When I found myself new to s&w revolvers I was offered two that I passed up. To be honest I didn't have a clue as to what they were at the time. I just purchased a few k series revolvers. One I passed on was a 32 caliber it was $795 at the time, the other was a 38/44 for $850. My point is do your homework before you go shopping. The s&w book is your bible. You never know what you will find. Educate yourself for sure.

BigBill I feel you pain ,between the ones I didn't buy and the ones I've sold, I have a lot of regrets. That P&R 19 I sold for $200 are getting $650-$700 and the 27-2 I didn't buy cheep are more than I want to pay now. I guess live and learn.

I'm not going to even go there regarding the "dumb" moves I've made over the years. Like most things in this old life, an education costs... in one way or another.

A young girl, wise beyond her years, once told me, "You can't have it all... if you did, where would you put it?"

Froggie

I used to have an uncle (long ded now) that would brag about how he coulda bought this or coulda bought that, mostly cars. One day, while he was doing one of his brags, I asked him why he didn't buy whatever it was. His sheepish answer was "he didn't have the money". DOH! He never bragged about such things in front of me again. My cousins, his sons claimed he didn't stop doing it in front of them. Of course, I can understand why they never called him on it. He dispensed his discipline at the end of a razor strophe. He threatened to use on me once or twice, but I was fairly confident my Dad would have beat him to death if he had. My Dad wasn't the family disciplinarian in our household and on the very rare occasions he did hit me, it was at the end of his fist. My Mom did the discipline in our household. On the occasions where my Mom felt compelled to use corporal punishment, she had 2 willow trees to assist. I usually was ordered to cut the switches myself. She was very skilled at psyops as well.

All in all, I survived childhood without any physical damage. My cousins can't make the same claim.

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NRA Benefactor

I had the money but had no clue as to what they were.

My greatest regrets concern the guns I sold which I should have kept rather than those I could have bought. With one notable exception.

There is amazing information on this site. The best thing one can do is read a lot of the old threads to learn how to protect yourself when buying and selling S&W revolvers. I have had good deals and bad deals and the folks here and other forums have made me a much more savvy and wiser person. Yeah, the SCSW is a great book, but it can only take you so far. And there are little things that are not in it but are here.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

You need to know what you are looking at also. Example; I was in a pawn shop in Apopka almost 20 years ago. Just killing time waiting for a doctor's office to open and sell some pill. They have one display case of guns. There's one large, N frame, adjustable sight revolver, .38 spl in about 70% condition. Marked $225 but the owner would move on it. Me-"Meh, nothing special. Must be mis-marked, S&W never made a Model 23." I passed. Even in "low condition" that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

If it was in fact a Model marked 23, that was indeed a Once in a lifetime Find.

A fool and his money are soon parted.... you did good by hanging onto your cash if you were not sure. They made lots of all models and the fun is deciding where your interest is and seeking those models.

You can't buy 'em all, but I do have a couple of regrets that gnaw at me.

One was an M22 or pre-22. A local gun shop had a bunch of S&Ws from a gun store that had just gone out of business. The old guy who ran it died (God rest his soul) and his heirs just wanted everything liquidated. The story was that he had kept some NIB revolvers set aside since the '50s - '60s because he meant to collect them later on. The pre- or M22 was one of these. Absolutely new. $500. But I already had a couple of .45 ACP revolvers so I passed ... If I knew then what I know now ... It's probably better that I don't know what else they had from this gentleman's shop.

The other one was a Victory Model in .38 Special. It looked perfect, like it had spent the war in a desk drawer at a defense plant. $400. It was really nice. But at the time I had two revolvers on layaway and I wasn't really all that fond of the .38 Special ...

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You're shy a few manners.

I seen a rare Finnish m28 mosin ski troop rifle. Again never seen one the guy at the gun show had two. I went home got on the mosin sight and seen them. I went back and the better one was gone. It had double rear sling slots in the butt stock, never seen one before.

I sold a Finn M28 about two years ago. Metal looked like hell, but the wood was very good (probably re-stocked in some Finnish armory). The buyer drove all the way from Houston to San Antonio to buy it and was he ever excited.

Every time I go to buy another gun I will usually debate the situation with myself out loud saying "I just have so many guns already" the man behind counter will say " just trade in some you don't shoot often". Every single time I just dig deep to come up with enough. Have never sold a gun or traded in one yet out of this exact fear I will later regret it later!!!

20/20 hindsight. It is just a gun. There are many more important things to regret, so don't waste your energy on a gun that you sold or passed up.

There plenty of guns out there of every description to buy if you really want a replacement.

With the information you've given here either one of those could have been a screaming deal or ridiculously overpriced. Was the 32 a K-32 Masterpiece in fine condition, or a ratty old 1903? Was the .38/44 a 95% prewar Outdoorsman or an overbuffed and nickeled Heavy Duty with a chopped barrel?

As you say, you never know what you will find. We still don't know what you found.

I am probably a bit the other way. I have a hard time saying no if the price is reasonable. But, like some others there are some guns that I let go of in the past that I wish I still had. Oh, well.

