The Past Lives Of a Gun

David, I heartily agree. I often wish I could find out exactly what a gun has seen in it's life. I have old guns from my Great Grandfather and know some of the history but not enough. I will never find out more since my ancestors are gone now but you never know. Keep searching, it's rewarding. Chris

I have the same though about one of my. I purchased a S&W 58 a few years ago with a lot of holster wear on the barrel and what I can only assume is bluing loss on the handle due to sweat. I figure it was a law enforcement weapon but how does one confirm? Still interesting to think about.

You could always give it a shot with trying to get a letter from Smith & Wesson, sometimes you get gold, sometimes you're spending $50 to find out the gun was shipped to nowhere and for nothing. I recently had that old Smith M & P lettered and I found out it was shipped in 1950 to Boston. Was it a cop's gun? Who knows. Sometimes it helps if you have a dealer who knows the clientele. My primary gun dealer is a man after my own heart, he asks the seller where the gun came from. Not that long ago I purchased a Model 57 Smith that has tons of holster wear, I mean everything is worn on this gun, but the bore was mint and the recoil shield had hardly a mark and there was no flame cutting at all. This gun was carried, alot. Turns out it belonged to a cop in Vermont. From what I was told, it was a small town cop and this was his gun, and God bless him he was a man after my own heart, he could have carried a 9mm, a .38 or a .357, but no, he went out for the big stick with a .41 Magnum. Not alot of those in police hands here on the east coast. When I get my income tax money back I am going to get this one lettered just because. I doubt it will tell me who and what department it went to, but I can see where it was from 1982 when it was new.
Here's the old girl now.

 

 

Evening, David. Hope you don't mind me converting your photobucket links into images.
Al

History is interesting, guns that are beat into display pieces can command incredible prices just because they belonged to a certain fella. Its almost like we expect that something has rubbed off onto the object from the person, or that some type of arcane magic exists by which we can conjure up the image, thoughts, and deeds of those who held the piece.
I remember there was a place in our mountains here that was way off the beaten path, and without any political correctness. They had old guns mounted on the walls, from locals going back over 100 years-from muzzle loaders to repeaters. One of the guns in question was a nondescript Winchester 73 in 44 WCF. It was a carbine, with the finish darkened into a patina, and the wood a rich deep brown. Around the wrist of the stock was a leather strap-probably to hold the stock together. Story was it belonged to an old hand who worked cattle in the mountains. No one could recall his name, or what had happened to him, or how his carbine came to grace the wall of the old establishment. Just looking at that gun, it was obvious from the dents and scars in the stock that it had not been babied. The brown patina of the metal made it impossible to tell if the gun had been blue, nickel, or browned-which was an extra cost option. Most notably-besides the stock repair and the rough appearance-the lever held tight to the tang without the lock. This meant that it was most likely in good mechanical condition. In a way, the gun did speak of its owner-it spoke of a man of modest means, who relied on his carbine, and kept it in working order. We will never know the stories behind the gun, but we can see that it was clearly an important accoutrement of a working man.
Not to diminish the movie stars and the dudes who entertained the masses, but for me, the old '73 had character. I never got up the nerve to ask if it was for sale, it was like it belonged there, on that wall, overlooking all the newer generations who had forgotten the stories of the forefathers, waiting for someone like me to look up, and wonder about it, and find an odd kind of connection.

I have a bit of a historical note about a gun. It actually involves a bit of a tale and strange coincidences. (Hint: get a cup of coffee)
I moved back to the town of the Rogue River where my father had grown up. My family has a history here. Through circumstances I became the Curator of the Historical Society Museum.
Among the well known local "characters" that had lived here was a "River Guide" (I won't mention his name directly unless I get an OK from his family) This man had risen to some level of attention when he acted as a fishing guide, in his youth, for Zane Grey and other notables from the entertainment industry. At any rate he was pretty well known for his outdoor activities, and unfortunately his tendency to "pull the cork and throw it away". A story about him grew around a fishing trip he took with another local in which the other guy was catching them right and left while the guide was getting skunked. allegedly a bottle was being emptied as well. At one point the "guest" showed his home made lure, cut from a "Prince Albert" tobacco can, to the guide (Rubbing his nose in it no doubt) before casting out. The guide said "See how it works now" with that he pulled a .22 rifle out and shot the lure off the line as it hit the water.  This is the type of thing to make a man curious.
 
In my job I had set up a display about recreation along the river. I was telling this story to a group of visitors and one of them mentioned having heard the story from a friend. I thought that was a nice touch. About a week later the phone rang at the Museum. It was a call from Portland. It seems that the guides nephew was the friend that had told the story to my visitor. the visitor had returned and told this person that his uncle was still being talked about in the little town. Of great interest to me was the fact that the guide had sent that very rifle to Portland to have a new front sight put on at the time of the guides death, in a drowning accident in the river. The rifle had stayed in Portland with the guides brother and had been passed to the nephew. To round the story out  a bit there was a side story about my Dads uncle being a friend of the Guide, and in fact it was my father who found the guides body after the drowning. 
 
Very shortly a Winchester pump .22 (.22WRF chambering) bearing the guides stylized initials where he had carved them in the wrist of he stock, was donated to the Museum.
It's nice to be able to tie together a bit of history, for me it's even nicer when it involves an old gun,

Thanks countrygun, I think stories like that and the gun story from Mak are terrific because they tell the life stories of people who actually made their own history and also of the guns they used. Chris