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Thread: Found a great Smith and Wesson today

  1. #1

    Found a great Smith and Wesson today

    I posted this over on another site, but I thought I would share here as well.

    My dad passed away a few years ago and we have been slowly going through his belonging. He split his time between Hawaii and two other locations in California, so he had stuff all over.

    Today we were going through a box of paper work and at the bottom was a small blue box. I immediately recognized it as a Smith and Wesson box and was surprised to find a new model 36 nickel square butt. The box still had the warranty card, user manual, and receipt from 1981. There was also a couple of copies from the "Letters" section of a 1981 Guns and Ammo warning about the use of Hoppes No. 9 on nickeled guns. Under all of that was 10 rounds of Federal Nyclad.

    This was very unusual because my dad was not a handgun guy. Later in life I bought him a 1911 and we had tons of fun shooting our .45's but growing up, to my knowledge, we only had hunting rifles and shotguns. He used to tell me as a kid that if he could not stop a threat with his 12 GA we were in real trouble. For the life of me I can't figure out why he bought this. There was not a particularly crazy crime event happening in 1981 in the surrounding area and we lived in a small, safe beach town. I guess the mystery will remain, but it is a cool piece of family history.

    Anyways here are some pictures...

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  2. #2
    Very Cool.

    Perhaps there was more to your dad than you realize.

    We don't always tell our kids or our spouses of all the dangers that they as a family face.

    My grandfather was a very quiet man. I learned a great deal about him and the various things he did after WWII to protect his family, to settle things with certain people, and to do what he felt was correct. These were never things he actually spoke about. They were all things that slowly were revealed after he passed.

    You may have an interesting piece of family history in your possession there.

  3. #3
    You are most fortunate to have found a pristine piece of family history. May it be a part of your family for many more years.


    -Rainman

  4. #4
    What a great thing to read on a lazy Sunday morning. Just a gorgeous piece, too! You're totally gonna shoot it, yeah?

  5. #5
    Member jtcarm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
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    Texas Cross Timbers
    Some (if not most) nickel-plating processes use a copper substrate to bond the nickel. Hence solvents that work on copper aren’t a good idea.

    Don’t quote me on this, but IIRC, S&Ws nickel plating process does not involve copper and is safe for most solvents.

  6. #6
    Site Supporter
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    Oct 2013
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    Georgia
    Awesome story. The entire time I was going through my dads things the only two items I was hoping to find was a nickel 37 and a 19–4 snub. Guessing his caregivers beat me to them.

  7. #7
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    South East South Dakota
    I had a father in law that I got along with well for 12 years before divorce. I asked him one time about what he did in WW II. He said "warehouseman".

    After his death, my son was cleaning out his stuff and found a small box with THREE medals of his, Purple Heart, Navy Cross and a Silver Star.

    I just know a lot of warehousemen win those.

    Sometimes there's more than meets the eye to some people.

  8. #8
    Revolvers Revolvers 1911s Stephanie B's Avatar
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    Mar 2014
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    East 860 by South 413
    Quote Originally Posted by Catshooter View Post
    I had a father in law that I got along with well for 12 years before divorce. I asked him one time about what he did in WW II. He said "warehouseman".

    After his death, my son was cleaning out his stuff and found a small box with THREE medals of his, Purple Heart, Navy Cross and a Silver Star.

    I just know a lot of warehousemen win those.

    Sometimes there's more than meets the eye to some people.
    IIRC, Navy and USMC service records were not destroyed in the St. Louis archives fire in the 1970s. So you might be able to find out what he did and where he was.

    (High interest records from those services were in special storage in that archive and were lost, including those of PhM2 Wm. Hitler.)
    Last edited by Stephanie B; 08-06-2022 at 07:49 PM.
    If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Gun Mutt View Post
    What a great thing to read on a lazy Sunday morning. Just a gorgeous piece, too! You're totally gonna shoot it, yeah?
    Definitely going to shoot it!

    I'll probably bring a good bottle for when the guns are put away and have a toast or two in his honor.

  10. #10
    Slainte, Pops!

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