R.M. Vivas

(All document images courtesy of Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation unless indicated otherwise)

I haven’t said anything publicly about it, but a few weeks ago I became one of the fortunate few who gets to write what we used to call “Factory Letters” for the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation.

I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up, but a few people have posted on various forums that they had received their letters and noticed that I was the one who wrote them and signed them.

It’s been a fascinating experience thus far and I hope to, at a later date when I have my feet better under me and a little more experience, share what really goes into the letter process and why some letters take a half hour and some take a month.

I’ve had a couple really interesting letters and, with the permission of the guns owner, I’m going to share one with you.

I told the owner that I would not use their name or their specific location and they were more than amenable.

Mr. Helms sent me an email with the particulars for a letter request. The writer, who I will call Page, requested a letter and provided the following data:

• Model Number or Name: .357 Magnum Registered Magnum 1253
• Exact Caliber: .357 Registered Magnum
• Full Serial Number: 48571
• Finish: Blue
• Sight Configuration: Adjustable rear peep sight
• Stock Configuration: S&W Rosewood Grips
• Barrel Length: 8.75”
• Additional Details: Checkering on top of barrel

The writers address was listed as (small village), Alaska.

While I will mention it in passing, occasionally, most folks are unaware that when I was a -MUCH- younger fellow, I spent a little over 2 years as a (mediocre) student at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. I liked Alaska quite bit and often wondered what direction my life would have gone in had I stayed.

The result is that I have a soft spot for the folks who live in the Upper One. I also have, I think, a better understanding of the unique characteristics of the folks who have chosen to live there; mainly because, for a time, I was one of them.

The writer included some photos of the gun and when I opened them I beheld what appeared to be the most heavily abused RM I had ever seen.

The grips were a mismatch, the rear sight had been replaced with what looked like a King #81 peep sight (rather uncommon), the barrel had been cut down to 6.500” and the finish had left town.

I think to 99% of collectors this was a hard ‘pass’ unless it was at a giveaway price.

I, however, saw this a little differently. My daily carry when I was up there was a 6-inch Python. Got it off a professor at the geophysical institute who sold it to buy an FN FAL; said he would be out on the rivers taking samples and surveying and periodically the natives would zip by in a boat and throw a couple rounds in his direction. He wanted to have a fighting chance on the two-way range and a 6-inch Python versus a bunch of loaded natives at distance was not going to cut it.

I mention this because although almost everyone carried a .44 Magnum (including I, for a brief time, with a 629), I liked the .357. DBW did too, as he killed a fair bit of big game with one, so if it was good enough for DBW, then its good enough for me.

Anyway, I knew that a gun like this RM, to have achieved such a worn appearance, probably had some really great stories.

I lettered the gun as follows:

• Ordered by Northern Commercial Co., Seattle, Washington
• Shipped to Northern Commercial Co., Fort Yukon, Alaska
• 8.750” Barrel
• Sheard gold bead front sight
• Notch-U rear sight
• Sighted at 50 yds. With Magnum ammo using a 6 o’clock hold
• Wesson Grip Adapter attached
• Shipped July 23, 1936

The gun apparently was born in Springfield in 1936, got shipped to the Alaskan Territory and had remained there ever since! That really appealed to me. One of the things about Alaska is that a lot of the folks that have spent any time up there seem to almost always wind up leaving. It is, or was when I was there, a hard place to stay. I really respect the folks who are able to make a go of it and live their whole lives up there and that’s what this gun seems to have done.

I sent the letter of to the person requesting it and put a little blurb in the bottom of the ‘on the way’ email I try to send when I mail a letter:

Dear Page,

I am one of the historians over at the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation and wanted to let you know that I completed the letter for your Registered Magnum RM1253/48571 and will be putting it out to you in tomorrow’s mail.

The gun has great appeal to me, as I used to pass through (small village) on my way to Black Rapids/Ft. Greely back when I was a student at UAF (a million years ago!).

I would love to hear how you came into possession of such an interesting and obviously well-used pistol.

The rear sight, which is not factory, looks like a King #81 peep sight. These are rather uncommon on revolvers, even today.

