Late production Korth revolvers sell on the German auction website eGun.de at prices ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 Euros. To me, this price is justified by their unsurpassed quality of manufacture. All steel parts of Korth revolvers are ground, polished, and differentially hardened. By contrast, Smith and Wesson no longer even bothers to machine the firing systems of its revolvers, resorting to the tawdry expedient of injection molding. Willi Korth claimed that his revolvers maintain their accuracy after 50,000 full power .357 Magnum rounds. For those who doubt his claim,
here is an independent American testimonial pitting a Korth revolver against a vintage, all-forged S&W M28:
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I mentioned the strength of the metal in the Korth as well as the care of the hand fitting. I began some tests of the Korth vs. the M28. At the beginng of the tests the barrel to cylinder gap of the Korth was just over .0025 while that of the M28 was .003. With just under 200 rounds of heavy hunting loads through both guns the barrel to cylinder gap of the Korth was where it had begun for all cylinders. The M28 however had opended up and varied from .003 to .004. The S&W showed wear and some additional gas cutting on the frame above the barrel from some hot .125 grain loads. The Korth showed no significant wear.
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Please note that the frame size of the Korth falls between those of the K and L frames in the S&W lineup. A 4" Korth Combat revolver weighs 1016g, whereas a 6" Sport model weighs 1175g, as against the 4" and 6" S&W 686 weighing in at 1191g and 1298g, respectively. And yet it appears that the Korth withstands the pressures of heavy .357 Magnum loads much better than the S&W N frame. Additionally, the S&W lacks comprehensive single and double action trigger weight and stacking adjustments built into every .357 Magnum Korth revolver. To many European shooters, these factors alone warrant its premium price.