Final Update: I DID buy this rare Model 56

[DCWilson]

Kevin, PM sent. I was mistaken.

Everybody please note the important correction in post no. 29 above. My apologies for posting a confused interpretation of what I heard.

 

[BUFF]

Does anybody frequenting this site have a Model 56 or have access to one? I would be interested in knowing if other M-56's do or don't have the service U.S. marking on the backstrap.

 

[kwill1911]

I have one (shown below under a USAF Model 15). The database David refers to is mine and I have quite a few pictures and several factory letters on others. In most of the letters Roy mentions that they left the factory with the U.S. marking on the (smooth) back strap. In the one or two letters where he doesn't mention it I believe it to be an oversight. I know of 2-3 other Model 56 revolvers that have had the U.S. marking removed. This is quite common with Colt M1911 pistols, Aircrewman revolvers and others.

Shameless plug: I keep databases on all post-war S&W martial handguns, not just the Model 56, and welcome any and all information, letters, pictures, etc. on U.S. handguns. There is little information published and I hope to produce a book someday on post-war military handguns.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

 

[kwill1911]

The Model 56 is in the center of this picture:

 

[Hondo44]

I also noted that the gun has a grooved trigger. I don't remember reading a specification for that but guessed it was correct. I still need to do a lot of work on smooth vs. grooved standard-width triggers. I never know which models have them and which models don't.

David,
Well I'll be wondering about the final outcome. This thread has been very educational on the relatively obscure M56. Since we're on hold for the present, a word about grooved triggers.

Lee pinned it down: "....K and N frames in 1929. (into the late 70's). You already know that the last one built with a smooth trigger in 29 could have sat in the vault till 35, so no absolutes apply."
Although there is an engineering order, 8/14/23 that the target K38 & K32 WCF will have serrated straps and trigger.

And I've been observing I frame triggers. There are no engineering change orders re: grooved triggers. However it appears that pre war target I models received grooved triggers coincident with the introduction of the 22/32 Kit Guns c.1935 which all seem to have grooved trigs. I'm interested to know if your more extensive collection of pre war targets supports that.

The standard I model has the smooth trigger before the war which continued on the earliest post war transitionals but were changed to grooved during the pre war/post war models preceeding the "Improved" I Model. This is based on my meager collection, forum and in-person observations.

 

[DCWilson]

I brought it home

Please see update note at the beginning of the original post. Once I get the gun cleaned up, I will try to get some good documentary photos and show how it differs from the standard Combat Masterpiece on which it is based.

 

[mbliss57]

What a great thread. I have learned a ton. Thanks

 

[DCWilson]

As promised, a few more photos...

This gun came with the ill-fitting and inappropriate post-1968 magnas you can see in the photos in the first post, but it needs PC diamond magnas to be consistent with the original shipping configuration. I had some non-PC diamond magnas in the woodpile and put them on as better-looking placeholders until I can get the stocks the gun really needs. And because I don't like the basic K-magna handful, I added a grip adapter for comfort.

The entire top of the gun is dulled down and pretty featureless -- a slightly textured matte black on everything, no grooves in the front sight foot or the rear sight base, but a few discreet grooves on the angled surface of the front sight ramp. This is different from later versions of the Combat Masterpiece two-inch revolvers, which had a grooved sight base and smooth ramp.

The 56 is a heavy barrel gun with a wide rib.

The heavy barrel required that the front part of the frame not be chamfered. Otherwise parts of the barrel would overhang parts of the frame, an ugly and unacceptable proposition.

I cannot see a filed-down spot on the backstrap, but if I close my eyes and run a fingertip over the steel I think I feel a slight flat spot or even slight dish in the contour that is probably where the U.S. stamp was once to be found. (These are the old stocks in this photo.)

And anoher pic of the serial number after I got some crud out of the numerals and replaced it with the dust and fibers that are hallmarks of my photographic technique.

The Model 56 designation has so powerful a claim on the minds of collectors that it is possible to focus on the number and look past a couple of interesting aspects of this configuration. The gun is clearly in the K-Masterpiece family, basically K-frame revolvers with adjustable sights. Before this snubnose design was put into production, the company made the standard K-38 Masterpiece, or Model 14, and the Combat Masterpiece, or Model 15. This gun is a lot like the Combat Masterpiece, but with a two-inch barrel. With the possible exception of some prototypes, the company had not produced such a configuration before the Air Force provided specs for this revolver, which S&W decided to identify with a separate model number. In this, they followed past practice of distinguishing some models based on barrel length, for example dividing the Combat Masterpiece from the original K-38 Masterpiece with a different model number.

