I recently had to buy a binder for my S&W letters. I bought some of those clear plastic document holders so the letters can be read without having to touch the letters.
I don't know how many letters I have, but its quite a few. As a S&W collector, the most important thing is often simply that the letter reflects that the gun shipped in its current configuration. However, sometimes you do get interesting info.
A while back I bought 2 N frame transitional 38s (a Heavy Duty and a 38 Outdoorsman, pre 20 and pre 23 respectively). The Outdoorsman SN was much higher, but both shipped in 1946, and close together, which I found interesting. S&W shipped very few if any guns in 1945 to civilians or distributors, so really 1946 is the first post war year of production.
Last year I bought a (.455) MKII second model hand ejector a while back hoping it was one of the rare 45 Colt versions purchased by the Canadian government. It lettered as a .455 meaning it was converted, but it ended up shipping on my birthdate, which is pretty neat.
Another one I liked, which had something minor was a pre 29 4 screw I got lettered. It ended up shipping to Pittsburgh PA in 1958, and I bought it in northern PA, and I live in PA so I figure, since shipped, it has been in PA - approx 55 years!
So in other words, I never got a letter that went to a famous person, or a gun that was custom ordered, etc. However, my favorite letter was for my 5 screw pre 29. The gun is beautiful and original, and so the only variable was when it shipped in 1956. Everyone says that S&W made the first 44 magnums in 1955, but really, they only completed one known gun, and it went to someone in S&W. Regular production actually started in 1956. Early 56 guns are much more collectible than later 56 ones, when all else is the same. Early on, they made few, and then made more as the months went on. I think they made some 6500 in the first year, which most are either 6.5in or 4in. Most are blue. Despite that, to have a plain blue 6.5 gun, that shipped early is still very special to a S&W collector. I found out that the SN was S130XXX before I bought it. I knew that the first 44 magnums were in the S130XXX range, so that got me very excited, before I even bought the gun.
I actually landed this 5 screw pre 29 early this year. It was a very fair price, for what it is, although it was much more than say a 29-2 :P. Anyways, when the letter came in, it ended up shipping 4-2-56, which means it was one of the first 100 made. One of the first 100 44 magnum DA revolvers, ever made! Pretty cool IMO. I actually bought the gun from the original owner, who sold the gun to raise money for his gun club in AZ. We all won, IMO. I ended up buying a black presentation case for the gun (these were before the later wood case).
I never started a thread about this gun on the TFL, but I guess I should - with more info.
