Miss January, 1956

[VonFatman]

Chuck,
Fantastic! Just beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing.

Bob

 

[lowgun]

Chuck, I found this forum and thread today and am very interested in your compilation of the 29-1s, although I don't collect them. The occasional mention of "outed" famous 29s is interesting also. Has General Hatcher's #S130942 been outed? I have some information on that gun that I would add to your collection if the gun is still buried deep. Thanks for reply.

 

[29-1]

Lowgun, email sent your direction. Thank you for your post. Any info on the early pre-29s is extremely welcome Most importantly, welcome to the forum. Lot's of good folks on here.
Regards
Chuck Odom
1517

 

[badguybuster]

Lucky dog!!

 

[ENGINE18]

<-------passed out and fell out of the chair!

 

[marinevet]

GREAT collection.......all I can say is SWeet.....

Semper Fi

 

[thomasinaz]

Wow!! very impressive collection of historic 44s. Thanks for sharing the information and knowledge on these very interesting Smiths.

 

[TheHobbyist]

29-1, Great post! Informative and a great archive for other collectors to enjoy!

This certainly inspires me to start collecting pre 29s; I think I can already hear my check book crying

 

[lowgun]

Chuck, in your search for early 29 paper, has the name Ken Haag, Front Royal Supply, come up? Ken was a fairly high volume S&W distributor in VA from whom I bought my first S&W when I was about 19 years old. I still have the letter he sent me asking whether I wanted my HP with standard grips or target grips. I had asked for a 6" gun which were in high demand, and his note told me that he had a 4" gun with target grips. I took the 4" gun and paid him $69.00 for it. I had been buying ammunition, components, and guns from him for several years at the time and he was very accommodating. He was a big Model 29 advocate, hung his loaded 29 and belt rig over the front seat of his Ford pickup. He was also a serious hunter and told me of his adventures with some famous hunters in Alaska with the .44.

 

[29-1]

Lowgun, I 'm not sure I have heard of Ken Haag. I certainly may have though and am not remembering it. The only VA distributor I have any real history on is Evaluator's in Triangle/Quantico. I have several gus that went to the Van Orden's at Evaluator's. I will certainly dig into my paper stuff however and see if I can find something on your fellow in Front Royal. Sounds like he was my kind of 44 Mag guy. Do you still have the HP? Regards
Chuck

 

[lowgun]

Yes, I do still have the HP. It unfortunately is not a five screw. I believe I bought that gun in 1965. Front Royal Supply was a very popular distributor in that time and some early Model 29s should letter to them if they were in business under that name in 1956. Ken hunted with the big boys, Keith, O'Connor etc. However, that was not important to me then since many of the old timers were still alive and writing about hunts they went on last week. It is too bad Ken didn't write so we could know more about him. I found out how deep he was in handguns and big game hunting by reading the work of others. To me, he was just a guy I bought guns from. I was buying handguns from Ken when I was in high school and, somehow, my age never came up in the conversation. One time, Ken and I were in the parking lot in front of his warehouse. He brought up something about the Magna grip. To illustrate, he pulled the big 29 out of the holster on the driver's seat of his truck and told me to sight on the showroom window of the Ford dealership a half block up on Commerce Street. As an afterthought, he said, "Don't pull that trigger."

 

[29-1]

Lowgun, too funny...I'll keep trying to find something on him. My kind of dealer!
Chuck

 

[lowgun]

I just brought this thread up so some more readers could see the pictures of the first .44 Magnums and learn a little more about them.

 

[29-1]

lowgun, thanks for keeping this alive. Last year I posted 12 consecutive months of 1956 44 Magnums, each with information on this great S&W caliber. You can search for each with 'Miss.' It's good to see new folks to the forum are interested in what I consider the flagship model of Post WWII S&W.
Chuck

 

[lowgun]

When I first found this site last week, I used the search function and found the "Miss" threads discussing the Pre Model 29s that were made in each month of the first year. Very interesting and worth bringing up again.

 

[lowgun]

Just bringing this thread to the top so we can look at the first .44 Magnums. 29-1 and I are on a mission and we will share our information when it reaches fruition. Stay tuned.

 

[Homie]

Good luck on the "mission". I hope in the past 55 years that it did not become a "Fitz Special".

Good shooting.

 

[hunterfisher808]

WoW, Love to see stuff like this! Thanks for sharing!

 

[29-1]

Just bringing this thread to the top so we can look at the first .44 Magnums. 29-1 and I are on a mission and we will share our information when it reaches fruition. Stay tuned.

Lowgun, don't tell these guys too much as they figure things out pretty quickly.
Chuck

 

[lowgun]

Chuck, sorry I lost track of this thread. Yes, I still have the HP. It has about 100 rounds through it and has never been carried. Kenny Haag hunted in Alaska with Keith, I believe and killed bear with the Model 29s. Ken was a man's man, champion skeet shooter as well as avid hunter. His name may appear in some of Keith's writings. I bought Smiths from him like they were candy and resold them with no problems. His wholesale prices were very generous. I bought from him as a teenager with no FFL. Once, he asked me if I had handled his 29 with custom grips. He took me out to his truck and handed me the gun from the holster. I sighted on the showroom of the Ford dealership down the block. His comment was "Don't pull the trigger. It's loaded." I had not opened the cylinder, thinking it was certainly not loaded. A lot of this post is a repetition of an earlier post from five years ago, but Chucks comments deserve a new look. Bill Murphy in MD.