I’ve been working on my Registered Magnum project (MAGOPUS) this past week. I managed to add 69 completed entries.
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 69 new entries, I did come across a few interesting things:
Indianapolis Police Department – A typical police order but this order for 15 Registered Magnums specified that they all be nickel. This means that slightly more than 10% of the recognized nickel plated Magnums (current total of -documented- believed to be 144) went to one order. I strongly suspect the currently recognized count of nickel Magnums is low. I’ve found three that do not appear on the list of known models.
An interesting couple of questions: Do Pinto’s count as nickel or are they counted as blued? Also, if a gun ships blued and goes back for a FACTORY nickel job, how is it counted?
Stolen Guns RM1410/48739 and RM1411/48729 – Hoffman Hardware ordered a pair of Magnums in1936 through McDonald & Linforth.
DBW replied to Linforth and once again, his dry humor and writing style shine.
As frustrated as he is about the loss of the Magnums, he seems to take solace in knowing that the gun is so good as to be worthy of being stolen!
“…I might say, incidentally, that apparently people in the transportation business have found out what a swell gun the Magnum is, for we have lost three or four others in transit…”
DBW’s self-deprecating humor is seen in in his comment to Mr. Linforth about a photograph of himself that he sent along:
“…Under separate cover, I am sending you an enlargement that is not the one that appeared in the story, but yet shows plenty of ivory; I am referring to the teeth and not above the eyebrows….”
Time catches up with us all and even DBW was not above noticing that his hair was starting to recede.
I’ve seen records for a few Magnums that ‘got lost’ in transit. The guns were always replaced but they were not given the old Registration Numbers.
McGivern Gun – RM1001/47861 – McGivern guns are always a crowd pleaser. This particular one logged in as follows:
Capt. Osborn was a lucky fellow!
RM-None/48447 – 8.750” Magnum With Black Morocco Case – In June of 1936 an 8.750” Magnum, no REG number and s/n 48447 was shipped to S&W’s man in Washington, Harold Kirtz, to deliver to Commander Burzin at the Russian Embassy.
I really can’t believe that S&W was trying to curry Soviet favor or land a Soviet contract for revolvers (although there was, of course, precedent).
Vladimir Alexandrovich Burzin was a Brigade Commander and was the Soviet Military Attache in the United States. Perhaps he just liked American things and wanted a distinctly American gun.
Hopefully he got good use out of it; he was ‘purged’ in 1937.
Note that the cost of the case was $20; $5 more than the one that DBW got for the President of Guatemala!
An Interesting .44HE Target But In .45LC – #46266 – In searching for Magnum data I come across all manner of interesting things and this particular gun appealed to me.
This sounds like a pretty nice gun! It appears to have started as a .44HE 2nd Model; I’d be all over it for myself if it were a Third Model.
Highest RM I’ve Found So Far – RM5415/60174 – In my quest for documents on nickel plated guns, I would up in the upper end of the RM section.
I did note an invoice and order form for RM5415, which is thus far the highest RM numbered Magnum I have seen so far.
It’s well known that some Magnums were marked with either the REG stamp or even the REG stamp and a Registration Number but were not recorded as such. This particular gun, which shipped 11/6/1939 appears in the Shipping Ledger with a typically entered Registration number and the Shipping Invoice identifies the gun as REG. 5415:
The Registration number 5415 also appears on the order invoice:
So the Registration number 5415 appears in all the right places.
As I’ve said, this is the highest I’ve found so far.
Speaking of interesting Registration tidbits….
Second Hand Registration Certificates – RM5237 / 58932 – This gun was shipped August 23, 1939 and the purchaser requested and received a Registration certificate.
Two years later when he sold the gun, the new purchaser turned in the old certificate and a new one was issued to him.
I thought this particularly interesting because the practice of issuing a Registration certificate had been done away with by mid 1941, yet the factory still obliged this fellow and issued him a new one. What customer service!!
The Personal Touch – RM1379 / 47839 – In a marvellous letter to A.A. DeCarriere, who ordered RM1379/47839, DBW gracefully accepts a compliment on the high quality of the Magnum and responds thusly:
“I appreciate the compliment that you pay us on the quality of our workmanship, but I might say that when I am not away on business trips I make it a point to personally inspect all the Magnums before they go out, even though I know that the boys here in the plant take just as much pride in the “finest hand arm ever presented to the shooting public” as I do…”
D:\Customers\Smith_Wesson\Records\DVD1_11-19-2009\0\7\7265.tif
The Magnum truly was DBW’s baby and it does seem to make sense that, whenever possible, he would try to inspect each one that went out the door.
And just like any parent with a cranky baby, DBW needed a break…….
“Fed up with work on the Magnum” – DBW to Linforth 06MAY35
I guess the stress of creating the premiere revolver of that time was a bit demanding on ol’ DBW, as he needed to take a break.
I’ve seen him mention this sanitarium stay in a few letters and considering the effort and risk that went into developing the Magnum, I’d say he deserved a little time off and attention.
I’m going to keep digging in the Magnum files for a while. Once I get a little tired of them, I’ll take a break and go play with either the Victory records or the Pre-war N-frame records.
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’.
10JUL26
Best,
RM Vivas
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