My very first S&W magnum was bought new back in 1967. It was a Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman. Every bit as good a shooter as the famed Model 27, but a whole lot less expensive, and I wasn't afraid to take it into the field and actually use it!

I've seen the prices on these sturdy N-frame .357s really escalate in recent years, and I'm thinking that the Model 28 is finally getting the respect it deserves.

Here's my modest collection of the breed:

This is my original 6" 28-2, made in January of 1967, and my dad's 4" 28-2, made in January of 1968:



This one's a 4" Model 28-2, made in September, 1980. Original target stocks, numbered to the gun, plus I have the original box, indicating it was shipped with the target stocks:



This 4" 28-2 is one I got for a song, because the owner had it equipped with mis-matched K-frame stocks and it looked awful. I set it up with some Eagle brand Roper/Skelton style stocks; Now looks a lot better, and it makes a great shooter. This one was shipped in January, 1977.



How many of you have one or more these previously underrated but rugged N-frames? I think they are really coming into their own as desirable guns now!

John

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Beautiful guns. I am jealous. I am looking at a 28-2 that has the officer's name, date of issue, and police dept. engraved on it. Do you think that adversely affects the value of gun or does it add some type of neatness to it?

6 in.28-2,
Dick

My 4 in.28-2.
Dick

I don't think that I would agree that they were ever disrespected. They are what they are, which is a plain Jane service revolver. Sturdy, but plain.

If anything, when prices rise above above 70% of the M27, the 28 is being shown too much respect, IMO.

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No life story has happy end.

The six inch guns are still a deal at 450 or so in my neck-of-the-woods. Can you find a better 357 cheaper than that?

I think they are the last N frame you can find a "good deal" on without much effort.

Here's a coupla' shooters.


Gf

I recall these being issued "back in the day". I am retired now and I found a six inch 28-2 at a gun show about two years ago. A real tack driver with 158gn .357 rounds. I just found a 4" 28-2 about two weeks ago. It is also a tack driver with the same ammo. I recall as a rookie I was told by a senior fellow that these 28s would out shoot "anything out there".

"Plain" is a subjective concept. To me, the soft sheen of the M28's satin finish is very sublime. It's not pedestrian or plain at all and it's a mistake to refer to it as a "matte" finish.

My favorite .357s, by far.
All my 28 are 28-2s. The top gun was made in 1977-78, the bottom 1966-67:

This 6" was made in 1979:

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I'm long familiar with firearms but it was a Model 28 that turned me on to revolvers recently. After years of playing with Berettas, SIGs and other semi-autos, I spotted a random photo of a 28 posted on another forum last year and suddenly, finally, realized just how amazingly simple yet elegant revolvers are. They had never caught my eye before, I was never interested, until then when something about the gun had me mesmerized. It was sort of like a Eureka! moment leaving me dumbfounded wondering how and why I had been ignoring wheel guns all this time. I immediately started researching them, finding out the 28 is, as Wikipedia describes, the epitome of minimalism in handgun design. I agreed and instantly understood that I must have one.

At that point I started looking for one while learning about other models, picking up a few here and there while waiting for the right Highway Patrolman to come along, and I've finally got it.



Nothing fancy, just a later 28-2 shooter, but it's perfect for my kind of collecting right now. Now it's onto the next S&W, and the one after that, and the next. You folks know how it is.

I never heard anything about 28s not being highly respected.
Its exactly what it was designed to be, a work gun. And you'll never find a finer example of that catagory.

G7- I believe the proper term is satin finish but matte is interchangeable. It simply means less polishing before being blued. You may prefer the look of the satin blue (many apparently do) but it is a less costly finish and was done to make the gun less expensive. Just like the deletion of the metal checkering and the limiting of the options normally found on the more deluxe models.

I'm not slamming the 28. But it is what it is.

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I generally think of a true matte finish as being bead-blast prep before bluing. There is no polishing done for a true matte finish. The satin finish on the 28 is definitely a brush polish and that's why it's got the sheen to it, whereas a matte finish will have virtually no sheen. Cheaper than a high polish finish? Of course. But still not a pedestrian bead-blast matte finish for sure.

I am an admirer of the M 28, but I have to agree with Mr. Saxon Pig. The 28 was a utility type gun, a service revolver as he pointed out. I owned a couple of new 28s and a new Model 27 around 1971 or 72 or 73. There was no comparison in fit, finish, or trigger pull. I have never understood the seemingly "cult" fascination that has surrounded them in the last few years. I love 'em, but there are a lot more S&W models I would pay the money they are demanding today before buying a 28.

From my observations, a Model 27 or a Model 19 or a K22 has about tripled in price over the last ten or so years. The price of a 28 has multiplied by a factor of at least 4X or even 5X. I don't know why. Ten or twelve years ago, local gun shops wouldn't allow any more than $100 for a 28 on a trade, and they would rather not take one.

