Pre-War Magnums in Nickel, including 2 Non RM's

[merlindrb]

Firstly, Merry Christmas to all the members with a special thanks to the forum owner and his team.

I've recently taken temporary guardianship of 3 further pre-war Magnums in Nickel finish (shared thanks to David Carrol & Dick Burg plus Lee Jarrett & Geoff Moore).

Two of these are non-reg and one is an early RM (#318). In the pic below the two non-reg guns are on top. So the bottom gun is the RM.


I believe that there are only three non-reg nickel guns in our records, so this is two-thirds of the total. Unless you know different...

The first of the non-reg guns is rather interesting. It letters as leaving the factory in November of 1939 and does not have a Reg # stamped on the frame. However, Roy says it was assigned Reg # 5415 at the time of order, it just wasn't stamped. The November 1939 date makes it a very early non-reg gun.

Equally interesting is that I have an RM with the Reg # stamped on the frame that didn't leave the factory until July 1940. Go figure! Nothing's ever simple with S&W!

I hope you enjoy seeing them.

Dave
S&WCA #1678

 

[merlindrb]

Firstly, Merry Christmas to all the members with a special thanks to the forum owner and his team.

I've recently taken temporary guardianship of 3 further pre-war Magnums in Nickel finish (shared thanks to David Carrol & Dick Burg plus Lee Jarrett & Geoff Moore).

Two of these are non-reg and one is an early RM (#318). In the pic below the two non-reg guns are on top. So the bottom gun is the RM.


I believe that there are only three non-reg nickel guns in our records, so this is two-thirds of the total. Unless you know different...

The first of the non-reg guns is rather interesting. It letters as leaving the factory in November of 1939 and does not have a Reg # stamped on the frame. However, Roy says it was assigned Reg # 5415 at the time of order, it just wasn't stamped. The November 1939 date makes it a very early non-reg gun.

Equally interesting is that I have an RM with the Reg # stamped on the frame that didn't leave the factory until July 1940. Go figure! Nothing's ever simple with S&W!

I hope you enjoy seeing them.

Dave
S&WCA #1678

 

[1Aspenhill]

Dave,
Merry Christmas to you! I see your Christmas came early!

What's the history on the RM? since it is so early, did it go to anyone special? All of these look as though they just left the factory. Congrats on pulling these together, they sure are nice. Take care and have a Merry Christmas!
Bill

 

[JayCeeNC]

Darn nice, Dave, thanks for sharing!
I picked up a blued KC non-RM from Geoff a few months back, shows honest cop wear and hasn't been refinished. Neat guns.
Merry Christmas to you! Does Santa wear shorts when he flies into Florida??

 

[DWFAN]

Very nice Dave. Good to have you back.

DW

 

[Dan M]

Merry Christmas,

Beautiful guns, all I can say is WoW!!!
Thanks for sharing the picture which is destined for the wallpaper

Dan M

 

[gunfish]

Thanks for the pics. Merry Christmas to all.

 

[Deacon KC]

Merlin those are gorgeous! Thanks and Merry Christmas!

 

[RKmesa]

Dave:

Made my Christmas morning complete! I received a copy of Jinks' History of Smith & Wesson and Smith & Wesson 1857-1945 A Handbook for Collectors for Christmas and was enjoying the chapters on RM's when I clicked on this thread

.

Thanks for sharing and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

[digi-shots]

Wow, very nice!

Thanks for posting & Merry Christmas!

Linda
SWCA #1965

 

[mikepriwer]

Dave

There was a post, on this thread, last night, that seems to have disappeared. It raised a question
about the two nickel-plated sight bases.

The pins, if there are any, that hold those two nickel sight bases are polished smooth to the rib
of the barrel. One of the two is showing just the bare beginning of something going on betwee the
sight base and the top of the barrel rib.

I wasn't aware that the factory was polishing those sight-base pins flush to the rib, during the
registered/non-registered magnum era. Do you have any comments, or insights, about that ?

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[smith17]

Mike:
I posted and raised the point/question but got a couple of emails off-forum asking why I was being negative about 3 such beautiful guns(I was not, in my opinion), but in the spirit of the season, I removed it.
Ed

 

[DHENRY]

Dave,
A fantastic assortment, and thank you for the beautiful post!
Don

 

[Doc44]

Dave...Great looking revolvers.

Bill

 

[j38]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL Mags! Thanks for sharing some Christmas cheer! Regards, Jerry

 

[rburg]

I don't remember them looking that nice when they were in my safe...

As for Mike's question, we sure had a series of discussions about that. I can freely admit I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Because the prices I paid originally weren't very high, and I knew they were originally shipped as nickel, I just didn't care. When David looked at them he spent some time on each and made the comment that he thought they were original. He's about as good at spotting a refinish as anyone I know.

I'm just glad they've moved someplace where they'll be appreciated and cared for.

 

[moosedog]

Those N frames just look great in nickel.
Thanks for sharing those Dave. Merry Christmas.

 

[Onomea]

Very nice, Dave. Thanks for the post.

 

[bettis1]

Hi Dave. You obviously haven't been wasting your time away from here! Great guns!

I'm confused on the number of known non-Reg. nickels now. The data base lists an 8 3/4, a 4", and a 3.5". Are these two 4" guns new ones or is one of them the one that is already listed?

In any case, they are pretty rare birds. Would any of you folks like to make an estimation of the number produced? Just to start things off, I'll guess no more than 50 and probably nearer to a couple of dozen. (no facts to back that up, just a WAG.

)

Bob

 

[rburg]

Two 4" guns, Bob. The one in the database was Geoffs, the other one was the one I had. Its neither fish nor fowl. As Dave stated, it did have a registration number assigned, but not stamped on it. It went to the chief of Winston-Salem PD in October of 39 as I recall. Nice little gun.

#318 was interesting because it was one of the first nickel guns.