Catalog Auction info Auction #140 - Two-Day Sale, November 18th & 19th (#140) 11/18/2023 9:00 AM EST Closed Starts Ending 11/18/2023 9:00 AM EST Auction Info Lot #247 Important Pair Of Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum Revolvers Shipped To The Butte Montana Police Department In 1937 Click image to enlarge PreviousNextSimilar Items Lot closed - Sold Price (Including Buyer`s Premium):$22,800 Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 Description Description: serial nos. 53444 & 53448, 357 Mag, 5” barrels with bright excellent bores. This is a well-known and storied pair of revolvers, part of a 20 gun shipment to the City of Butte, MT Police Department in August 1937. Butte Montana in the 1930’s was still a rough and tumble mining town. Indeed the year 1935 saw one of its officers killed and another wounded in a shootout with a violent ex-convict who had just weeks earlier killed a deputy sheriff in Seattle; also with 42 year veteran Chief of Police Jeremiah Murphy dying from his injuries, after a physical altercation with a miner; another officer being shot to death while walking his beat in February of 1937. The recession of 1937 did not help the crime rate in the United States and indeed the City of Butte Police Department received FBI training in October, 1937 being the year that the City of Butte was under a push to “clean up its act”. The revolvers remain in very fine states of condition and while their serial numbers are very close, only four numbers apart, their registration numbers are actually consecutive. Gun 53444 retains perhaps 90-92% original blue showing the expected holster wear on left and right of barrel as well as high edges and contact points, with a few spots of freckling on the side plate and wear to pewter on the exposed sharp edge of butt and knuckle, as would be exposed in an open top holster. The color case-hardening on the duty trigger and grooved hammer remain excellent, the right side drifting to a silvery patina with a bit of light freckling. The checkered walnut Magna style grips rate very fine with excellent original varnish and some light dings and handling marks along the sharp edges of the butt, the right panel with some chipped points, they are stamp-numbered to the gun. Gun 53448 shows perhaps 95% original blue, showing some light remnants of oxidation freckling on right of barrel, a bit of wear left, along with some high edge and contact point wear and freckles of light oxidation staining sparsely scattered here and there. The grooved hammer and duty trigger retain excellent color case-hardening, the right sharp edge of the trigger just starting to drift to silver. The checkered walnut Magna style grips rate very fine to excellent with only light wear, they are un-numbered but their fit is excellent and they are likely original equipment. Both revolvers were ordered with Call bead front sights and have square notch rears with rounded edges. Both arms time and lockup properly, the second slightly tighter than the first. The included factory letters both verify the configurations and show shipment August 18, 1937 to the City of Butte Police Department in a shipment of 20 guns, 19 with 5” barrels and one with a 4” barrel. Interestingly in September 1937 a matching revolver was ordered with a 5 1/2” barrel, this gun then presented to the then Mayor of Butte, Charles Hauswirth, by the Butte Police Protective Association October 23 of that same year, at the culmination of the FBI training seminar which lasted October 18-22. Included with the arm are images of a July 1937 Western Union telegraph from Beryl Wilson, City Clerk of Butte, inquiring about the delivery of the departments revolvers, also an airmail response to Clerk Wilson from D.B. Wesson himself, updating him on said revolvers and copies of orders for the mayor’s special Smith & Wesson, as well as a purchase order from the Montana Hardware Company, all in September 1937. There are numerous images of the Butte Police Department personnel included as well, from 1937, 1939, 1940 and there is a narrative of the 1935 tragedy where one officer and a civilian were killed, and the other officer wounded. There are included photocopies of payroll records for August 1937 as well as what appears to be a roster of some of the rank and file from 1939, showing officers name, date appointed and date confirmed. Our research shows only 727 five inch barreled S&W Registered Magnum revolvers produced, making these arms highly desirable in their own right. Having a law-enforcement shipped Registered Magnum is a rarity itself, having two 5” barreled Registered Magnums that shipped to a Law Enforcement agency in a rugged and tough Western town like Butte makes these coveted arms all the more desirable and would be the centerpiece of any advanced comprehensive Law Enforcement or Smith & Wesson collection. A very rare opportunity to own two-such guns that is not likely to be repeated in this lifetime. (3F11014-45,46) {C&R} (15,000/25,000) Categories: firearm Terms and conditions TERMS & CONDITIONS OF SALE The following paragraphs represent the terms under which all sales by Amoskeag Auction Company, Inc. are conducted. Bidding on any item in the sale indicates the bidder’s full acceptance and understanding of all terms and conditions of sale. Amoskeag Auction Company, Inc. has taken great care in the preparation of the descriptions in this catalog. Although we believe everything in the descriptions to be true, we do not guarantee any part of any description. We recommend that the bidders view the items in person and form their own opinions as to condition, originality, origin, etc. Amoskeag Auction Company, Inc. will consider all requests for refunds. If a customer is unhappy with a purchase, we will be happy to discuss a remedy with them. All requests for refunds must be made within 30 days of the sale date. 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