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Georgia On My Mind

The first handgun I bought for myself is a 4" model 28. It took the place of my 6" Python while I was working armed security many years ago. I still have the 28 and occassionally carry it today. I'm glad Virginia is an open carry state as well as shall issue.

My 6" model 28-2 was made in 1973 and it evidently had been polished a little more prior to being blued at the factory-as the finish turned out really nice on this NIB M28-2!:

O.W. Wilson, in his book "Police Administration" (use to be the Bible on Police Work) said: and I believe he had the Model 28 when he made the comment.

"The service revolver should be heavy, so it could be used as a club if necessary"

I was lucky, and was able to keep mine when I retired.

I had two in my early years, but Ns are big for concealed carry and my hand. Nonetheless I like them a LOT. Probably the most bang for the buck ever produced by a gun company.

Unloaded the first two but missed having one around. Found a 99%+ one that I'd rather not shoot, which is dumb. I need a shooter grade one with some blue wear.

Lackejd, like many things beauty is the eye of the beholder. If the engraving is neatly done it can add interest. I like some history with my guns. We have some 'police gun' threads that have some beautiful examples.

If it was poorly done, scratched or electric penciled where it can be seen, it's been abused and the price should reflect that abuse.

IMHO the most important consideration is: do you like it?

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Romans 13:3 & 4

Yes, it seriously hurts the value.

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No life story has happy end.

The 28 is great and always has been. The "respect" it is being shown today is by dealers who want to sell their 28s for the same prices as 27s, they are "respecting" their guns and "disrespecting" the sense of the buyer. A 28 is a plain jane 27 that does what it was intended to do, deliver N frame .357 performance for cheaper than the 27. I think some 28 owners have given themselves inferiority complexes over the years. The beauty of both (to me) is in their utility, shootability over looks every day.

My first duty weapon was a 4" Model 28, bought shortly after going into the academy but before we started firearms training. I wanted a 5" M-27 but was told I had to have a 4" DA revolver. I asked about a 3.5" M-27 but again was told it had to be a 4". Got the 28, qualified near the top of the class and carried it to the end of my probationary year. I was loading my own ammo and used to shoot 100-200 rounds a week, all magnums and all DA. At the end of probation that 28 looked a lot older than it actually was.

When I qualified with a MKIV Series 70 Government Model I sold the Model 28 to finance something else. I have no idea these many years later what that "had to have" gun was. Naturally I miss the old M-28.

Earlier this year I finally replaced it with this:



It's a 1959 vintage Model 28 no dash, 4-screw that has the very best trigger, both DA and SA, of any S&W in the safe. This one I'm not going to let go. (smile)

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

I only have one, and it's in pretty nice condition, locks up like a vault, and is a VERY accurate shooter! Sorry no pics (some day!)

The only new found respect the 28 is getting is in the mind of insecure 28 owners. The 28 has always been an excellent, plain-jane service pistol. For years it didn't bask in the limelight given its fancier brothers because it was meant to be a tug boat, not a show boat. Now, with prices on other N Frames in a perpetual climb ever higher the 28 is recieving new interest from collectors because of its availability/affordability ratio. 28 owners can now feel like they're sitting at the cool table.

Guess I just thought of it as the rat rod of the n-frame world. I wanted one just because of it's utlitarian qualities. I also think the model 13, 581, 520, and 58 were some of the coolest smith's ever built. The Humphrey Bogarts of the smith world if you will.

Well I have three first one five digit serial number missnumbered in the frame like new condition. Two one I purchased at $275 and was a PPC gun with a six inch barrel with at least three squips in the barrel and the owner tried to remove with a steel rod. Has one of the slickest actions I have ever seen. Removed barrel and rib. Replaced rear sight and put a replacement Model 23 Outdoorsman Target barrel on it. Extra lock on yoke mades it a "triple lock". This is one sweet shooter. Third one I just put on layaway. It's 320 with holster and one speed loader sporting a 4 inch barrel. I'll pick this one up on Friday. It's in the N95xxxx serial range. Still have a 3 1/2in 27 which I use and is a favorite.

I have had this since 1982, though I once traded it back to my Dad in 1986 and it disapeared in a trade. In 1994 I was talking guns to my Uncle when he said he had my Dad's old model 28 and asked me if I wanted it back. I traded him a 6 inch stainless GP100 and the 28 has not left my hands since. My Dad had owned it since 1974. Alot of fine memories can be wrapped up in blue steel.



I guess I never thought of this weapon as being anything less than what it was nor anything more than what it wasn't. But it has always had my respect.

Is $600 NIB too much for a 28?

What extra lock on yoke?

Well, that depends. If it's a N serial numbered 6 inch, yes.

