L.W. Pond Revolver - Information ?

[SA50]

Hello,

I have an opportunity to purchase an L.W. Pond Revolver marked "made for Smith & Wesson" Pat. July 1860 , .32 Cal Rim, Serial 290.

I was wondering if anyone had any information regarding the collectability of such a revolver and maybe the date of manufacture ?

Any information is appreciated.


SA 50

 

[SA50]

Hello,

I have an opportunity to purchase an L.W. Pond Revolver marked "made for Smith & Wesson" Pat. July 1860 , .32 Cal Rim, Serial 290.

I was wondering if anyone had any information regarding the collectability of such a revolver and maybe the date of manufacture ?

Any information is appreciated.


SA 50

 

[opoefc]

The Pond revolvers were one of the many guns made by S&W competitors seeking to cash in on the Rolin White patent owned by S&W, however their method of making the Pond guns was declared by the Courts to be an infringement on the White patent and the assets of the Pond company were turned over to S&W, who then marked the remaining Pond guns with the "Made for S&W" stamp. The guns are collectable but usually are not high value guns. They are a part of S&W's history of defending the patents held by S&W.

 

[SA50]

opoefc -

Thank you for the information.

I am trying to find S&W revolvers, or any revolvers for that matter, with Civil War provenanace.

Has anyone ever seen dates of manufacture (based upon serial numbers) for L.W. Pond ?

Thanks,

SA 50

 

[kritter]

try here not too much info but every little bit helps
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20americaine/artisan%20n%2...0lucius%20w%20gb.htm
i've been looking myself i have a pond in .22 short #214 and have been looking for scale blueprints to make the "chambers" i had the prints at one time but i lost the webpage

 

[opoefc]

Pond lost the suit filed against it by S&W for the .32 cal. with the bored through chambers in the cylinders in the late 1860s, after the Civil War. 4,486 of these guns were turned over to S&W for resale and marked "Made for Smith & Wesson" -- your gun is one of these, as it must have been in the unsold inventory at the time of the suit to be forfieted to S&W. and stamped. These guns were made from 1861 to 1870 approx. A lot of Pond revolvers have minor differences in their design & construction, including use of brass frames and iron frames. Pond also made a front loading separate chamber .22 and .32 revolver at the same time as the models that S&W sued them over. These were circumventions of the Rollin White patent owned by S&W and not infringements, so they were legal. Read Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms for a better dissertation. It is possible, even probable, that some Pond revolvers may have been purchased and carried by private parties in the Civil War, however none were purchased by the military. Ed.

 

[opoefc]

SA50, The most common S&W revolver used by individuals on both sides in the Civil War was the Model 2 Army .32RF revolver. Many examples are known inscribed as gifts or ownership by military figures and most dealer catalogs with have an example or two for sale at any given time. The Kentucky Cavalry is known to have purchased Model 2 Armies for their troopers. I have a battlefield relic of one of these guns, dug up at the site of Battle of Franklin, in my collection. Ed.

 

[SA50]

opoefc,

Thank you for your message and information.

I have a Colt 1860 Army circa 1861 martially marked - would love to find a S&W (Model 2) such as yours with Civil War provenance.

Yours sounds very cool - do you have any pictures ?

I ended up purchasing the L.W. Pond serial 290 for a very reasonable price. I sure would like to know what year it was made (1861 ????). Even if it was made during the war years I guess there is no way of knowing if it was actually carried ...

But I was born in 1961 - I like to find birth year revolvers or centennial year (1861) - sure would like to know if my Pond is an 1861 ...

 

[opoefc]

SA50, Pictures of my Model 2 Army Civil War relic will be in the new book on Model 2 Armies, by Ron Curtis. Should be out next year. I doubt if there is any way the year of manufacture of your Pond revolver can be established accurately. The fact that it is stamped "Made For Smith & Wesson" indicates it was in the batch of guns turned over to S&W after the law suit. That was after the Civil war, so the gun was not sold before that. Also it was a common practice at the time for gun makers to make & sell guns in reverse serial number order - high numbers were made first and sold in order to confuse competitors as to how many guns were being sold. A low number like yors may have been made years after higher numbers. On the other hand, who's to say your gun isn't an 1861 made gun. Enjoy it! Ed.

 

[MKT]

Now for an interesting side question...

If the gun was turned over to Smith & Wesson after the lawsuit, would Roy have record of it being shipped in the S&W archives?

 

[opoefc]

MKT, Interesting question. I'll ask Roy and post his response here. There were many other guns turned over to S&W by other losers in lawsuits besides Pond, however I've never heard of any factory records on how they were sold off - maybe because nobody ever asked. Ed.

 

[MKT]

While I have no dog in this hunt, it will still be interesting to hear what Roy has to offer on it. The question came to me while I was reading through this thread and my initial instincts suggested they may very well have record of them. That is providing the records weren't lost or damaged.

 

[opoefc]

MKT, Roy Jinks says he has factory records for the sales of most of these guns, however they are not always by serial number, but since they were sold off in a relatively shot period of time, he can provide a factory historical letter indicating approx. when a gun was sold. Factory letters are $30 and the request form can be downloaded from the S&W factory web site. Ed.

 

[SA50]

opoefc and MKT,

Thank you very much for your efforts and information - I will send in my request for a factory historical letter to Mr. Jinks ASAP.
It never occurred to me that he would have records for this - thanks !

If interested, I will let you know what he says.

Best Regards,

SA 50