Waiting Time for Letter?

[kbm6893]

I understand it's 8-12 weeks. My check was cashed on 10/19 but I don't know if that when the clock starts ticking. Only reason I'm asking is the post office has been terrible the last few months. Packages and letters have been very late. Any way to find out if it has been mailed out?

 

[Club Gun Fan]

8 to 12 weeks once it's entered in the work in process files.

 

[kbm6893]

8 to 12 weeks once it's entered in the work in process files.

The check was cashed 0n 10/19. They received the check 2 weeks before that. How would I know when it was entered into the work in process files? I just want to know if it was sent and lost.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

The check was cashed 0n 10/19. They received the check 2 weeks before that. How would I know when it was entered into the work in process files? I just want to know if it was sent and lost.

I am the one that enters the data and cash's checks. I don't know how you can tell when I received it. I can assure you the letter hasn't been sent back to you as of yet.

 

[kbm6893]

I am the one that enters the data and cash's checks. I don't know how you can tell when I received it. I can assure you the letter hasn't been sent back to you as of yet.

Thank you. I know it was mailed on 10/2 and it was cashed in 10/19. I figured once the check was cashed it was in the system. Mail here has been awful and I just was hoping to find out it wasn't lost.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

I know how the mail is. I just got a package that was mailed the first week of December. I got it Jan 6!

 

[Ruger 13]

Seems like a waste of money and time for what is in the letter.......IMO.

 

[kwill1911]

Seems like a waste of money and time for what is in the letter.......IMO.

I guess thousands of people over many decades are wrong, then. Thanks for your opinion.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

Seems like a waste of money and time for what is in the letter.......IMO.

Ruger
Thanks for your thoughts. What does Ruger charge for a letter, and how much information does it contain? Sounds like your not happy.

 

[opoefc]

Compared to "letters" from other gun makers, I think S&W letters, plus now that we have the SWHF chiming in with info in some cases, is equal, or better, than the other gun makers. Having said that, there are several models, such as Victories and very early antiques, where specialized info available for a letter is minimal requiring educational guesses by Roy. $100 for a letter on an early Model One may leave one sorry they sent for it, however the letter you usually get for a Registered Magnum is a bargain at $100 ! Ed (We are never going to catch up with the Brits, however. Order a letter from, say, Holland & Holland on your elephant rifle and you get a history from Day One on the gun, who has owned it, how many times it's been shot, by whom & where, and their family tree going back to the Knights of the Round Table !) Ed

 

[kbm6893]

I'm looking forward to getting mine. If I'm not overwhelmed with it it's no big deal. Life is full of chances.

 

[Doc44]

Ruger charges $10 per letter. The configuration of the firearm is confirmed (for example, BKH47 for a Blackhawk 44 Magnum with a 7 1/2-inch barrel), the month and year the gun was made, and the month and year it was shipped to a specific location.

Bill

 

[cmansguns]

My two cents

My experience has been that everyone of the Letters I've sent for has been well worth it to me as a budding collector and S&W enthusiast.

For sure....I'm a shooter too for over 6 decades, but to really enjoy some of my guns, the Letters give me that "extra mile" that Roy puts in about the history of the Model, some statements that cannot be found in SCSW 4th (or 3rd, 2nd, 1st for that matter).

A good example is my 22-32 HFT, could have been a Bekeart (was not) could have shipped any of several different years (1915 per LOA), and mine came with original (numbered to the gun) box, paper docs, and a unused cleaning rod in original rice paper wrapping.

BTW..........if you think the Letters have no further value than ship date (which you can get for free by asking Roy)...you really need to remember the recent "find" by one of our Members who found a 22-32 HFT for $300, wrote for a Letter, LOA said it was ordered for Annie Oakley......recently sold at auction for some $50,000 bucks! Pretty danged good call by that Forum member!

To each his own........if you don't think a Letter is worth the cost then don't order one.....

 

[bluetopper]

I sent a check off for a letter on 10-18-20 and have received nothing also.

 

[JH1951]

Exercise patience. I waited for mine and was quite pleased to find out to where it was shipped.

 

[Club Gun Fan]

I sent a check off for a letter on 10-18-20 and have received nothing also.

Send me a PM, I can't look up anything without your proper name and the gun you want lettered.
Don

 

[ditrina]

Here is a perfect example of the information that a letter CAN tell you. Most just let you know as others have said, basic configuration and when it was shipped and to who.

But once in awhile SURPRISE!!

( From Wiki )
Wesley Grapp served as head of the Los Angeles Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office. He was the agent who carried out Hoover's orders to give FBI information to University of California senior regent Edwin W. Pauley. Pauley allegedly had a history of political connections with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner of today's CIA, as well as a close association with Will Jenkinson, who was later to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, (1953–1961).

Grapp left the FBI in 1972 and headed security for Flying Tigers Airlines.

Edwin W. Pauley

Pauley told Grapp that in the 1950s the FBI secretly gave the university reports on professors it was considering hiring. He said he wanted to restore the procedure—which the FBI had code-named the Responsibilities Program—and offered to pay someone to check FBI files. After Pauley promised not to reveal that the FBI was his source, Grapp gave him a report on UC Berkeley immunology professor Leon Wofsy that summarized news stories from 1945 to 1956, noting that Wofsy had been a self-avowed Communist Party official who tried to get young people involved with the party. The report failed to note that since 1957 the FBI had found no evidence that Wofsy had been involved with the party.[14]

On February 4, 1965, Grapp told Hoover that Pauley could be used as a source on internal University affairs, and could harass and remove suspected communists on the faculty and the Board of Regents. Hoover approved, and one week later Pauley was given confidential information on Coblentz, Roth and Heller. Pauley, Grapp reported to Hoover, was "most appreciative" of the information on his opponents. As Pauley saw it, according to Grapp's report, UC would remain in turmoil "as long as the current officials were in power at the university."[14]
__________________
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[Kinman]

Sending off for a letter is sort of like ordering a knife from somebody like Randall. When it finally comes in the mail its like Christmas. I think the common thinking is get a piece lettered that is interesting, has some speculative history...the letter will prove most of it out, its not the ultimate answer but I think they are great for sorting little things out. Numerous stampings on the grip frame can be sorted out. Especially for the collector...

 

[larryofcc]

I sent my check in 2-25. It was cashed 3-24 almost one month later. Today is 4-14 and am still waiting. I am sure many others are wanting letters, so I will just wait my turn. Big Larry

 

[Doc44]

The waiting time for a letter is a little over three months, so please be patient.

Bill Cross
S&WHF