Years ago, I found that the two piece S&W boxes were great for sorting brass while reloading. 
Why misnumbered stocks?
- Thread starter Recoil Rob
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DBWesson
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
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It is interesting to know that there is still a golden rule.
The man with the gold rules.
E-Bay boxes are not cheep, that tells me that there is some money stashed out there kept in reserve for just that special box.
With 70,000 + members in this S&W forum I would think that we could set up a stock exchange, sure it would be complicated but with the expertise of the administrators of this forum I think it can be done.
Someone wanted to set up a stock exchange for the Number Three Russians that went to Australia. I don't know how hard it would have been to match up the gun with the stock when they came in from OZ, but the guy that brought them in didn't bother. Now when you find a
set "Gun with Stock" they do not match.
I am guilty of separating stocks from the gun.
I bought a 29-2 $450 with Coke Grips on it and since I only collect 5 screw guns, I did not care about that gun. I thought that the Cokes were too good for that gun anyway. They sold on E-Bay for $???.
DBWesson
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Member S&WCA
It is interesting to know that there is still a golden rule.
The man with the gold rules.
E-Bay boxes are not cheep, that tells me that there is some money stashed out there kept in reserve for just that special box.
With 70,000 + members in this S&W forum I would think that we could set up a stock exchange, sure it would be complicated but with the expertise of the administrators of this forum I think it can be done.
Someone wanted to set up a stock exchange for the Number Three Russians that went to Australia. I don't know how hard it would have been to match up the gun with the stock when they came in from OZ, but the guy that brought them in didn't bother. Now when you find a
set "Gun with Stock" they do not match.
I am guilty of separating stocks from the gun.
I bought a 29-2 $450 with Coke Grips on it and since I only collect 5 screw guns, I did not care about that gun. I thought that the Cokes were too good for that gun anyway. They sold on E-Bay for $???.
DBWesson
Life NRA
Life CCA
Life CRPA
Life Sharps CA
Member S&WCA
I believe the cumulative opinion is yes, quite possibly, but usually when the numbers are only a few digits off. For example: 10563 and 10565 appearing to be an obvious assembler reading error, or 148234 and 148239 when an assembler made an error who was assumedly working on guns numbered close in the serial range and the provenance is a single owner gun, original in every other way.
Another scenario I've witnessed at a gunshop is the buyer bought a new 4"gun but liked the grain on the grips of a same model 6" gun sitting next to it in the showcase. The clerk swapped the grips for the buyer.
Jack Flash
Member
One thing that no one has mentioned so far is guns used by an agency or police department that probably had an armoror. Do you think he cleaned guns one at a time? Or is it more likely he took the stocks off multiple guns, did whatever cleaning/tuning/repairing they needed and then put the stocks back on without even looking at the numbers?
I agree with the comment about Stock # 123456 being on gun # 128456, as I have a Model 10-6 where that is exactly the case. A deeply struck "3" can look a lot like an "8", especially if someone is too vain to put his glasses on, or happens to be swapping war stories as he works. There's no way of knowing whether this happened at S&W or at an agency, although some people seem to "know" beyond any doubt that it happened at right there at the factory.
It cracks me up how collectors wring their hands that someone 100 years ago bought a gun and had the audacity to actually use it.
Get a grip, guys!
I agree with the comment about Stock # 123456 being on gun # 128456, as I have a Model 10-6 where that is exactly the case. A deeply struck "3" can look a lot like an "8", especially if someone is too vain to put his glasses on, or happens to be swapping war stories as he works. There's no way of knowing whether this happened at S&W or at an agency, although some people seem to "know" beyond any doubt that it happened at right there at the factory.
It cracks me up how collectors wring their hands that someone 100 years ago bought a gun and had the audacity to actually use it.
Get a grip, guys!
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The first gun I bought was a S&W 48-4. One of the first things I did was to buy target grips to replace the magna grips. I saved the original grips, but a lot of people didn't. I remember going into a local gun store and the owner had a box full of magnas. I wanted to sell the magnas I had and he said "Oh, you want to sell the grips that nobody wants?" So, I kept them.
