I’ve been working on my Registered Magnum project (MAGOPUS) this past week. I managed to add 92 completed entries.
A completed entry is one that has all available information on a gun as well as the file names that were the source of the data. This last point is very important, as it allows me to quote the source for every gun documented and allows others to follow and verify my work.
The reason this is very important is because I am finding some things that are challenging what is currently believed about the Registered Magnum. For example, there is a published table that comes from a reputable book that lists how many of each barrel length was produced.
While I am nowhere near done with my project, I can already see that at least one of those figures is too low. In this instance, I can document more of this barrel length than the standard references state were made.
Any time we challenge the knowledge status quo, people will demand proof to back up ones findings (which is as it should be!). By being able to cite the specific record for every gun in the database I can simply say “There were x number of z-inch guns produced.” And then provide a list of every one of those guns’ records that show the barrel length.
This week I added the following Registered Magnum to the database I am working on:
In the course of gathering the data to finish these 92 new entries, I did come across a few interesting things:
The Legendary .22LR Registered Magnum – RM1591/49736 – The order form and other documents for the legendary .22LR Magnum revolver. Nothing that hasn’t been covered before in the myriad of searches and messages about this unicorn. It’s very interesting to note the level of PTSD this revolver caused amongst S&W’s higher ups. Many times I’ve encountered correspondence where someone will ask for a caliber other than .357 Magnum (.22 Hornet, .32-20, etc.) and the factory person responding (usually DBW or Miller) will invoke the .22LR revolver experience with a tone that suggests the whole project was a nightmare. DBW points out more than once in his correspondence that such a revolver was billed at $150 and the factory still lost money on it.
El Presidente Gun – RM1543/48663 – This is a Magnum that was presented to El Presidente General Jorge Ubico, the President of Guatemala, on his birthday, November 10, 19336.
Details of this gun may be found in this post:
Pinto Conversion – RM1378/48610 was ordered through Shapleigh’s by an Oklahoma dealer in September 1936 and was one of the 92 guns I added to my database in this update. Another document popped up for the gun that shows that the same month the gun shipped, a buyer contacted S&W about having some work done on it. Specifically, he asks if the cylinder could be re-done in either nickel or chromium plate. S&W responded that they could do so at a cost of $2.25. I could find no further documentation to indicate if the job was done or not. If it was, it would be a very rare factory RM pinto.
City of Butte MT Police – RM2627 through RM2647 – While the large purchase of Magnums for the Kansas City Police Department is well known, a number of departments made smaller, but still sizable, purchases. The City of Butte, MT purchased twenty Magnums, RM2627 through RM2647 (inclusive), on August 27, 1937: 5.000”, FS Call Gold Bead, RS Sq. notch, finish and hammer type unspecified (blued by default), and sighted at 25 yds. for Magnum ammo using a 6’oclock hold and having Magna stocks. No mention of any special markings.
Bushing Issues – It is well known that the early Magnums had an issue with the bushings around the firing pin hole. Primer setback would sometimes cause the gun to bind as the primer metal would flow into the firing pin hole. S&W was aware of the problem and fixed those revolvers sent in for repair.
Commander E.F. McDonald, Jr., president of Zenith Radio Corp. and a purchaser of multitudes of Magnums, wrote to DBW about this problem and DBW responded thusly:
“Default” Sight Options – The multitude of options available for the Magnum, particularly when it came to sights, meant that sometimes a person ordering a revolver would forget to specify the type of sight desired or would not be as specific as the factory might like.
In a series of correspondence between DBW and John Linforth of McDonald & Linforth, DBW explains what he feels the ‘default’ sight options are in such a situation:
Amusingly verbose – As one reads the above letter to Commander McDonald, one notices that DBW’s style of writing is of a rather ‘folksy’ sort; “but by gosh we’ll fix it’, “pretty blame scant”, “pretty wide open”. DBW was an educated man, a captain of industry, an Army officer and accomplished writer; a man who knew how to work the English language and was able to alter his ‘tone’ depending on the circumstances. His business correspondence is usually right to the point and sometimes stintingly formal, however, his more personal of familiar correspondence often engenders this ‘folksy’ style.
In a letter to Captain Holger Bidstrup, Danish military officer and owner of a hunting lodge in British Columbia, DBW mentions a mutual friend known as Personality Pete, and lets his wry sense of humor play with the words:
“…I’ve got the rifle waiting here in the office for Personality Pete, the peerless packer of the Pacific province, the peripatetic perambulator who packs prunes, potatoes, peas and other perishable products through the pines and passes of the Pacific slope. Pete is part percheron, part puma, and it’s a pleasure to perceive him patiently plodding, or plunging panther-like as he pursues his pastime. Pardon my persiflage…..”
No refunds of Excise Tax – As one peruses all the various invoices, the 10% Excise Tax on arms keeps appearing. This tax was collected by the manufacturer but was waived for arms that went to police forces and the military. To be exempted from the tax, one simply submitted a properly filled out affidavit to S&W stating that the gun was for official use.
A question that arose was if a dealer paid the tax on a gun and then sold it to a person who would be exempt (a police officer for example), could they get a refund of the Excise Tax? Short answer: No.
Those were some of my findings for this little expedition into the archives.
I’m still on mt Registered Magnum kick and have not yet gotten burned out on it. When I start to get a little tired of it, I’ll take a break to cleanse my mental palate and go play with the DSC records or my project to document pre-war N-Frames.
None of the research I do could have been done without the support of the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation. Support them so they can support our hobby and preserve it for the next generations of ‘caretakers’.
23JUN26
Best,
RM Vivas
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