If it's a 4 inch S serial numbered gun with diamond magnas and box & docs, no.

GF

After I got out of the USMC in 1969 and had a stable job, I started looking for my first really nice gun. A range close to work had a 4" 28 that belonged to the gunsmith and he had slicked up the action.

I bought it and used to shoot the centers out of the targets at the range. I don't remember what I paid for it but somewhere in the $150 range.
I sold it several years later but still remember that was the most fondled gun I have ever owned to date. It was a beautiful workhorse of a weapon.

The one that the gunsmith put on the yoke when he made it into a PPC gun. Bull barrels are tough to pin up front with no under lug.

Here's two of mine, I have six, three each of 4 inch and six inch. My first gun was a 28 bought in 67 from F.Morton Pitt in L.A. It's the bottom one in the picture and it came with the grips. I too could not afford a 27.

For those of you pondering the official type of blue finish on the mighty Model 28, it is stated thusly in the 1977 instruction book.

"Finish.... S&W Satin Blue with sandblast stippling on barrel top and edge of frame"

I'm still trying to figure out what you're talking about since you said you put a Model 23 barrel on it: "Replaced rear sight and put a replacement Model 23 Outdoorsman Target barrel on it. Extra lock on yoke mades it a 'triple lock'."

Triple lock locks the cylinder assembly in three contact points. Front of cylinder ego ejector rod, two ,yoke area and at the rear of cylinder third area. I'll try to make time of a photo.

Must be a lot of buyers in this room and not many sellers.
I've been looking for 3 months for a descent model 28 and finally found a nice shooter grade 4" for $400 out the door. I've been seeing 6" shooters going for over $500 around here. I wish I lived where ever you guys live.

I understand how the triple lock works. But you said you put a Model 23 barrel on it. The Model 23 wasn't a triple lock. Did your smith add the third lock to the ejector shroud on the 23 barrel?

No Gary the second lock is located on top of the yoke. Notice I stated this was converted from a PCC gun with a Bull barrel which has no underlug locking point. Locking point placement was on top of the yoke inside the frame.

Okay, now I see.

Was the first S&W I bought and it goes to the range every time I go.
Mod 28-2

I dont think it's 28's only but I think that now maybe revolvers are starting to regain the respect they are due.

Just got a 28-2 (4 inch) on the way to me in about one week. 99% NIB $595. My first N.

I bought my first 28 back in 1974 and I never sensed any dis-respect for the model. Any Smith and Wesson 357 maggie was demanding a premium over retail in the part of the south I was stationed in (Middle GA area). I had a 5" 27 at the time and was firing alot of rounds through all my guns. Respect was earned at the firing range. At the range the 28 took a back seat to no other gun. Matter of a fact, shooters in my aquaintance wouldn't hesitate to purchase a 28 even if other 357 mag revolvers were on the shelf !

I was just trying to remember how many 28's I've owned over the years and it has been at least six or seven, all fired often and well cared for. Every single time I would sell a 28 I regretted it. I found a 28-2 a couple years ago at the gun show. It showed no signs of being fired outside the factory. Bought it for the great price of $250.00 from the owner and never looked back. I did have to hustle up a box for it. Darned box has Colt Python written on the side in some sort of black marker that won't rub off. Faded out pretty good, but still visable. I guess some day I should try and find a better box that ain't got that written on it. Some here might consider that dis-respect, keeping such a fine revolver in a desecreated box. What yall think ?

Sam Colt is spinning in his grave.

To be fair, Col. Colt's business also put out the SAA with the loading gate on the wrong side of the gun lol.

. I found a 28-2 a couple years ago at the gun show. It showed no signs of being fired outside the factory. Bought it for the great price of $250.00 from the owner and never looked back. I did have to hustle up a box for it. Darned box has Colt Python written on the side in some sort of black marker that won't rub off. Faded out pretty good, but still visable. I guess some day I should try and find a better box that ain't got that written on it. Some here might consider that dis-respect, keeping such a fine revolver in a desecreated box. What yall think ?[/QUOTE]

I think you stole some poor kids lunch money. $250 won't even get you a rusted busted one these days

Not for us lefties, he didn't!

As for the Highway Patrolman - I have a real soft spot for those guns; my first N-frame was a 4" 28-2 with holster wear that came in its original box - I think I happily paid $425 or so in 2006 or 7.

More recently I picked up this unfired 6" puppy -- with box, tools, and toothbrush! Box end label shows it shipped with Magnas, but she came with gorgeous targets.

--Neill

I guess thats only fair since ya'll have been screwed by the rest of the sidearm world lol.

Is the satin finish the only thing that differentiates the mod. 28 from the mod. 27?
If not, what other differences are there? Recessed chambers? Chamfered charge holes?