Years ago, I sold a Colt ACE on consignment. I sold it without the box. 20-30 years ago, I don't think boxes were all that important. Later, I found the box and sold it on Ebay for $165.00. I threw away my first Python box as well as my first Gold Cup box.
Now, I don't throw away anything.
Years ago, I sold a Colt ACE on consignment. I sold it without the box. 20-30 years ago, I don't think boxes were all that important. Later, I found the box and sold it on Ebay for $165.00. I threw away my first Python box as well as my first Gold Cup box.
Now, I don't throw away anything.
Last Colt Ace box from 1932 I saw sell on e-bay went for $1200...2 years ago.
Frank237
Absent Comrade
I prefer ANY pistols or revolvers to have the original box...but have bought plenty without the box. I have yet to buy any on e bay either.
Guess I collect guns...not boxes. The other thing that enters my mind is that the collection will probably never get sold until I'm nearly dead or actually planted. What will I care if I'm missing some boxes then?
The passion to find the matching box or to have an appropriate box for a gun reminds me a bit of the collector car hobby twenty or so years back. I knew so many guys with GREAT old muscle cars, yet they felt somewhat like the bastard stepchild at our car shows as their car was not "All matching numbers".
The "factory original" and "all matching" was taken to such a ridiculous level that many left the hobby or sold out in search of that elusive matching car.
FN in MT
Guess I collect guns...not boxes. The other thing that enters my mind is that the collection will probably never get sold until I'm nearly dead or actually planted. What will I care if I'm missing some boxes then?
The passion to find the matching box or to have an appropriate box for a gun reminds me a bit of the collector car hobby twenty or so years back. I knew so many guys with GREAT old muscle cars, yet they felt somewhat like the bastard stepchild at our car shows as their car was not "All matching numbers".
The "factory original" and "all matching" was taken to such a ridiculous level that many left the hobby or sold out in search of that elusive matching car.
FN in MT
Bell Charter Oak Holsters
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Stocks, Collectors & Shooters
As others have mentioned, it was common to walk into nearly any gunshop once upon a time and find a box, or boxes, of factory service grips. S&W, Colt and others. But in my experience mostly S&W Magnas. When rubber grips became mainstream, it seemed the boxes of Magnas got larger too. Happily, I can tell you that I managed several times to harvest very desireable pre war service style stocks for a variety of revolvers from those boxes. There were 4 or 5 shops I frequented and the first thing I normally did was check out the "used" grips.
Collectors of course would not discard grips original to the gun, or perhaps even mismatched but correct period grips. Shooters, generally speaking, want stocks that are comfortable and may provide for better shooting or reduce felt recoil, or both. Cops usually look for the same qualities as a shooter but may emphasize durability the rubber stocks provide. I can say that I have damaged Magnas in scuffles or from banging into objects, the rubber stocks really do resist impact damage very well, as ugly as they are to me as a collector, I have to admit they do also protect the weapon to some extent.
Cheers;
Lefty
As others have mentioned, it was common to walk into nearly any gunshop once upon a time and find a box, or boxes, of factory service grips. S&W, Colt and others. But in my experience mostly S&W Magnas. When rubber grips became mainstream, it seemed the boxes of Magnas got larger too. Happily, I can tell you that I managed several times to harvest very desireable pre war service style stocks for a variety of revolvers from those boxes. There were 4 or 5 shops I frequented and the first thing I normally did was check out the "used" grips.
Collectors of course would not discard grips original to the gun, or perhaps even mismatched but correct period grips. Shooters, generally speaking, want stocks that are comfortable and may provide for better shooting or reduce felt recoil, or both. Cops usually look for the same qualities as a shooter but may emphasize durability the rubber stocks provide. I can say that I have damaged Magnas in scuffles or from banging into objects, the rubber stocks really do resist impact damage very well, as ugly as they are to me as a collector, I have to admit they do also protect the weapon to some extent.
Cheers;
Lefty
Have you ever bought a horse and saddle for the saddle? Just last week I was in a local pawn shop and there was an old beat up post war M&P. The gun had a 4" pre-war barrel on it and a perfect set of diamond target stocks. Needless to say I bought the gun. I think I got a set of stocks that came with a free gun!!
