John Jovino Display at 2021 SWCA Symposium

[silverstateS&W]

Don't forget that John Jovino's store sign is visible in the movie "serpico"...

 

[.30Calibre]

Has there ever been a definitive list of Effector serial numbers published? Or is a letter showing shipping to Jovino's the only real way to "prove it"?

The gunsmith at Jovino's that made these Effectors only modified new in box guns, according to what he told me. Which means that if you get a letter for a particular gun and it states the revolver left the factory as a 6inch .44/.45/.41Mag, delivered to Jovino's in NYC, but it's clearly a 2.5inch snubby sitting in your hands now, it's safe to assume the provenance is real that it passed through the Jovino storefront and had been modified there.

While it's conceivable the gunsmith at Jovino's could have customized one-off examples of customer provided guns this would have been exceedingly rare, and only a Jovino invoice receipt could prove provenance in that case. I have two such guns, but the gunsmith was more than a friend of mine, he was a tutor. The whole point of the snubnose customization was so that the Jovino storefront (who also sold nationwide in quantity as a S&W distributor/authorized dealer) could offer up a "Jovino exclusive" that you could only order from them (in addition to having other things in your order, of course). So merely offering the conversion to snubby on a walk-in customer provided gun would defeat the purpose of being exclusive.

Nonetheless, the experience of the Jovino gunsmith himself, having been a bonafide licensed gunsmith in the City of New York for some four decades, I suppose is what makes these interesting and desirable.

He officially retired from the profession this month, September and has moved out of New York City. No more Effectors will ever be made in this town and the City has likely lost the last of it's truly competent Old World gunsmiths.

 

[45Smashemflat]

Thanks for those details. I've got a 25-2 with all of the marks of being an early Effector, but I have no paperwork to back that up. (By early, I mean before they were doing their own roll marks.)

 

[quinn]

Thanks for those details. I've got a 25-2 with all of the marks of being an early Effector, but I have no paperwork to back that up. (By early, I mean before they were doing their own roll marks.)

Neither of mine have the Effector roll mark. However a S&W Historical Foundation letter may show that your gun was shipped to Jovino. Both of mine have letters showing that.

 

[CH4]

Thank you!
You answered all my questions.

 

[.30Calibre]

Thanks for those details. I've got a 25-2 with all of the marks of being an early Effector, but I have no paperwork to back that up. (By early, I mean before they were doing their own roll marks.)

Not trying to being facetious, but technically they are metal stamp marks.

They did not have a roll mark machine and the gunsmith explained to me that they had gotten a set of two metal punch/stamps made to mark first "Smith &" followed by "Wesson". The word "EFFECTOR" was a third stamp.

Once the barrel was cut, the factory S&W marks were in the wrong place and would need to be sanded off by hand on a belt sander (which to me seemed quite difficult to do on a round surface without spending an un-Godly amount of time on each barrel carefully trying to avoid making a flat spot; but I've watched him do it). Once the factory markings were obliterated, they had to hand stamp the Smith & Wesson text to move and center it, and apparently this is what the S&W factory didn't appreciate, culminating in a cease and desist letter to Jovino's.