Is this engraving on my S&W 29-2 original from the factory???

[saturno_v]

I have a S&W 29-2 nickel finishing with a 8 3/8 barrel.

On the right side of the revolver, under the cilinder, there is an engraving in block letters "KILL DEER".

I took a pic of this detail but it didn't turn out very well, however is visible.

Is this engraving original from S&W or was made after market by the previous owner??

Thanks!!

 

[Oro]

Chances are pretty good it's not original. Also the nickel looks like it's aftermarket - the polishing underneath doesn't look factory, either, supporting that.

Look under the grip panels and somewhere there will be a large N or B on the frame and that will tell you how it left the factory. My guess is it's a B and that was added when it was nickeled.

 

[owlhoot]

I agree with Oro's assessment.

 

[saturno_v]

Oro

I took off the grips and it is actually an original Nickel finish from the factory (look at the pic).

However, I noticed that when I take a picture of my revolver, streaks and "handling marks" just from your hands are so magnified...you cannot see it at naked eye.....this is one of the reason I'm so anal about buffing and rubbing it completely with a soft cloth every time I handle it..

For example, in the pic I just took, look at the big streak above the grips in the frame across the top of the trigger guard...it got it from my hand as I was handling the revolver to remove the grips..you can barely see it at naked eye but in the pic looks horrible. Basically I have to rub the entire gun with a soft cloth before taking a good pic looking. The finishing is literally like a mirror.

The gun is in incredible conditions, rifling, crown....the cylinder and timing is incredibly tight. Fun to shoot and it gets attention at the range...

I apologize for the red background in the pic but I had to put my finger in front of the flash otherwise the "N" mark would have been "flashed out".
On top of my mind I didn't remember how to turn off the auto flash feature on my camera .

So do you still think the "KILL DEER" engraving is an after market thing??

 

[Topknot]

Don't know about the engraving, but she's a real beauty!

 

[Oro]

So do you still think the "KILL DEER" engraving is an after market thing??

OK, definitely left the factory as a nickel gun. I still really think it's an aftermarket engraving/finish as they didn't offer a service to just engrave names/words on the frame. As I know it, either:

a) engraving came as a "package" of coverage that was symmetric and decorative, not just stamping like that

b) limited runs usually had numbers, and more engraving and a design.

c) the 2 1/2 pages of 29 special variants listed in the SCWS, 3rd. Ed., don't list this variant, or anything remotely like it.

It still seems highly unlikely to me it's factory engraving. It could have been re-finished because of a fault in the finish, and the stamping added then. A photo of the ejector face and cylinder face is a good way to help if it's refinished; this is one part of the gun that is rarely done factory style. Can you snap one of those?

If it was done at the factory, the only way to be sure of that is a "factory letter" from S&W for $50. I agree it is a good looking a gun and these are great shooters.

 

[SaxonPig]

S&W most certainly would and did stamp or engrave names and other text on guns.



I think it not impossible that the KILL DEER marking is factory done on special order, but I rather doubt it. For $50 the S&W historian Roy Jinks will tell if it shipped that way.

 

[saturno_v]

Oro

3 more pics

This is the Cylinder face....as you can see, the '"star shaped" extractor face is black but the "timing notches" (forgive me for the use of inappropriate terms) are in natural steel color.

The "N" for nickel is repeated in the cylinder face (I made a circle in red)

The extractor rod is black, I don't really know if I can call it blue finishing....but it's definitely black

Finally, I took a pic at the open cylinder and, as you can see, everything is nickeled (but not mirror-like polished on the inside)

So what do you think???

 

[saturno_v]

2 more pics...

The rear sight plate and notch are black....again I do not think you can call it blue finishing....but definitely black

As you can see from the previous pictures also, the hammer is neither nickeled or blued..some sort of "old west" style metal finishing....rather grayish-greenish-brownish with streaks...I don't know if I could explain it any better....

 

[SaxonPig]

On S&W revolvers done in nickel the rear sight and the extractor star star are blue while the hammer and trigger are case hardened just as on the blued guns. The frame under the stocks and the rear face of the cylinder will be marked with a letter N. Your gun looks 100% correct as a factory nickel M29-2 to me.

That doesn't mean it may not have been refinished along the way, and I can't hope to tell without a personal inspection, but there is no doubt in my mind that your gun left Springfield in nickel.

It's possible that a previous owner had the lettering engraved on the side plate and then had just that part re-plated.

BTW- Man, you got some hairy hands!

 

[saturno_v]

BTW- Man, you got some hairy hands!

I know!!! You should look at my back!!!

 

[BADUNAME37]

The mountaineer of Pennsylvania was of
martial blood, his ancestors had fought in every state of Continental
Europe--and the science of armorer was his birthright. David Lewis,
the "Galloping Jack" or highwayman of Central Pennsylvania, used new
pistols every year, and weapons which he is said to have carried are
as plentiful as Ole Bull's violins. The frontiersmen of British
origins always named their favorite rifles "My Friend," "My Brother,"
"Sure Shot," "Confidence," "Never Fail," "Carry My Wish," "Kill Deer,"
and "Kill Buck," and cherished them almost as living things. Many of
them camped out at the wayside gunshops until a specially ordered
weapon was begun and finished, so as to supervise every detail of its
fabrication.

From: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20442/20442.txt

 

[Ron James]

Rather than ask a bunch of strangers who don't have the gin in their hot liitle hand s to examine, why not get a letter from S&.w

 

[saturno_v]

Rather than ask a bunch of strangers who don't have the gin in their hot liitle hand s to examine, why not get a letter from S&.w

It was just a simple curiosity that's all...to me is not worth the $50 to get a letter from S&W...I love my revolver anyway!!!

 

[hemiram]

I saw one with the same style of lettering a while back, it appeared to have been done at the factory, before it was plated. I can't remember anymore what it said though, but I remember the font pretty well.

 

[Oro]

Your gun looks 100% correct as a factory nickel M29-2 to me.

Yes, that looks 100% correct for factory work now that we can see all the angles. Re-do's usually always get the ejector area wrong.

Probably the best guess is it was some small-ish run of a few hundred (or more, or less!) for a distributor who wanted to sell a "hunting" package or something like that.