I just traded a shooter 19 (I was in it for very short $) for this 5" pre-war Heavy Duty. The revolver is all numbers matching and the silver medallion service grips/stocks are stamped with the correct serial #. While it is in excellent shooting condition, its appearance leaves a lot to be desired. It has 10-15% of the original blue finish remaining (at best) and the gun has an overall brown patina look to it. The stocks are in pretty nice shape though (as the previous owner probably kept them separate and used other grips).

So here is the question. I normally would never do this, but I am thinking about selling off the original stocks. I'm not going to re-blue this Heavy Duty, so I will probably just use a serviceable pair of N-frame target stocks at the range.

I know these stocks go for a decent amount of dough, but I have never separated original stocks from a gun before. I figure the collectable value is history, so maybe just this once.....

Any advice would be welcomed.

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Ash

Mods fixed the pictures. Thanks.

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Ash

Never sell off a original numbered set of stocks from a original S&W. Period.

Thats just inviting really bad Karma to move into your life...

Giz

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Non gratum anus rodentum

I would consider a trip to Fords with that Beauty....

Ash,

Good question! I share your reluctance to remove the original grips from a gun. However, in this case you are correct that the gun's condition is that of a shooter; and it will be a very fine one at that! (One can make the case that any prewar gun is a "collector" piece and I won't argue that.) I believe that you should be able to sleep at night if you separate those grips and put on a pair that are more appropriate for shooting.

Bob

Jim,
If the gun were to be refinished by Ford's (or anyone else) it would no longer be original, so why would it be important to keep the original grips with it?

Bad Ju Ju....totally agree with Gizamo....I don't think that matched numbered stocks with the gun are all that common nowadays....maybe they are.....I just bought two HD's, a 4 and a5", the 4" had the proper stocks...the 5 didn't.....both are in nice shape, & I intend to shoot them....will put Houges on them to shoot, but will certainly retain the original stocks for the 4" er..... bottom line....it is your call.

Oh....gotta agree w/ the previous posts. Keep them together! It can only raise the value of your gun. You could sell them.But,then there would be TWO guns with mismatched stocks.......

My good luck would dissapear if I were to do it.
I don't like to break mirrors either.
Squirrel.....never mind it was only a black cat

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

I agree...my point would be to keep the grips and have fords do a Reblue..Or leave as is and if need be sell the stocks...I get the bad Karma thing, but maybe helping another forum member out who needs that set of grips for there revolver that is missing a set like those would bring karma the other way around...

Who Knows...At the end of the day..do what will make you sleep better at night...

Just my thoughts

Somebody git a rope!!!!

P.S.,

You might want to letter it also. The history might surprise you!!

I'd keep the stocks on it....my '31/32 grips don't number to the gun, and the only reason I'd sell would be if I found an un numbered set of prewar Magnas for a real reasonable price.......

(a guy can dream, can't he?)

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Even older, even crankier....

I agree with bettis1 (I've learned that is usually a wise thing to do ), but here are my thoughts to go along-

Unless you are hard strapped for money (and today, that's easily understandable ), keep the original stocks in a safe climate controlled place, or as close to one as you can do so, and then buy a set of whichever stocks grabs suits your taste for your shooting pleasure. You can leave the factory wood in place until you go shoot too, which makes showing a fine old piece of history to friends etc more pleasurable.

Keep the grips-don't separate them from the gun no matter how much finish the gun has or doesn't have. You can never get a complete gun back if you sell the grips and another piece of history is lost. Take them off ( I don't like to shoot with service grips on) and put some on that you like shooting with. Even if you do have it refinished, it still be all number matching if you keep the grips.
Bill

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38-44heavyduty.com

If that HD could talk!

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

I knew it was a bad idea. Thanks for helping me come to my senses. I'll put the original stocks away and put a pair of N-frame target stocks on it for when I go to the range.

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Ash

I agree with what Bill said. I would not do a refinish, because personally I love the honest wear and character on an old gun like that.

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Tim
SWCA #2697

Financially speaking, you would be better off selling the grips. There is just no way that the grips with the gun will bring more than selling them separately. The gun will never be a collector's piece so having the original grips will not add the equivalent to what the grips would sell for by themselves. Whether or not it is bad juju, or karma is only a concern for those that believe in such things. One thing however, as an investment the grips will perform much better than the gun. The longer you hold onto them the more they will be worth. So sell them if you need the money, or put them safely away in a drawer if you don't... either way I wouldn't shoot the gun with them on it.

If you change your mind about selliong the grips, I have a 1936 HD that needs a pair.

Yea! I was sweatin' reading this thread. Glad the stocks stay.

Lots of good discussion here about this topic...so let's try to put a philosophical twist to it. Let's look at a gun's condition on a linear scale.

On one end of the scale let's put a first year Registered Magnum; it exists in 99% condition, the factory letter confirms that it is just as shipped, complete with correct numbered grips and box. I'd guess that any of us here would draw and quarter anyone who even suggested anything that would move that gun away from its museum quality condition.

At the other end of the scale lets put that same gun BUT the gun had received a bulged barrel, someone had stored it in a wet fleece bag since the early 1940's and it had been discovered in a crack house following a police raid. As per the police department's policy, they were mandated to cut across the frame and cylinder with a torch. But, the original numbered grips had survived these affronts unscathed. Few of us here would give much of a second thought at salvaging those grips.

So, what we are dealing with here is just where do we place the original poster's gun on that continuum. We will each put it somewhere among the other pitted, bulged, refinished, sawed off guns that we have come across...just where is always a personal decision based on intrinsic value, emotion, and invested cost among other things.

Bob

Bob,
Two totally different scenarios. If I bought an HD with grips not numbered to the gun and needed them on another gun, then I have not problem moving them. However, no matter what shape the gun is in, as in this one, the grips and the gun are all matching serial number wise and should not be separated. I do not put his gun in the the "lost cause" bin. It is what it is and regardless of how much finish it has, it is still a complete HD. I congratulate the owner of deciding to keep the grips with the gun-he made the correct decision.
Bill

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38-44heavyduty.com

Bill,

You're right, they are two different scenarios. I would not put that gun in the "lost cause" either. Nether would I put in the "museum quality". My point is that only the owner can decide where he places his gun on my scale.

If it were my gun and it was the only Heavy Duty that I had and I wanted it as a representative example, I would most certainly keep the grips with it. If, on the other hand, I had as many HD's as you and I only wanted that one as a fishing tackle box gun, I would harvest the grips.

Bob

Remind me that the next HD I sell you to keep the grips!

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38-44heavyduty.com

Sell to someone else?

EEEKKK!

A shiver went down my spine!

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SWCA 1646

Keep the grips and put on a grip adapter...you'll be surprised how much better the factory wood feels. You can find them used or you can buy a new one from B.K. Grips.

Sell or keep, that's up to you, but don't separate those stocks !