On the subject of prior ownership having added value, I must agree this is part of the allure and passion of collecting. It matters "who" and how historically significant, equated with "what" it actually is, condition, how scare, and present demand.

We saw Gary Cooper's Registered Magnum sell for a small fortune ... and that was a mere MOVIE ACTOR. We've seen guns supposedly attributed to Wyatt Earp, Frank James and so on (some with very flimsy supporting documentation) go into big numbers. Years back I even saw a DUG UP, 1847 Colt Walker sell at auction for what I thought then was something outrageous and it was just a lump of iron. A set of Clayton Moore's later owned 2nd Gen .45 Colts (non sequential) and a custom Bohlin rig from the 1970s go for $40,000 some odd and then a few years later for over $80K. These were NOT the Colts he wore in the Lone Ranger pix but rather his own costume set. Again, a MOVIE ACTOR.

Another consideration is how scarce or how many of them are there existing. The more scarce the higher value, I feel but all depends on condition and just how important a person owned it and how solid the documentation is.

A Walter Winans gun is significant to some, I agree not all, but some. The documentation seems irrefutable with physical evidence of the engraved WWW and caliber to match. Thus, I'm of the opinion it is one of the real McCoys. There are many other Winans' New Model 3s and many, many other Winans' guns of all types. It is just a Winans owned gun hasn't shown up for sale lately. After this publicity I expect other Winans' guns will start coming out of the woodwork soon. It usually happens that way.

Ed Cornett refers to Ron Ogan (who became a mentor of mine in my earlier years of collecting) having several of Winan's New Model 3s. Too bad I didn't meet Ron Ogan until 1987 or I'd have owned some of them already.

Ron Ogan once had a Chief's Special that was engraved as a gift to President Kennedy that I wanted badly but it was more than I could afford at the time. In 1989 money he wanted $25,000 that I'd have gladly paid had I the loose cash at the time. BUT, he also had a Chief's Special presented to J. Edgar Hoover that just didn't hit my "hot" button but it sold to someone. I still wonder where that JFK gun is now.

In summation, Walter Winans was a significant part of S&W history and master marksman who helped promote Smith & Wesson, likely equivalent to the Clint Eastwood of his day (in S&W promotional / star status).

Because of Clint Eastwood there was a demand for .44 Magnums that the Factory had trouble keeping up. He even resurrected an antique S&W. The demand for original, antique, 1875 Schofield revolvers was so great (and still is) that it single handedly caused a shortage of original Schofields where there was no such shortage prior to "Unforgiven" (with a production of several thousand original Schofields and a pretty good survival rate). So much so that other companies started to produce newly made Schofield clones before S&W got wise to produce the new "2000" batch of Schofields.

Clint Eastwood did more for Smith & Wesson than any 20 advertising campaigns combined. Walter Winans, in his day, was very good publicity for S&W, too.

It is just that the guys who would appreciate a Winans New Model 3, more than others, seem to be dying off rapidly.

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