...Pre Model with 15 original box ???

[Engine49guy]

Buyers beware...
Recently saw an ad for a 5 screw pre 15 CM


Says includes the original box ?


You decide...

 

[skeetshooter]

Nope ! Not a chance.

 

[Engine49guy]

I see 3 things that are plain wrong and 1 thats very fishy !

 

[VM]

fake label (too obvious)
BP box (too late)
5 hole corners usually target stocks box (taller)

am I close?

 

[paplinker]

And so it begins.

 

[Engine49guy]

fake label (too obvious)
BP box (too late)
5 hole corners usually target stocks box (taller)

am I close?

I totally dismissed the box corners since the box is so much later production...

 

[VM]

I totally dismissed the box corners since the box is so much later production...

It should be pre BP w/ solid border but if indeed Magna stocks, I believe it should only have 4 ring corners.

 

[paplinker]

It should be pre BP w/ solid border but if indeed Magna stocks, I believe it should only have 4 ring corners.

That was the first thing i thought of.

 

[trashy]

Are we (S&W collectors) about to see the same fake boxes that has plagued the Pony collectors for a while now? Even though some of those have been well copied, this is just a bad fake label on the wrong box. Be on the lookout gentlemen.

BTW, going by the one picture, that's a pretty nice shooter 5 screw CM. Might do better selling by itself without the NON original box.

 

[FPrice]

Interesting and informative thread. I learned a bit from this.

One question, does the serial number indicate a pre-Model 15? (I am not anywhere near my book right now).

 

[wetdog]

Serial # is 1954 in the OP post. I have K288824, April 1957, with a solid silver border line on the lid with Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Mass. Serial # is in white grease pencil on the bottom.

 

[g8rb8]

Isn't that the ultra rare pre-model 15 of which 10 of the original 5 are known to exist? You know ....... the model where they experimented with model numbers before there were model numbers and the super special blue boxes. I was for the revolver at first but then I was against it, before I found out how rare it was, so now I for it. I also like how uniform all the printing is on the end label. That's as beautiful and uniform an end label as you're going to find.

Oh, by the way ...... the revolver might not be too bad.

John
Scoundrel and Ne'er-Do-Well in Training

Edited - Did anyone notice the circular sticker with the number 16 written in it on the end of the box? What's that all about?

 

[murphydog]

You never know, the seller may have been sold the "package" (literally and figuratively) and is not aware of the box's history. An e-mail would clear this up.

 

[snake803]

Are we (S&W collectors) about to see the same fake boxes that has plagued the Pony collectors for a while now? Even though some of those have been well copied, this is just a bad fake label on the wrong box. Be on the lookout gentlemen.

BTW, going by the one picture, that's a pretty nice shooter 5 screw CM. Might do better selling by itself without the NON original box.

The box isn't fake...Just the label and the story..
JIM...............

 

[H Richard]

By the way, since it is a "Pre" Model 15, how come it has a "15" in the "Model No." box on the label, Hmmm, a Pre model why does the Label even have a "Model No" box????

 

[Engine49guy]

By the way, since it is a "Pre" Model 15, how come it has a "15" in the "Model No." box on the label, Hmmm, a Pre model why does the Label even have a "Model No" box????

Exactly....

Another oddity is the high shoulder Magna grips which a K-224000 serial is probably a bit too high to have ,
IIRC Magnas went to a tapered shoulder somewhere around the K-150,000 to K-170,000 range during the steel grip medallions.


Just posted the pics for learning purposes as it looks like an otherwise nice 5 screw Combat Masterpiece with wrong grips , wrong era box and fake label.

 

[OldDominion]

I recently sold a Pre17 and included the gold box I had picked up for it. The box had no numbers on the bottom. Not too long after, I learned the buyer had sold it to a friend. Anywho...later I saw the same gun for sale on GB by a large volume seller and it included the "original box" with the correct numbers on the bottom in black grease pencil. Caveat Emptor.

 

[g8rb8]

I recently sold a Pre17 and included the gold box I had picked up for it. The box had no numbers on the bottom. Not too long after, I learned the buyer had sold it to a friend. Anywho...later I saw the same gun for sale on GB by a large volume seller and it included the "original box" with the correct numbers on the bottom in black grease pencil. Caveat Emptor.

Did anyone notice the circular sticker with the number 16 written in it on the end of the box? What's that all about?

OldDominion,
Yes. Caveat Emptor. I was at a gun show recently and drawn to a table from an individual with a number of really nice items. A hand written tag on a 2.5" Colt Python described it As New In Box. The owner/seller inferred he owned it since new. It looked like it could have passed for new. The wood grain cardboard box looked a little big to my recollection from Python boxes I had seen 30+ years ago, more like for a 6" gun. Careful inspection of the box end under a bright light revealed another label had once graced the box and was replaced with the new label with very uniform looking printing from what looked to be an extra fine point Sharpie marker (or similar). It was very well done. In regards to the saying, "Buy the gun and not the story," it looks like a lot of boxes are becoming "the story."
John
Scoundrel and Ne'er-Do-Well in Training

 

[perrazi]

this has been coming for a long time. smith guys are going to have to become box experts just like the colt guys had to. the box sellers needed new sheep to shear.

 

[larryofcc]

Here is # 199088, shipped 11-05-1953. 100% correct as lettered, complete with papers and tools. Actually, N.I.B. Box is marked for target stocks and target hammer. At 100%. it is my nicest S&W. Yes, it has an over label. Big Larry