Not So Run Of The Mill S&W Stainless Model 60 38spl.

[WeldonHunter]

I know the old line "Buy the gun, not the story". This is one where the story is true and the main reason I bought the gun. I've been on a bit of a sabbatical from buying firearms for the last few years. I already have a lot of them I have never fired so I decided to wait until something came along that really peaked my interest. Along the way there were a few other firearms I've wanted to get and when this one came up I decided to pull the trigger so to speak and do an all at once purchase.

The one that started this all off is a S&W Model 60 from about the mid 80s from everything I've been able to determine from the serial number, probably 1984. Here's what makes this one stand out. It was owned by Jerry Lewis. I know this because I have the paper work to prove it from the Juliens Auction of the Jerry Lewis Estate, pictures of it in the catalog it was listed in and I bought it from the person that was at the auction and bought it, Brian Platt, the owner of Keepshooting.com/BTP Arms.

This is the actual catalog from the auction and it goes to the page this gun is on. It's a PDF so it might take a little bit to load. http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions ... -Lewis/20/

The auction offered 73 firearms from the estate. Brian bought this and 4 other pistols along with a bunch of other Jerry Lewis memorabilia. Brian does a lot of business with overseas customers, especially France where Jerry Lewis is a sort of God and he got the other stuff, the memorabilia as gifts to give out to clients. He sold three of the 5 firearms he bought including this little gem.

A lot of people don't know this but Jerry Lewis was an avid gun collector, second amendment supporter and a concealed carrier. He carried a firearm most places he went from what I've been told and this is one he most likely carried from time to time. It was bought new and from the information in the catalog and what Brian told me was relayed to him by the auctioneer was at least shot frequently by Jerry at a private gun club.

Brian listed this on his site with 2 of Jerry's Directors Guild membership cards from 2003 and 2004, neither were signed. He bought a lot of 8 Director's Guild Cards with 2 of them being signed by Lewis. When I saw this deal I listed it on gun-deals like the other two pistols he'd put up for sale. One was an Astra 2000 Cub .22 Short Semi Auto with one unsigned membership card for $1,896.45 http://gun-deals.com/deals/39346-astra- ... -very-good , a Colt MkIV Series 80 Mustang .380acp Pistol with one unsigned membership card for $2,758.34 http://gun-deals.com/deals/39418-colt-m ... state-sale and the one I bought which was $2,974 http://gun-deals.com/deals/39574-smith- ... state-sale

I let it sit on the site for about a week and decided to buy it so I contacted Brian and made him an offer asking if he had room to maneuver on the price and if he still had the signed cards. He didn't drop the price but traded out the two unsigned membership cards for the 2007 and 2008 of which one was the other signed card. He had already promised the other signed card to someone else.

I have the auction results and know what everything in the auction went for. Those 8 membership cards as a set sold for $1,152 as did the pistol I bought. With buyers premium of 25%, tax this pistol went for almost $1,890 out the door to Brian and each of the cards after premium were almost $300 each. The signed ones are worth a bit more. So Brian had roughly $2,600. in the items he sold me. Brian has been an advertiser on our site, gun-deals.com for longer than I've been admin. on the site, which is roughly 8 years and he's always been good to us and me.

I've never bought something because it was owned by someone famous but in the case I loved the firearm, it's a cool little gun and Jerry Lewis being the former owner is surely a bonus.

Because my FFL only charges me $20 no matter how many firearms I transfer I decided to get a few other things. One was the Kimber 1911 Stainless Custom II Target .45acp I've included below, I also bought 2 more AR15 stripped lower receivers for $32ea to build out the other uppers I have, I bought a AR10 Upper and Lower for $550 to make an AR10, which I've been wanting and Bill the owner of The Armory made me a sweet deal on a 1943 Izhevsk PU Sniper from his stash for $550. I also bought the Kimber from him. Bill and Pat (Pat manages Bills internet and wholesale division) really took care of me on these. I'll post about this one at a later time. I need to take pictures. It's nice though.

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[Longcolt44]

Both are very nice pieces and the history as verified makes them even cooler.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Excellent stuff, I liked Jerry.

[WeldonHunter]

Both are very nice pieces and the history as verified makes them even cooler.

Thanks Chuck but just to be clear, the Kimber is new and wasn't from the Estate. I wish but I put that up because I got it along with the other 4 guns at the same time. The Kimber and PU Sniper I mentioned came from the owner of The Armory. Just wanted to show it off because it's also a pretty cool firearm. As for the S&W and the membership cards, I would have never bought them without this kind of proof. Something I already knew but has been reinforced by you guys over the years. I was offered a stainless steel 1911 by the guy that did my machine work about 20 years ago who told me it was once owned by Pretty Boy Floyd. No proof so I passed.