I’m sending you perhaps a dozen pages on your gun. I have added below the most relevant paragraph from the letter:

We have researched your Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum revolver in company records. Smith & Wesson shipped the revolver bearing serial number 48571, REG 1253, from its Roosevelt Avenue factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, on July 23, 1936, and delivered it to the Northern Commercial Co., Fort Yukon, Alaska. This was a single-gun order placed through Northern Commercial Co., Seattle, Washington and shipped direct to Northern Commercial Co., Fort Yukon, Alaska. The factory configured this revolver with an 8 3/4-inch barrel fitted with a Sheard gold bead front sight, an adjustable U-notch rear sight and was sighted in at 50 yds. with Magnum ammunition using a 6 o’clock hold. This gun had a blued finish and was fitted with a Wesson grip Adapter.

As I said, there are a dozen or so pages of supporting documents. Alaska and the Magnum are very well intertwined; DB Wesson hunted bears and moose in Alaska as a way of promoting his new revolver and cartridge. His preferred barrel length was 8-3/4 because it gave the highest velocity. He must have been right because it is well documented that he killed bears, moose and other game travelling with Fr. Hubbard and some of the other pioneers.

I’ve seen a few of these guns shipped to Alaska, certainly not a great many. I love that this one went and stayed. I wish I could have!

Best,

RM Vivas

Historian

Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation

A few days went by and, with no immediate response, I moved on to other firearms matters. Then one evening I opened my email and received this:

Mon 8/17/2026 3:15 PM

Hello Robert,

 Thank you so much for your interest in my S&W.

I look forward to receiving your history on it.

 I came into possession of this revolver thru my partner in 1969, while living a life in the bush of Alaska. He acquired the pistol from its original owner, an old timer named Slim, not sure of his full name, because  there are many Slim’s in Alaska but he lived on the Goodpaster River at 4 mile, at a series of cabins known as Slim and Jolly’s on the map. My partner was <name redacted but a very well known figure up there>. He was another old timer dog trainer for the Army in 1947, trapper, big game guide and bush pilot with a story of his own. 

  Well Slim dropped the pistol in the Tanana River out of his shoulder holster in front of <name redacted>’s cabin one fall just before freeze up, and it lay underwater, in the silt all winter long. The following spring after break up <name redacted> retrieved the pistol after searching for a long time and it was quite pitted on one side more than the other. Slim gave the pistol to <name redacted> and because I didn’t have a sidearm at the time he gave it to me. <name redacted> had his own S&W, a pre model 29 44 magnum he purchased in 1956, along with a model 70 Winchester featherweight .243 rifle. I still have both of these as well. 

 Anyway back to the .357, we sent it back to Smith and Wesson for cleaning up and reblueing but they sent it back untouched because they couldn’t guarantee its safety. Alaska State Trooper Nichols of Delta Junction did the gunsmithing on it in the early 1970’s he reblued it, cut the barrel to 6.5 inch, and trigger spring, and reattached the sights. I wore this pistol for years for bear protection while guiding Dall Sheep with <name redacted>. I was bluff charged one time while in sheep camp but didn’t have to kill the sow. She had two mischievous cubs, she was protecting, needless to say that was a thrilling experience I will remember forever. My now husband bought me a new S&W .357 full lug barrel stainless to use because of the condition of the old one. I have always wanted to know Slim’s real name and thought this history of his pistol might shed some knowledge of that. I am 77 now and have lived in (small village) in <name redacted>’s cabin for many years. We took care of <name redacted>, who passed away from a brain tumor in 1982, he was 53 years young. He left his cabin and property to me. They don’t make men like Slim and <name redacted> anymore. I love Smith & Wesson handguns, I don’t see well anymore but that’ll happen when you get old. So needless to say I am looking for a new home for this old registered magnum .357 of Slim’s. Thank you for your research and your interest in the rest of the story. Respectfully, Page

Quite a story! Enough so that I thought the gun was worth writing about.

Dear Page,

That sounds like so many of the stories I used to hear when I was living up there outside of Fairbanks back in the day.

