What can you tell me?…

UGlide · Jan 14, 2011

I'm hoping someone can tell me about this gun I've had sitting in a safe for about 21 years. I'm NOT inquiring in an effort to sell it. I'd like to pass it along to someone in the family and any info would be sincerely appreciated. I just want to know whether, in the eyes of you "experts" (guys that have been "around awhile"), it is/was considered a good gun. I'd also like to know if there were any known problems with this model "back in the day." I put a few boxes through it when I got it NIB and it hasn't been shot since. As I recall it was a pleasure to shoot because of the heavy N frame, and its factory trigger was outstanding, and IMO it is beautiful. That's all I know.

S&W Model 627-0 revolver (6-rounds), stainless N frame, .357 caliber; 5.5" bbl, marked "S&W 357 MAGNUM MODEL OF 1989" (stamped on right side of barrel), rounded backstrap and wood grips. I will try to attach a couple pictures (once I figure out how).

Thanks in advance for any info.

Snapping Twig · Jan 15, 2011

IMO, the best .357 EVER!

Here's mine with hogue round to square grips.

I had mine customized a bit by Mag-Na-Port.

nutsforsmiths · Jan 15, 2011

I own one of these and it is the best shooting .357 I have ever shot.

This pistol was a made as a special edition of the stainless Model 27 produced in September of 1989. The first produced was the Model 627, with 278 being manufactured. The second group was the Model 627-0 with 4,998 being produced, bringing the total production to 5,276. Original retail price for this model was $530.

People who have these pistols just love them and they are getting kind of hard to find these days and are in demand. It is a very nice pistol and one worth treasuring.

I hope this helps.

Philip Marlowe · Jan 15, 2011

I bought one new in 1989. I think I paid around 450.00 for it. The best .357 I have ever shot.

I became very proficient with it shooting mild target .38 loads in double action mode. The recoil was like a .22 when shooting these .38 loads. This was back 20 years ago when I shot quite a bit.
Sadly, it was stolen. I'm still mourning.

XTrooper · Jan 15, 2011

When I want to figure out what a firearm is "worth," I first try to find examples for sale on Gunbroker, GunsAmerica, etc and see what others are trying to get for them in the real world.

Nick B · Jan 15, 2011

What grips did the factory put on those ? I see them in the original post but don't know their name .

Philip Marlowe · Jan 15, 2011

Smith & Wesson Factory Combat Goncalo Grips?

nutsforsmiths · Jan 16, 2011

The grips S&W put on them were the round combat just like the ones pictured provided by UGlide in the first post.

colt_saa · Jan 16, 2011

This pistol was a made as a special edition of the stainless Model 27 produced in September of 1989. The first produced was the Model 627, with 278 being manufactured. The second group was the Model 627-0 with 4,998 being produced, bringing the total production to 5,276. Original retail price for this model was $530.

This is not quite accurate.

UGlide,
You have a very nice revovler that is respected and prized amongst both shooters and collectors.

The revolver you describe and pictured is S&W product code 101024. This was not a special edition, it was a standard product offering at the time. Production did begin in 1989 under the initial 627 engineering revision, in other words....no dash.

Very quickly it was discovered that the extra mass of the unfluted cylinder was causing the stop notches to be battered and enlarged. With only 278 revolvers produced, S&W went to a larger bolt and correspondingly larger stop notch. Since this change occurred so close to the initial offering of the 627, S&W chose to go with a -0 designation for this engineering revision. This is the first -0 that was ever used.

The remaining 4998 revolvers were produced over several years. They were not limited to the -0 engineering revision. Many -1 engineering revisions of product code 101024 have been spotted along with some -2 revisions as well. While the exact breakdown between the 3 later revisions is not known clearly the -2 is the least common variation of this product code followed by the no dash and then the -1. This leaves the -0 revision as the most frequently encountered revision of product code 101024

The example that I own is a -1 engineering revision with a serial number that is at the tail end of the BRC prefix. It was manufactured on September 20th of 1994.

Nightowl · Jan 16, 2011

The 627-0 in the last or almost last of the model 27 family to have a checkered topstrap. It also has a 5.5 inch barrel length, which is pretty unusual on a a modern Smith. I have one and have given each of my sons one, so you can see how much I like it. There were two on Gunbroker last week. Both had a "buy it now" price well over $1000, which I thought was way optimistic!

What can you tell me?…

UGlide

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Snapping Twig

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nutsforsmiths

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Nick B

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