Interesting Old 6-shooter..

[I>avid]

My Grandfather, George Stribling Newell, was a mining engineer
and part owner of a copper mine in Mexico (in Chihuahua, I believe),
at the time of the Mexican Independence,
and he was forced to relinquish his ownership in the mining enterprise
because of the nationalization movement.

He was a relatively rich man,
and was on speaking terms with Pancho Villa and his lieutenants.




When I was a child in Bayard, New Mexico,
(I'm now 68, so it was while ago..)----
I had a natural boy's fascination with what was in my Daddy's bureau drawers,
one item of which was the revolver,
which is the subject of this note.

The 6-shooter is a Smith and Wesson .22 caliber 138xxx last patent 1909, with a broken tang on the hammer.



I asked my Dad about the origin of the gun,
and he stated that it was one of a brace of pistols owned by a top assistant to Pancho Villa,
who "put them in hock" to my Grandfather for $20, (for some reason or another),
and who only redeemed one of them, subsequently,
leaving the other to pass down to my possession of it.



The broken tang on the hammer
arose from a call during WWII for citizens to provide firearms to the U S Coast Guard,
for their use during training sessions.



My Father, also a mining engineer, was given a military exemption from service
due to his relative importance to the war effort in "primary metal extraction",
but lent the pistol to a branch of the San Diego Coast Guard:

and while in their custody, the pistol was dropped,
resulting in the broken hammer tang.

========================

I believe this to be true, but have no proof.
Yes, my Grandfather's role in Mexico at that time is certifiable,
but as to the prior ownership of the pistol,
no further evidence is available to the best of my knowledge.

=============================

These pictures show a gun
which has been sprayed with Lubriplate,
which protects it from rust at the expense of looking terminally ugly.

=======



The pistol is a shooter:
my eyes do not do as well as they once did,
in allowing resolution of the front and rear sights,
as well as the target:

and I'm not the rock of steadiness, I do regret to note:

but the trigger cannot be improved on,
and the accuracy is "spot on".

================

I also inherited a pre-Woodsman Colt, but it cannot be shot with modern ammo,
and thus remains ,by far, more pristine.

=============

I've no idea of the rarity or value of this pistol,
but I figgerred I'd know where to ask..

 

[murphydog]

Welcome to the Forum. You have a .22/32 Heavy Frame Target, aka the Bekeart, first produced in 1911 as requested by its namesake, the S & W distributor in San Francisco. If you can provide the first few digits of the SN from the front grip strap, like 123xxx, we can let you know when it left the factory. These were made in fairly large numbers all the way up to WW II, and I would guess it to be worth $4-500. As a family heirloom you can't really put a dollar value on it.

A replacement hammer can be found, I would guess, should you decide to replace it. Cool gun with an even cooler story.

 

[DCWilson]

That's a .22/32 Heavy Frame Target, and the serial number points to very early production. This model was introduced in 1911. Does the gun have a number stamped on the butt of one of the wooden panels? The first few thousand of this model had a kind of secondary serialization based on four-digit numbers stamped on the stocks.

This model is also called the "Bekeart" model because a San Francisco sporting goods distributor of that name is said to have persuaded S&W to offer a .22 target revolver built on their .32 caliber frame -- hence the designation .22/32. But the company's decision to introduce this model probably stems also from the decision by Colt in 1910 to introduce a .22 target revolver on the Police Positive frame. These companies didn't concede market share to one another willingly.

 

[opoefc]

I>Avid, Welcome to the Forum. I have a.22/32 Heavy Frame target, serial number 138226 that was shipped from S&W in June 1911. Close serial numbers are recorded in S&W shipping records as being in shipments to Phil Bekeart' store in San Francisco, ( although mine did not) which adds a premium to their value, in collector's eyes. These guns can be accurate shooters, and are ancestors of the more modern S&W Kit Guns. Ed.

 

[I>avid]

Nothing like afficianados!

Yes, i did come to the right place!

thank you for your courtesy and the information!

1386xx is on the inner metallic side of the grip,
and the number 459 is on the wooden grip butt..

There is another number inside the "crane"??,
which is illegible under the Lubriplate:
if it's important or noteworthy, i could actually clean the gun up and give it a picture that it deserves,
as it looks rather like a mangy dog, as is.

A few years ago (about 10) I noticed some rust beginning,
(on the barrell)
and have probably over-reacted to the syndrome..

I've been advised not to have it re-blued or mess with the gun in any way, though I WILL get a new hammer for it if one is available.

thank you again.

Sincerely,

David

Hmm: If I took a bath in Lubriplate,
i wonder?? nah, never mind......

 

[Hondo44]

Yes, i did come to the right place!

thank you for your courtesy and the information!

1386xx is on the inner metallic side of the grip,
and the number 459 is on the wooden grip butt..

There is another number inside the "crane"??,
which is illegible under the Lubriplate:
if it's important or noteworthy, i could actually clean the gun up and give it a picture that it deserves,
as it looks rather like a mangy dog, as is.

A few years ago (about 10) I noticed some rust beginning,
(on the barrell) and have probably over-reacted to the syndrome..

I've been advised not to have it re-blued or mess with the gun in any way, though I WILL get a new hammer for it if one is available.

thank you again.
Sincerely,
David

David, welcome to the forum!
As said above, you have a very early issue gun. The number in the Yoke (crane if a Colt) is just a random factory fitter's # and not important.
But your very early serial # could mean your gun has potentially more value as one of the very 1st shipments, not that you would ever sell it.
But it can only be verified with the full serial #. There really isn't any jeopardy in revealing it. But if you feel better about it, you can send it to me in a Private Message by left clicking on my forum name above. I'll check the list for your # to verify its true value.

Besides a new hammer, it appears it's missing the upper sideplate screw as well and I can supply sources of those parts.