45Broomhandle
Member
INFO STRICTLY FOR GUN COLLECTORS
I finally got around to taking a photo of my two SM Sporter pistols together. It is a rarity to even find, or ever see, ONE of these guns. The highest number produced (one year only - 1953), is possibly 600 guns.
So - this is a photo you may never see repeated. TWO S-Ms together.
Articles published decades ago by trusted authors established early that approximately 400 had been produced. A later publication said that 200 more were reported, which had been assigned for a US gun club.
The odd serial numbering - not in sequence - of this manufacturer was rather bizarre, with blocks of numbers that had no relation to any earlier or later. Something odd about my pair of guns is that the serial number of NEITHER gun pictured fits into any of those numbers published!
The bottom gun has obviously been fired and handled a lot, while the top one is like new.
The S-M SPORTER is a .22rf single-shot, and was co-designed by a famous gun-guru of the era, W.H.B. Smith, and Sydney Manson who was president of the company. The gun is named using his initials: S-M SPORTER. Below is one of the few advertisements known for this gun.
They were such cheap and poorly designed guns - this was even admitted to in an interview with Sydney years later - that it's safe to assume most gave up the ghost decades ago and were trashed, never to be seen again. One is reported every once in a while, but they're never actually shown. So how many have survived is anyone's guess. How many have YOU seen, or even heard of?
Best regards ~ ~ ~ 45Broomhandle
I finally got around to taking a photo of my two SM Sporter pistols together. It is a rarity to even find, or ever see, ONE of these guns. The highest number produced (one year only - 1953), is possibly 600 guns.
So - this is a photo you may never see repeated. TWO S-Ms together.
Articles published decades ago by trusted authors established early that approximately 400 had been produced. A later publication said that 200 more were reported, which had been assigned for a US gun club.
The odd serial numbering - not in sequence - of this manufacturer was rather bizarre, with blocks of numbers that had no relation to any earlier or later. Something odd about my pair of guns is that the serial number of NEITHER gun pictured fits into any of those numbers published!
The bottom gun has obviously been fired and handled a lot, while the top one is like new.
The S-M SPORTER is a .22rf single-shot, and was co-designed by a famous gun-guru of the era, W.H.B. Smith, and Sydney Manson who was president of the company. The gun is named using his initials: S-M SPORTER. Below is one of the few advertisements known for this gun.
They were such cheap and poorly designed guns - this was even admitted to in an interview with Sydney years later - that it's safe to assume most gave up the ghost decades ago and were trashed, never to be seen again. One is reported every once in a while, but they're never actually shown. So how many have survived is anyone's guess. How many have YOU seen, or even heard of?
Best regards ~ ~ ~ 45Broomhandle
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