my buddy says its worth 3500.00, swears up and down it books for that,i have not seen it or the book that says thats what its worth,is this a load o **** or what,btw this forum is the bees knees,the wealth of info is unreal,as are the old smiths that turn up here,i spend more time here reading old post than i should but i cant stop

Value of any firearm is difficult to gauge unless you have it in your hand. About all we can give you is the range in our particular area (prices are regional). From my experiences, 1937 Contract guns bring a wide range of prices due to the condition differences. I've seen some pretty ratty guns that even in today's market won't sell for more that maybe $400. I think the days are over for us buying them for $250 and $300.

I've also seem some very nice ones that easily would bring $1000. I've never seen one "book" for more than 1917s. It doesn't worry me much what others say their guns are worth. If its a low figure, I try to buy it from them at that price. If its too high, I raise my eyebrows and let it go. If a 3rd party asks my take on it, I tell them the unvarnished truth as I see it. If I had any sense (big if), I'd just keep quiet. Makes fewer enemies that way, but its kind of dishonest, too.

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Dick Burg

The Blue Book, which is widely derided for reporting highly exaggerated values for classic S&W revolvers, said in 2008 that a 1917 Brazilian in 100% condition (assuming such a thing even exists) would be worth $1450. So your buddy is $2000 over the highest price reported by an insanely generous rating service for a specimen in the highest possible condition.

I don't know the source of his assertion, but he is significantly misinformed. The numbers you heard from rburg are the ones that sound right to me.

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David Wilson

I remember buying them for $99. Those days are, as the good Dr. Burg says, are long gone.

I also remember seeing the guns litterally thrown into bins as they were being graded. I was able to get two examples, one near mint, from the importer / distributor before they were tossed and stamped. While I expect that these are worth more than the run of the mill examples we see, I don't think either of mine would bring $3500. Frankly, I doubt they would BOTH bring that togeather ....

My LGS has 2 for $795, 1 for $995, and a really nice one for $1295 as we speak.

Regards

Bill

So exactly how many zeros are in a brazilian?? I'd have your buddy buy it for that money. You go spend around $500-$750 on GB for one.

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Go big or stay home

3500 pazuzas!?!

I paid 10X's less than that for this one at a little show in my hometown...



... it's kinda' rough but I'll do him better than three-and-a-half large.

GF

3 more than a gazillion.

I bought the nicest one I have even seen for $300 a year ago.


Charlie

I bought a nice one on the S&W Forum Classifieds for $350 + FFL fees a few years ago. I was told that the owner of the import company (Navy Arms) hand-picked that one for himself. Anyways, that's the story the seller gave me and I'm sure sticking to it!

More recently, I found this one for about $400 or so at a local gun shop:

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You're shy a few manners.

hummm, for $3500 bucks I would expect to get the gun AND a REAL Brazilian....

$3500 in Brazil buy TWO Brazilians for three days. Every Sailor knows that.

Me Too.


As scarce as My post war 1917 is , I would not even expect IT
to bring $35000,


Someone's been smoking something funny and reading the funny papers.













Good luck.
Allen Frame

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NRA cert.instructor&R.S.O.

Way over priced. I got one here on the forum that is pristine for under $2000.00

Please ask your friend what he was drinking.....and where can I get some of that magic elixir. Way over the top on those numbers, even for todays absurdly inflated values.

Cheers;
Lefty



Drew;

I too remember the days when you could snap up a nice U.S. marked 1917 for under $100....but at that time Ford was selling new cars for under $2000! I suppose it's all relative.

Cheers;
Lefty

Those numbers fit nicely into my "ten times" rule.

I grew up in the 60s and remember gas at $0.30 a gallon, Fords under $2,000 and nice handguns for $100.

I just filled up my tank with $3.09 / gallon gas. I'm looking to buy a car in the $20,000 ballpark. With a little luck, I think I can still find a decent S&W M1917 for about $1,000.

Somehow or other, this rule does not seem to hold for wages.

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You're shy a few manners.

Lefty,

When the Brazilians first started to come in, I bought them 6 at a time from Fed-Ord for $99 and put them in the shop to sell. Man, they were rough. I remember the first load that came in, I was tempted to peel off the large medallion stocks and break them up for parts they were that bad. But instead I grabbed a couple, degreased them and then took them to the range. I was amazed at how well they shot.

I used to sell them for $150-175 as I recall. Was about 1990. At the time I used to get about $300-400 for really good Smith 1917's when I had them....

Drew

The only way that I would pay $3,500 for a Brazillian would be if I liked her bikini. Maybe your friend thinks that the gun once belonged to Juan Valdez and includes him, his donkey and the bags of coffee beans laying on the donkeys back.

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James Redfield
LM #497

$3500, huh? Yes, that IS a load of asterisks.

Larry

This is my brazilian, sitting in the safe waiting for me to take it for a test drive!!

Wow, I didn't know Brazilians could look that good. Nice one.

What is that long stamp on the left side of the grip frame? I can't make it out.

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David Wilson

I will take a look and get more detailed pictures of that marking.

Well this boy knows that Costa Rica is both cheaper and closer

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