Zevon has a tendency to be poetic. It IS "pearl handled deck" and it IS "Smith-Corona."    My guess is, he's playing some version of Russian roulette. And it sounds like a writer who's given up on writing to buy more drugs. "Smith-Corona" sounds enough like "Smith & Wesson to sort of surprise the ear, as does "pearl handled deck." Just poetic word-play.

I may have made a tape of this and another Zevon album. If so, you'll get to hear it from the author. (Not promising anything - can't find my own butt sometimes and it probably doesn't move as much as the tape.)