Smith patrolman
- Thread starter kxkid
- Start date
1. All other things being equal, older is better. A 1954-57 Highway Patrolman will bring more than will a Model 28-2. A 28-2 with a pre-1970 S serial prefix will bring more than a later N serial example. The 28-1 was only made one year so it's rare and sellers think they are made of gold. I have never actually seen a 28-1.
2. The shorter the barrel the more it will fetch. The HP/28 was only made in 4" and 6" (OK, few 5" 28s were made on special order for cops but most of us will never see one) and the 4" is more popular and will command a higher price.
3. In 1968 S&W changed stock design. The older style had the small diamond area of smooth wood around the screw and these are typically valued higher than the later style. If a 1957 HP is wearing post 1968 stocks the value drops a bit.
4. Of course, condition. IME many sellers don't understand that value drops with finish wear and I see 80% guns priced as 100% examples. Be wise when you shop.
5. Accessories. The box, tools and documentation on an older gun adds a lot.
Prices can vary wildly based on geographical locations. You can shop the auction sites like Gunbroker and Auction Arms but then you must add shipping and local transfer fees.
Bottom line is don't be totally focused on price. The most important thing is to get the gun you want. If you are happy with it then the price doesn't matter all that much. If you don't like the gun then the best deal in the world won't make you love it.
2. The shorter the barrel the more it will fetch. The HP/28 was only made in 4" and 6" (OK, few 5" 28s were made on special order for cops but most of us will never see one) and the 4" is more popular and will command a higher price.
3. In 1968 S&W changed stock design. The older style had the small diamond area of smooth wood around the screw and these are typically valued higher than the later style. If a 1957 HP is wearing post 1968 stocks the value drops a bit.
4. Of course, condition. IME many sellers don't understand that value drops with finish wear and I see 80% guns priced as 100% examples. Be wise when you shop.
5. Accessories. The box, tools and documentation on an older gun adds a lot.
Prices can vary wildly based on geographical locations. You can shop the auction sites like Gunbroker and Auction Arms but then you must add shipping and local transfer fees.
Bottom line is don't be totally focused on price. The most important thing is to get the gun you want. If you are happy with it then the price doesn't matter all that much. If you don't like the gun then the best deal in the world won't make you love it.
Saxon wrote:
This ^^^
I think that's an important thing to keep in mind for any gun purchase. The gun will last longer than I will. If I pay $800 vs $600, but get the gun I really want, I amortize that extra 200 clams over the next couple of decades or longer (unless I get hit by a bus tomorrow, in which case it won't matter at all).
200 dollars over just ten years is just over $8 per month. That vs every time I look at the cheaper gun I say to myself "I sure wish I would have bought the other one".
Sgt Lumpy
This ^^^
I think that's an important thing to keep in mind for any gun purchase. The gun will last longer than I will. If I pay $800 vs $600, but get the gun I really want, I amortize that extra 200 clams over the next couple of decades or longer (unless I get hit by a bus tomorrow, in which case it won't matter at all).
200 dollars over just ten years is just over $8 per month. That vs every time I look at the cheaper gun I say to myself "I sure wish I would have bought the other one".
Sgt Lumpy
No, no, no, things will never be all "black & white" and so easily defined, especially when you attempt to transfer your emotions and manner/process of thinking directly to someone else.
I enjoy -MANY- of my guns more when they came to me by way of a fine deal. If it was all about THE gun, I'd have far less outrageously enjoyable toys because I'd be spending the most bucks to chase down the "finest" example when it's plainly obvious that I absolutely don't need the finest example.
I need the one that makes me grin, and the chase is a tremendous part of that.
But "amortizing" two hundred dollars over the next couple of decades or longer just makes me laugh. You could almost make that argument in a serious manner --IF-- and only --IF-- you also don't buy ANY more guns over the next couple of decades.
Car salesmen just love the guy who gets talked in to superslick extra "dealer only" finish coating that only raises his car payment but four bucks a month. (that's a wax and buff, by the way, and you'll spend like $250 on it)
180 degrees from my reality. I think, "sweet! So glad I found this one with the extra wear. I not only saved like a hundred bucks from the prettier one I was looking at, but it shoots like absolute dream and no way that other could shoot better."
