imported smith and wesson??(help identify marks please)

[wbw2]

I have a smith model 745 that I picked up a while back and I was thinking the other day about why it has import marks all over it, so I figured maybe someone here would know.

Do you think it was originally bought here, shipped overseas then brought back, or was it originally sold overseas then brought back??

...or am I asking a question that can only be answered by getting a letter from smith??

They are fairly standard import marks, on the frame, slide and barrel, the gun has the IPSC engraving and has been modified for competition(larger safety levers,(ambi), action job, trigger job, etc...)

Let me know what you think, I may have to bite the bullet and send away for another letter, but then again maybe one of the experts here has the answer already

 

[wbw2]

I have a smith model 745 that I picked up a while back and I was thinking the other day about why it has import marks all over it, so I figured maybe someone here would know.

Do you think it was originally bought here, shipped overseas then brought back, or was it originally sold overseas then brought back??

...or am I asking a question that can only be answered by getting a letter from smith??

They are fairly standard import marks, on the frame, slide and barrel, the gun has the IPSC engraving and has been modified for competition(larger safety levers,(ambi), action job, trigger job, etc...)

Let me know what you think, I may have to bite the bullet and send away for another letter, but then again maybe one of the experts here has the answer already

 

[conn ak]

No expert by any means...but doesn't it have a Springfield, Mass. tattoo? Perhaps it was, as you suggest, imported to another country at some point.

 

[wbw2]

So, I took a magnifying loupe to the gun and here is what I see...

1. on the slide- to the bottom left of the standard "made in usa, springfield, mass" there is a flaming bomb with what looks to be a cursive "L" inside.
2. on the frame-to the bottom left of the model and serial number, just where the frame "steps" down, the same flaming bomb.
3. on the frame-directly below the "model 745" there are small letters "Akah".
4. on the barrel-sideways going down the length, there is a star, then a capital "A", then a cursive "y", a line, then the flaming bomb again.

...any ideas??

 

[haggis]

The flaming bomb/cursive L is the Belgian proof for foreign-made guns. AKAH is a Belgian gun dealer originally in Germany.

Buck

 

[wbw2]

Originally posted by haggis:
The flaming bomb/cursive L is the Belgian proof for foreign-made guns. AKAH is a Belgian gun dealer originally in Germany.

Buck

HA! that's why I love this place, I can get an answer to any question, no matter how abscure.

So, I know now that it went to belgium, for some reason I have become infatuated with the history of this piece...

I'd love to know who bought it in belgium, someone did a lot of work to this gun to make it competition ready, and the work is extremely well done.