Stopped in the local Cabela's today (needed some of their cheap clear ammo boxes) and browsed the very shrunken gun case. They had some interesting old Smiths - makes me wonder if they are pulling everything from the back (Gun Library is closed for now, so all stock is out front). They had a 1917 .45, looked to be a five inch, and had a lanyard ring. Price was a bit "up there" - almost $800. I didn't get to handle it - was in a hurry to get my shopping chores done at several stores.

I'm wondering if I should go back and "take a number and wait..."

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Heavily armed old man.

All depends on condition and originality. If mechanically sound and all original, even if shows lots of wear, $800 is not unreasonable. If has non-original grips, action is loose, lanyard ring is missing, front sight filed down or otherwise modified, mixed SN numbers indicating parts change, and potentially other issues, $800 not so much. I tried to find one on the Gun Library web site but it didn't show any 1917s available in WV. Good luck.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I think I will go back and look again. First glance impression was "not in bad shape at all". I need to wiggle it and take my flashlight and 4th Edition Kindle copy. Wish they didn't have those mandatory ****** trigger locks. The action is key for something like that.

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Heavily armed old man.

If it looks like something you might want, and the clerk says he can't take off the lock, ask to speak to the Gun Library manager. They ought to be willing to take you back to the office and let you play with the gun. Too much risk in one 100 years old without checking the action. Worked for me awhile back at the Ft. Worth store. Good luck, pictures required if you get it.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

Thanks for the encouragement. I have .45 ACP snap caps I could take with me to prove I just want to check. If it is a true 1917 military, it's should chamber .45 ACP, not .45 Colt. I have a 1950 "grail gun" - an M&P 38, pre-10 2". My birthday is 30 days after it was sent to the store. This 1917 gun might be close to my dad's birthday. Just thinking.

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Heavily armed old man.

I bought my Third Model Perfected at that store. I asked the gun library manager to pull the grips so that I could check for matching numbers. He told me that they didn't do that. I told him there was no way I handing over that kind of money without knowing as it made about a $300 difference in the value of the gun. He pulled the grips and let me come back into his office to look the gun over more thoroughly. So he made the sale.

series guy, you came to Charleston to look at a Third Model? Oh my. One of their bigger stores is in Wheeling. It's a distribution warehouse. Glad you found a good Smith. I hope to, too.

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Heavily armed old man.

Lucky he didn't bugger the screw for you while he was at it.

They cut me a deal on an older pistol about a year ago. While killing the hour it seems to take them to do a BG check, I mentioned numerous times that if they planned to tape the original box shut that they could save me my time and money right now. They had no idea---even as I climbed the ladder of command to explain. I watched one guy grab the tape gun and I announced LOUDLY again and told him----NO TAPE. I think he flipped me off with his eyes, then went and got someone further up the ladder. Because it was not taped shut, the guy had to walk me through the registers out to the car, and lay it in the trunk. I was still not certain that any of them understood the reason I didn't want their tape on my box that was worth over $100. I even told the guy walking out carrying my new toy that all they had to do was put the gun in the box and put that box inside a junk box, and they would have been welcome to tape that box shut.

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"Tastes just like chicken"

Also, check Serial number as the lower numbers seem to be more desirable. Mine was shipped during the war, but at the end, so likely never saw service. One that did would have been much more desirable to me.
GHS inspection stamp mark, grooved hammer...all of that would make it more desirable, too. Good luck.

My lgs has had one for a while now.
It's either 875 or 975, cant remember for sure right now.
I looked at it briefly the end of Feb.
It seemed to have some of the Mark's mentioned above.
Maybe I should take a better look also.
Uhhh- oh, time to consult the 4th, and search this forum.

Cabela's is generally pretty high on their used guns. I have however been able to work them down to a reasonable price on at least one S&W revolver. It may be that used gun sales are really slow right now because everyone is holding on to their money. My Cabelas has had a second model hand ejector for sale for about two years. They must be in the business of storing used revolvers.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Their Gun Library staff were pretty knowledgeable many years ago but things have changed dramatically. When they went public, the bean counters came in and made big changes, most notably running off all the managers who knew what they were doing. They wanted to get rid of the salaries and replace them with $10 an hour clerks. I used to drive way out of my way anytime I was even remotely near a store to see what they had. Now I often drive right by without stopping.

Your story about taping the boxes is true but I’ll tell you a story about boxes that will make some guys weep. Years ago, I bought an Adolph Niedner .25 Roberts custom Springfield from them. It had belonged to Ned Roberts himself and was the prototype for the .257 Roberts. I had known about it for awhile before it showed up in one of their stores. I finally made a deal with them and as we were wrapping everything up, I asked them to make sure I got the shipping box. I knew the original wooden shipping crate with Ned Roberts’ name and address on it had remained with the gun for all these years (about 80 years or so!) and it was a big part of the desirability of the gun. They looked at me blankly and said “oh, we don’t have that anymore. We threw it away.” I was absolutely flabbergasted! Unbelievable idiots! It’s been more than ten years and I still can’t get over it.

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SWHF #691