New Addition: 29-3 Project 999 Tomato Springs

[Tytan01]

Feeling very dejected and looking to bite the head off of a rattler...I went forth in to the world to hunt for a new revolver to add to the collection and I come across a S&W Model 29-3 in a presentation box. It's a Special Commemorative gun by the Orange County Sheriff's Association for their 999 Project for officers fallen in the line of duty. This one commemorates Robert Squires, the first Undersheriff killed in 1912 at Tomato Springs, CA.

Nickel Plated and engraved. It comes with a badge and an oval shaped plaque. Both are numbered. This is #62 of 250 made.

I think there is supposed to be a belt buckle that goes with it but it wasn't in with the set. Hopefully I can track one down and hopefully it wasn't numbered as well or the chances of finding it are slim to none.

Paid $1000 for it. The box is in great condition but no key. The green velvet is in perfect shape and the gun doesn't appear to have been fired beyond the test firing from the factory.

I like it. It helped ease the pain of dealing with S&W's customer service dept.

 

[GerSan69]

Nice find, congrats. I've seen those before.... I thought that oval was the buckle. No?

 

[Tytan01]

Nice find, congrats. I've seen those before.... I thought that oval was the buckle. No?

That's what I thought but when I removed it from it's spot, there was nothing on the back. Nothing that would "make" it a belt buckle. I then found a picture from another gun that had a belt buckle in a sealed baggie that fit into a depression in the lid...but with the lid closed it would fall on to the gun. So I'm not sure how it's all supposed to look when together. The buckle had the face of Sheriff Squires on it and some wording around it. All colorized, possibly enamel.

And when I posted my picture today, I noticed there is a spot on the face of the presentation box, under the barrel, that looked like it had a small plaque affixed there at some point but it's gone. I have not seen that on any of the pictures of this gun in it's case before. But all of those guns were #'s 120 or more. Mine is below 100 so maybe the 1st 100 had a special tag or plaque on them?

If anyone has a #1 to #100 gun..maybe you can let me know if I'm off base or not? Or if there is a picture of one?

 

[GerSan69]

Hey Ty, there is a thread right here on the forum....
Orange Co. Sheriffs' Dept. CA Commemerative

 

[Tytan01]

Hey Ty, there is a thread right here on the forum....
Orange Co. Sheriffs' Dept. CA Commemerative

Thanks GerSan!

So from what I'm piecing together, the oval belt buckle shaped item next to the badge is indeed the "replica" belt buckle.

There are other ACTUAL Belt buckles that were made but those were sold separately from the gun set.

Now I just need to find out about the missing plaque/tab on my set. The space where it was affixed can be seen in the photo below the badge but what is was is a mystery so far.

 

[huthike]

Never have seen that set - pretty!


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[GerSan69]

Thanks GerSan!
So from what I'm piecing together, the oval belt buckle shaped item next to the badge is indeed the "replica" belt buckle....

You are Welcome.
I was thinking the same thing about the oval. At least it looks like one, doesn't it?
Perhaps the folks that commissioned the edition might be able to shed some light as well. Good luck, it's a very nice model!

 

[mreracp2u]

The little holes under the badge look like a two pin uniform style name plate could have been set in there.

Thanks GerSan!

So from what I'm piecing together, the oval belt buckle shaped item next to the badge is indeed the "replica" belt buckle.

There are other ACTUAL Belt buckles that were made but those were sold separately from the gun set.

Now I just need to find out about the missing plaque/tab on my set. The space where it was affixed can be seen in the photo below the badge but what is was is a mystery so far.

 

[Tytan01]

The little holes under the badge look like a two pin uniform style name plate could have been set in there.

Which would make sense. The letter that came with the gun was addressed to a Thomas Tobin. I did a google investigation and found an officer Tom Tobin who was in Orange County and LA County for a while doing some youth league work and other things.

It's possible this gun was a gift to him and the name plate was put on there for him...but as it changed hands after he passed on, the name plate was removed to make it more sell-able?

Short of contacting the family, which I feel would be a tad creepy, it is all conjecture. However have the fun of owning these things is the research. And the shooting. Which I may actually do one day.

I got SO MANY N-Frames to test. So many......

 

[CA1958]

Here's the belt buckle you're missing, numbered just like the guns. Good luck finding it. I've bought/sold several of these in the last couple years (returning them to fellow members of the dept). I've only seen two belt buckles.

 

[Tytan01]

Here's the belt buckle you're missing, numbered just like the guns. Good luck finding it. I've bought/sold several of these in the last couple years (returning them to fellow members of the dept). I've only seen two belt buckles.

CA1958,

Thank you for the pictures!

These are belt buckles that were sold WITH the guns or sold separately as another line of items that commemorate Tomato Springs and Officer Squires? These would have numbers that match the gun they were sold with?

I'd have to take another look at mine but I believe it's gun #61 or #62 and if I'm not mistaken the letter says it was sold to Tobin, the first owner, in 1984...maybe 1985. The gun and it's paperwork are buried in the gun vault and I have to dig it all out to confirm but do you think these bigger belt buckles were part of the original set?

 

[andy52]

Good looking gun, but it would be a handful to shoot with those service style stocks on it...

 

[CA1958]

I have 120 pages of documents from the first gun I purchased about how this gun came to exist. Smith & Wesson made two batches of guns (100 and 150 for 250 total) which were manufactured specifically for this commemorative gun. That's why each batch of guns has consecutive serial numbers. Also, once the guns arrived at the OCSD armory they were disassembled. The barrels, frames, and grips were all sent to different locations for custom work.

If you can, read the second and third paragraphs of the note next to the belt buckle. Paraphrasing, it's a bit of an apology for taking so long to get the guns into the hands of the purchaser. They were offered for a "minimum donation" of $750. Since it was for charity, you could pay more if you felt so-inclined.

The buckle, I believe, was made as a "thanks for your patience" to those that had purchased a gun. Each buckle had the same series number on the back that was assigned to whatever their gun had. In the pictures, the buckle belongs to gun #86.

As for the holes under the badge, I have not seen that on any other gun. I've personally owned six of these (re-sold five of them to other co-workers/collectors) and have seen pictures from old internet auction posts/s&w firearm threads of four or five more. None of them have had those holes. I would surmise, like someone else in this thread, that a nameplate was attached for whoever initially owned the gun.