Offered here is Smith & Wesson Vice President Douglas B. Wesson’s personal S&W .357 Magnum Revolver with special "Zero" serial number (0373). Known as "Club Guns," S&Ws with "0" prefix serial numbers were given or loaned to factory personnel, shooting clubs and notable shooters as samples or test guns. A few .357 Magnums with "Zero" serial numbers were assembled from 1934 to 1935 and evaluated by the period's leading experts. Serial numbers 0372 and 0373 were given to S&W Vice President Douglas Wesson for use in his extensive and highly publicized big game handgun hunts of moose, elk, grizzly and antelope in 1935, a grand marketing strategy that helped popularize big game handgun hunting and forged the legacy of the .357 Magnum cartridge. A period newspaper article from The Philadelphia Inquirer documenting one of these hunts is included. In the accompanying factory documents (copies) provided by the S&W Historical Foundation there is Wesson's internal factory order for both 0372 and 0373 serialized .357 Magnums and a business card size note, almost certainly in Wesson's handwriting, specifying the configuration of both revolvers. This revolver is listed by serial number in Supica and Nahas' "Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" on page 133 as used in Wesson's big game hunts in Alaska and other exotic locales. In 1935, Douglas Wesson also performed high velocity .357 Magnum cartridge testing demonstrations for the FBI using "Zero" serialized .357 Magnums. Like the big game handgun hunts, the FBI demonstrations were designed to promote S&W’s new .357 cartridge and the revolver that fired it. Included with this revolver is the evidence from one of these demonstrations: a 12 x 12 inch piece of 1 1/8 inch thick 1930s bullet proof banker’s glass with a large bullet hole through the center. On the glass is a period label reading, “SMITH & WESSON/357 MAGNUM/(20 FEET).” In an accompanying S&W letter addressed to noted S&W collector Ray Cheely, S&W historian Roy Jinks explained the historical significance of the glass. He wrote, “This [piece of glass] was a part of a bank door which was supposed to be bullet proof. In 1935 when the Smith & Wesson Factory introduced the .357 Magnum revolver its designer Mr. Douglas B. Wesson went to great lengths to prove the power of this new revolver and cartridge. In one of the demonstrations to the FBI, Mr. Wesson took this sample of bullet proof glass and fired a high velocity .357 Magnum cartridge at the center of the glass. The result was the gaping hole that is now in the center of the glass.” Pictures speak louder than words! As the primary "Zero" serial number .357 Magnum used by Douglas Wesson during his promotional exploits, this revolver is almost certainly the gun Wesson used at 20 feet to shoot the hole through the bullet proof glass, demonstrating the previously unheard of power of a handgun cartridge. The factory letter also details the provenance associated with the piece of glass: “This sample piece was then fit with a wooden stand to hold the glass and it was in Mr. Wesson’s office while he was Vice President of Sales. It remained in the office of various Sales Managers until 1986 when the Smith & Wesson offices were to be remodeled. The glass sample was beginning to loose small pieces of glass and it was to be discarded. I obtained the sample and kept it in my collection until...I presented it to Mr. [Ray] Brazille. This glass sample is a unique example of the power of the .357 Magnum and a great piece of history of this important and classic revolver.” The original wooden stand for the glass is included. Douglas Wesson (1884-1956), grandson of S&W co-founder Daniel Wesson, worked hand-in-hand with the period's leading ballistic experts such as Phil Sharpe and Elmer Keith to develop a cartridge more potent than the .38 Special. The result was the .357 Magnum cartridge which was first introduced on the S&W .357 Magnum Revolver, the most powerful handgun at the time. Initially each production S&W .357 Magnum was built to the specifications of the buyer, then registered by number to the owner by Douglas Wesson himself. As a pre-production revolver, this .357 Magnum correctly lacks a registration number. The revolver is fitted with a Call bead front sight, an adjustable “U” notch rear sight, and a humpback hammer. Wesson’s personalized Kearsarge grips feature a relief carved oak leaf pattern on a stippled background on both panels and the relief carved facsimile of “D.B. Wesson” signature on the right panel. The grips were carved by Walter Roper as stated by Richard S. Wesson in a July 1971 letter. Matching serial numbers are stamped on the butt, cylinder, and ejector shroud. Accompanying the revolver is Wesson’s profusely tooled S.D. Myres leather holster featuring Wesson’s tooled “DBW” initials boldly showcased on a scroll banner and Wesson's Hartmann NRA leather bound case. Note the case was custom built to carry this revolver and a semi-automatic pistol. This pistol was almost certainly his Massachusetts National Guard issued Colt .45 ACP M1911. The whereabouts of Wesson's M1911 remains unknown. The case contains four bore brushes, a file and a screwdriver. In May 2011, this revolver along with its counterpart, serial number 0372 was awarded the National Rifle Association's Annual Meetings "10 Best" Silver Medal Arms Award, "one of a maximum of ten certificates awarded each year to arms of outstanding historical value, or beauty, or rarity, selected from displays of the NRA's Affiliated Gun Collector Organizations." The original certificate mounted on a wooden plaque is included as well as the NRA Silver Medal. Wesson's highly publicized big game handgun hunts and .357 Magnum cartridge testing demonstrations for the FBI are documented in an accompanying copy of "D.B. Wesson's Scrapbook." This revolver's counterpart serial number 0372 is offered in the next lot.

Excellent, retaining 97% original blue finish showing high edge wear, a cylinder drag line and some minor handling marks. 97% original case colors remain on the hammer and trigger. The grips are also excellent with minimal handling marks and a crisp carving. Mechanically excellent. The holster is very fine showing some wear and has provision for a closure strap. The case is fine showing some minor wear overall. Provenance: Gary Garbrecht Collection, Ray & Sheryl Cheely Collection