Quote:
Originally Posted by dacoontz
...I did the research to find that this is a marking that is put on imported guns to be sold in the states. It is for Century Arms International. I had never seen this marking before but apparently it is not that uncommon, correct?
I know these 13-1's were often LEO guns. Serial number is D989202 so it looks to be fairly late in the production, like 1976-77. Can anybody shed anymore light on the subject? Do these markings add any value? I would assume that it deminishes value.
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The revolver was manufactured by S&W in the US, then exported to (most likely) a foreign government or police agency. After so many years, the agency upgraded to something newer and CAI imported them back to the US to sell on the surplus market. I have seen the "CAI ..." markings frequently on surplus rifles. I would not think that they are uncommon on surplus pistols but I can't really say. I have a CAI marked Model 10 that was brought back from Australia. There are other importers besides CAI, of course.
I would assume that the mark slightly diminishes value, but the revolver in question is not really collector-quality anyway, so the difference is probably negligible. My M10 is a fine shooter, and the price was right, so the markings don't bother me.