Started shooting and semi collecting firearms when I got out of the navy. Had an almost mint 1891 Argentine mauser and a DCM M1 carbine. I'm 70 now and at one time I had 5 pre '64 Model 70 Winchesters all in 30-06 except for a featherweight in 308. That featherweight had the most poorly designed stock I ever had the misfortune to shoot. Every shot was a whack to the jaw. Someone made an offer and was sold. 3 were model 70 match rifles all in '06 and everyone was extremely accurate. Eventually they too were sold. Then I got into semi autos. Had both H&K 91 in 7.62nato and a 93 in 5.56. Plenty of magazines, yep sold them. Then I got into mil surp rifles all bolt actions. best ones I have are a Persian 8mm long rifle and a Finn model 27 in 7.62x54r as well as 6 Swedish rifles. 5 1896's and one model 38. Lotta rifles sold or traded over the years. Last mil surp I bought was three years ago, Chilean model of 1912 in 7mm mauser. Slowed down quite a bit maybe time to start thinning the herd. Spent a bunch of years squinting down many mil surp rifle barrels. Out side could look like **** but all my mil surps have excellent bores. Carry bore light, cleaning rod and patches in the same pilot's helmet bag I bought back in 1968. And don't even start about reloading, I have dies for
calibers I don't even have. Frank

Being a parent that brought three daughters into this world, I had a responsibility to educate them. Four degrees for three ladies were paid for thusly. They all had a job from mid high school on. Wife and I lived frugally. I took on a side enterprise of buying and selling nice guns, mostly long guns, doing pad jobs and wood work evenings. I hustled the newspaper adds and haunted the smaller community shops. I scored lots of nice pieces and the ladies graduated debt free. I never consider the Superposeds and Super Grades as sometHing I should have kept. It was business.

But I did flip some fine ones.

Sold some guns I wish I coulda kept but needed the money ,passed on some I wish I could have bought but didn't need to spend the money ,and I guess that's why I'm like I am now if I see one I want I buy it ,sorry but no I don't consult with my wife or anyone else if I like it and want it I just buy it I might turn around and sell it or trade it later sometimes losing money sometimes not but it's my hobby and I love it and there it is .After retreading his post my goal is to be like Frank46 lol I love them old millitary surplus bolt actions myself .

Probably happened to everyone at some point. Few years ago I passed up a nice model 27 4in barrel for $450. A few months later another one came up.....same model and barrel length, same price.... passed on that too!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Me too, sold a 28 4" 125 bucks and a five screw 29 4" made around 56 if I remember correctly for four hundred bucks. Couple more beautiful Smiths that I can't recall for peanuts. Then a bunch of Colt's that were also give aways when I was out of work..

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NRA Benefactor

Having been a gun geek since my teens, worked at a few LGS's around my LE career, and having been a back-pocket FFL holder in the '80's, I've had many opportunities to get certain hardware that I wish I had.

Like most mere mortals, the constraining factor was usually money, bills, and responsibilities.

I'm still a little haunted by memories of issues of Shotgun News coming to my house every couple of weeks in 80's. A time when there were truly DEALS to be had.
As shooters/gatherers/collectors, whatever - think we all go through 'stages' of interest.
Many of those years mentioned, I was all into IPSC, M1911's, deer rifles, and big-boomer magnum handguns. Run-of-the-mill S&W's most likely were yawn-inducing to me at the time.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Now talk about willpower!!! You either are the the strongest guy out there, or you were out of gun funds at the time and you know your priorities...

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

When I started accumulating firearms If something caught my eye I had to sell one to buy one or if they had lay a way I got to keep my old one and not trade it away. As funds became available as years went by I could buy without selling something. Now my gunsafes are full and friends say I should move my excess Smiths and take a profit. But! My philosophy is " firearms appreciate every year and cash money depreciates every year and I don't need the cash anymore" I buy every nice 5 screw Smith I can and put it away with the others, my personal 501k.
SWCA 892

I buy every nice 5 screw Smith I can and put it away with the others, my personal 501k.

Unfortunately the wife aint exactly on the same page. At 18 & in college (never having owned/fired a (real) gun & knowing NOTHING about them) I just happen to notice that Model 10's were selling for X$ here and considerably more down the road. A matter of being in the right time at the right place, & I recognized the opportunity. They could have been widgets for all I knew/cared, a buy low, sell higher situation. HAD I known a thing or 2 about them, I'd of likely held onto them longer for more $.

[QUOTE=Arik;139675689]Probably happened to everyone at some point. Few years ago I passed up a nice model 27 4in barrel for $450. A few months later another one came up.....same model and barrel length, same price.... passed on that too!

Opportunity may knock more than once I guess, & you don't have to answer the door every time it does.

Pap was a trader and he always said to not worry about what something will bring in the future. If you sell it for what's it worth at the time let it ride and don't look back. Larry

I passed on a nickel schofield, one of the performance center ones for $900 a couple years back....oh well...

Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

Great advise. I am still pretty new at this but try to use the wealth of knowledge on here and the SCSW to avoid some of the pitfalls that normally occur taking on a new hobby.

It also has been a GREAT help to have a mentor and a friend on the forum that helps me along the way. He has saved me a great deal of money and helped me spend some too. LOL


Most of my best pieces have had some influence one way or another by him and I am most grateful for his help.


Love to mention him personally but its not his way.