Early Bekearts - What is (and isn't) Known

[JSR III]

Ed, thank you for adding to our cummulative education on these very unique little guns. It is always fascinating to me to hear anything that comes from the factory floor.

My understanding of the story was that Bekeart came up with the idea of producing a .22 on a larger .32 frame. Seeing that (IIRC) the .22's of the era were the very small lady smiths, it would seem plausible that a man might be looking for something a little larger to do target work.

Bekeart approached S&W and requested them to make this configuration but with the tooling necessary to bring a gun like this to production, they needed a large order. Bekeart responded by ordering 1,000 of this new model assuming that they would sell like hotcakes. With an order of this size, S&W agreed to begin production and set up to produce 1,000 of this new configuration. As with most of the factory runs, a small number of guns were produced beyond the ordered amount to take into consideration frames that might not make the final cut. Hence the over run to 1050 guns. Like the childs game of telephone, that number has been reported as 1044 or 1050 over time and hence the confusion.

On another Bekeart side note, regarding the discussion about the Bekeart boxes. There is another example shown on page 117 of the SC of S&W 3rd edition. The label clearly states that the guns were manufactured for and for sale only by Phil P. Bekeart Co. It would be really interesting to see how guns that did not ship to Bekeart were boxed. Does anyone have a non Bekeart shipped gun in the original box????

 

[Goony]

I have been asked to post the following info. by a member who is a serious student of the Bekeart .22-32. Target models, so for the benefit of the membership, here goes: " The initial order to the Floor Foreman for production of the .22-32 Targets ( in the .32 HE series ) was for 1050 guns. Serial numbers 138226 through 139275. All in blue, no skipped numbers. 138226 was made April 25, 1911 and 139275 on July 10, 1911." Various sources have reported 1,000 guns, 1044 guns, etc. I don't dispute those numbers as they were based on information available at the time, however I believe the best information is the actual daily production records of the Floor Foreman responsible for making the guns, that lists them by dates and serial number and the total is 1050 guns, I'm going with that. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! Ed.

Thank you, Ed. That seems to be a definitive determination, and advances our collective knowledge. If there are only 1,044 of these logged in the shipping records (which I believe is the basis for that number having been the accepted figure up to this point), then this strongly suggests that six guns were diverted before ever being placed in the vault (possibly executive and/or presentation pieces). In that event, if you attempted to letter one of those (a process which, of course, draws upon the shipping records), it shouldn't even come back as "open on the books" but rather "no record in the books." A (tedious) audit of the shipping records ought to yield the six missing serial numbers, but I'm not sure how enlightening that would really be, unless someday one of them turns up with a provenance that's already been otherwise established.

 

[opoefc]

James, Stephen, etc. You're welcome. History tells us that it was S&Ws custom to provide company brass and VIPs with early examples of new models, therefore I'm a believer that the 6 guns over the 1044 listed as shipped, went to said individuals and did not show up in the shipping records. As said above, only a letter request that shows up as "Not in the shipping ledger" can indicate a possible VIP gun, unless Roy can unearth a memo account, or other info., to identify the VIP guns. Ed

 

[JSR III]

I think that this could also just be a matter of a mis count. Remember that for many years it was thought that there were 292 "Bekeart" shipped guns and as we now know, it was actually 294. It is very possible that the difference between the 1044 and the 1050 was merely a counting error or an addition error. This is very easy to do with such a large number.

If you take the first serial number produced, 138226, and add 1050, you come up with 138276. One number higher than the highest known serial number. This is merely a mathmatical error because 138226 is part of the 1050 so you should only add 1049 to 138226 to arrive at the correct number of 139275.

Very interesting posts,
Interesting how no shipments went to PB in July,
I noticed there is a July 1911 gun posted above that did not ship to PB and my .22/32 Heavy Frame Target serial number 138437 (grip # 567) also shipped in July 1911 and also did not go to PB .

