PLEASE HELP ME TO IDENTIFY THIS NICE SMITH

[Muley Gil]

It looks to me like a postwar 1926 that has had a target barrel installed and an adjustable rear sight added.

Still well worth the trade though.

 

[ETMJR]

FINAL CHAPTER ON MY HAND EJECTOR

To all who have helped me to learn about my .44 S&W Special Hand Ejector Third Model Post World War II.

Thank you all for your thoughtful feedback and invaluable help.

This is Roy Jinks' letter to about this gun. The gun still poses somewhat of a mystery as to it's full history.

It is not the rare piece I thought it may be, but it is still an interesting revolver.

Read on..........................................


June 15, 2010

Dear Mr. Murphy;


We are sorry to inform you that we cannot supply any information concerning a .44 Hand Ejector Third Model Post World War II Serial Number Range, caliber .44 S&W Special. This firearm is open on Smith & Wesson records with no disposition listed, therefore we are unable to trace the history of this firearm.

Smith & Wesson has no further information on this firearm. Technically this firearm should still be in the Smith & Wesson factory as there is no record of it being shipped. However, these types of mistakes occur as a result of carelessness of the records clerk missing a number on an invoice. There is always the possibility that the revolver was used for a promotion and delivered to one of the company executives and shipped out on what is called a Memo Account. These accounts sometimes were not properly recorded in the records.

We have researched your Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector Third Model Post World War II Serial Number Range, caliber .44 S&W Special firearm in company records which indicate that your handgun, with serial number S62661, was probably manufactured in July 1946, we are sorry that we can not provide any further information on this firearm.

We trust that the information furnished will be helpful as well as of interest to you.

Sincerely,

Smith & Wesson
(signed)
Roy G. Jinks
Historian

--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
The following is a personal letter to myself from Roy G. Jinks:

June 15, 2010

Dear Mr. Murphy;

Enclosed is your history letter. I am sorry that there is so little information on this revolver. Based on the pictures you sent, it appears as if the barrel is of a later type than the revolver frame. I checked all possibilities and could not find any record of this revolver being sold.

I am enclosing several scans I made of the picture I have of Hank Curtis sitting at D. B. Wesson's desk. I do not know has the original picture. I will be working on a story about the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association in the next few weeks. In doing this I will go back into my storage location and see if I have a copy of the original picture. If I do, I will be able to make a better scan. The picture I scanned was from the Smith & Wesson Collectors Journal published in 1977 in celebration of the S&W 125th Anniversary. Hank was a very dear friend of mine.

I hope this material will be of some help

Yours truly,

(signed)

Roy G. Jinks

 

[murphydog]

Ed;

Thanks for the final words to this story!

Alan

 

[twaits]

Ed, I have to say that this part of your post made me grin from ear to ear:

I still have a picture somewhere of Hank sitting at Roy Jink's desk at Roy's home in 1977. The desk is D.B.Wesson's original desk that Roy salvaged from the old S&W factory building on Stockbridge street, A foot rest next to the desk is a case of about a dozen mint Schofield's, still in their original grease, that Roy got from the old Bannerman's island arsenal . Hank has a grin on his face like a possom eating plums!


Where is that case of Schofields now? Does Roy still use it as a foot rest?
It must be close to a Million dollar footrest!

 

[Texas Star]

OK.....just so I could sleep tonight, I went back to the gun and found the following:

The cylinder face is stamped 6266X, the same number at the bottom of the butt and inside of the ejector rod lug.

The square butt walnut grips are not the original grips, a different number (202363)is stamped inside.

The 348X stamped on the yoke and on the frame near where the yoke is attached don't make sense to me. Are they possibly a shop floor work number?

SWCA member #177 was Henry A. Curtis. Henry passed away in March 1997, I still miss him. His Smith & Wesson collection was large and exquisite.......top breaks, Schofields, Light Rifles(s), Mercox, razor blades and anything Smith & Wesson. I accompanied him at many gun shows in Southern Califonia, where he acquired many of his Smiths. He never acquired a Smith & Wesson urinal flush valve though. Upon his retirement from JPL, his coworkers and Roy Jinks got together and presented Henry with one of the Smith & Wesson .35 automatics. It was in the white, with no grips and the grip screw hole was not tapped. Roy gave it a serial number: HC177. My son is the heir of that sweet piece.

As Henry's health deteriorated, he had Ed Cornett liquidated his collection.

When Henry and wife (Janet) traveled east, they would be sure to see their friend, Roy Jinks.

All of this name-dropping makes me weary.

Ed

Well, I'm glad that this Henry Curtis liked S&W's. Sir Henry Curtis in, "King Solomon's Mines" carried a Colt!

I'm a big fan of that book by Sir Henry Rider Haggard, and the name jumped out at me...

BTW, all three of the white adventurers seeking the mines in Africa in that book wore Colt SAA .45's. Barrel lengths weren't mentioned. But it was written in 1883, and I suspect that the author had seen or used only those with 7.5-inch barrels. Haggard was a veteran of the Second Zulu War, incidentally.

Hope this doesn't upset anyone. I just couldn't resist commenting on the gentleman's name. It sounds as if he had a terrific S&W collection!

T-Star

 

[kinghornet]

help to identify

Can anyone help identify a hammerless, grip safety, 5 shot, Y3*** on butt, no markings on Left side except the SW on grip and one the right side there is an sw on grip and also just above grip sw with "trade" above and "mark" below it

 

[opoefc]

Kinghornet, Welcome to the Forum. Th get an answer to your question, you need to post it as an original question with it's own thread. It would also help if you can post a picture with your question. The serial number you cite, Y3*** does not compute as a valid S&W serial number, so are you sure the gun is a Smith & Wesson and not a copy? Ed.