Where Are The Other 399 Kansas City PD Pre-War .357 Magnums…..

[lestert357]

out of the 476 that shipped to the KCPD in 3 shipments during 1939/1940?

All except 3 of them are 4" and configured like the one pictured in the box below with either a standard or Hump Back hammer.

The serial number ranges for the 3 shipments are:

09/07/39 shipment: 58817 - 59899 (REG 4987 - 5236)
01/30/40 shipment: 60780 - 61101
07/03/40 shipment: 61936 - 62003

If you think you might have or know of one, and it is not one of the 77 listed in my survey at KCPD Pre-War .357 Magnums Purchased During 1939/1940 (Finish Condition - A Survey), please contact me with your serial number and/or Registration number, and I will verify if it was in one of the KCPD shipments.

Updated as of 6/12/2024: I had not seen another Magnum from these shipments on any auction site or on this Forum in over 12 months - until this week when a member of this Forum notified me about serial number 58844 REG 5000, now pictured in post #33 below!

Update as of 7/12/2024: Serial number 59656 REG 5069 posted by a new Forum member and pictured in post #34 below.

Update as of 8/19/2024: Serial number 60910 NRM with original finish and un-numbered grips just sold on GB and now pictured in post #35 below.

 

[22hipower]

I can only wish I had one of those. . . .

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[RKmesa]

Terry:

Are you aware of any of them being scrapped when they finished their service with the KCPD? Or do you happen to know what KCPD did with them after they were rolled out of service?

 

[quinn]

By my rough calculation, KCMO purchased somewhere between 6 and 7% of all the pre war magnums that S&W made. That seems like a lot of this collector firearm to be missing.

I thought I had seen ads reproduced here about one of the major distributors selling the used magnums for something like $69 a pop? I would bet that there are a lot of -particularly- the NRMs lying around unrecognized. As I've posted before just before covid closed out local shows I bought a Wichita PD NRM marked as a pre 27.

Happy hunting everyone!

 

[lestert357]

Terry:

Are you aware of any of them being scrapped when they finished their service with the KCPD? Or do you happen to know what KCPD did with them after they were rolled out of service?

Richard,

In 1957 the KCPD replaced the Magnums with the S&W 4" Heavy Barrel K-38's and disposed of the Magnums; shortly thereafter Klein's Sporting Goods of Chicago, Illinois, ran sales advertisements (examples pictured below) for the used Magnums in several issues of The American Rifleman. However I don't know if all of them, or even most of them, were disposed in this manner…..

I don't know for sure, but I don't think my example pictured above ever left the Kansas City area as I purchased it from an individual living in Kansas City at the time. However the condition of mine is substantially better than most that are encountered, so I suspect that it somehow got outside of the refinishing and disposal mainstream.

 

[CH4]

Unfortunately, not in my safe

 

[lestert357]

To the top…..there has got to be more of them out there!

 

[lawandorder]

Dresser drawers, attics, top shelf of closets, tackle boxes and some probably serving as truck guns.

 

[BAM-BAM]

My 99% RM was brought into a local gun shop and put on consignment for $325 ( about 20 years ago). They were having a baby and the wife told the husband to get his grandfather's gun out of the house.

The Shop "Pittsburgh Handgun Headquarters" in business since the 1930s and a Colt Service Center...... did not recognize it as anything special...... The tag read "S&W .357 $325".

So I'd guess a lot are just sitting around ...................."Grandpap's gun!"

 

[shawn mccarver]

They were having a baby and the wife told the husband to get his grandfather's gun out of the house.

The husband should have locked the gun up and told the wife he got it out of the house. Dead storage for a decade or more, and then give it to the kid when the kid got old enough.

 

[lawman445]

I thought this might be one at first when I picked it up a few years ago with it`s 4" barrel and humpback hammer until I remembered the front sight wasn`t the right style. Looks like the 59908 serial number puts it just after the Sept 1939 shipment to KCPD.

I`m ashamed to say that getting a letter on it is still on my "to do" list after all this time...

 

[lestert357]

Lawman, even though your RM is not a KCPD Magnum it deserves better than thumbnails, and is certainly worthy of a letter!

It also now has the distinction of being the 2500th entry in the S&W Pre-war .357 Magnum database.

Please send me the shipping date and destination details when you get your letter.

I listed it in the database as having a Marble Gold Bead front sight and assumed a U notch rear sight - please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[2152hq]

I have (somewhere) the Bbl 'Only' from #59383.
4" blued.
IIRC it had a King red ramp insert front sight on it, which is now dismounted but still with the bbl.

Looks reblued

 

[lestert357]

I have (somewhere) the Bbl 'Only' from #59383.
4" blued.
IIRC it had a King red ramp insert front sight on it, which is now dismounted but still with the bbl.

Looks reblued

That's very interesting - especially since it's consecutive to my 59384/REG 5008 pictured in post #1 above!

That specific serial number is not in the database so I will add it. It is certainly in the serial number range of the Magnums shipped to the KCPD in September 1939. I have all of the registration numbers for the September 1939 shipment to the KCPD, but not the corresponding serial numbers, and I don't think Dr. Jinks has that cross reference either. But I will ask him if he can confirm that 59383 was a KCPD shipment. Thanks for that update and I will report the information I obtain from Dr. Jinks.

 

[lestert357]

Just got this great update from Dr. Jinks: "N frame serial 59383 is a Reg Mag reg. number 5002 and did go to the KC Police".

I will add this information to the S&WCA database and my KCPD Survey.

 

[lestert357]

I have (somewhere) the Bbl 'Only' from #59383.
4" blued.
IIRC it had a King red ramp insert front sight on it, which is now dismounted but still with the bbl.

Looks reblued

2152hq, pictured below is the original configuration of your barrel, a Baughman Quick Draw front sight blade on a plain King Ramp base…..

 

[2152hq]

Thank you for the pic.
Mine has the King marked ramp.
The sight blade is a Patridge style with square Red bead
....if I'm recalling it all correctly.

Now I have to go find it and verify what I have!
I'll take a couple pics of it.

 

[2152hq]

After a couple try's,,here's the bbl with it's front sight that was detached but at least kept with the bbl.




A Baughman front blade as you suggested it should have been originally.

Not the red square patridge bead I had remembered.
Now the hunt through stuff to find that red bead front sight bbl I seem to recall from somewhere?.
The sharp as a tack mind is more and more rubber tack as of late.

 

[lestert357]

To the top for another check…..

 

[lestert357]

This KCPD Magnum just surfaced…..