Registered Magnum .22 LR
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rburg
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Looks like you're pretty much up to speed on the issue.
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As Dick said, with a little clarification. One is known to have been made, no one knows if it still exists or who has it. It probably is in the collection of someone who wishes to remain anonymous. End of known story.
Maybe I can help narrow this down a bit: I don't own it.
Jerry
Jerry
opoefc
US Veteran
There was a recent thread on the .22RF Reg. Mag. and I posted the info on where & when it was shipped to Death Valley, CA., and a search I did many years ago for it. Ed
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three-five-seven
Member
Re: Registered Magnum in 22 LR?
This is the first I have heard of this. I will check out the local garage sales and gun shows. I do however own the Kaisers favorite Luger carbine that he hunted deer with in the Black Forest. Also a table cloth with gravy stains too.
This is the first I have heard of this. I will check out the local garage sales and gun shows. I do however own the Kaisers favorite Luger carbine that he hunted deer with in the Black Forest. Also a table cloth with gravy stains too.
gunlovingirl
Member
It never ceases to amaze me how much I learn here! I never knew there was a RM .22 out there!
For those of you who want to search...two Registered Magnums were ordered by American Potash & Chemical Corporation in Trona, California on October 9, 1936. The two guns were identical: 8 3/8-inch barrel, King Reflector Red Post front sight, King #112 white outline rear sight, and Magna stocks. Registration number 1590 was in .357 Magnum caliber and Registration number 1591 was in .22 Long Rifle caliber (S&W charged $150 for this revolver, or 2.5 times the normal retail cost of this model).
The letter to S&W states..."The price is immaterial as these pistols are intended as a gift for which a subscription has been made,...". (not exactly sure what a subscription means in this context, but it doesn't really matter).
Many have tried, but no one has succeeded in finding either revolver. Happy Hunting!!!
Bill
The letter to S&W states..."The price is immaterial as these pistols are intended as a gift for which a subscription has been made,...". (not exactly sure what a subscription means in this context, but it doesn't really matter).
Many have tried, but no one has succeeded in finding either revolver. Happy Hunting!!!
Bill
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That's more information on this fabled gun than I have previously seen in one place. Thanks for the summary.
In this context "subscription" looks like it would mean "We passed the hat." I get the feeling that a big shot at AmPot was retiring, and the upper echelons at the company wanted to give him a nice going-away present. If somebody can turn up a list of corporate officers in 1936 (I spent some time looking, but did not find what I wanted), maybe we can make an educated guess at who got the guns first. After that, of course, you have 75 years of undocumented history for them to wander around in.
I doubt whoever got them at retirement stayed in Trona. I've been there. The town and its surroundings are an interesting monument to the heyday of America's surface extraction industry, and the Trona Pinnacles are an interesting geological formation to visit, but the area does not strike me as the kind of place anybody would happily retire in.
I think the suggested Death Valley Scotty connection cannot be true. DV Scotty's situation, not to mention that of his sole benefactor Albert Johnson, had already collapsed by 1935, the year before the guns were made and shipped. Despite his self-proclaimed identity as a mining and minerals guy, there was no reason for him to have had anything to do with AmPot operations at Trona (which, coincidentally, is only 100 miles away, give or take). Scott had been a known fraud since 1906, and real minerals guys would never take him seriously.
It would be fascinating if this gun still existed in a safe somewhere. Or even as a rusty mess hanging from a nail in a barn wall.
Gary7
Member
I guess that means RM #1591 is the rarest S&W revolver ever, truly "one of a kind."
Oscar Zulu
Member
N-22 hand ejector model of 1936?
OZ
OZ
Crazy K38
Member
I would say easily 6 figures. Not only is it a registered magnum, but it is a one of a kind registered magnum.
What a thread! The education I get here never ceases to amaze me.
opoefc
US Veteran
David, The connection of Al Johnson & DV Scotty was very much alive and well in 1935. Johnson & his wife were living in the "Castle" which Johnson had built, as retirees enjoying the healthful climate of Death Valley. Scotty was living in his cabin about 5 miles away. Johnson, a well known in the industry mining engineer, had connections to many of the mining enterprises in DV. The early advertising hype on the RMs started in the early 30s, so if you lived in DV and wanted an RM, you didn't have a corner gun store to place your order, but you did have AmPot in Trona as the closest place to your residence to have the guns delivered. Johnson's connections to mining in the area made him well known, so his friends at AmPot would have been happy to accomodate him as the delivery point for the guns. Johnson was always giving Scotty gifts and financial support, even though he knew Scotty was a con man & fraud insofar, as Scotty's claims of having a fabulous gold mine hidden in DV, Scotty was still his life long friend. While Johnson had lost money in the stock market collapse in 1929, he was still fairly wealthy and who else in DV could tell S&W "cost is not important." Some times you have to connect the dots to get to the answers. My cousin, Clarence Satterfield, was a old time one burro prospector in DV and knew all the players there. He introduced me to Scotty in about 1948 at Barstow, when Scotty was in town on one of his binges. Unfortunately I didn't know of the .22RM at the time, or I would have asked him what he did with it! Ed. #15
Ed, I am not about to argue with someone who met DV Scotty in person! I can see that the line you laid out does indeed connect the dots in a way that is not unreasonable. But just to be thorough I'd still like to know what was going on with AmPot management in 1936 at the time the order was placed.
There should be a way to cross-link posts in this thread to the "Most interesting person you ever met" thread in the Lounge. You'd get lots of points for Scotty.
Barstow in 1948 -- I conjure up a mental image of a highway with half a dozen gas stations on each side, three motels, two coffee shops and maybe a post office. It sure is bigger now.
There should be a way to cross-link posts in this thread to the "Most interesting person you ever met" thread in the Lounge. You'd get lots of points for Scotty.
Barstow in 1948 -- I conjure up a mental image of a highway with half a dozen gas stations on each side, three motels, two coffee shops and maybe a post office. It sure is bigger now.
Mitch_D
Member
You Guys...
This stuff reads like the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", and you've got me on the edge of my seat.
I'm ready for a road trip to Death Valley. Or Kemmerer, Wyo. Wherever.
Let's run this thing down. I'm with you. I'll buy the gas.
Who's buying the beer?
This stuff reads like the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre", and you've got me on the edge of my seat.
I'm ready for a road trip to Death Valley. Or Kemmerer, Wyo. Wherever.
Let's run this thing down. I'm with you. I'll buy the gas.
Who's buying the beer?
Gary7
Member
It'll probably just show up discretely one day on GunBroker listed as an "old .22LR Kit Gun" and someone will snag it for $400.
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