There were still a few old time characters left in those days and they had some stories!! The guys who had been in the Interior during the war used to tell me about how the army was trying to organize a resistance to the anticipated Japanese invasion. These guys had stories.

I write about S&W guns on a couple forums and for a couple Journals. Could I use your story and the images you sent to write a little bit about your gun? I’d leave out your name and specific location, other than to say the gun is still in Alaska.

That gun shows great character and in a collectors world where condition is everything and most purists would turn their nose up at a gun that looks like yours, the wise ones would know that the condition was the price of some really great stories and a life lived excitingly!

Dang nice gun!!

Best,

RM Vivas

I was also a bit curious about who slim was. Alaska was, when I was there, populated by a lot of folks who had names that didn’t appear on their drivers license; Slim, Pack Man, Ivory Jack, Eskimo Joe, etc.

I started digging around on the internet because, hey that’s what I do, and found some clues that cause me to believe that the Slim in the story is Hjalmar “Slim” Carlson. There are enough pieces and clues to make it a strong possibility.

While looking into Slim’s identity I received a response from the woman who had the gun:

​Robert Vivas​

You may most certainly write about it in your forums and journals. The pistol is still functional.

 When were you in Alaska, and if you are ever in Alaska again you are welcome to come by our cabin for a cup of whatever you drink and some more stories. Thanks again, Page

​

I sent the woman a copy of the link above and asked if she thought this fellow may be the Slim that she knew……

Her response:

Slim Carlson, was a friend to the Collins sisters, miki and Julie. They are twins that live at lake minchumina and still trap Slim’s line and use some of his cabins

My response:

I fear my days of travelling from the Lower 48 to the Upper One are starting to fade behind me, but if I ever make it back to The Last Frontier, I will certainly look you up!

That’s a great gun and I love that it stayed its whole life in Alaska!

When I was up there I started out with a Model 29 like every one else. Actually, it was a 629. I didn’t like it much. One of my professors at UAF was having some problems with natives taking the occasional shot at him while he was doing survey work (he was in the geophysical institute at that time) and he wanted a good rifle, so he sold me a 6-inch Colt Python that I still have many decades later. It was ‘small-bore” by all my friends standards, but I usually had a good shotgun nearby so I never really felt outgunned. One of my buddies in ROTC had an M1 Garand and I really liked it, so I got one for myself. Eight rounds of .30-’06 in a semi auto is good bear medicine!! Used to run up and down the Chena and the Tanana with that pair!

Best,

RM Vivas

And that’s where I’ve left it.

As for the photos that Page sent, they make a lot more sense when you read her story about the gun.

First off, the Shipping Ledger entry for the gun:

Now the order form and paperwork:

Pretty straightforward. Order form signed by Northern Commercial, so that is not going to tip off as to who the buyer was.

Looks like the gun was meant for Hoegee but that deal fell through and the gun wound up going to the Last frontier.

So, the money shot:

You can definitely see the Tanana influence!! I’m actually a bit surprised that the metal held up as well as it did. I do wonder what the bore is like though.

The rear sight is especially interesting:

Factory specs say the gun came with a standard U-notch rear sight that seems to have been replaced with what I -think- is a King #81 Peep Sight.

If, in fact, the original purchaser was “Slim” Carlson, this gun would be a historical relic, especially whn combined with the person he gave the gun to.

So, I sent the letter and I think I’ll follow up and ask for more details.

This is one of those guns that I hate to see at a gun show. A classic piece that has had some great adventures, witnessed history, and now sits on a table with a bunch of marked down price tags because no one thought to document the history.

My experience is that Alaskan history is different than most. Alaskans, when I was there, could still talk to and get stories from the folks who pioneered the place. I met guys who were parts of home grown resistance cells during WW2; guys who manned fuelling stations on the tundra for aircraft being ferried to the Russians; women who were the only woman around for miles back in the 1930’s, etc.

I’m going to suggest to page that she write down everything she knows about the gun, get it notarized and stick it with the gun so that further down the road folks will see it for its historical (in my opinion) value.

Just one of the really cool gun letters that cross my desk.

Best,

RM Vivas