Fushigi Ojisan,
I may need to revise my earlier remarks about the sequence of Reising Arms Company locations. Looks like Hartford is probably the earlier location. I'm digging through the documents right now, and am seeing the Hartford address, two different New York addresses, and a reference to "Works" in Chicopee Falls, MA. I know the pistols were marked with a New York, or a Hartford address. Let me make more sense out of the documents, and I'll post what I find. I made an assumption about New York being first, based on something I remembered, and that recollection may have been in error.
David Albert
dalbert@sturmgewehr.com
OK, I found where my assumption came from. Among Jeff Reising's paperwork are 2 pages photocopied from an unknown firearm value book, stating, "This model was mfg. in New York, NY from serial number 1001-4000. The Hartford, CT address occurs in the serial range 10,000 -12,000." In looking at the Blue Book, it does not mention specific serial number ranges, and states that Hartford was first, then New York. I believe now that Hartford first is correct.
Among the paperwork is a letter from Reising Arms, dated February, 1921, which lists Hartford, CT as the address. I also found reference to an "Arms and the Man" (Pre-American Rifleman) article from 1912, which stated that Eugene Reising lived in Hartford, CT at that time. All the later Reising Arms publications I have list both the Hartford Address, and a New York office address. The New York Office addresses were 149 Broadway from 1922 to 1924, and 61 Broadway after 1924. A San Francisco office address at 22 Battery Place is also mentioned in a November, 1924 catalog.
I think this subject needs to be further confirmed through serial number research. I have pictures of 3 Reising pistols with the Hartford address, and I can only discern the serial number on one of them, which appears to be "9879." It looks like some pistols had their serial numbers marked on the left side of the frame, and some on the right.
My theory is that the pistols were never manufactured in New York, but were probably made in both Hartford, CT, and Chicopee Falls, MA, perhaps subcontracted to another company with existing manufacturing infrastructure. I know there's a lot more we can learn about these pistols, and I'll do my best to add more to the conversation, and share the associated paper items that I now have in my collection.
David Albert
dalbert@sturmgewehr.com