Magnum Musings: Long Distance
While perusing the archives searching for MIA Magnums, I found a batch of five that were part of a single order. They are so odd as to be humorous.
The S&W Magnum could be ordered from the factory targeted with a variety of sights and at a wide range of distances. I’ve seen “sighted in at…..” ranging from 15 feet (RM1298) to 200 yards (RM1033, RM1034, RM1172, RM1222, RM1300, RM3561, etc.) and, for those of you whose country doesn’t have a flag on the moon, 200 meters (RM12, RM298, RM3724, RM5415, etc.).
On the bottom of the order form it very clearly states that revolvers can only be sighted in at distances up to but no greater than 200 meters.
For an open sight handgun, I’d say that’s pretty darn good.
So, I imagine that Harry Goldstein, S&W’s ‘Man in Tulsa” must have felt a little bit chagrined when he submitted an order for FIVE identical Registered Magnums, all to be sighted in at FIVE HUNDRED YARDS!
To put that in some perspective, there are 1,860 yards in a mile; these guns were to be sighted in at a quarter-mile!
These long-range portable howitzers also packed an unusual 8.250” barrel, giving up the maximum velocity (and sight radius) they would have had if they maxed the barrel out at 8.750” inches.
The Order Form was filled out and the Invoice generated.
Rather remarkably, the paperwork went through without a peep, likely to Goldsteins surprise and relief.
In typical correspondence between Goldstein and S&W, questions about grips, sights and the like were answered but no mention was made of the seemingly extreme sighting distance or S&W’s lack of range facilities of that size.
Goldstein must have felt the need to explain, but to my way of thinking, he just raised more questions:
“…These guns are to be presented to members of Illinois Highway Patrol by an oilman here…”; like -that- cleared things up!
Apparently the factory was willing to accommodate the range request but it would take longer and Goldstein wasn’t able to wait:
On May 2nd, the DBW let Goldstein know that the guns were being shipped AND they were sighted in at 500 yards!
Always a fan of his beloved Magnum, DBW added the following to the letter:
“…Your customer might be interested in knowing that after sighting these guns in, we noted that two of the bullets had struck a hickory tree located exactly 551 yards from the firing point, and as a matter of curiosity we cut this tree to find the exact penetration of the bullet at that distance in this extremely dense wood, and we found that they had both penetrated almost exactly 2”, striking with sufficient force to upset the bullets to almost .50 caliber size…”
I could very easily imagine DBW reading this order at his desk and instead of thinking “Our range is only 200 meters, Harry is out of luck”, he instead thought “I wonder what these guns would do at 500?” Next thing you know, he’s at some buddies farm, laying Magnums across the hood of his car and banging away.
Stories like this (and the shown documents) come from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation. Without them, this stuff would never see the light of day. Join!
Best,
RM Vivas
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