Calling all S&W Experts (real or imagined..)

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Brad Johnson

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My father picked up a Smith revo at an auction a couple weeks ago. Since I know just enough about Smiths to semi-reliably call it a handgun, I need some help and opinions.

I think it's a model 57. That's help topic number one. What is it really?

It's chambered in 44 Special. Says so right there on the barrel. Barrel length is appx 6" (my approximation - didn't measure).

Also, the serial number is 1452xx. Is that low? High?

The bluing on the cylinder and barrel has "purpled" some. You can see that in one of the pics.

It's a blued, fully engraved gun (the seller was a high-end collector with some pretty serious hardware). It's pretty, but very, very impractical. Dad has no idea what the gun is worth, he just thought it was nice. I won't say what he paid for it because I want some unbiased input on what the collectable value, if any, should be.



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"real or imagined"

Finally, a category I fit into.

Your father's gun is a "pre-24"; your great pictures show that it's a five-screw, and was most probably made before there were model numbers. I don't think the engraving is factory, but I like it. Model 57's are .41 magnums, and didn't come on the scene until the early 60's - At first I thought you had one that had been converted to .44 special, instead of the more desirable 1950 .44 Target shown in your pictures. The plum color can happen for more than one reason, but the most common is that the bluing salts were a little too hot when the gun was reblued after engraving.

I unfortunately have to work for a living so I'm not near my S&W "bible", so I can't give you the year of manufacture - probably 1950-56.

I think it's practical as heck, it should be fun to shoot. If you go to smith-wesson.com you can print a letter to send to the factory historian ($30.00) that will show who it was shipped to, and the original condition. If it's factory engraving, the value goes way up.

"An expert is the village idiot, 10 miles from home." Mark Twain
 
If it's a 57 it should be a 41mag and
not a 44 spl.The 44spl would be the
model 24.If you open the cylinder up
there should be a model number on the
frame recess.
 
It does look like the 1950 Target (4th Model Hand Ejector .44 Special). The barrel is likely 6.5" in length. The stocks on the gun are of a later, post 1967 style. This gun would become the Model 24 in 1957 but few if any were actually so marked as they didn't sell well and were dropped in 1966. In the 1980s a few 24-3s were made but they are not really the same gun.

A nice 1950 will sell for $1500-$1800 but I am not sure what the engraving has done to the value on this one. If not factory original then maybe reduce it somewhat.

I suspect that the serial number has a letter S at the beginning. It's amazing how often people leave out the letter prefix when stating the serial number. It makes a big difference. An S 145,000 number would be from late 1955 or 1956. I have two S 140,000 guns that were shipped in April and Sept. of 1955.

This gun would be worth the $30 to S&W to learn when it was shipped and to whom. It will also tell you for sure if it was a factory engraving job. See the S&W website for historical letter order form.
 
Okay, I just popped a letter (with check) in the mail to S&W. Now to wait and see.

Brad

p.s. - patience is not one of my virtues.
 
Darn! You could have just emailed them. They will email you most all of the information that is contained on the Certificate of Authenticity, or Origin or whatever it is. You're paying for that piece of paper!
 
This gun has the Baughman ramped front sight. The vast majority of the 6.5" 1950s came with the Patridge front sight. Maybe the letter will state if this is original.
 
Really outstanding!

What a beautiful revolver, Brad. Can you say anything about the auction at which your Dad bought it? If it were mine, I'd really want to know if the former ownership could be determined. Perhaps the former owner or a family member could provide a letter about the origins and embelishment of the gun.

I think it would be worthwhile to browse the gun shows to locate a nice set of diamond pattern Magna stocks consistent with the age of the piece.

Members Bullet Bob and SaxonPig have already furnished you all the solid information I could locate on the model and serial number of your revolver, and they wrote it up very nicely. I can only add some fairly firm conjecture about the engraving.

Your excellent photographs indicate to me that the engraving was probably done by Weldon Bledsoe of Fort Worth. I don't have enough depth of knowledge or vocabulary to properly articulate why this is so. It has to do with the shape and proportion of the vine-and-leaf work, and the beveling of the edges of those figures. There is also the block around the rollmark on the right side of the frame.

Mr. Bledsoe engraved a Commander for me in about 1968, and a National Match .45 in, I think, 1980. Both, alas, have gone with the passing years, but I've seen the NM recently. It went to a friend as part trade for a Government Model that Cole Agee had engraved in 1949.

If your 1950 Target had been produced a couple of years earlier, I'd be tempted to guess it might be some of Cole Agee's very late work. He died in mid 1955, though.

I hope you see fit to inform us of any additional details you acquire on this fine revolver.

Best,
Johnny
 
It's funny how many engraved guns there are that can't be attributed to the engraver. It's easy if it was done by the factory, you can just get a letter, or if it was done by a big name, like Winston Churchill. Here's a workmanlike example on a K38 I bought from Simpsons, Ltd (it's their picture, I've long ago cut the tie off and shoot it every now and then):

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That's an awesome revolver!

Not much to add, the others have pretty much covered it. The closest thing I've ever been able to find around here is the 99% 6.5" 24-3 I bought a few months ago. It's not nearly as nice as the real Target Model but is still a lot of fun to have and shoot.

Congratulations.
 
Here's one of my 1950s just in case you wanted to see what your dad's gun looked like before it was engraved. This one started with a 6.5" barrel but was returned to S&W in 1970 to have the tube cut to 5" and a smooth trigger swapped in.

Simple 1950
 
I hope you see fit to inform us of any additional details you acquire on this fine revolver.
Click to expand...

Johnny, sorry it took so long for me to reply. Dad bought it at a collector's estate auction somewhere in the northcentral Texas region. I don't remember exactly where, and unfortunately don't remember the guy's name. Apparently he was a big spur, gun, and western memerobelia collector. According to Dad there wasn't anything that wasn't fully engraved, had some historic value, or was extremely rare (like fully-factory-engraved special presentation Henrys and Sharps rare).

Dad also said that this auction was just a small portion of the total collection so the widow could "test the waters" and see if anything would sell. To give you an idea of how big the total collection must be, this "little bit" auction took two full days.

Still waiting on the letter from Smith & Wesson. I'll post an update when it arrives.

Brad
 
That's a beautiful piece and by the way , very practical. The engraving on it, being of quality will enhance the value.

Made about 55-56 I believe.

visit www.smith-wessonforum.com for more info.
tipoc
 
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