I enjoy -MANY- of my guns more when they came to me by way of a fine deal. If it was all about THE gun, I'd have far less outrageously enjoyable toys because I'd be spending the most bucks to chase down the "finest" example when it's plainly obvious that I absolutely don't need the finest example.
I need the one that makes me grin, and the chase is a tremendous part of that.
This--I cannot argue with.
But "amortizing" two hundred dollars over the next couple of decades or longer just makes me laugh. You could almost make that argument in a serious manner --IF-- and only --IF-- you also don't buy ANY more guns over the next couple of decades.
Car salesmen just love the guy who gets talked in to superslick extra "dealer only" finish coating that only raises his car payment but four bucks a month. (that's a wax and buff, by the way, and you'll spend like $250 on it)
Trying really hard, Sevens, to understand your post..
If you do indeed LIKE the cheaper gun, then great. And I'm not even talking about the wash and wax job by the used car salesman.
I'm not self actualized by getting a better deal on a gun I want less. I simply dig getting exactly what I want. Cost is the last parameter.
Sgt Lumpy
If you do indeed LIKE the cheaper gun, then great. And I'm not even talking about the wash and wax job by the used car salesman.
I'm not self actualized by getting a better deal on a gun I want less. I simply dig getting exactly what I want. Cost is the last parameter.
Sgt Lumpy
We obviously chase guns differently, I'm thinking.
I don't go out with a particular gun in my crosshairs and chase down the finest example that I can find or even afford.
My purchases are rarely like that whatsoever. Rather, I keep a mental list always stocked of different handguns that I have always felt I'd either like to give a twirl or that I'm sure I'd like to add one day.
When I come across one of those, it's game time and that's when the fun starts.
I would definitely like to have myself a fling with an HK P7, but the only one that makes any rational sense to me is the PSP model. All the others are way bumped in price due to relative scarcity and added features. The P7M13?! No way. Unless it's "someone screwed up" cheap, and if THAT happens, I'll sell it, get a PSP, and point the (extreme) excess funds to another gun purchase.
Why don't I own a P7 PSP? I've got the money. I simply haven't found one for $600, or $700 with three magazines. I could have, if I'd gotten that wild hair two years ago instead of now. So I walk pass the ones with the $800 price tags, and lose no sleep over it.
I fully support your way, but it's silly to profess that it is the way. Especially when I read it and it's the polar opposite of how I do things.
I don't go out with a particular gun in my crosshairs and chase down the finest example that I can find or even afford.
My purchases are rarely like that whatsoever. Rather, I keep a mental list always stocked of different handguns that I have always felt I'd either like to give a twirl or that I'm sure I'd like to add one day.
When I come across one of those, it's game time and that's when the fun starts.
I would definitely like to have myself a fling with an HK P7, but the only one that makes any rational sense to me is the PSP model. All the others are way bumped in price due to relative scarcity and added features. The P7M13?! No way. Unless it's "someone screwed up" cheap, and if THAT happens, I'll sell it, get a PSP, and point the (extreme) excess funds to another gun purchase.
Why don't I own a P7 PSP? I've got the money. I simply haven't found one for $600, or $700 with three magazines. I could have, if I'd gotten that wild hair two years ago instead of now. So I walk pass the ones with the $800 price tags, and lose no sleep over it.
I fully support your way, but it's silly to profess that it is the way. Especially when I read it and it's the polar opposite of how I do things.
The 1917 Fourth Change I've mentioned in half a dozen threads over the last three weeks (since I just got it) has me tickled to my core, because I bought a gun just like my family heirloom but with a gaggle of surface and presentation "problems" that hit the "value" hard for a revolver they made millions of.
Mechanically, it runs like a tuned watch. Just listening to the action work is like a symphony. I spent $275 on it.
No doubt I could have found something -MILES- closer to mint if that was what I was shopping for... in a 1917 Smith & Wesson. However, after paying what, $1,200 for something that looked new, would I be happy? No. Would I want to put three thousand rounds through it? No.
