Pawnshop Engraved 2nd Model Hand Ejector .44

[Rio Laxas]

Today I picked up this 2nd Model Hand Ejector at auction. I bid on it and then immediately regretted it, because I didn't notice that the barrel had been chopped until after I bid. I ended up with it for $604, which I figured was a bit high. Nonetheless, I was born and raised in Texas and have long had an interest in Texas history, so I was hoping that this one would some connection, since I have read on here that pawnshop engraving like this was common to Texas.

UPDATE: I received a historical letter on this revolver from S&W. It was shipped to Wolf & Klar in 1922.





The action is tight and it functions fine, so it will make a good shooter. The grip screw didn't fit the grips real well, so I took them off and found this:



I have found a Captain James Carroll Bates of F Company Texas Rangers. He served as Captain from 1917-1918 and was appointed by Governor James E. Ferguson. He had previously been a Sergeant with F Company, Frontier Battalion. It seems he was also the Chief of Police of San Angelo. I don't know if the revolver was also his, but I sure hope so!

reuben

Two of Reuben and Mary's sons, Luther Edwin Bates and James Carroll Bates were Texas Rangers. Carroll Bates was also the police chief of San Angelo, and Luther Bates was a Fort Worth, Texas, policeman, and worked many years for the U.S. Department of Justice as a railroad detective.

Time for a letter and more research.

Edited to add: It appears as though Bates was later convicted in federal court of conspiring to violate prohibition laws in 1929. I found some old news articles of the Corsicana Semi-Weekly that give a bit of info on the accusation, indictment and conviction.

FORMER OFFICER DENIES ACCEPTING RUM RING MONEY DECLARES "UNUSUAL DEPOSITS DUE TO WAGERS AND FARM SALES SAN ANGELO, May 3.— (AP)—A former San Angelo police chief, Carroll Bates, and nineteen other persons today were convicted in federal court here of conspiring to defeat the national prohibition act. The verdict was reached on the second ballot Sentences were to i be pronounced this afternoon. A. W. Brown, a former night police sergeant was among the 19 others convicted. The principal witness for the prosecution was W. H. Hutcheson, who declared that as pay-off man for a rum ring he gave money to Bates regularly. That charge Bates denied, explaining his bank deposits of $54,000 in the last three years were proceeds from the sale of a farm, election and baseball bets, and lucky gambling.

The revolver dates to 1922, so that seems to hint that either the revolver itself was not owned by Bates or that he had it on another revolver prior to this one, as he was no longer with the Rangers by then.


UPDATE: I received a historical letter on this revolver from S&W. It was shipped to Wolf & Klar in 1922.

UPDATE: I received some information from the Texas Ranger Museum on Carroll Bates. He was sentenced to two years in the federal penitentiary for violating prohibition laws and apparently worked as a road laborer during that time. I also read in another that source that Bates was suspected of engaging in smuggling across the border, while serving as Captain of F Company and also following his resignation when he owned a ranch near Marathon. When an Army office accused him of such, an El Paso City Marshal came to his defense and claimed that Bates was an undercover informant working for him.

 

[Kinman]

Hey $600 bucks for a funky little early .44 Smith seems like a good deal to me, add the possible history and character looks like you got yourself a pawnshop winner to me.
Whats the story around Texas Pawnshop engraving? I have seen firearms in the past that look like a cubscout tried out his engraving talents with his clasp knife. I once passed on a very nice early model pre-60 Winchester that had the stock engraved with a wood burning tool, it was hideous...but the guy was real proud of his work and wouldn't come down on his price, the rest of the rifle was in terrific shape which was a good thing his burning tool wouldn't work on the steel.
I've passed on a couple of pistols that for whatever reason somebody felt it was necessary to electro-pencil their SSA number out in the open...I mean if you gotta do it, do it under the stocks for crying out loud...or on a rifle under the metal butt plate, but NOOOOooooo, they gotta do it right where everyone can see it.

 

[JayCeeNC]

I think you have a neat historical piece. I'd surely get a history letter for that one.

 

[Kansasgunner]

Don't you wish that old gun could talk? I really like it!

 

[Iggy]

Google Wolf-Klar.

 

[sqhead]

neat ole gun with cool history,the grips are worth a couple hundred and are pretty sweet as well..........enjoy it.

 

[nagant]

The grips are nice! and i would love a chance to even see a gun like it around here. Engraving looks like jalapeno's?

 

[Wyatt Burp]

If I saw that gun for sale at that price, I'd pry my wife's wedding ring off to pawn and buy it. A Forum member named Dan has/or had a fine collection of Wolf & Klar "engraved" S&Ws. I have the picture but better not post without permission. I got to babysit those guns once at a Reno gun show. Your's fits right in and is a find gun.

 

[nyeti]

I am jealous and couldn't drop $600 fast enough for that gun. Very good historical find.

 

[bettis1]

The engraving isn't one of the most common patterns that Wolf & Klar used but the style is certainly that of W&K. If you search here you will find plenty of examples of that work. As you may know now, they were a Ft. Worth Pawn & Gun shop that sold a large percentage of the handguns to Texas lawmen, cattlemen, and oilmen in that era. Some effete folks think that it is tacky but it is a true example of American folk art. Think of it as "Texas Kitch". The men who carried them either couldn't afford, didn't care for, or didn't want to take the time to send their arms back east to be scratched up by the classically trained German engravers. This was a good "field expedient" to dress them up and personalize them.

I think that you might be correct that the grips are from an earlier gun. They don't seem to fit that well at the top of the frame and when W&K fitted grips to their guns they usually marked them with matching Roman Numerals in both sides.

There is enough intrigue there that I would be comfortable in paying what you did. You have a lot of leads for following up...with the Ranger Museum in Waco and the San Angelo PD. I would also search the SA newspaper for any articles or pictures of the chief during those years.

Bob

 

[Rio Laxas]

Your thread about your 1926 that came from the former Chief of Police of Kerrville is actually what helped me identify that this revolver might be interesting in the first place. Had I not seen it, I probably would have never bid on it.

I did contact the San Angelo PD, but unfortunately all of their records prior to 1986 were purged and destroyed. The present Chief was interested enough to email me himself and ask that I share what I find as I research it. I was hoping their might be some record of Bates' service revolver while he was Chief, but no luck.