You know better than that. If you posted it in the Lounge, I would have moved it into this section, which is where it belongs.

Actually, Para, I wasn't sure. I've been a member for almost 20 years but I only post sporadically and haven't reviewed the rules for a long time.

I am a literal(semantical) person. The pistol sub forum says SIG Pistols not any handgun.

So, I learned something, and fortunately posted the thread in the right place.

On the main page, the tag line for this section says "Discussion of SIG and other pistols."

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
I always thought the elongated '&' symbol was cool looking on these old revolvers.

...and called the "Lazy Ampersand" by some Smith Collectors--But not by me, I can't even SPELL "Lazy Ampersand", much less pronounce it...

A lettered Pre-27 in a condition as fine as both of yours is a Grail gun for me. Should be in that best looking pistol thread. Early 27 is my top Smith. Now the pre model # guns are unobtanium, to me at least. Congrats on the fine revolvers. More?

Ooh those are nice.
I had a blue pre 27 one I regret selling in a fit of temporary low bank account balance situation.

Also deeply regret passing on a pre war, non reg mag 4 inch. ( fewer made than even registered mags) Even though it Had been cut from longer to 4 inch and fitted with a Kings mirror sight. Its action was slick as a gut and lovingly cared for over those 70-80 years. Went back the next week and it was gone. If anybody has that from a now closed shop in Walnut Creek CA and want to sell it, reach out.

Since we have other posters, I made the title plural.

1914 M1911 pistol shipped to Adj. Gen. Thomas J. Stewart of the PA. National Guard on 3 Jul. 1914. One of 350 in the shipment, sent to the Harrisburg Arsenal. I've lived in Harrisburg and the area for 47 years. I thought it was fitting to have this pistol come home.

1932 or 1933 Government Model with original box, et al. No letter or history for this one.

I don't carry it but I'm quite fond of this 66-4.
For me it's the "sweet spot" for size, power & aesthetics.

Very nice,good choice.

Malysh, Para your S&W 357s are absolutely stunning.
Wow!

Malysh your 1911s are also very nice, great examples.

.

Para's is mint. Mine is excellent.
His photographic skills are better, too.
Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Malysh:
1932 or 1933 Government Model with original box, et al. No letter or history for this one.

I have one of those too, S/N about 10k from yours. I’m waiting on a letter from mine.

Slide is stamped “POLICIA DE LA CAPITAL” Colt sold a batch of 10k to the Argentine Government to fulfil a contract in 1933. There is a accepted as correct serial number series, mine is just outside of that but the frame was stamped by an importer so that proves that the frame was reimported into the U.S. and I also have read that there were two distributors whom many have had their own sales agreements with Argentina so this could be part of that too.

Mine came to me as a gift from a friends family so nobody knows it’s previous history and I’m curious.

quote:

Originally posted by Malysh:

Very nice Sparks leather, too. I have a bunch of their holsters for various guns. I also favor Greg Kramer leather. No kydex for me.

Thank you! I’m a Kramer fan, also. I have a synthetic horizontal magazine carrier for a handful of pistols that works extremely well (shout-out to Magholder, LLC on that!) but am otherwise using gunleather.

[Drift engaged]

In the 1911, why is half the mag blued and the other half in the white?

[/drift]

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
[Drift engaged]

In the 1911, why is half the mag blued and the other half in the white?

[/drift]

That is not drift, It's a very good question.

At that time, heat treating was not done to magazines and guns in general. The feed lips were prone to deformation which could affect reliable functioning. The magazine tubes were particularly susceptible. After forming and bluing, the top third of the magazines were dipped in a hot cyanide bath to heat treat the area. This removed the bluing, hence two tone magazines. Colt did this as well to the .32 and .380 magazine for the two hammerless models. The dipping process was eliminated shortly before WWII. Most manufacturers did not heat treat the magazines of their semi automatic pistols in this era.

It was difficult to control warping the dimensions of hand guns when heat treating. It wasn't until 1935 that S&W heat treated the cylinders of the 357 magnum revolvers, which they did not do for the lower pressure caliber revolvers, for example. It wasn't until WWII that Colt started to heat treat areas on the pistols themselves. They began to heat treat the front third or so of the slides and the area around the take down hole on the frames, two areas which tended to deform and peen under heavy usage. WWII M1911 pistols show a different shading under the parkerized finish in those spots no matter if the pistols were made by Colt, Ithaca, Remington Rand, or US&S.

By the end of WWII, Remington Rand perfected a method to heat treat the entire M1911 slide without warping them. Post WWII military replacement slides were fully heat treated, as were all the commercial Government Models going forward.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Well, it's called a pre-27 retroactively, since at the time his revolver was produced, the designation of 'Model 27' was seven years in the future. Technically, these revolvers made between 1935 and 1957 are called the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Revolver.

Is that nomenclature synonymous with "Registered Magnum" ?

The Registered Magnums ran from 35 until 39. There were "Non-Registered Magnums" at the end of the run. The Transitional Magnums came out in 46. They were referred to as "357 magnums until 57 when it became the Model 27.

There are books written about these things, but I think I gave you the bare bones. It can all be very confusing.

I've got a couple of 3.5" pre-27s, one blue and one nickel:




I think this one fits into the thread title nicely, It's a pre-war commercial 1917 that was cut down to a 4" barrel. I bet it had a few adventures:




This one is a .455 Hand Ejector chopped down to 3.75" and converted to .45 Colt:




And as long as we are talking self defense, here is a gentlemen's deep concealment gun, a Walther Model 9 in .25ACP:

Very nice, clang.