I had Reg 4862, 5", Nickel, Humpback Hammer, 1 of a shipment of 15 to the Indianapolis P.D.
It had been rebuilt (everything under the sideplate appeared to be brand new) and refinished by the factory (carried FIVE little bitty stars, well hidden----every place it had a place-----frame, way up at the top of the left side of the grip frame, right where it meets the frame; cylinder, under the ejector star; barrel, inside the ejector rod shroud; yoke, someplace I don't remember; and inside the sideplate.) There were two different five digit numbers on the left grip frame----either/both could've been dates. Never mind the auction house said "Original Finish". It was flat GORGEOUS!! I kept it for the better part of the five years it took me to come up with a pair of pre-war Magna's worthy of the rest of the gun---and then suffered an attack of purist, and sold it. Looking back on that, I should've kept it! All this goes back more than a few years.
At any rate, it ended up in the Dave Ballantyne collection-----and he sold it too---just a short time ago-----fetched $8000 and change at some auction.
Too much for a refinish? I reckon that all depends on the eye of the beholder----a Registered Magnum----nickel, 1 of what, 144 guns?
The bottom line is there are different strokes for different folks!
Ralph Tremaine
And as an aside, the OP's gun here is not listed in Jinks' 1989 treatise on the RM's as a nickel gun---as are ALL of them!
Another aside, the S&W Historical Foundation has reams and volumes of data on, I dare say each and every RM---they had TEN pages of stuff on my last one!! Get a letter. That gets you the admission ticket to the Historical Foundation. The last time I knew, their search for data is free, and the charge for copies is chump change.
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