sagela,
You must be almost sorry that you asked by now...
You must be almost sorry that you asked by now...
Need help understanding stampings .455
- Thread starter sagela
- Start date
Au contraire, Hondo! I hope the board reconciles amicably, for sure, but the flow of information is everything I'd hoped for. I've followed a few of the links to a point where I downloaded and saved a pdf file of various OTHER nation's proof markings, too. I have some old military rifles but nothing worth studying to date except one I absolutely STUMBLED on. It's a Model 94 Winchester, one of 1800 purchased by the US Army just prior to WWI for use in the logging camps and lumber mills in Western Washington and Oregon when spruce logs were vital for airplane construction. They're referred to as Spruce Guns and have proof markings "U S" to the left, and the ordnance flaming bomb to the right, of Winchesters own intertwined WP proofmark. The guns were made almost exactly the same time as my .455 HE was. The research has lead me to rediscover "The Everett Massacre," Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) and the Legion of Loyal Loggers and Lumbermen union.
It's been a fascinating study and the .455 HE started another.
I have friends in Birmingham who are WWII vets and have written them and provided a link to this discussion.
It's been great, and I thank everyone who has contributed.
Larry (just across the lake from Seattle)
It's been a fascinating study and the .455 HE started another.
I have friends in Birmingham who are WWII vets and have written them and provided a link to this discussion.
It's been great, and I thank everyone who has contributed.
Larry (just across the lake from Seattle)
Jack Flash
Member
Sorry I dropped out of the discussion for a couple of days - had a series of minor calamities - but it looks like things went along just fine without me. (Who knows, maybe it was better without me! 
)
In the above posts, I noticed several folks agree with the idea that the crossed pennants are a British proof mark. Also, someone mentioned Ian Skennerton. That reminded me of something I posted quite a while ago. Here's an abbridged version:
If you can locate a copy of Ian Skennerton's The British Service LEE, look at page 397, under the heading "Proof Marks". You will see plain crossed pennants, as well as crossed pennants with crowns, royal cyphers, etc. So Skennerton lists crossed pennants as a proof mark and if you look elsewhere in the book, you will see it was commonly applied to WWI British Lee Enfields.
It seems like a logical assumption that if the crossed pennants were used as proof marks on rifles, then they would have the same meaning on handguns, especially if the marking was done at the same facility, at the roughly the same time.
To echo Mr. Hondo44, I do not mean to argue, either. I appreciate the civility of the discussion and the value of each contribution.
)In the above posts, I noticed several folks agree with the idea that the crossed pennants are a British proof mark. Also, someone mentioned Ian Skennerton. That reminded me of something I posted quite a while ago. Here's an abbridged version:
If you can locate a copy of Ian Skennerton's The British Service LEE, look at page 397, under the heading "Proof Marks". You will see plain crossed pennants, as well as crossed pennants with crowns, royal cyphers, etc. So Skennerton lists crossed pennants as a proof mark and if you look elsewhere in the book, you will see it was commonly applied to WWI British Lee Enfields.
It seems like a logical assumption that if the crossed pennants were used as proof marks on rifles, then they would have the same meaning on handguns, especially if the marking was done at the same facility, at the roughly the same time.
To echo Mr. Hondo44, I do not mean to argue, either. I appreciate the civility of the discussion and the value of each contribution.
I'm wavering here, guys. I appreciate having something unique from S&W but I already own a 1950 Target model whose barrel was shortened to
3-5/8" with a black ramp front sight, and which has been refinished very professionally. It is a personal delight to carry and shoot. I have a couple all original 5-screw Smiths but avoid shooting them as they gain in value.
This one is not slated to be very valuable so I lean toward making it FUN.
But I really am enjoying the learning curve this one has launched and thank you all for your contributions.
Larry
3-5/8" with a black ramp front sight, and which has been refinished very professionally. It is a personal delight to carry and shoot. I have a couple all original 5-screw Smiths but avoid shooting them as they gain in value.
This one is not slated to be very valuable so I lean toward making it FUN.
But I really am enjoying the learning curve this one has launched and thank you all for your contributions.
Larry
