1914 "Hand Ejector 5th change-Received S&W (Jinks) letter

T

Trooper Joe

New member
I posted this revolver before on another thread, however, I just received my letter from Roy Jinks (S&W Historical Foundation) indicating that the gun was made in 1914, not 1920 like I first thought. This is my first letter I have asked for, for any of my Smith and Wessons. It was real exciting and makes owning this gun even more special.



Not to good of a copy of the letter, but I think you can see all of the neat details.



As I mentioned before, I think this will be my only revolver that I will not shoot since I don't think it has ever been fired before.





Trooper Joe
 
Just curious. How long did it take for you to get your letter?

Only about two weeks. I actually thought it would be several months.

Trooper Joe
 
What characterizes the "fifth change"?
It seems like the vast majority of old K-frames that I see (including in my safe) are "1905, fourth change".
 
What characterizes the "fifth change"?

There seems to be a lot of information on that on the net. Also, the S&W book has a pretty good description of what the various "changes" were. It seems that each "change" indicates minor (and major) updates.

Thanks,

Trooper Joe
 
What characterizes the "fifth change"?
It seems like the vast majority of old K-frames that I see (including in my safe) are "1905, fourth change".
Click to expand...
His gun is the smaller "I" frame.
With early "K" frames, 1905 4th change is the most common as it ran from 1915 to 1942. Original model of 1899, 1902's and previous 1905's all ran from 1899 to 1915.

Jim
 
Weren't NYPD cops using 32s about that time? Someone with juice to buy a handgun in NYC and maybe wanted what the police carried? Nice piece.

Ya gonna put it in yo pocket for fun?
 
It took a lot less "juice" to buy a pistol in NYC in 1914 than it does today.
Also, while S&W has a record that it was shipped to NYC, it's quite possible the gun went somewhere else on its way into the owner's hands. Remember back in those days, not only was NYC a major warehouse and transshipment point for all kinds of good, the NYC company could have sold that gun by mail to anyone anywhere in the US, OR overseas, shipped DIRECT to the customer.

A 14 year old in Phoenix could have bought that gun, if they wired the money to the seller, and had it mailed direct. There was no law against it.

Direct mail order sale of firearms was a significant part of a gun seller's business, until the Federal Govt. stopped it in 1968.


Put a .32 gun in your pocket for fun?

Not that one. The pics show about zero finish wear, and it barely has a turn ring. Pocket carry of that gun I would consider a moral offense. ;)
 
Howdy

The Sullivan Act, which restricts ownership of handguns in New York City, has been in force since 1911. This would have made it more difficult to legally obtain a revolver in NYC in 1914. Not as difficult as today, today it is almost impossible to obtain a pistol license in NYC, but one did need a permit in 1914.

The major New York distributor for Smith and Wesson was JP Storr and later MW Robinson. It was quite common to ship handguns to hardware stores in that era, I'll bet Kirkland Brothers & Company was simply a local hardware store. I doubt if a local hardware store would have been shipping firearms very far, they were usually bought by local customers.

In 1896 New York City Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt selected the 32 caliber Colt New Police revolver as the first standard issued revolver for the New York City police department.
 
but one did need a permit in 1914.
Click to expand...

And for a bit of coin, Tammany Hall would write one while you waited. IF you were the "right" sort of person....:rolleyes:

The Sullivan act, and a lot of other NYC laws were widely known at the time as being ...selectively enforced ..shall we say?

I'm sure none of that goes on today....wink, wink, snicker, snicker :rolleyes:
 
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