RM Vivas
Firearms Historian
PO Box 900 • Philmont • New York • 12565-0900
www.vivasandson.com
Email: robert@vivasandson.com



This is the Index Page. Wherever you see a link that says MAIN PAGE or  INDEXPAGE this is where it will take you.

REFERENCE INFO • BOOK REVIEWS • ABOUT ME • DOCUMENTS • NYPD GUNS
Amazon Tip Jar :) (because research books ain't cheap!)
26NOV22
    Added an About Me page that describes what I'm trying to do and what I've gotten done thus far.
    The page inscludes a list of articles I've had published and links to .pdfs of those articles as I get a chance to scan them.
21OCT22
Under the DOCUMENTS heading I have added .pdf copies of the following:
15OCT22
     Quite a bit going on....
     An article I wrote, Small Arms Procurement by The New York City Police Department During World War Two: The Colt Commando Revolver, was published in the Fall 2022 issue of the Colt Collectors Association Journal, The Rampant Colt.
     One of the things about this article that I feel makes it of especially great value to the collecting comunity is that it lists all known documented guns by serial number and provides the name and shield number of the officer who purchased it.
     This is a rare instance of secondary documentation of a gun. Usually you get a factory letter that says a gun was shipped to some agency and the trail ends there; this is a rare instance of being able to track a gun from factory to end user.
    More information can be found under Colt Commando in the NYPD Guns section.

    A similar article is in the works but on the Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver. Like the Commando piece, it will include end user data.

    My application to graduate school has been accepted. Assuming I get my BA in History this December, I will start working towards a Masters in Public History come January. My goal is to become one of the few classically trained historians who focuses on firearms history.
05AUG22Commando
    Nothing new to add per se, but I am almost finished on a piece about the Colt Commando revolver and the New York City Police Department. During World War Two the Department acquired slightly over 1,000 of these revolvers and the records for them are uncharacteristically intact.
    The article will contain a list of serial numbers of Commando Revolvers that were acquired by the Department as well as the date the Department sold them and the name and shield number of the purchasing officer.
    This information would be a key foundation for someone who wants to do further research on their gun and the career of the officer who owned it and carried on the streets of New York City!
    If you can't wait until I finish the article (probably a couple weeks), email me the info on your gun and I'll see what I can find.

14JUL22
    I've added a small written piece about the NYPD firearms records that are the cornerstone of my research. If you have a revolver that you believe was a shipment to the NYPD (or Jovino, Folsom Arms, Galef, etc.) and want to see if it can be documented, send me an email with the revolvers serial number and other details. I'll see what I can find. There is no charge for this but if you're feeling generous, my reply comes with a link to my Amazon gun book wishlist.