S&W Model 17-3 - real world value?

C

Cossack

New member
I've always wanted a model 17/K-22, and found one this weekend. I brought it home for what I think was a great price. I haven't seen one for less than $500 in a while, and I got it for significantly less.

I want it as a shooter, but the more I look at it, the more I suspect it may have some collector value.

The bluing appears to be original, and it really has no holster wear at all - none of the usual rub around the muzzle and cylinder edges. Jut over the logo the bluing is speckly a bit, and there was just a touch of rust under the right grip.
The cylinder line is barely perceptible.

The Magna grips are in beautiful shape, but aren't numbered to the gun.

The decision that i'm trying to make is whether to let this be my carry-everywhere .22, or whether it's too nice to carry around, and deserves to be babied. In the latter case, I might trade or flip it to get a more worn or refinished example. I sure love how it shoots, and this would be a great companion .22.

Oh - serial is 8K13xx
 
Howdy

I bought my Model 17-3 brand-spanky new in 1975, the same year it was made. SN 6K719XX. Cost $125 back then, but of course those were 1975 dollars, and it was a lot of money for a kid in his twenties.

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Any pristine -3 K frame for under $500 is a pretty good deal these days, at least in my opinion.

I bought this pristine, no wear Model 14-3 last year for $500.

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But collectable? Not really, at least not in my humble opinion. There are still lots of 1970s era K frames around and serious collectors really are not interested in them. If I wuz you, I would shoot it. I'm gonna shoot that 14-3. I'm not going to overdo it, I will just shoot it a bit, and try to keep it unblemished. I would do the same with your Model 17 if it wuz mine. If you want to carry it all the time as a woods gun, just expect to put some wear on it.

By the way, 8K13xx is from 1975 too.
 
picking up one of if not the best .22 LR revolver for that price and not using it is the worst idea ever. That gun NEEDS to be shot.
 
It sounds like a nice Model 17 but, with the minor defects, I'm not sure it would draw "collector" type money. There are lots of 17-3s out there in nice shape, including mine below. You also don't mention whether it has a box, papers, etc. which is important for collectors. Personally, I would treat it right but shoot and carry.

 
Not a rare or hard to find model. Collectors would only be interested if in pristine condition with original box and accessories. Then around $1,200. If really nice and no box $800. A little wear, a high end shooter, $600.

If you bought it to shoot it then shoot it.

I think gun control groups are pushing this "I don't shoot my guns" mentality. If they can get all of us to keep our guns locked up in the safe then they win. Sorry boys, I shoot my guns. Always have...always will. As for the guys who wind up with my guns after I'm dead and moan about the fact that they were used as intended instead of locked up and kept pristine awaiting their acquisition of them...screw 'em.
 
K22's are real popular right now and the prices are going up. A very few years ago you could find a nice 17-3 for $350-400 all day long. Now they are $600-800 all day long. The original box adds to the price, but having the original stocks will add more to the value than a box and papers.

I recently bought a 1948 vintage K22 with a bit of holster wear for about $700, I say about because it was a package deal along with another gun. It was missing the box, but the stocks match and are in perfect condition. If It had been a standard three screw gun I would have paid no more than around $550.
 
I would shot I but be careful about holster wear. These 17s keep going up in value. I bought a ruger 22/45 so I can keep the wear down on my 17 no dash. I am still looking for a well worn model 18 for a good woods carry/plinking gun.
 
Did you buy an investment or a gun?

If you bought an investment then lock it up until 30 years after you're dead and somebody sells it for a big profit.
 
I would suggest you take all that you read here but strip away the personal emotion that others obviously have because their emotion simply does -NOT- apply to you.

Some parts of the equation are tangible. The fact that these are fantastic revolvers that give a phenomenal shooting life are not emotional, personal reactions. That someone should feel some kind of "guilt" for owning one and not shooting one -- or buying one and using the butt of it to pound nails for a roof job on their house are emotional responses.

Indeed, they did build -MANY- of these and great gun or not, when there are a slew of them, one needs to be either in fantastic shape or with interesting, uncommon factory features (or both!) to carry a large collector premium.

The emotional responses about what any gun "should" or "should not" be used for are certainly valid opinions and make for fine forum conversation and they can (and will) be spiritedly debated, but they don't offer a solid answer for you and what you should do.

You seem to be asking if you got such a crazy great low-priced deal that you should flip it and make a couple dollars and start the search over for a CRAPPIER one?

I would say that is not a great idea. If you are satisfied with the money you spent and the gun can fill the role you intended, I say it's time to claim victory on the venture and put the gun directly in to service.

