Identity of the engraver

[jed1177]

I have the opportunity to purchase this engraved S&W M60. There is no documentation as to the engraver and I have yet to find initials, etc.

One appears on a popular auction site with a VERY similiar pattern and a gold inlaid dragon instead of the eagle. It listing seller states it was done by Shiro Osaway (spelled correctly????).

I know engravers, with your obvious attention to detail, are very good at recognizing each others work.

Can anyone identify this engraver. Thanks in advance.

[SVD]

Boy I'm surprised - I saw your thread last night and thought you'd have at least a couple of answers by now.

Hey FEGA guys! :waving:

[jed1177]

Steve,
Would certainly appreciate the help....I'm on a pretty fast turn around time to decide if I want to buy it or not. Decision would be alot easier if I knew who the artist was.

Hopefully, someone will jump in......

[Gail]

Maybe moving this to the main discussion forum will get more attention?
I am surprised at no bites on this!
gailm

[Roger Bleile]

JED1177 (sorry I don't know your real name),

I had to look through my archives for a while but I found the gun you have pictured. This gun is pictured on the cover of the February 1970 edition of GUNS magazine. The magazine listed the work as REI Engravings. The gun is also pictured on page 134 of the 1970, 24th edition of Gun Digest and again listed as REI Engravings. At that time REI Engravings was located at 101 Wolpers, Park Forest, IL 60466.

If memory serves correctly, REI was an intermediary who had a Japanese engraver named Ogowa who actually did the work. The work of Japanese trained engravers has a distinct appearance evidenced in the scrollwork. They use a German style of scroll but their cuts are unique. I believe that this is because they generally cut with their chisel pointed toward them as contrasted with European (and American) trained engravers who cut with the chisel point pointed away from their body.

I hope this helps. Please tell us about yourself and if you end up buying the gun.

C. Roger Bleile

[SVD]

Ha!

I knew someone like you, Roger, would know the answer.

Love that about the internet - someone out there knows the answer. Of course finding that person can be a bit tricky, as can finding them amongst all the people who know what ain't so.

[jed1177]

Roger.....Wow, you certainly came through for me! I only have a few of the old Gun Digest, 16, 29, 36, 37,39, 42 and 44. I guess that and the 1970 edition of Guns will be my next quest.

This may be a rather sticky question, but how was their quality of engraving in comparison to others....factory, etc? Just curious because I know there is a lot of difference out there. As in everything, there is always a list of who's who's in the trades.

I'm leaning toward the purchase based solely on your information. My only reservation was who engraved it and the rating of their work.

As for me, I'm not an engraver. My name is Jim and I'm a Lieutenant with the Illinois State Police assigned to District Chicago. My interest is solely for my personnel collection and the only other engraved gun that I own is a T Series Renaissance Engraved Browning Hi Power.

Any chance you can e-mail me a copy of the documentation you have until I can locate a hard copy?

Thank you so much,
Jim

[Roger Bleile]

Jim,

You have opted to not receive e-mails in your profile.

Regarding the quality of the engraving: This mod 60 is very well engraved and inlayed, in my opinion. That said, it is not common practice for the world's greatest engravers to be comissioned to put their work on a gun of this type. Most of the world's best (I am not one of them) work on only entirely custom made guns, mainly double barreled shotguns and rifles as well as some single shot and bolt action rifles. So we are speaking in relative terms here.

The work on this gun compares favorably with that on "factory engraved" S&W's and is of what I call good journeyman level quality. I would be pleased to own this gun and it is a rare few model 60's that are found with better engraving.

At the time it was engraved there were several Japanese engravers working in this country. Their work was always marketed under someone else's name such as REI or in another instance I am familiar with, Ken Eyster. Look through your Gun Digests and you will see several engraved guns attributed to Ken Eyster. Mr. Eyster was not an engraver but a very talented gunsmith. The engraving sold under his name was done by a Japanese gentleman who I knew only as Sam. This marketing arrangement may have been common practice in those days because many gun collectors were WWII veterans and harbored great resentment against the Japanese. It is odd but this did not translate the same for guns and engraving of German origin. Maybe it has something to do with Pearl Harbor. I don't know for sure as I did not live through the war being born a few days after it ended.

When we speak of the world's top engravers (by reputation and artistry) to do a gun of this size and ammount of coverage in high art quality work, I would expect the engraving to cost from $10,000. to $20,000. That is just a guess because the one thing never, never, never discussed on the engraving forums is what engravers charge for their work. It seems to be an unwritten, unspoken taboo.

I can not advise you to buy the gun or not because for one thing I don't know the asking price. It is a very nice gun and has some good history to it given that Guns magazine chose to put it on a cover. The most important thing is, do you really like the gun no matter what I or anyone else says. If it pleases you and it is within your budget that is most important.

Perhaps my fellow engravers on the forum can chime in and give you their opinion of the engraving. Believe me there is a wide scope of opinion within the engraving community so I am just one of many experienced engravers here and my opinions are not gospel by any means.

BTW I am a former lawman myself. Good luck and be careful out there. Chicago is no playground for cops!

Roger