Do you letter your S&W's?

[silicosys4]

Hi everyone.
Today I'm hopefully going recieve another Colt factory letter and I've realized that I've never lettered any of my S&W's, mostly because I've never had a reason to.
I've lettered several of my Colts for various reasons and had some really good letters that have doubled or even tripled what I thought a gun was worth.

In one case a letter revealed a Colt 1903 as having shipped to Wolf & Klar,

Another letter confirms a Colt Army Special as being a small clean up run of Army Specials built on Official Police frames and sold well after official production of the Army Special had ended, and the Army Special had supposedly been discontinued and superseded by the Official Police.

I've lettered a pre 70's Colt Govt to confirm it's a rare factory nickel finish.

I have more S&W's than I do Colts, but I've never lettered any of them because none of them strike me as having any value added by a letter. All original finish so no mysteries there. Colts seem to be more susceptible to forgeries than S&W for some reason.

It seems to me the only reason to letter a S&W is to confirm factory originality for some of the really rare models, because I don't see many vintage S&W's being upcharged because of a noteworthy shipping destination, and special orders and editions are already listed in the S&W guide..various special runs, agency orders, distributor specials, and other special editions are already listed.

Other than that
Why have you lettered your S&W, what did you hope to confirm or discover, and was the cost of the letter worth it?

 

[Frailer]

I don’t bother getting letters for my S&Ws made in the 1970s onward, but I have sent for letters on most of my more vintage examples.

The question of whether or not it is “worth it” is a fair one. For most people, the answer is “probably not.” It is highly unlikely that you’ll learn that battered Model 1905 you picked up at a flea market shipped to Eliot Ness, for example.

That said, if you love the history of these things knowing where and when a gun shipped does have value. If you’re a member of the S&W Collector’s Association and the S&W Foundation the cost is only $75, which is not unreasonable. Furthermore, “lettered” guns seem to command a small premium, so if you decide to sell you might recoup some or all of the expense involved.

 

[mchom]

Yes I do letter many revolvers. Usually older revolvers but occasionally as late into the 80’s. Personally I enjoy guns with an LE connection and often the letter and copies of invoices will confirm.

Also to confirm configuration. Often an uncommon barrel length for a given model that might be suspect.

Sadly I have yet to score a gun shipped to a noted or famous individual but members here have been fortunate in that regard.

As stated above Joining the SWHF and the SWCA gets you the letter at a great price. As well as other benefits.

 

[Hair Trigger]

I have five of my S&W revolvers lettered; a M27-2, a M29-2, a M57 and M58 and the M520 I have came with a letter written the year it was sold new.

 

[bobsguns]

I would love to have all of my Smiths lettered. Sadly, at $100 a pop, that would get expensive real quick.

I wish Smith would offer this on-line for $20 or so. When I become King of Smith & Wesson, I will have that done.

 

[Truckman]

History is priceless so there's never a question of whether it's worth it to me...I'm trying to get all my Smiths lettered while I'm still above ground level...It's a slow process so far, but there are folks ahead of me......Ben

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I've lettered some of my PC guns when I knew they were 1/150 or similar . I did letter one non PC gun , a 4567 . I bought it here nib , it had a LH postcard in the box . When I got the letter it was 1/14 and when I sold it the money reflected it's scarcity .

 

[sodacan]

Over the years I've bought a dozen or so guns that have been lettered by a previous owner, all were post-war, pre-1957 revolvers. The letters were all pretty much a waste of money. Letters certainly do not diminish a gun's value, but I'd need a really good reason to obtain one.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

NO.......I just shoot "em" and enjoy "em".......A piece of paper doesn't matter much to me..........As to value..........Mine are here for the duration...I don't give a rat's patoot about their value to anyone but me.........

 

[Rpg]

I have Parkers lettered regularly but have never owned a Smith I was willing to increase my cost for by $100.

The vast majority of Smiths are worth am less than $1,000. Increasing their cost by over 10% by getting a lette, on the off chance of finding something mildly interesting about their history, doesn’t seem like a good return for me.

I too am more likely to get a letter on a Colt than a Smith. Probably because Colts seem to be more interesting and exotic than Smiths to me. Part of that is attributed to the fact that such a large proportion of Smiths are M 10’s of one sort or another. Of the several million firearms Smith made, the majority are probably M 10’s, so they are not individually very interesting.

Interestingly, given Smith’s more recent concentration on Tupperware guns, anything Smith made of metal is likely to draw more interest.

 

[Doug M.]

I have no interest in owning a firearm that is worth lettering. Almost all of my guns are tools; Load, test, carry.

 

[TheTinMan]

One reasonable criterion is value of a revolver. I probably wouldn’t letter anything worth less than $2,000 unless there were a specific feature I want to confirm like barrel length or finish. For example, I have three Model 66s with 3” barrels. Are they worth getting a letter? Probably not despite the barrel length.

Another criterion is age. Those Model 66s are from the late 1980s and early 1990s. On the other hand, anything pre-1960 might well warrant a letter.

I recently purchased a Model 29-1 that shipped 9/11/62 according to the factory letter. Yes, I was willing to bid a bit higher because of that letter, especially since it has an 8-3/8” barrel.

I also recently acquired a Colt Officers Model Match 38 where the letter confirms that it came from the factory with single action only. In that case the letter was essential to me despite the gun shipping after 1960 and costing less than $2,000.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I have lettered two of them, looking for likely police connections. I scored on one of the two.

 

[Valmet]

I have letters for a few of mine- the ones that are particularly special to me (some that I’ve inherited from family or close friends mostly). I’ve always wanted to know where they actually started out when they left Springfield, Mass.

 

[alwslate]

I'm an accumulator-shooter, not a collector. I have a fair number of S&Ws and a few Colts. Never lettered any of them and at $100 a letter I never will.

 

[gwpercle]

If the letter's would cost say ...$10 ... I would / could ...
but at $100 ... I don't have any S&W's that have any historical value worth looking into .
Gary

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

The only one I've lettered is a 29-3 that shows it's a Lew Horton Special...with a confirmation letter from Lew Horton.

 

[sigp220.45]

I’ve lettered three and found interesting stuff on all of them.

A four inch .38 S&W Victory Model that shipped to South Africa.

A four inch .38 Special Victory Model that shipped to the Tennessee Valley Authority.

A 4 inch Model 10 round butt (US marked) that shipped to the Army in 1967.

The only Colt I ever lettered was a 1902 New Service that shipped to Simmons Hardware in St Louis with a gazillion other Colts.

 

[bananaman]

I never had a S&W worth getting a letter. {nothing special or rare} Besides, I am cheap! Bob

 

[hdfinder47]

Lettered a 3" Python due to it being somewhat rare. Don't know if it was worth it b/c I don't plan on selling it. Besides, letters are easily forgeable and a buyer would probably want to get his/her own letter.
I did look into lettering a 5" K22 from 1947 (my "birthday gun") but there was no record of it ever being shipped. No evidence of a re barrel so assume it "walked" out of the factory with an unauthorized barrel length.
Again, it doesn't matter since I'll never sell it.
Ed