Miss January, 1956

[29-1]

Originally posted by Pre-64:
Chuck - Bill,
Have you ever known there to be any correlation between "assembly numbers" of guns manufactured within the same time frame, ex. these very early .44's? Is there any correlation? Were the inspection numbers assigned to individual assemblers/ testers? Where did the stamping of these numbers fall in the manufacturing processes?

J.C., there appears to be a closer correlation to a timeframe a gun is produced and then shipped by tracking the assembly number than by the hit or miss serial number method. But again, they are not in an exact sequence either, but do appear to have been closer than the serial number.
Chuck

 

[handejector]

Wow.
reminds me of the quotation in Roy's book:
"No thing of importance will come without effort."
Sometimes I thimk people don't realize what you guys put into seeking, assembling, researching, documenting, and displaying these fabulous, historical guns.
Congratulations.
I've already learned something here- I did not know the first month's Cokes were a different variant! Thanks, Bill.
Now, being an unrepentant bibliophile, I have to know more about that book in the first post.
What's up widdat?

 

[Doc44]

J.C. ...Chuck and I have studied assembly numbers extensively and I have discussed their significance with Roy on more than one occasion. Normally, N-frames with serial numbers in the S130000 range have an assembly number in the 45000 range, but the 44 Magnums with serial numbers in the S130000 range have assembly numbers in the 73000-75000 range, suggesting these serial numbers were held back for some of the early 44 Magnums since the assembly numbers date to 1956 when most would have been made. However, it is only the S130000 guns that are unusual since the early shipped 44 Magnums with other serial numbers also have "normal" or expected assembly numbers (i.e. S166065, shipped on 4-2-56, has an assembly number of 79218 and S160304, shipped on 5-8-56, has an assembly number of 74583). Some of the earliest 44 Magnums also have a 7 and the letter X or H stamped in the yoke cut.

You can drive yourself to distraction with all of these numbers

.

Bill

 

[1Aspenhill]

Chuck,
Great collection of .44 Mags as well as the history to go with it. I always love to see you and Bill post your .44s as they are always wonderful examples of the best from S&W! Thanks for sharing and a big HOOAH to you!
Bill

 

[29aholic]

Chuck what a beautiful collection. I thought you were still looking for 1 month, guess yopu found it. Put me down for a calendar as well.

BTW I got the sponsorship letter you sent me and will be mailing my check this week. Would have done it sooner, but work has been a "B" lately with sub-freezing temperatures and the 2" of ice that got dumped on us.

Thanks again Chuck you are a credit the gun world.

 

[Kobold_27]

Chuck,

As always, very impressive! Thanks for sharing!

Best,

Michael

 

[29-1]

Originally posted by handejector:
Now, being an unrepentant bibliophile, I have to know more about that book in the first post.
What's up widdat?

Lee, if you are referring to the blue album, I had that made up to keep Roy's factory letters in as well as some other pertinent 1956 paperwork.

Chuck

 

[NT430]

Chuck,
Can you tell me the date of the first S&W 1956 Model Circular the .44 was noted in? Is there an earlier one than pictured below?
Thanks,

 

[29-1]

J.C. the one you picture is the second that I know of. The first is actually dated January 1st, 1956 and the second is May 1. The third change is the Sept 15th price change to 140.00 which is the one you have pictured.
Regards
Chuck

 

[NT430]

Thanks Chuck - I have new a new "grail" search in the works......

 

[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.