THE DIRECTOR'S #1 REGISTERED .357 MAGNUM
The Society Of Former FBI Agents, of which I'm a member, is attempting to account for the whereabouts of Hoover's magnum given to him by Smith and Wesson in 1935. NOT that there's a problem with whomever has it, but we're simply trying to account for it, as we are with other handguns he owned. Also those of his assistant, Clyde Tolson.
With assistance of some collectors, we have accounted for some of the Hoover/Tolson guns but the Director's magnum, above, has been elusive from all for decades. We do know that years back, there was an inquiry with Smith regarding this exact gun that came out of Texas. Society members have done a preliminary check into this query of Smith since the inquiry is probably the "spark" in the collector circles that the Director's gun is somewhere in Texas. The "theory" appears to go something along the lines of "since the query (obtaining paperwork on the gun) came out of Texas, therefore the gun must be with that person or a friend."
As of February, 2009 we're satisfied that the "Texas rumor" and inquiry above has been resolved and as of this time we have no credible evidence the Director's gun is with anyone in Texas. It does appear at this time that the individual who made the inquiry with Smith was only obtaining a copy of the paperwork for himself, and he too is searching for the gun. (At this time, we don't find it necessary to reveal the identity of this person who queried Smith. He is personally known to one of our retired Agents in Texas who has spoken to him on the matter.)
We know that both internally in the FBI and externally, there are "rumors" the Director gave it away. We have found two examples of the Director setting a precedence of giving away gangster type guns during the late 30's, however no instances of him giving away personal items. The rumor that the Director gave away the magnum, as of 2009, is strictly that. It's a rumor and there's no known credible evidence thus far showing it happened.
We are aware that according to estate records, most of Hoover's belongings went to Clyde Tolson. When Tolson died, everything, with exceptions, was left to FBI Assistant Director, John Mohr. When Mohr died, he left whatever he had to his dentist son, Richard who is now deceased. We know that Richard Mohr sold some of the Hoover/Tolson guns to the market, however we cannot find evidence that any of the Mohr's had the magnum in question.
As of 2009, we have not even been able to establish that the Director did, or didn't, have the gun at the time of his death in May, 1972. It should be noted that in accordance with his death, the proverbial "rumors" of the maid taking the gun, the chauffers taking the gun, etc. have prevailed with no substantive evidence to support those claims.
We have checked records with the Hoover Foundation also, and have determined the Foundation never received any of the Director's guns.
According to Smith/Wesson records, the Director's Registered .357 Magnum, is described as: Serial 45768 Reg. No. 1, shipped from the Smith factory and delivered to J. Edgar Hoover in April, 1935. Records reveal it was shipped with 8.75 inch barrel, equipped with a 1/10 inch Patridge front sight, blue finish, checkered walnut grips, with grip adapter attached.
If you can help in finding the #1 Registered Magnum for the FBI Society, please contact me. We can keep confidential any information you desire. You can contact me, Larry Wack, direct about this issue at: rypublish@roadrunner.com, and please make a cc of your email to retired SA Walt Merritt at waltmerritt@yahoo.com
Thank you for your assistance.