The accompanying factory letter states the revolver was shipped on October 14, 1954, and delivered to Walter Lookenbugh, S&W’s manufacturing representative for California (Los Angeles), with a 6 ½ inch barrel, red post front sight, rare two-tone or pinto finish (bright blue and nickel), target hammer and trigger, and special order smooth bird’s eye maple target grips. In the letter S&W historian Roy Jinks provided additional information related to ownership: “This revolver was special built for Congressman Cecil R. King from Englewood, CA. There were two guns in this shipment, the second was a .44 Target Model of 1950 serial number S118087 that was equipped with a 4 inch barrel. Congressman King was a close friend of Smith & Wesson’s President Mr. C.R. Hellstrom and the company built many special unusual guns for the Congressman.” The included copy of the S&W invoice confirms that this “Special Production Presentation Model,” as Jinks referred to it in the letter, was sold to Congressman King while also confirming the rare, highly attractive bird’s eye maple stocks. Nicknamed pintos, these special order factory blue and nickel finished guns are highly sought after by collectors. The factory two-tone finish and bird’s eye maple stocks make for a rare combination of features that are also just as attractive. The revolver is fitted with a smooth bore barrel featuring a threaded choke. Although the threaded smooth bore barrel does not letter, the features are professionally done and certainly have all the look of being completed by a highly talented employee at the S&W factory. The Congressman’s close ties to Hellstrom strengthens the writer’s conclusion that this rare, unusual barrel configuration is factory. In a 2019 dated email Jinks confided that if the S&W factory had performed the work, it would not have been put on the invoice and the barrel would have been taken off the production line before it was rifled. An included Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms letter exempts this revolver from the purview of the National Firearms Act and classifies it as a curio and relic. Congressman Cecil R. King (1898-1974) served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California’s 17th congressional district for 14 terms (1942-1969). He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I and served as a private from 1917 to 1918. His first run in politics came in 1933 when he became a member of the California State Assembly where he remained until 1942 when he was elected by special election to the U.S. House of Representatives. King was one of the first members of Congress to get involved with the issue of Medicare. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s King was at the forefront for the push of Medicare legislation. As a member of the House of Representatives, King was the co-author of the King-Anderson Act along with Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico laying important groundwork for Medicare and was credited by President Lyndon Johnson at the signing the Medicare & Medicaid Act into law on July 30, 1965. Provenance: Congressman Cecil R. King; The Mike Priwer Collection

Excellent, retaining 99% plus original blue and nickel finish with minimal handling marks and a light cylinder drag line. The grips are also excellent with very attractive grain pattern. Mechanically excellent. A very unusual, very intriguing documented ATF exempt smoothbore, factory pinto Smith & Wesson Pre-Model 21 revolver documented to a member of the U.S. Congress that will make a welcomed addition to any collection no mater how advanced.