Where's D.B.Wesson's RM?

[S.B.]

Anyone know the whereabouts of this handgun, today?

 

[S.B.]

Anyone know the whereabouts of this handgun, today?

 

[stumper]

I have one of DB's magnums, but not a registered. The one I have is a 3 1/2" Post war gun. Roy told me once that he bought Dan's collection when he passed away. It may reside in Roy's vault.

 

[mikepriwer]

Not sure which registerd magnum you are talking about, here. A few yesrs ago, in
a Devine auction, there were two very early registered magnums that belonged to
Douglas Wesson. There were in the estate of Rex Applegate. They were sold as a
pair, and one of them subsequently went to Gary Garbrecht, who subsequently died,
and his collection sold off.

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[S.B.]

mike, specifically, the one he shot all that big game with.

 

[opoefc]

It's in the collection of one of our members who posts here. It's not for sale, but if you have Reg. Mag. No. 1, I could probably broker a trade. Ed. .

 

[S.B.]

No worries, wealth isn't one of my strong points.

 

[mikepriwer]

Ed

You are not suppossed to give away secrets - the man obviously likes his privacy !

Mike

 

[Andy Griffith]

Don't suppose he'd trade it for J. Edgar Hoover's gun, do you?

 

[mikepriwer]

You'd have to ask him.

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[opoefc]

Mike, That would be an interesting question. What S&W would you trade for Reg. Mag. No. 1 ? (Assuming you had a rare S&W to trade ) Would you consider Reg. Mag. No. 1 the "Holy Grail" of S&W collecting? If not, what S&W would be the Ultimate Gun? Would $$ value be the test to apply to rank a gun as No.! Or?? I know of target guns, that are in collections of our members, that were personal guns of Daniel Baird Wesson, himself, made by him. Their dollar value is probably less than Reg. Mag. No. 1 in an auction sale. There's lots of Reg. Mags, but only one No. 1 and only one D.B.Wesson target gun. Forum members, which would you want?

 

[DHENRY]

Ed,
Registered Magnum # 1 (or # 4) would work just fine for me!
Don

 

[mikepriwer]

Ed

Personally, I don't care that much about reg mag # 1 . I own about a dozen or
so good reg mags , some in very scarce barrel lengths, so its not that I am
down on registered magnums. Its just that the premium for serial number one is
likely to be very high. Now - having said that, if serial 1 is the J Edgar Hoover
gun, then I'd probably pay a lot for it !

I do own a couple of D B Wessons guns - one is an 1899 target that they displayed
at the Paris Exhibition in 1900, then it went to D B when it returned. He didn't
personally make the gun, as far as I know (!), but it was his, and it was exhibited
in Paris.

I own the first post-WW2 K-32, but I think it is far less valuable than the only
known legimate target Victory, which I also own, and its a 2" gun, no less. There
is only one of each of these guns, so I do think about this issue. I also own
the .38 target presented to Charlie Call on his 25th anniversary with the factory.
He went on to work another 41 years - so I think this is an important one-of-a-kind
gun. I also own the first .357 K-frame, that went to Bill Jordan.

If there were only one more gun that I wanted, it would probably be McGiverns other
.38 target record setting gun. I do own the first one, so the second one, currently
in the CVM museum, would make a nice pair of the two !

Regards, Mike

 

[Texas Star]

Mike-

Can you post a photo of the target sighted Victory snub? That must be a remarkable gun.

T-Star

 

[mikepriwer]

T-Star

This is a picture of it - it was cut out of a larger picture of 7 or 8 guns :

Later, Mike Priwer

 

[smith17]

It is only fitting that it has magnas.
Ed

 

[opoefc]

Mike, my apologies! I worded my question incorrectly - I said "Assuming you had a rare S&W to trade..." I should have said " Which rare S&W would you trade!" I would rate your collection among the top 1/2 doz. collections, I know of, that rate highly in the number of very rare variations of S&Ws therein. If Reg. Mag. No. 1 should come out of hiding and go up for auction, what do you think it would bring?

 

[mikepriwer]

Ed

Guess I misunderstood the question !

I don't know what it would bring, but being registration 1 and J E Hoovers, presumably
it would bring a lot. 100,000 has been suggested later in this thread - maybe it would
bring that. Personally, I'm much more a fan of McGivern, but I could be persuaded to get
interested in George Patton Guns, as well ! This gun would not be worth that much to me,
so I'm not a good source for an estimate.


Regards, Mike

 

[vintagesmith]

Originally posted by S.B.:
mike, specifically, the one he shot all that big game with.

S.B.

Douglas Wesson's Prewar Magnum wasn't actually a "registered" magnum. It was a zero-numbered prototype or club gun -- #0373. It was checked out to Doug along with #0372 specifically for his now-famous "western hunting trip" to Wyoming in 1935 (read all of the details in April, 1936 Outdoor Life Article--a copy of which can be obtained on this forum). #0373 is the gun we see propped on the moose antlers in the photos from the trip. #0372 was given to Ernest Miller who was Doug's guide on this trip, and whose name is tastefully engraved on the sideplate. Miraculously, these guns were reunited and survive in good condition today. If you wish to know more, please advise.

Ray

 

[vintagesmith]

Originally posted by opoefc:
Mike, my apologies! I worded my question incorrectly - I said "Assuming you had a rare S&W to trade..." I should have said " Which rare S&W would you trade!" I would rate your collection among the top 1/2 doz. collections, I know of, that rate highly in the number of very rare variations of S&Ws therein. If Reg. Mag. No. 1 should come out of hiding and go up for auction, what do you think it would bring?

Ed,

Should Reg. Mag. #1 come out of hiding and go up for auction, I firmly believe it would sell for a LOT more than those opinions on this forum might indicate. Trust me on this one!

Ray