The "Party like it's 1899" thread got me to thinking about this old Smith I picked up recently.
I have a soft spot for old guns that tend to be overlooked in this day of plastic firearms. A few weeks ago, I responded to an add in the local Armslist for a "S&W .38 special". It had lingered there for several weeks with out of focus pictures and no takers at "$350 firm". I think that one of the big turn offs was it had one of the ugliest sets of homemade grips that I have ever seen.
When the price got lowered to something that seemed more reasonable, I called the seller and set up a meeting. Turns out he was a really nice guy that had inherited it from his wife's family and he had no use for a gun in the lowly .38 special caliber.
After inspecting it and making sure there wasn't any mechanical issues, I made a deal with him and it came home with me.
I knew it was an early gun, but I didn't realize just how early it was until I did some research. It is a 1899 Hand Ejector Target Model that was made in 1901
While there is no official breakdown of the target guns vs standard models, the common number used is around 5% or less of the total produced. Total production was 20,975 of all models between 1899 and 1902. Survival rate is estimated at around 10% of all first models.
So, by all accounts this is a pretty rare gun with maybe as few as one hundred or so left in the world. Even though they are not commonly encountered, they don't command high prices like, say, a registered magnum would.
Still I am happy to have it and it it now has a treasured place in my modest collection. A week after I got it, I was able to find a correct set of original stocks on ebay with just the right amount of wear.
I have a soft spot for old guns that tend to be overlooked in this day of plastic firearms. A few weeks ago, I responded to an add in the local Armslist for a "S&W .38 special". It had lingered there for several weeks with out of focus pictures and no takers at "$350 firm". I think that one of the big turn offs was it had one of the ugliest sets of homemade grips that I have ever seen.
When the price got lowered to something that seemed more reasonable, I called the seller and set up a meeting. Turns out he was a really nice guy that had inherited it from his wife's family and he had no use for a gun in the lowly .38 special caliber.
After inspecting it and making sure there wasn't any mechanical issues, I made a deal with him and it came home with me.
I knew it was an early gun, but I didn't realize just how early it was until I did some research. It is a 1899 Hand Ejector Target Model that was made in 1901
While there is no official breakdown of the target guns vs standard models, the common number used is around 5% or less of the total produced. Total production was 20,975 of all models between 1899 and 1902. Survival rate is estimated at around 10% of all first models.
So, by all accounts this is a pretty rare gun with maybe as few as one hundred or so left in the world. Even though they are not commonly encountered, they don't command high prices like, say, a registered magnum would.
Still I am happy to have it and it it now has a treasured place in my modest collection. A week after I got it, I was able to find a correct set of original stocks on ebay with just the right amount of wear.