If you had felt like you went looking for an outdoorsman's tool...
and you somehow ended up spending 2.5 times more than you wanted for the project...
And you brought home a pristine example of a valuable revolver -- and now it doesn't make sense to wear it on the hip while crossing rivers and staring down thunderstorms -- then yeah, I would agree that maybe you should try and get "collector" money out of it.

But rather-- it sounds like you may have spent under $500 and brought home a working K-frame rimfire that was built before 1980. Sounds to me like you had a buying plan and you ACED it. ;)
 
Don't store it in a holster, if you are going to carry it extensively make sure inside of the holster is padded/lined. Put a few thousands of rounds down the pipe, cleaning relatively frequently. In a few years the gun will look almost the same as it does now and will probably be worth way more than you paid for it. Handing it down to your son/daughter priceless.
 
You also don't mention whether it has a box, papers, etc. which is important for collectors.
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Collectors would only be interested if in pristine condition with original box and accessories.
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The original box adds to the price, but having the original stocks will add more to the value than a box and papers.
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Howdy Again

I keep hearing these statements about how having a box and papers, or just the box, increases the value of the gun. Not just in this thread, I hear it and read it all the time.

Well, I consider myself to be a collector. Maybe not a high end collector, but I do consider myself to be a collector.

Here are a few photos of some revolvers I have acquired that came with their original boxes. A few of them even came with the papers too.

Not one of these guns cost more because of the presence of the box and papers. None of the dealers I bought them from mentioned that there was a box which would raise the value. As a matter of fact, with most of these the dealer went into the back room to grab the box, saying something like, "It comes with the box". No mention at all that the gun was more valuable because of the presence of the box.

Yes, I know there are boxes on sale on the gun auction boards for ridiculous prices, but I am hear to tell you that in my experience as a collector, not once did the presence of a box raise the price of the gun.


Model 14-3

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Model 13-2

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32 Safety Hammerless

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32 Police Positive

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Ruger 357 Flat Top Blackhawk

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This Ruger Three Screw Single Six even came with some old ammo.

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Don't get me wrong. I love old S&W blue boxes. I still have the boxes and all the papers and tools that came with my Model 17-3 and Model 19-3 when I bought them brand-spanky new in 1975. But I have not saved that stuff because I thought it would make the guns more valuable. I just saved it because I like that stuff.
 
What you argue makes sense and one has to wonder why an original box (assigned to the gun) and/or "papers" adds to the value of a collectable firearm-but it does in most cases. It's a good idea to retain the box and papers for every gun you purchase. That's why houses have attics. ;)
 
I think it's pretty simple, really. You may not ever be able to put a number or percent on it, but there is some genuine curb appeal that the handgun has when the original box and goodies are present.

It obviously is no guarantee of anything but it throws out an image of an item that was secured by an original buyer wayyyy back when it was new -- perhaps set aside in a dry closet and maybe untouched for decades until somehow... it presented itself for sale to YOU on that day.

Actual number or percent difference? No. But not all too different than the used car that has been carefully detailed inside & out. It tries and often succeeds in sending the message that -THIS- one has had a well cared-for existence. Maybe very few owners and maybe very little use.

I think if we wanted to actually take up sides and go further on the subject, we could ask some of the high-end dealers and auction houses. Fugate comes to mind. I mean, if you have two consecutive serial numbers of any one example and everything else was the same and condition was FLAWLESS... would anyone really try to argue that the one that has orig box and cleaning rod and papers with it doesn't hold an edge over the other one that sits in a five dollar zippered case?
 
I too believe that the original box and paperwork adds to the cachet of a gun. I have been lucky to be able to acquire a few guns in their boxes and I didn't pay more for them because of that.

But, I like to think that I have become a more sophisticated collector as I get older, and I would always take the gun in it's original box over one without. I would even be willing to pay a small premium over one that is missing it's box and docs.

I like storing my guns in their boxes. They lay flat in my safe and while I could no doubt cram a few more in there without the boxes, I am just OCD enough to like the nice, even way everything stacks in there without nicking up my stuff.
 
As a collector if I found two desirable identical firearms, one with and one without the box I will pay more for the boxed. Over the years when I find an older firearm with the box it usually has been well cared for.
 
As a collector if I found two desirable identical firearms, one with and one without the box I will pay more for the boxed. Over the years when I find an older firearm with the box it usually has been well cared for.
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How often do you find two desirable identical firearms, one with and one without a box?

Sorry for hijacking this thread, I think I will start a new one on the subject.
 
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