My 1st S&W - Pre-27 - It's a Beauty!!!

F

FLChinook

New member
After lots of time getting suggestions from many of you forum members (for which I am extremely grateful), I have at last my first S&W revolver. I could not be more pleased :D

It came from an estate where the owner had registered the gun in 1970. I don't think it has been shot very much. The bluing is like only older guns have; the action is tight. The S/N is "S 82xxx" and pending the arrival of my new S&W book, if anyone can tell me something about the date of manufacture, I'd be pleased to hear it.

It obviously has 3rd party target grips but they are quite well made and fit my hand nicely. Any ideas about who might have made these grips? Also, can someone tell me what the original grips would have been like so I can look for a pair?

Thanks again to everyone who helped. Here it is:

S&W Pre-29 Cylinder.jpeg

S&W Pre-29 RS w:o Grips.jpeg

S&W Pre-29 LS w: Grips.jpeg

Blessings, James

PS. How can I get this pictures to appear as pictures instead as links?
 
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I'd compliment your Pre 29, but I can't because you don't have one! (or at least the pictured gun is not it)

The 29 and early/later variants are 44 magnum. They very rarely will ever be seen from the factory with patridge aka target front sights. Also, the SN you gave of S 82XXX is much too early for even the earliest 44 magnums, which debuted as regular production in 1956. If your gun (aside from the SN being way too early) was actually a 5 screw pre 29, with factory target sights, it would be a 5 figure gun IMO. Too bad ;)

I believe your gun to be a pre 27, although it could be a pre 23 aka outdoorsman given the sights. It is a N frame but there really are no other possibilities. The 44 special target guns aka pre 24, and the pre 25 45 colt / 45 acp target guns all had heavy barrels IIRC, not a taper as yours is. A pre 26 (rare) would have a taper barrel but with a ramp front sight. The model 28 did not have the deluxe finish as yours has, and nearly all them have a ramp aka baughman front sight unless special ordered with target sights. You had mentioned you were getting a pre 27 before so I guess this is it. A very nice, pre 27!

The grip question was answered previously. Your gun most likely would have originally had N frame post war diamond magnas. You can google that for examples or simply look at other examples of pre 27s aka post war model 357 magnums. It could have been ordered with target stocks, most likely the "football" cut out aka relieved N frame diamond target type. Your gun is too early for the coke bottle type of grips. Whether the gun actually left the factory with target stocks can only be confirmed with a factory letter.

As for the the posting of pics in the message, if you post your pics to a photo sharing site such as flikr or photobucket, you get a hyper link for the photos you upload to the site. You simply "copy" that link and then click the icon which is 3rd from the right, in the second row, above the message area. Its a yellow box which looks like it has a mountain inside. You then "paste" the link to that dialog box that comes up, and then click "ok" and you're done.
 
Well Jim, look at the gun. As I already said, it can only be one of 2 things with the 38 special Outdoorsman being much more uncommon than a model 357 magnum. FLChinook stated he was getting a pre 27. From all of that, a conclusion can be made.
 
I am so sorry. For some reason, when labeling the pictures, I typed "29" the first time... Copied that over and over, and it naturally migrated into the whole thread. IT IS supposed to be a pre-27. I even think you can see "357 Magnum" impressed in the barrel picture...

I'll try to edit the thread starter :p

Now, can we start over..
 
No need to apologize, its ok :) But now of course, you need to buy a pre 29 / model 44 magnum. You got that gun on the brain anyways. Try to afford a 5 screw variant (the most sought after) but 4 screw pre 29s are great too, I should know ;) The dropoff to a 29 no dash (more common) is substantial in collectibility, rarity, value, demand, etc. Then you have the 29-1, which is a rare bird. 29-2s are all over the place, but good guns for the most part.

Get a pre model 29, you know you want one!
 
But OMG!!! Get those hideous stocks off of it!!
Find a nice set of S&W Targets for it.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree. There are newer S&W target grips out there but I'm told this gun should have N frame post war diamond magnas. Now ""those are going to be rare. Do you think I should spring $100 for newer grips while I wait for nirvana ? :confused:
 
Don't worry about period correct. They won't be original to the gun anyway. Just get a nice set of Targets off Ebay or somewhere. They will make it "feel right".

Magnas are fine, but unless you have small hands, they really aren't that comfortable to shoot.
 
Ebay... Oh my goodness... I didn't think Ebay dealt with gun parts of any kind but I just did a search and found a number of N-frame grips there.

Good pointer; thanks
 
I've found a lot of nice grips on the bay. You just have to exercise some restraint, as the prices can get out of hand.

Another good option for that gun, is the Eagle Heritage Stocks. they are reproductions of the old S&W "coke bottle: stocks. Pretty nice.
 
Let me pose another question about this pre-27; perhaps for S&W revolvers in general:

What should the single action trigger pull be like? The pull on this gun is very low. I haven't measured it but less than a pound. It's nice and crisp and I actually like it; just wondering if that was normal.
 
They should be pretty light, but a less than a pound, if thats what it is, is awfully light. Scary light. 2 lbs is about perfect, IMO.
 
Hmmm... this is the 2nd time I've had to say "sorry" tonight. It uses up my entire quota for 2012 and 2013 combined :D

It must be the trigger shoe on the gun; very deceptive. I put a scale on the trigger and it's right at 4 lbs.

But it doesn't FEEL like 4 lbs. I think I'll take the shoe off and see how it feels then. The shoe probably shouldn't be on anyway... (along with those grips)...
 
I've never understood why anyone needs a shoe on any trigger. It was a fad way back when I guess. 4 lbs is safe. and not as long as it breaks crisply, a good pull weight.

Get that baby out and shoot it! Report back.
 
... (along with those grips)...
Click to expand...

Those grips and trigger shoe tell me the gun was set up for bullseye shooting. Though these are designed for 1-handed shooting, Herrett makes fine custom grips, so don't just simply throw them in the trash. If I had a square butt N-frame, I'd offer to buy them.
 
I also have a pre-27 with serial # S 80xxx......when I looked it up (don't remember where off the top of my head) I found a mfg. date of 1952. I would guess yours would be a tad after that.
 
I also have a pre-27 with serial # S 80xxx......when I looked it up (don't remember where off the top of my head) I found a mfg. date of 1952. I would guess yours would be a tad after that.
Click to expand...

Your estimate sounds reasonable. If the first pre-27 was made in Nov 1950 with S/N S75514 (yes, I just got my Standard Catalog of S&W - 3rd Edition :)), they would be making about 2500/year (sounds like a lot) and mine would be 1953ish.

Incidentally, the book lists a value of $850 for a pre-27 in excellent condition and I guarantee you I paid a lot more than that for mine!! Or am I reading the value table incorrectly...?
 
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