Storage of S&W Letters??

[handejector]

Make copies of ALL letters!
To save space, make them front and back on one sheet. (they DO pile up)

If you letter a lot of guns, rent a P.O. Box.
Or perhaps you can have them sent to a work address????

If sent to your home address, request that ONLY your name be on the letter, NOT your address.
If you are the real paranoid type, have Roy address it "To Whom It May Concern".

But, think about putting at least your name on it. Decades after you're dead, new collectors will be looking at your name. (the new guys will love the Dick Burg tales)

I keep letters in sheet protectors, of course.
Last page on the front, so in a binder, that one comes up first. With a sticky strip placed along the edge to ID quickly:
"44- 2nd - 5"- 24003"

To Remove your address:
Place the front page only on an old magazine or newspaper.
Use a utility knife with a new blade to neatly outline the address only. When placed in a sheet protector back to back with the other page, the neat hole will disappear.
I still recommend leaving your name.
Do NOT use a magic marker. It looks like hell and can often still be read.

And NO, mine are not stapled up in the outhouse. I had vinyl siding put on it last year and had it sheetrocked, so I don't need them there to cover the holes.......

 

[JSR III]

Lee, glad to hear that you have moved the letters from the outhouse to somewhere inside the plantation where it's dry.

 

[bettis1]

Good suggestions from both Dick and Lee.

Instead of using sticky strips on the outside, I use a magic marker to list Serial Number, Model, Cal., Bbl. Length, and Shipping Date (in that order) on the margin of the page protector where the holes are. As I page through them it is easy to find the one that I am looking for.

Dick, Wow! Three iterations of the files!! I get a tingle up my leg knowing that you are even more "anal retentive" than I. Copies are a great idea (especially if you can get the boss to fund it). What boggles my mind are the logistics of a three-file project. I'm so obsessive-compulsive that I get short of breath when I find a letter out of sequence in a single list. I can imagine losing consciousness trying to keep three separate files that are each organized with different criteria in sync. Trying to keep both numeric and alphanumeric serial numbers in order just fries my brain (Even the factory didn't use the serial numbers for inventory control).

I hate the disfigurement of blacking out or cutting out the name and address. With the advent of the internet, unfortunately, any of us are within a few keystrokes of pinning us down anyway. I think that Lee's suggestion to leave the name and cut the address and back it with the second page is the best that I've heard. I feel pretty strongly that the past ownership of an important piece is a significant part of its provenance. I know I would certainly hold dear a letter from Burg or Jarrett...even if it did have a funny smell.

Bob

 

[boykinlp]

I hate the disfigurement of blacking out or cutting out the name and address. With the advent of the internet, unfortunately, any of us are within a few keystrokes of pinning us down anyway. I think that Lee's suggestion to leave the name and cut the address and back it with the second page is the best that I've heard. I feel pretty strongly that the past ownership of an important piece is a significant part of its provenance. I know I would certainly hold dear a letter from Burg or Jarrett...even if it did have a funny smell.Bob

Isn't it ashame that in the world we live in today, we have to go to these extremes!! Bob is right. Tracing past ownership can be very important. I think of all the stories I have seen on this forum about finding a special gun and tracking it all the way back to the factory. We love to see their history. It will be a real shame when this can no longer be accomplished.

 

[phenson]

Plastic sleeves are called document protectors in the Army. That's what I have mine in. Then the whole 2 I have are in a three ring binder.

 

[moosedog]

I make copies of mine so I can use them for reference without damaging the originals.
I put the originals in a large envelope with the others and store them in a vault with the guns.