Do you letter your S&W's?

[boykinlp]

I have lettered a few S&W's, and no Colts. IIRC, Colt charges different prices for their letters. If you are fortunate enough to have a Colt that was shipped to a famous individual, they charge much more for the letter, which I think stinks. S&W at least charges the same amount for all their letters no matter what the information shows.
Larry

 

[gmiller0737]

The only Letter I have is a Lew Horton Letter on My Shorty 45 MK2 & Have Several Colts as well but No letters to Me it's not worth the $ It would be interesting to see though

 

[RON K.]

i sent for letters on a 1921 Colt Thompson{because i collected them for decades} and one 1919 Colt commercial B.A.R.
and my St Valentines day Massacre gun.
AND ONE recently 1950 model 45acp{ same one like i bought in the Marines}

that was it. out of thousands of guns, personally i have had some historic guns. with paper.it was always a search. And it just mattered to me in the long run.nothing more nothing less.RON K.
enjoy 2025

 

[Golddollar]

Hi everyone.

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

I had a Smith & Wesson lettered for exactly the opposite reason. I acquired a Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman that had a nickel finish. I happen to like shiny guns and I figured it would be good as a shooter. In the course of my reading I came across a reference to a small batch of factory nickel Model 28s that were delivered to the Florida Highway Patrol. I knew from the price I paid there was no way that I had one of the Florida Highway Patrol guns. But because I never want to have a breath of scandal attached to me, I lettered this gun and the letter stated that it left the factory with a blue finish. I guess from working with real estate for 38 years I put a lock of stock in having documentary evidence. So for whatever this piece of paper cost, it's valuable to me (or more likely my estate) to prove I have no intention of trying to pass my gun off as one of the ones that went to the Florida Highway Patrol.

 

[sceva]

Most S&W letters are just Shipped on this day to this place / person and a description of how shipped. As a member of the SWCA I can ask Roy Jinks and get a shipped date. The nice thing is that if there is something special about the gun as in who shipped to etc he will give a clue as in " Intere4sting and deserves a letter" When that happens you definitely want a letter.

 

[Bill Bates]

I've only letter three guns a Parker, a Fox and one Smith & Wesson. I letter the Parker just because and it told me what I already knew. It was just like every other Parker of the same grade.

I letter my 20 Gauge A Grade Fox to answer a nagging question about the recoil pad that wasn't the brand or the norm for Fox shotguns. That letter was a home run. The gun is just at it came out of the Fox factory.

The Smith & Wesson I letter was sort of a home run. It letter as a Commercial 1917 that likey was sent back to the factory and converted into a .45 Colt with a 6 1/2" barrel.

I do have two more I need to letter. One is a pre Model 45 .22 and the other is my 5" barreled pre Model 29.

It would be fun to see where the Model 45 went. I know the pre 29 went back to the factory in 1963. I'm guessing the barrel was shortened, the ejector updated to left handed threads and the trigger might have been replaced with a slightly narrower smooth faced trigger. Yup, this .44 is not in original condition but I'm kind of curious if there is any info who had it modified if the records exists. I do love what was done and the 5 inch barrel should have been offered as a regular barrel length.

 

[jeffrefrig]

I've only lettered two S&Ws. One was my dad's K22 Masterpiece (Aug 1950) and an M&P 38 (Aug 1949). I might letter the Model 58 next. It was born in 1973; looks like it was born and well-preserved maybe 2 years ago. The display case needs re-lined and having the correct tools with it would be a plus for me but shouldn't be too hard to find, nor necessary to me. I bought a nice M15-3 from a deceased member here from Texas that I may letter. It's a very nice 15 and the blueing is excellent. That one and the 58 both were born in '73; they must've had a good blueing process back then. Also, a model 36 no dash could be interesting for a Chief Special, but we'll see after Christmas is over.