Nearly complete set of 1899 revolvers

[mikepriwer]

Here is a picture of the drawer holding the 1899 revolvers. All are targets, except the four on the far end.

The first set of blue guns contains the following barrel lengths: 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", 4", 4 1/2", 5", (2) 6", 6 1/2", and the 8" .

The next set of four are the nickel targets. The barrel lengths are 4", 5", 6", 6 1/2", and 8".

The last set of four are blue M&P's. The barrel lengths are 4", 5", 6", and 6 1/2".

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[chiefdave]

WOW! I don't know if to be more impressed with the collection or the storage system.

 

[RKmesa]

Amazing Mike!!!

Thanks for sharing,

 

[rubiranch]

What's in your drawer???

 

[j38]

Wow! Mike, that's one serious collection. How many years did it take you to fine those beauties? Thanks much for the post - inspirational.

Jerry

 

[les.b]

I'm with chief dave...what a great collection of revolvers, but what a great storage system!! That must be the easiest access for stored guns that I've ever seen!!

Thanks for sharing with us!!

Best Regards, Les

 

[quinn]

Mike, that is an incredible level of dedication...one that clearly says that I am an "accumulator". Congratulations. Did you build the drawer before you had all of the contents?

 

[boykinlp]

That is a terrific collection, for sure. Which one was the hardest to acquire?

I, too, love the storage system and now want to see what is in the other drawers!
Larry

 

[steelslaver]

Sweet collection and storage system. I use a drawer system in my handgun safe. My guns lay flat. I have wondered if I would be better off with the guns upright.

 

[S&WsRsweet]

Wow what a great collection. That drawer system is very nice.

 

[Old_Cop]

Wow to the revolvers and the storage system. What else do you have in your drawers?

 

[JayFramer]

☆ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: S&W Forum Collector God Status Attained! ☆

Love those guns, love that drawer!! One of the most enviable and impressive collections I've ever seen here!!

 

[brucev]

Outstanding collection of S&W revolvers! Superb way of organizing/caring for them. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Jebus35745]

Nice, that's years of searching. Hard to find on M&P target and you have 15 in various lengths. The odd length barrels are interesting. Thanks for sharing. Bet there will be a lot of drawers made into gun racks now. Larry

 

[two-bit cowboy]

In less than 12 hours the others have used up all the exclamations and adjectives I thought of when I first saw your image and read your text.

I guess there are a couple left -- from my British roots -- "top-shelf" (or drawer) and the more apropos to the topic "bang-up."

Thanks for sharing.

 

[kraynky]

I too am in total admiration of the collection and the "drawer". My little pea brain is always looking at things and seeing potential improvements, I can't help it.

I was thinking, if the drawer face were made to fold down, forming a table-top type function, and it was covered in felt.......

I am already thinking of converting a set of dresser drawers...... Except I don't have a large vault that would be required to keep them secure. I am in awe...... the collection is something like one would expect to be in a museum.

I guess I'll just keep my overcrowded safe method of stacking them, inside of gun socks. Although my measly collection is more of a scattered accumulation of random makes & models.

 

[The Gila Bender]

Nice collection and great storage system! Is the storage unit custom? Where can I find one, wood or metal?

 

[glowe]

What a great collection of 1899s, especially since they are almost all very rare target revolvers. Now, knowing your work with engineering custom 1st Models, are any of those customized or are all from the factory? If all factory, I bet no one else anywhere has this extensive of a collection of 1899 Targets.

 

[italiansport]

Nice collection and a very practical storage solution. The one additional thing I would do is get some kind of padding between the wood and the metal parts of the revolvers contacting it.
Ji

 

[mikepriwer]

Thanks for all the kind replies to this post. I'll try to answer all the questions.

First, I made the cabinet myself. It was an out-growth of shelves that I had made for some gun safes. This was a better idea, because the drawers pull out.

The cabinet itself is somewhat of a safe. There are two front full-length doors that lock. Inside those are the 6 drawers, each with two locks, one on each end of the drawer. The sliding bar of the lock goes in behind a heavy piece of angle iron, which is screwed into the cabinet frame. The locks are screwed onto the back side of the drawer front, and then another piece of wood is screwed over each lock. You can some of this detail
in the picture. The cabinet and drawers are all solid oak.

In the middle of the drawer is a tray of unfinished oak. This is a very recent addition. The tray is holding a bag of activated bamboo charcoal, to absorb gun oil odors. This works very well, and the bags are apparently rechargeable with an hour hanging in the sun.

The bottom drawer has two cans of Dry-Out, one in each corner. These suck the moisture out of the air.

The collection goes back at least 30 years, and probably few more. The offered barrel lengths were 4, 5, and 6 1/2, with 6 being a special order. The blue 8" was a special order. The nickel 8" barrel is factory. The 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", and 4 1/2" are all factory 38/44 barrels from the early 1950, that my machinist friend and I machined to become 1899 barrels. There is enough metal to form the forged front sight base, and enough for the flat under the barrel.

The 3", or the 3 1/2" guns are the best looking of the lot. I think that is the right size barrel for the 1899 frame. The 6" guns are the scarest, and hardest to find. The 8" barrels are one-of-a-kind. There is one other known 8" blue, but it was not original to the gun. There may be one other. I'm not aware of any other nickel 8" 1899's .

I did make one other design for the cabinet. It fits into a book shelf, and the front panel folds down, as someone suggested. This is a relatively narrow shelf, so there wasn't enough room to have the rack slide out. The guns are easily accessible, but there is not much of a view! I can post a picture of it, if anyone is interested.

Regards, Mike