| Image | Lot | Price | Description |
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1020
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$39,100.00
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*IMPORTANT SMITH & WESSON HAND EJECTOR FIRST MODEL (TRIPLE LOCK) TARGET DA REVOLVERS WITH RARE BERNS-MARTIN DOUBLE HOLSTER RIG THAT BELONGED TO ELMER KEITH.SN 14145 & 6146. Cal. .44 Special. Revolvers are virtually identical with 6-1/2″ bbls, one with Call gold bead front sight and the other with Mr. Keith’s “long range” modified thick front sight blade with two gold bars for distance shooting. Both have round top straps with adjustable sights. Frames are 5-screw type and the cranes have a third fastener in the ejector rod housings. Both have standard color case hardened hammers & smooth triggers. Revolvers are mounted with mirror-image Magna-sized burl walnut 2-pc grips, carved on one side with deep relief “Elmer Keith” and oak leaves, and the other grip with oak leaves. All the carving has a coarse stippled background. Revolver #6146 has a small 5-pointed star by the SN on the buttstrap which indicates factory refinish; Accompanied by a rare double holster rig by the Berns-Martin Co. consisting of left & right hand permanently mounted, full basketweave tooled, front opening spring holsters with thumb straps across the front. They are mounted to a 3-1/2″ wide lined cartridge/money belt that is matching tooled and has a double row of sewn-on cartridge loops for fifty-eight .44/.45 caliber cartridges. Belt has a short, sewn-on tongue billet and a square, cut corner nickeled brass buckle. Rig is completely unmarked. Mr. Keith is pictured on pgs. 150, 162 & 165 of Mr. Keith’s book Six Guns, wearing this exact rig, demonstrating fast draw & shooting. The entire rig, with two 1917 revolvers, is pictured on p. 163 of the referenced publication. The caption to one of the pictures on p. 162 states that one of the revolvers is a Triple Lock .44 Special. These revolvers will letter from Smith & Wesson as follows: #6146 is a first Model hand ejector in .44 Special with 6-1/2″ bbl shipped February 18, 1913 to Lovell Brothers Seal Co. Boston, MA. #14145 is identical shipped December 14, 1917 to Stanbaugh-Thompson Co. Youngstown, OH. PROVENANCE: The Elmer Keith Estate Collection. CONDITION: #6146 is very fine to extremely fine. Overall retains 96-97% strong, deep, restored factory blue with light muzzle end & some sharp edge wear. #14145 is extremely fine. Overall retains 97-98% crisp orig blue with very light muzzle end & sharp edge wear and a light cylinder line. Triggers & hammers on both revolvers show strong case colors. Both sets of grips extremely fine showing little or no use. Mechanics of both revolvers are crisp & sharp with fine-tuned actions and 2-1/2 to 3 lb triggers. Holsters & belt are very fine to extremely fine showing very light wear with solid cartridge loops. The thumb strap snap on left holster has separated from its base. 4-48016 JR246 (6,000-10,000) – Lot 1020 Click here to view provenance
Auction: Firearms - March 2015 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day. |