I have an opportunty to buy a 1935 S&W 357 with a letter from Roy Jinks saying that it is 1 of only 8 ever made in it's configuration and want to know what you guys thought of it?

The guy's asking $10,000+


Here's the info:


1936 S&W Registered .357 Magnum, 8-1/4" Barrel, 1 of only 8 made.

Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Pre-War Registered Model, serial number 48361 Registration No. 1082, was shipped from Smith & Wesson on May 19, 1936, and delivered to California Hardware Co., Los Angeles, CA. Smith historian records indicate this revolver was shipped with an 8-1/4 inch barrel length fitted with a 1/10 inch partridge front sight, square notch rear sight to match, blue finish, standard stocks with grip adapter attached. The revolver was sighted at 25 yards, with magnum ammunition using 6 o’clock hold. No Certificate or box included, it's not perfect, but the rarity and decent condition supersedes anything it may be missing or lacking in that regard. The barrel length of 8-1/4 inch is very rare with only 8 in this length being recorded as being manufactured. It is my understanding that there is no record or knowledge of the other 7 still being in existence.

Excerpts from Jim Supica’s and Richard Nahas’ Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson:

"It was built to the purchaser’s specifications and the wide variety of configurations, combined with the .357’s significance in handgun history, make the Registered .357 Magnum a prized collector’s item. ~ All parts were hand-fitted. ~ This was the first Smith revolver to use a counter bore cylinder to protect the cartridge rim. ~ It has a locking ball bearing in the yoke to assist in locking open the cylinder when swung out. ~ Finely checkered top-strap, checkered barrel rib and checkered hammer."

As noted in Jim Supica’s Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (2nd Edition) on page 97, bottom right corner, “Premiums are paid for scarcity of barrel lengths. Rarest barrel lengths NIB can reach five figures." That’s from the 2nd Edition, published/copyright 2001 (That was 6 years ago).

The following is the text of the 2 page Smith & Wesson Historian Roy Jinks Letter commenting on this gun, whereby photos of that letter are posted here:


<b>
January 8, 1999

We received your letter of recent date requesting information on one of the original .357 Magnums. The .357 Magnum was introduced in 1935, and was a custom manufactured revolver. It was available with a minimum barrel length of 3-1/2 inches and a maximum of 8-3/4 inches. Each revolver was manufactured to the individual’s specifications. The revolver was stamped with a registration number and a card was enclosed with each revolver. When the gun was received and the registration card filled out and returned, the owner received a registration certificate, which included the owner’s name, registration number, barrel length and trigger pull, both double and single action. The certificate was signed by Douglas Wesson, Vice President of our company.

Unfortunate, this practice proved too costly for a revolver that sold for $60, and was discontinued after approximately 5,500 of the registered .357 Magnums were manufactured, We are sorry but we do not have any facsimile of the original certificates that we can send to you.

In 1942, the .357 Magnum was temporarily discontinued to allow Smith & Wesson to begin full wartime production. This model was reintroduced at the close of the war in 1946. All postwar .357 Magnums can be identified as they carry the prefix S in front of the serial number in the butt. This S also signifies the incorporation of the improved hammer block. All of the N Frame .357 Magnums are serial numbered within our .44 Hand Ejector series. In 1958 when model numbers were assigned to all our Smith & Wesson models, the .357 became the Model 27.

In 1968 the serial number series for the N frames was changed to a new numbering system. This new numbering system began with the serial number N-1 and has continued through N950000. All of the N framed revolvers are serial numbered within this series, including the Model 27.

We have researched your Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Pre-War Registered Model revolver in company records which indicate that your handgun, with serial number 48361 Registration No. 1082, was shipped from our factory on May 19, 1936, and delivered to California Hardware Co., Los Angeles, CA. The records indicate that this revolver was shipped with an 8-1/4 inch barrel length fitted with a 1/10 inch partridge front sight, square notch rear sight to match, blue finish, standard stocks with grip adapter attached. The revolver was sighted at 25 years (SP) with magnum ammunition using 6 o’clock hold. The barrel length of 8-1/4 inch is very rare with only 8 in this length being recorded as being manufactured.

We trust that the information furnished will be helpful to you as well as of interest.

Sincerely,

Smith & Wesson
Roy G. Jinks
Historian

I really shouldn't comment since I don't know the rare Smith market, but that sounds like a helluva lot of money for that pistol to me, I wouldn't pay it not because of the amount but because it isn't "special" enough for the price as far as I'm concerned.

like any other collectors piece it depends on how much $$ you got and how bad you want it