The Model 56 is the first adjustable sight two-inch K-frame the company produced. Fixed sight two-inch M&Ps had been produced since before WWII; it was the presence of the adjustable rear sight that made this gun different.

As soon as the Model 56 became a known configuration, public demand began to be heard for a commercial version of the gun. In 1964, a year after completing the Air Force contract, the company introduced a two-inch barrel option as a variety of the Combat Masterpiece. No new dash number was created, and the gun was marketed simply as a variety of the Model 15-2. The Model 56 designation was never used again.

I have not yet had this gun to the range, but hope to sometime in the next month. It is mechanically sound with good bore and chambers, but the backstrap erasure and worn finish limit its value as a collectible. I have no qualms about taking it out for a run.

 

[BobR1]

Glad that you got it. Military guns can be a pain to document.

I stumbled into a 1941 Pre Pearl Harbor WWII Winchester Model 12. I posted Pictures on a Military Collectors website. I am no Military collector, and had no idea how a WWII Militray M12 was supposed to be marked. The first comments back from Military collectors were that it was a faked Military M12, and the person doing the fake stamping did not have any idea what he was doing. About the same time a second one surfaced on a different forum. Over a period of about a year we managed to locate 6 on the internet. All are 1941 production and within about a 3000 gun serial number block. All marked alike. One had the U.S. stamp buffed off the recevier, but still had the stock stamps intact, as well as the Closed Flame WWI style Ordinance Bomb on the barrel. One Riot Gun had the stock replaced and had no stamps on the buttstock. Of the 6 we have 4 that are 28" Full Choke (Aerial Gunnery Training), and 2 Riot Guns.
With a lot of research we found that the Government had 30 Military Bases under crash construction in 1940-1941 that were to be accepting troops by the Summer of 1941. The WB (Waldemar Bromberg) Inspector Stamp puts them between July 1941 when Waldemar Bromberg was assigned as the Winchester Military Inspector, and June 1942 when he was replaced my Guy H Drewry who finished out WWII at Winchester. All this information would suggest an early previously unknown Contract run for the 30 new Military bases coming on line in 1941. They may have even been ordered under what was refered to as an "Educational Contract" to get manufacturers spooled up on doing War time Military Contracts before the United States officially got in the war.
You would think finding 6 previously unknown WWII Military Model 12's that are marked totally different than any known to exist before would be great news. Guess again, this messed up the Collectors Book. No interest in adding a new chapter covering the rarest WWII Model 12's known to exist.
Just ranting a little, I feel the pain in documenting Military guns.

Bob

 

[j38]

David, Congratulations and thanks for the great photos that let most of us, who'll never see a Model 56 in person, see one up close.

Jerry

 

[JCS&W]

I will agree with j38 and say thank you for the pics. A very unusual piece of history.

 

[edlmann]

Just out of curiosity, why we're the majority crushed/destroyed by the government?

By the early '80s, the rejection rate on the frames of USAF revolvers at depot level rebuild was something like 60%. They had to buy something or go unarmed. The USAF and Army did manage to buy some Ruger Service 6 pistols but I have no idea how many.

 

[Bullet Bob]

"You would think finding 6 previously unknown WWII Military Model 12's that are marked totally different than any known to exist before would be great news. Guess again, this messed up the Collectors Book. No interest in adding a new chapter covering the rarest WWII Model 12's known to exist"

Perhaps they're just being cautious, as good researchers in any field should be. Until things are verified, you may have a rare exception, or you may have one that someone bought a bunch of as surplus, and modified - or one of many other possibilities. Research, done by fellows like the ones here who have chimed in about the model 56 under discussion, nailing down the details as much as possible, are what defines a true collector; at least to me.

 

[dmc8163]

I reviewed this thread after being shown a Model 56 by the owner of a local gun shop. He knew it was a very rare revolver and would not put a price on it. This thread concluded in 2012. Does anyone know of a public sale of a Model 56 since 2012? This revolver was in remarkable condition but no box. Very light drag mark and few handling marks. It did have the incorrect grips. Being a "pistol" guy I did not inspect it for authenticity but would should I decide to make an offer. Thank you, D

 

[flagman1776]

Actually, YES. If you scrolled further down this page you would see the thread where I found, researched & ultimately purchased a US marked S&W M56 last week. Between these 2 threads, you can see the different details.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-re...hting-lgs-military-model-56-w-us-marking.html
There are about known 50 survivors of 15,205 made, in the database. SN range is random between K500001 - K250800. They were made 1962-3.
(PM sent to dmc)

 

[dmc8163]

Thank you flagman1776. I don't know how I missed it. I appreciate your response. D