To add to how interesting these numbers can be, as shown above 138437 did not go to Bekeart, however, 138430, 431, 432,434,435,436 and 439 did. So 7 out of these 10 numbers did go to Bekeart but 3 did not.

As has been said a million times, S&W was trying to make money, not wrap up serial numbers in neat little packages for future collectors.

 

[Goony]

138226 was made April 25, 1911 and 139275 on July 10, 1911.

That's about an 11 week span. Presuming the first and last serial numbers fairly well delineate the beginning and end of production of the first batch, that would average out to just a bit under 100 guns completed per week. Depending on whether a century ago the standard work week at Smith & Wesson was 5 or 6 days, the daily average works out to be in the 16 to 19 range, more or less.

Now I realize production might not have proceeded at a constant rate, that maybe some days none were finished with personnel being assigned to getting other models made up, and that on other days when .22/.32 manufacture was addressed, the daily total could have been a lot more than that average figure. Maybe, Ed, your records can shed light on that. But I was wondering how many guns a trained assembler (or team of them) could fit and make ready for logging into the vault in a working day of that era (how many hours that represented back then I also wouldn't know).

 

[opoefc]

Stephen, It is my understanding that "wages" paid to workers at S&W in the period of the Bekeart production, and earlier, was generally by a piece rate formula. The Foreman kept track of production and was paid by the factory for each gun produced , and he then paid his crew a share of the money. For easy "bookkeeping" daily production records were recorded by him in blocks of 25, 50 & 100, etc. guns, as that was the way he received orders from the factory. The order came in denominations of those amounts , example: " 100 blue, 300 plated and the date of the order." The guns were made in blocks equal to the number ordered, according to the finish. Finishes were not mixed. If the order was for 350 plated, then that order was 350 consecutive serial numbers. Same for blue. Sometimes grips were identified in the order as pearl, ivory or rubber. The date the order was received and completed is recorded. I would assume that the actual work effort on the production floor didn't always come out daily to an equal amount as recorded for that days production, as some days 100 guns are shown as produced and other times it could be 200, etc. I think that often orders were anticipated and when time allowed, workers made up parts and guns ahead of time for a stock pile. Other times, shifting from .32 HE production to .32-.22 Targets probably slowed things down a bit, as maybe an order for 50 .22-.32 Targets might be the only guns shown as produced on that date.
If Roy could ever find the payroll records for the monies paid the Foreman, we might be able to coordinate the number to see a better picture of how the guns flowed out and the money came in, etc. Ed.

 

[wbraswell]

A very interesting thread about a great old firearm. I would like to know how to pronounce "Bekeart".

 

[Green Frog]

A very interesting thread about a great old firearm. I would like to know how to pronounce "Bekeart".

I call mine a "Bee'-kurt" but I never have been able to get it to come when called, so what do I know?

Froggie

 

[Goony]

I would like to know how to pronounce "Bekeart".

That's a tough one, considering how foreign surnames were often misspelled at ports of entry and in any case became "Americanized" over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries (and not always consistently at that, often varying by what region an immigrant settled in). Philip Bekeart's father, Jules Francois Bekeart, was born in London but his name suggests French ethnicity (in any event, once here, he went by the nickname "Frank"). I'm not a French speaker so I'm just extrapolating, possibly incorrectly, from an online pronouciation guide, but it may be that "Bekeart" would've originally been pronounced beh-kair with the accent on the second syllable. I think this could've evolved into beh-kart with the accent lightly on the first syllable.

 

[DCWilson]

I believe the surname originates in either Belgium or The Netherlands. The original spelling is Bekaert. I suspect it was changed to Bekeart in England, which is where Philip's father Julius was born. In my mind I have always pronounced the name with the stress on the second syllable, like buh-KAIRT. Possible the modified spelling was intended to reflect the pronunciation that developed in England, with a last syllable that rhymed with "ear."

Could 138512 have been one of the 294?