[WeldonHunter]

Excellent stuff, I liked Jerry.

Yeah me too, we grew up with him. I'm not surprised he carried and that he supported the 2nd Amendment. He and the rest of the guys from that era, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sinatra were all part of the rise of Las Vegas and were surrounded by mob 24/7 back in the days of the Rat Pack.

[Longcolt44]

Both are very nice pieces and the history as verified makes them even cooler.

Thanks Chuck but just to be clear, the Kimber is new and wasn't from the Estate. I wish but I put that up because I got it along with the other 4 guns at the same time. The Kimber and PU Sniper I mentioned came from the owner of The Armory. Just wanted to show it off because it's also a pretty cool firearm. As for the S&W and the membership cards, I would have never bought them without this kind of proof. Something I already knew but has been reinforced by you guys over the years. I was offered a stainless steel 1911 by the guy that did my machine work about 20 years ago who told me it was once owned by Pretty Boy Floyd. No proof so I passed.

I knew what you meant, I just worded my response a little wrong.

[WeldonHunter]

Both are very nice pieces and the history as verified makes them even cooler.

Thanks Chuck but just to be clear, the Kimber is new and wasn't from the Estate. I wish but I put that up because I got it along with the other 4 guns at the same time. The Kimber and PU Sniper I mentioned came from the owner of The Armory. Just wanted to show it off because it's also a pretty cool firearm. As for the S&W and the membership cards, I would have never bought them without this kind of proof. Something I already knew but has been reinforced by you guys over the years. I was offered a stainless steel 1911 by the guy that did my machine work about 20 years ago who told me it was once owned by Pretty Boy Floyd. No proof so I passed.

I knew what you meant, I just worded my response a little wrong.

LMAO!! OK just making sure. Wouldn't it have been cool as hell if the Kimber was owned by Jerry? And for the price I paid, Wow!

[Junk Yard Dog]

Back when there were still people in the entertainment industry who had class, and style, and who didn't embrace every batshit political ideal and then try and force feed it to the rest of us.

[GT_80]

Beautiful Smith and Wesson! The story is awesome too. Personally I would have a hard time spending that much on a Jframe snubby, but if I were looking for something that no one else has, and looks that good, I guess I could cough up the money. Congratulations!

[WeldonHunter]

Beautiful Smith and Wesson! The story is awesome too. Personally I would have a hard time spending that much on a Jframe snubby, but if I were looking for something that no one else has, and looks that good, I guess I could cough up the money. Congratulations!

Thanks, it's a pretty cool little wheel gun. This wasn't about what it is as much as who owned it. I've never bought anything because it was owned by someone famous but this covers a few bases in that I grew up watching Jerry Lewis movies in the 60s and it's just a neat little gun. It's a piece that was owned by an Icon in his time and is one cool conversation piece.

[bunkysdad]

Hey I found this thread finally (with a little help ) anyway those are some fine firearms, but the revolver with such a famous ownership is very cool.

[millman]

I'd like to have Jerry Lee Lewis' .38. I bet it saw more action.

[etprescottazusa91]

That's really nice, I really like the J frames.

[Miller Tyme]

That's a really cool J frame sir, and well worth the price to own an iconic piece of American History, both the J-frame and its former owner.

[ModelAUZI]

Very cool gun.

[WeldonHunter]

Thanks guys, I really like it. It's one of those guns that you pick up and look at and unlike other guns you don't have to guess about it's history. I think about the times as a kid watching Jerry's movies and think how cool it is I'm holding something that belonged to him. It's the only thing besides the directors guild cards that came with it I own like it.

[catcracker]

Super cool. I really like.

[WeldonHunter]

I mentioned before that Jerry Lewis was an avid gun collector and supporter of the second amendment as well as concealed carry, he always had a firearm on him. Including the famous incident at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas where he was detained when he was found to have a small unloaded 22 caliber pistol in his baggage in 2008. I also found out he was a competition shooter and regularly competed in quick draw competitions and was considered to have fastest draw in Hollywood followed by Sammy Davis Jr. according to quick draw legend Bob Munden. He was trained by some of the best in the business early on including legendary Hollywood quick-draw expert and gun coach to the stars Arvo Ojala.
Here's a video I found of him demonstrating his skill to an audience.

[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7GZmxw ... e=youtu.be[/bbvideo]