That's not at all what I want. I wanted the one with the low collector "value" and a price that fit it. I'm going to shoot the wheels off it, because that's where I find my joy with it.
Mechanically, it runs like a tuned watch. Just listening to the action work is like a symphony. I spent $275 on it.
No doubt I could have found something -MILES- closer to mint if that was what I was shopping for... in a 1917 Smith & Wesson. However, after paying what, $1,200 for something that looked new, would I be happy? No. Would I want to put three thousand rounds through it? No.
That's not at all what I want. I wanted the one with the low collector "value" and a price that fit it. I'm going to shoot the wheels off it, because that's where I find my joy with it.
kilimanjaro
New member
Bought one in 1986 for $175 with engraved tortilla holster from a guy at work, like an idiot I sold it ten years later for $300, since I carried 1911s. Just bought one last month, nice condition, box and tools, 1958 make, for $598 out the door.
If I can find one like it for $500 I'll buy that one, too. If it's $400, don't get in between me and the seller, you might get knocked over.
If I can find one like it for $500 I'll buy that one, too. If it's $400, don't get in between me and the seller, you might get knocked over.
It's just short of a "freak coincidence" that I have cause to post here this morning. Yesterday, I bought a 28-2, 6-inch. This was at a fairly large gun store that is well known in the area for it's trap & skeet shooting facility. The transaction really illustrates my point. With all due apologies to SgtLumpy who is absolutely correct that I had little business picking apart that which was his opinion... I will reiterate how my methods sure seem to go in the complete opposite direction when it comes to deciding on a gun purchase and how condition & price play their role.
There are many Model 28's out there, especially the dash-2 variants. It was this price that piqued my interest in this one and it was the detracting "issues" that set the price.
It had a quarter-inch sized round surface failure in the bluing on the left side of the revolver just above & forward of the trigger. No idea what disturbed the bluing in this spot, but it's obvious. The original grips were not present, and the Pachmayr rubber "gripper" grips were a bit butchered but fit well.
Perhaps the most concerning issue was that it appeared as though someone shaved down each side of the hammer spur. Nowhere is it a "fitment" issue, but it almost looks as if it was shipped with the wide target hammer and someone used a file on each side of the spur to reduce it to combat width. It's got the irrationally large, wide, grooved target trigger.
This timing and lock up is superb. The bore looked terrific. Mechanically, I can't find a fault with it other than what seems to be a very slight rattle when you shake it vigorously. This rattle is far less when the hammer is down fully WITH the trigger depressed. The SCSW dates it to 1974.
In the other active "Low cost handguns, anyone?" thread, my purchase just wouldn't make the cut. It was tagged at $439 and with tax added, I was out the door a few pennies under $460. But it sure seems like a LOT of gun for the money to me, and if it were tagged at $500 or $600, and if it had a better finish, original grips and unaltered hammer spur, it would have had no earthly chance of coming home with me.
The way I approach it, the Model 28 is a "working" handgun with it's spartan finish and lack of typical Smith & Wesson finishing detail. As I did not own an N-frame .357, one of these has been on my "want one if there's a good deal on one" list. The only way to better illustrate the point I was trying to make above is if this 28-2, with it's included "issues" had been sitting immediately next to a 28-2 with none of the issues and priced at $600... and next to it was a glossy Model 27 with everything original and FAR more attractive finish for $700-$900, I would have been even happier with the purchase where the argument seems to have been: "but you'll never notice the extra $200 (more?) down the road and wish you had spent less for a lesser gun."
That may be the reality for some, but it can't get any farther away from how I shop.
There are many Model 28's out there, especially the dash-2 variants. It was this price that piqued my interest in this one and it was the detracting "issues" that set the price.
It had a quarter-inch sized round surface failure in the bluing on the left side of the revolver just above & forward of the trigger. No idea what disturbed the bluing in this spot, but it's obvious. The original grips were not present, and the Pachmayr rubber "gripper" grips were a bit butchered but fit well.
