REVISED: Bill Jordan Was Not the Father of the Combat Magnum

Based on the dates of the Combat Magnum's development project just after WW2, and Bill Jordan's recollection of his conversation with S&W's execs much later, the project for a K frame with a specially hardened frame had been well underway by the time Bill spoke for the first time to Smith & Wesson executives. But S&W wisely credited him anyway, much as Sam Myres had credited Tom Threepersons for more models than he actually inflluenced: celebrity endorsements make sales.

Above, the test report by Evaluators Ltd for S&W's Combat Magnum project, late 1956. The handwritten "copy for Beanie' refers to Van Orden's wife, Flora, her nickname to one and all, even S&W.

In 1949, well before Jordan's first involvement in 1954, a USMC colonel began to court the FBI's business for a 'dream gun' that was to be a K-38 with 4" barrel but in .357 Magnum vs. the .38 Special. All made possible by a "special hardening process" that now is known to be "induction hardening" that was perfected in WW2 (1941-1945 for you youngies) (from 1939 for the Brits).

This Colonel, who became (retired) Brigadier General George Van Orden, in 1950 formed famed Evaluators Limited that was offering a sort of "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" (you youngies look that up, too) for goods wholesaled by it to the U.S. Government. Most especially for firearms and gunleather to support the Korean War that also had begun in 1950. Van Orden was writing to Hank Sloan at the F.B.I. in '49, offering what was already called a "dream gun" in that letter.

Above, Van Orden's test revolver of late 1955 is in a private collection (by permission)

What's significant is that S&W first approached Jordan with an offer (what w/b your "dream gun"?) according to a letter he sent much later to the famed Col. Rex Applegate -- at Camp Perry in August of 1954. That's FIVE YEARS after the project first surfaced, which itself was an outgrowth of S&W having installed 'induction hardening' capabilities perfected during WW2. This enabled the smaller cylinders to remain undistorted, unlike in conventional heat-treatment furnaces for metals, including both steels and aluminium.

(From all this came the USAF trials for a lightweight .38-caliber pistol that gave us the Colt Commander in 9mm, the S&W M39 in 9mm, and the lightweight frames in the Colt and S&W small frames in .38 Special that prior had been in the underpowered 38 Short) . Which, P.S., is what caught Bond author Ian Fleming's eye in a VERY roundabout way, for the S&W Centennial to become the Bond revolver with a Berns-Martin inverted shoulder holster, which was just as new for the Smith J frame, in 1958's "Dr. No" book.)

Notice above, it appears that shortly after receiving his Combat Magnum, Jordan killed a fellow Inspector named Rector with the very revolver that S&W had sent him as the first s/n; late in 1956. A reading of the dates above and the complete article (not shown here) will make that clear.

Even Bill noticed how close the dates were, between when he spoke to S&W in '54 and he was handed his revolver in '56; notice the boxed in type on his 1981 letter to Applegate:

So really, if we want to correctly attribute the Combat Magnum to someone, it would be the General for shepherding the project from 1949 through S&W for the USMC to use in the Korean War. Which war 'ended' (a permanent truce that continues today) prematurely for Evaluator's Ltd in 1953, and the company struggled from then on. Late in the '60s, Van Orden had a heart attack and left Flora for his military nurse, whom he later married. Van Orden died in 1967.

The promulgation of the Jordan legend was merely sales hyperbole.

All that makes this Wiki entry WRONG as constructed from a legend and not from the facts:

Read more about it in my book that is titled "Holstory -- Gunleather of the Twentieth Century - the Second Edition": click on the link at the top of the page to review then purchase it. THE THIRD EDITION IS AT THE PRINTER NOW, though not yet available for purchase.