I will mention again that in 1910 Colt introduced a .22 target revolver on the Police Positive frame. Whether Phil Bekeart was leaning on S&W or not, the company had reason to think about offering a comparable .22 revolver to keep from abandoning an emerging market segment to the competition. Before 1910 Colt was doing nothing serious in .22 caliber and was not trying to compete with S&W's Ladysmith model. As soon as the PP Target was introduced, S&W introduced a target version of the Ladysmith and seems to have begun thinking about the I-frame HFT. The first target Ladysmith I know about was shipped in 1910, only a few months before the .22/32 Heavy Targets started coming off the assembly floor. Note that compared to the M-frame Ladysmith target revolver, the I-frame .22/32 really was a "heavy" .22.

 

[Masterpiece]

Could 138512 have been one of the 294?

David,

According to my information...~*No*~...138512 was not one of the 292-294 that shipped to Bekeart although if the original accounting of these is now wrong I suppose it very well could have been!!

I'm curious, as I've been out of the loop for some time, does anyone know if there has been an amended list of the Original 294 been made available as yet?? Reason being, I'd be very interested in attaining one if there has!! Thanks!!

 

[Goony]

Could 138512 have been one of the 294?

Sorry, David, but the answer is "no" on that - although 138511 and 138513 were....

 

[brigham33]

Gambling on an early 22/32

I took a gamble on the old 22/32 below. It's just barely
among the first 1050, 139123, so I'm sending off a letter
request to see if it went to Bekeart in San Francisco. A fair
amount of wear but it seems to be consistent with wearing
and shooting. Came with the old style holster. Grips are
numbered 860, have a fair amount of wear but no chips or
cracks. I bought it from a California dealer, that and the old
style holster encouraged me to spend too much.

These old 22/32's are becoming a habit, this is #4 for me.
Rick

 

[Masterpiece]

Buy A Lottery Ticket!!

It's just barely
among the first 1050, 139123, so I'm sending off a letter
request to see if it went to Bekeart in San Francisco.

Rick,

You'd better go buy a Lottery Ticket because you finally hit the jackpot as far as a Bekeart-Shipped 22/32 HFT!! Your Revolver was indeed shipped to Philip Bekeart in Late August 1911!!

I'd also have to think the Grips with No.860 are also correct as I have an Early Bekeart Range 22/32 HFT with Grip No. 707 that was shipped earlier in Aug.1911 although it went to a dealer in Philadelphia,Pa. not to Philip Bekeart's Shop!! You could also check inside the Right Grip Panel for a Penciled Serial No., but these generally are very hard to read unless you get lucky!!

Great Find!!

 

[brigham33]

Hope you are correct, but I think I have to wait for the Jinks letter to know for sure....??... Rick

 

[Goony]

Hope you are correct, but I think I have to wait for the Jinks letter to know for sure....??... Rick

By all means get the letter, as it will authoritatively establish this gun's special status, but serial number 139123 is definitely listed as one of fifty sent in the penultimate shipment of 1911 (August 31) to Bekeart.

 

[bullmack]

I have a line on s/n 138334. I have not seen the gun in person. Gun does not have its original numbered stocks and the front sight has been changed to a 1/2 round service style.

Does anyone know if 138334 was one of those actually shipped to P. Bekeart?

 

[mbliss57]

Thank you all for some of the most informative info I think I have ever read in a single thread. I saw my 1st 22/32 HFT last week and another this week at gun shows. Neither had numbered grips. Aside from that I found the stocks to be beautiful and the gun weighted very well for target shooting. I think I have one of these in my future, but hold no illusion that it will be a true Bekeart. Thanks again to all for the wealth of information.

 

[Goony]

I have a line on s/n 138334. I have not seen the gun in person. Gun does not have its original numbered stocks and the front sight has been changed to a 1/2 round service style.

Does anyone know if 138334 was one of those actually shipped to P. Bekeart?

Sorry, but it wasn't - 138335 was, though...

 

[bullmack]

Sorry, but it wasn't - 138335 was, though...

Thanks Goony