. The gun meets all of McMillans criteria for a pre-39, with 3 notable exceptions:
1. the frame is steel, not alloy.
2. there is no S&W trademark stamped on the right side of the frame.
3. there is no "P" stamped on the left trigger guard.
There are no other stamps or markings on the frame other than 1051.
Is this significant? No idea. Or just that someone was in a hurry to get a gun finished to ship out to Evaluators.
 
ship date

DCW said:
Hay Bork,
I've got No. 1086 and I'm pretty sure it, too, is an "Evalulators."

It might be on one of the two invoices you have. I'd love to know, of course. However, I've got a ("a," that's funny) Roy Jinks letter on it but I'd have to go to my fire file, dial up the combo - oops, first must find the little piece of paper upon which the combo is written (You know, I've been hankerin' for a tatoo...) Then leaf through a sheaf of Dr. Jinks' letters (I like to pretend I'm better organized, but no ....).

D.C., According to the SWCA database, s/n 1086 was shipped on 5/1/56 but the destination is not included.
Click to expand...
 
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gmborkovic said:
I have examined 1051 a little more closely since I got it. I removed the upper assembly, the grips and mag. The gun meets all of McMillans criteria for a pre-39, with 3 notable exceptions:
1. the frame is steel, not alloy.
2. there is no S&W trademark stamped on the right side of the frame.
3. there is no "P" stamped on the left trigger guard.
There are no other stamps or markings on the frame other than 1051.
Is this significant? No idea. Or just that someone was in a hurry to get a gun finished to ship out to Evaluators.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it's a true S&W frame?
There was a company that was making all steel replacement frames for the 39. With no markings on your frame I'm wondering if that's what you have.
 
The frame specs. out just like my other 39s. There was a machine shop in Calif. in the mid-70s that made 200 stainless steel frames and sold as kits.
They were all bright finish and had custom serial numbers. Back in 1955 the factory had a room of 950 unfinished, un-serial numbered steel frames.
If you get any more info on 39 non-factory frames, let us know. Mike
 
ispcapt said:
Are you sure it's a true S&W frame?
There was a company that was making all steel replacement frames for the 39. With no markings on your frame I'm wondering if that's what you have.
Click to expand...

You might be referring to the Bole Industries Model 39 steel frames made around 1977. About 200 of them were manufactured and they have unique stampings, on the right side are the letters B. I. I. in circles within a triangle and Northridge Ca. below the triangle. On the left side is stamped Model 39-ss with a non S&W serial number. Usually a 4 digit number beginning with a 0XXX. The frames were topped off with a model 39-2 slide. A search on this forum will turn up posts with additional information.
 

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