Old Fuff, once more if you please
Shade00 you're from the south so you must be used to the high heat and humidity I would think. And Old Fuff I'm guessing you're what, a desert rat, so the heat is O.K. by you? Well let me tell you, man it was a brutal one here in the New York metro area and sitting in an air conditioned truck and taking a ride up the Hutchinson River Parkway to retrieve that revolver that Old Fuff was helping me out with a few pages back was a cool thing to do. Cool get it.
Before I write about the gun I'd like to apologize for a lack of pictures. I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to put an eye ball on an item that is being explained. Something always gets lost in the translation. It's hard being an analog man living in this digital age but before I purchase some gee wiz digital camera for what ever money, brother on my budget I'm buying ammo. Or gas.
Anyway, the gun came from the Smoke N Guns shop in Mount Vernon about a half hour to forty five minute drive north of New York City, I live an equal amount of time east. I'll tell you what it was the most pleasure I've ever had buying a gun, Though we struggled communicating trough the internet in the beginning they ended up being great to do business with.
So the gun comes out, paper work is being done and I'm eye balling my new gun and the owner of the shop and I start to converse about said gun and this is what I find out.
The gun it seems has spent most of it's life locked up in a vault with some two hundred other old M&P's with holsters and eleven High Standard 12 gauge pump shot guns with bead sights and eighteen inch barrels one of which, the shotguns that is, they have in the store and it's worn and weathered and very, very COOL. Much like my '52 870 I'll have to say.
So I'm holding and looking at my new gun with it's, what looks like new S&W grips and really kind of nice bluing for such an old gun and I say to Mike the shop owner, so when do you think it was refinished? "Refinished?", "Never, I can't explain the grips but I'd be surprised if the gun was ever fired" he says. Well O.K. I mean refinished or not I'm happy, the gun is tight and I've only spent a buck seventy five with a drive, I'm more than happy.
But there is more Mike says it was one of the nicer gun to come from the lot, the other guns had a lot more wear than this one and a few others.
So the vault turns out to be in a bunker in the basement of Yonkers Raceway a horse racing track not far from the gun shop and the track had it's own security thing going until a private security company took over. When that happened I don't know but thats when the guns were put away. Neat right?
So I get home and I'm messing with the gun and I take off the grips and notice that although they look like S&W diamond grips the the medallion is in fact not an S&W anchor but a bird, an eagle I'd say, but nice grips none the less.
Old Fuff like you I too believed that this gun had been re-blued but now I think not. Here's why on my work bench is one of those large round jeweler's lamps you know the kind, on a crane. Well as I was moving about cleaning the gun and retrieving and returning stuff from my cleaning kit when the light from the lamp caught the gun just right and I could see the ghost image of where the old original 3/4 type grips ended. With that I spotted the gun under the lamps magnifying glass and was I surprised by what I found nothing not a spot of wear on the forcing cone nothing but blue. Wait....O.K. with gun in pocket beer in hand and pretzel in mouth one of those big hard sour dough ones from UTZ, yum tasty. I went back to the bench to be certain that what I saw and felt this afternoon still held. And it does. No sign of etching on top strap no blast wear around the breach holes on the front of the cylinder, clean. There is also this, I've owned brand spanking out of the box new Smith revolvers and their triggers have a certain, oh say stiffness. Wouldn't you agree? Well this gun is just like that.
If this gun shot more than a cylinder full well paint me red call me late to dinner and beat me with a stick cause cousin I've got it coming. Old Fuff, yourself, Brain Williams, Shade00, Kamerer the jellyroll, SaxonPig well I trust your guys opinions over my own. Thats not to say I can't find my way around a K frame but you all know the nuances.
So Old Fuff if you saw something in the pictures of that gun on gunbroker that has you sitting there saying to your computer screen Thomas {Catalina25} you're a dope, then please enlighten me. Please
Two more quick things if you read the serial number on this gun you can see right above the serial number, but, upside down a number stamp into the frame. It's Yonkers Raceway's control number.
Also my ex-wife that would be my second as I rarely see my first and don't ever ask about my third well she took the ride with me to get the gun and it was much appreciated. Not that she'll ever know cause she ain't gonna read this and well I'll never tell her. Ah the games we play. Thanks guys Be cool and be safe TKM
I had seen that post previously, but assumed for some reason that it might've been taking from the SCSW. Live and learn. I just likes helpin' people out.
