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Engraved Automag (Pasadena)

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Topic: Engraved Automag (Pasadena)
Posted By: Blackwell
Subject: Engraved Automag (Pasadena)
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2024 at 3:49pm
Any idea of how many of the factory engraved Automags were actually made? I'm presently offering E-105, along with a copy of a letter from Harry Sanford (dated 1975) affirming that there were "six or seven engraved models" total. But I've also seen E-110 somewhere. Was their numbering system that kacked? 



Replies:
Posted By: Blackwell
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2024 at 3:51pm
https://publuu.com/flip-book/83345/1283192" rel="nofollow - https://publuu.com/flip-book/83345/1283192


Posted By: BEEMER1
Date Posted: 10 Jul 2024 at 7:46pm
I was hoping that Bruce would jump in here and answer the question but I guess I will try.

There are actually 20 of the factory engraved Auto Mags.  Here is a list in the order they were produced and serial numbers.

#A00047  -  Relief scroll,  Made to be a promotion item

#HWS-1-  -  Relief scroll, Made for Harry W Sanford, Auto Mag Exec.

#GDO-1-  -  Relief scroll, Made for Gerard D Ognibene, Auto Mag Exec.

#JJM-2-    -  Relief scroll, Made for J Jerome Moiso, Auto Mag Exec.

#A00044  -  English scroll, Made for Al Kaylor, Auto Mag Supporter

#E-100 thru #E-109  -  Relief scroll, These 10 guns were produced and sold to the public

WGC-2-  -  Kornbrathe, Made for William G Chizar,  The Engraving Contractor

WGC-3-  -  Nimsche, Made for William G Chizar,  The Engraving Contractor

    Produced after the bankruptcy

#RGW-6-  -  Relief scroll, Made for Raymond G Weaver,  Harry's new partner

#LEJ-02  -  This was a Jurras Custom 200 Int'l sold to Lee Jurras, Auto Mag Distributor

#E-110  -  Relief scroll, this gun was made by Ed O'Neil from parts purchased from Chizar with Harry's blessing

This information is traken from Bruce Starks book.

As far as Harry's letter stating that only six or seven of the engraved models existed, he probably was refering to just the "E" series guns that were sold to the public.  That was probably correct at the time the E-107 pistl was sold.




Posted By: Dances with AutoMags
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2024 at 4:48pm
Hi Beemer.......Bruce Stark here.
As with everything Auto Mag, the story here is not so simple.
Over the years, several engraved Auto Mags have surfaced that were ordered by a customer directly from Chizar without the factories blessing, like the A00044 gun engraved for Al Kaylor. Two of these guns I have seen have 120% coverage.  Personally I think that too much engraving spoils the looks, or the lines of the gun.  120% coverage means that unseen parts of the gun have been engraved, like inside the magazine well and on the bolt.
When the factory was negotiating with Chizar, they wanted to see what the three grades of engraving would look like before the order was placed.  The factory made three fully polished and marked pre-production barrels and sent them to Chizar to be engraved in the three grades of coverage. The barrels were sent to Japan and returned to Chizar
These barrels were never sent to the factory and were later sold to Ed O'Neil who purchased all of the Auto Mag parts that Chizar had. Ed found an engraved frame in the parts purchase and he finished a gun with the fully engraved barrel and frame he bought from Chizar.  Ed took the gun to the factory and Harry had it marked E-110.
Ed also finished two more guns using the other two engraved barrels and sold them to B&B Sales.  One has the B grade engraving and the other had the C grade of engraving and the frames were polished but not engraved.  Harry had his current production serial numbers engraved on the frames.  
Interestingly, the barrel with the least amount of engraving had the barrel markings roll-engraved before the die broke and they went to the electro-etched marking method.

I do not know if the other two barrels were roll-engraved or not.

So here are a few additional engraved Auto Mags and there are probably more.Confused

Cheers.......Bruce


-------------
An armed society is a polite society.


Posted By: BEEMER1
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2024 at 5:24pm
Thanks Bruce.

It seems that everything about Auto Mags has a  "Now the rest of the story"  attached to it.


Posted By: Blackwell
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2024 at 3:54pm
Ha! I knew there'd be a "well, that depends."

I ran across a post on this forum that mentioned E-107. I have a couple of 1980s consignment receipts showing E-105 (the gun in my upcoming auction) and E-107 on the same form. Evidently they were owned by the same guy for a while (at least between 1985-1988), after which time E-107 changed hands. The letter from Harry Sanford references E-107, specifically, and is dated February 1975, but it's addressed to a different person. Likely as not, that was the original owner of E-107, who then sold it (sometime after 1975) to the fellow who owned E-105 and E-107. That guy passed away some time ago, and his heir consigned it to Blackwell.

In any case, I assume it would be accurate, then, to include in my description that the E series represented the only factory engraved examples that were offered publicly. 

Thank you very much for your help!



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