Smith & Wesson Model 29 Engraved Hartford Gun Club 100th Anniversary

Most Model 29 commemoratives come in runs of a few hundred. This one came in a run of exactly one. It was built to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Hartford Gun Club, founded in 1884, and the whole revolver reads like a tribute to Connecticut shooting heritage rather than a catalog piece.

Start at the frame and the story comes to you in pieces. A gold-and-silver Hartford Gun Club medallion sits inlaid into the left side, carrying the club's Charter Oak emblem. Next to it stands a raised gold Statue of Liberty, then a banner reading 100th Anniversary, with the dates 1884 to 1984 cut into a scroll below the cylinder window. That's a lot of theme packed into a small canvas, and yet the engraver kept it balanced. Fine scrollwork runs the barrel, frame, cylinder, and topstrap without crowding the lines.

The deep blue finish carries it all. Look down the barrel rib and you'll find the 44 Magnum and Smith & Wesson rollmarks worked right into the flowing cuts. The grips are smooth ivory-toned panels, one side scrimshawed with a sketch-like oak tree that nods to the Charter Oak again. Against the dark steel, they read bright and quiet at the same time.

Underneath the art, it's still an N-frame .44 Magnum. Adjustable rear sight, pinned front, wide target hammer and grooved trigger, the four-screw sideplate, and the action S&W built its reputation on. This is a serious revolver wearing dress clothes.

The revolver comes in its wood presentation case with green felt lining, accompanied by Hartford Gun Club memorabilia. Inside you'll find a large embroidered club patch, a smaller 100th Anniversary patch, the case keys, and a brass display key. For the collector who chases the truly singular, a one-of-one anniversary piece with its full presentation is the kind of thing that does not come around twice.