Perhaps the most concerning issue was that it appeared as though someone shaved down each side of the hammer spur. Nowhere is it a "fitment" issue, but it almost looks as if it was shipped with the wide target hammer and someone used a file on each side of the spur to reduce it to combat width.
It's got the irrationally large, wide, grooved target trigger.This timing and lock up is superb. The bore looked terrific. Mechanically, I can't find a fault with it other than what seems to be a very slight rattle when you shake it vigorously. This rattle is far less when the hammer is down fully WITH the trigger depressed. The SCSW dates it to 1974.
In the other active "Low cost handguns, anyone?" thread, my purchase just wouldn't make the cut. It was tagged at $439 and with tax added, I was out the door a few pennies under $460. But it sure seems like a LOT of gun for the money to me, and if it were tagged at $500 or $600, and if it had a better finish, original grips and unaltered hammer spur, it would have had no earthly chance of coming home with me.
The way I approach it, the Model 28 is a "working" handgun with it's spartan finish and lack of typical Smith & Wesson finishing detail. As I did not own an N-frame .357, one of these has been on my "want one if there's a good deal on one" list. The only way to better illustrate the point I was trying to make above is if this 28-2, with it's included "issues" had been sitting immediately next to a 28-2 with none of the issues and priced at $600... and next to it was a glossy Model 27 with everything original and FAR more attractive finish for $700-$900, I would have been even happier with the purchase where the argument seems to have been: "but you'll never notice the extra $200 (more?) down the road and wish you had spent less for a lesser gun."
That may be the reality for some, but it can't get any farther away from how I shop.
Sevens -
I'm not sure you understood my approach to buying a gun.
There's nothing in the world wrong with buying a 28 with a shaved hammer or blueing mark or dodgy grips or anything else - IF - that's what you want.
I don't buy new guns. I don't buy safe queens or spotless, flawless guns. What I wouldn't do, for theoretical example, is buy a gun with a serrated trigger IF I wanted one with a smooth trigger. I would not buy one with import markings to save 200 dollars because I think that looks horrible.
All I'm saying is that for ME, I will wait, pay more, not compromise, to get the gun that I want. If you've ever seen any of the pics of my guns, you've seen they are not safe queens in the least. They all get shot a lot. My #1 gun is a Model 66 with 100K+ rounds through it. My Chief's Special looks like Jack Webb and Broderick Crawford both played shuffleboard with it.
Did any of that sound different than the approach you thought I was putting forth?
Sgt Lumpy
I'm not sure you understood my approach to buying a gun.
There's nothing in the world wrong with buying a 28 with a shaved hammer or blueing mark or dodgy grips or anything else - IF - that's what you want.
I don't buy new guns. I don't buy safe queens or spotless, flawless guns. What I wouldn't do, for theoretical example, is buy a gun with a serrated trigger IF I wanted one with a smooth trigger. I would not buy one with import markings to save 200 dollars because I think that looks horrible.
All I'm saying is that for ME, I will wait, pay more, not compromise, to get the gun that I want. If you've ever seen any of the pics of my guns, you've seen they are not safe queens in the least. They all get shot a lot. My #1 gun is a Model 66 with 100K+ rounds through it. My Chief's Special looks like Jack Webb and Broderick Crawford both played shuffleboard with it.
Did any of that sound different than the approach you thought I was putting forth?
Sgt Lumpy
I picked a mechanically sound but used 28-2 with a 6 inch barrel a couple months ago for $340 OTD. at a pawn shop. It had cheap replacement rubber grips which I replaced with an old set of smith target grips. considered a refinishing job but think I will keep it stock. It is the first model 28 I had seen in my area in ten yrs.
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Last year a local online ad had a Highway Patrolman with some bluing off for $325 I think. I called about it and the guy said there was no 28 on it. Pre-model 28 that was not shot much but looked like carried a lot and the grips were not original. I cleaned it up, touched it up with Oxpho-blue to prevent rusting, and I am very happy with it. The action is tight and the bore like new. I can shoot this for 10 years and if I change my mind and sell it, I will never loose money.
