FBI non-registered magnum

[LadyFed]

Dave, thank you very much for your post. SA O'Neal's .357 looks pretty much like the one SA Bise carried. I am sure all those guys knew one another back then as the Bureau was a pretty small organization with less than 500 agents across the country. Your CI story is interesting as that is what I do too in the FBI; Counter Intelligence. I appreciate the link you provided as well and if you run across any additional info on agent Bise I'd much appreciate you passing it my way. I'll do the same for you. Send me the SA's names you would like additional info on to me off line to my profile email address and I'll see what I can dig up for you. I don't know why my dear husband is so enthralled with .44 Mags but, it keeps him out of trouble.

Thank you again Dave
Eliza

 

[opoefc]

Eliza, Welcome to the Forum. I'm getting into this thread a little late, but I see you have already benefited from the knowledge supplied by the Forum members. I can report that my fellow S&W collector and friend, FBI Counter Intelligence SA Brian A.Smith, here in So. Calif. speaks highly of you and your help in getting him the FBI commemorative Model 27. Having said all that, I now have your next assignment - Locate and acquire .357 Reg. Magnum No. 1 given to Hoover by S&W. ( Hint: It's in Texas, but don't tell Bob Bettis or them other Texas types - I want hear their screams when you come up with it!) Good luck, Ed.

 

[LadyFed]

Originally posted by opoefc:
Eliza, Welcome to the Forum. I'm getting into this thread a little late, but I see you have already benefited from the knowledge supplied by the Forum members. I can report that my fellow S&W collector and friend, FBI Counter Intelligence SA Brian A.Smith, here in So. Calif. speaks highly of you and your help in getting him the FBI commemorative Model 27. Having said all that, I now have your next assignment - Locate and acquire .357 Reg. Magnum No. 1 given to Hoover by S&W. ( Hint: It's in Texas, but don't tell Bob Bettis or them other Texas types - I want hear their screams when you come up with it!) Good luck, Ed.

Ed, I'll do my best, but I know those Texas types, they are pretty aggressive, at least the one I have is

Now that you've spilled the beans on # 1's location, the guys in Texas will be losing lots of sleep down that way. Tell Brian hello from me next time you talk to him and to stay safe out there.
Eliza

 

[handejector]

Hello Eliza,
A belated Welcome Aboard to you. I saw this thread when it was new, but got buried packing and shipping. Amazing how busy 90+ completed auctions can make one.
I must say, dear lady, that you are better at the 'Grand Entrance' than Scarlett O'Hara! THAT is one killer gun to start with.
For your peace of mind, whatever the problem is causing the dimples will most likely be an easy fix.

Great gun.

 

[LadyFed]

Lee, thank you for your nice comments. I'm finding out more and more about this gun every day. I received back Roy Jinks letter on it yesterday, with the following pertinent paragraph;
"We have researched your Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Pre-World War II Non-Registered Variation, revolver in company records which indicate that your handgun, with serial number 61114, was shipped from our factory on March 7, 1940, and delivered to Albert C. Bise, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Box 1881, Seattle, WA. The records indicate that this handgun was shipped with a 4 inch barrel, blue finish, and checkered walnut Magna grips. This revolver was ordered for Mr. Bise my Mr. I. F. Nitschke, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, VA and was to be express shipped to Mr. Bise at the above address. The revolver was billed at $36.45 without excise tax which indicates this was an FBI purchase and not an individual officer purchase."

In a separate email, Mr. Jinks let me know that the re-work marks of 10.44 were correct but that there was no record of the gun being sent back for repair as the gun was guaranteed for life and the factory normally didn't prepare an invoice for warranty work which I still believe is all that was done with this particular gun. Perhaps SA Bise was pretty hard on his firearms and had to send it back to be repaired for something he did to it. But, as Mike Prewar said, who can be sure at this point.
Eliza