Greetings to you all!
I am writing provenance documents on a Remington Model 51 32 ACP. I obtained it in 1968. It has an interesting history that i hope helps in the future sale. Original owner was a bank president and mayor. His town was robbed by John Dillinger.
It has a gorgeous Heiser Denver holster that held it for its entire life.
Would love to know what store sold the gun intitially.
Any info and suggestions appreciated.
Regards,
Mark
Newbie - Model 51 research
Re: Newbie - Model 51 research
Hi Mark,
Welcome to the RAS forums. Sadly there are very few remington records of any kind. If you pistol was made in 1922 or later, there will be a two letter code stamped on the gun, for the month and year [i]shipped[/i]. There is no way to know what dealer it was sent to, or who bought the gun.Provenance adds to the interest of a particular pistol, but unless it can be [i]proven[/i] to belong to a famous person, it will add no value to the pistol.
On your pistol, first you have to prove that Dillinger did in fact rob a bank in your town. That is all bu timpossible since many cases of a claimed Dillinger robbery in a town, was years later proven false when proof shows that at the time of the proclaimed robbery he was actually 2 states away! Even if Dillinger robbed this man's bank, it would only add interest, but no value to the pistol.
Having said all that, I wish you good luck in your search.
Daniel.
You still have to be careful of imposters. Jesse James' widow may have bought as many as 2 dozen pistols and sold them as belonging to Jesse.
Welcome to the RAS forums. Sadly there are very few remington records of any kind. If you pistol was made in 1922 or later, there will be a two letter code stamped on the gun, for the month and year [i]shipped[/i]. There is no way to know what dealer it was sent to, or who bought the gun.Provenance adds to the interest of a particular pistol, but unless it can be [i]proven[/i] to belong to a famous person, it will add no value to the pistol.
On your pistol, first you have to prove that Dillinger did in fact rob a bank in your town. That is all bu timpossible since many cases of a claimed Dillinger robbery in a town, was years later proven false when proof shows that at the time of the proclaimed robbery he was actually 2 states away! Even if Dillinger robbed this man's bank, it would only add interest, but no value to the pistol.
Having said all that, I wish you good luck in your search.
Daniel.
You still have to be careful of imposters. Jesse James' widow may have bought as many as 2 dozen pistols and sold them as belonging to Jesse.
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shadowydug
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue May 26, 2026 4:10 am
Re: Newbie - Model 51 research
Very informative reply, especially the warning about false historical provenance claims.aardq wrote: Wed May 13, 2026 11:03 am Hi Mark,
Welcome to the RAS forums. Sadly there are very few remington records of any kind. If you pistol was made in 1922 or later, there will be a two letter code stamped on the gun, for the month and year shipped. There is no way to know what dealer it was sent to, or who bought the gun.Provenance adds to the interest of a particular pistol, but unless it can be proven to belong to a famous person, it will add no value to the pistol.
On your pistol, first you have to prove that Dillinger did in fact rob a bank in your town. That is all bu timpossible since many cases of a claimed Dillinger robbery in a town, was years later proven false when proof shows that at the time of the proclaimed robbery he was actually 2 states away! Even if Dillinger robbed this man's bank, it would only add interest, but no value to the pistol.
Having said all that, I wish you good luck in your search.
Daniel.
You still have to be careful of imposters. Jesse James' widow may have bought as many as 2 dozen pistols and sold them as belonging to Jesse.