I have this model 520 and it is still factory fired only.

It's a beautiful gun and built like a tank, so shooting obviously would not hurt it. So don't you think it would be fun to shoot? Why wouldn't you? How much would the collector value drop? And how much do you think you might need those few extra bucks?

I know I am not getting any younger and frankly, I don't think my kids will live or die on whether after the lid slams on my coffin, an old gun (that to them looks like all my other old guns) sells for an extra couple hundred bucks.

Whatever you decide is, of course, your business and nobody could call you wrong either way -- but I'd shoot it with no regret whatsoever. Just because it would be fun.

I've seen about 7 or 8 520s, owned two myself before letting them go. Out of that only one had ever been shot other than factory,

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Dick

Nope, I have a shooter Registered Magnum that I love to shoot. If I'm shooting .357 Magnum thats my go to gun.

SWCA 892

Hi JimmyJoe, Congrats on your 520. As another member writing here, I also have two models 520. Both NIB. I think they are fine guns and are of limited production. It seems to me that if you have other good shooters, that model is definitely one to be preserved. Even cylinder drag marks will diminish the value somewhat. I suppse the final resolution is in how much you want to shoot it, but it isn't just a matter of dollar economics in terms of diminished value. It is in preserving something worthwhile which perhaps you can enjoy owning as much or more than shooting. I wouldn't shoot mine.
My take.

I have a NIB copy and got a call about a 520 available locally. What a shame - it was pretty freckled up with a couple rust spots. While talking to the owner he went on about how pristine it was. It took awhile to realize that he was serious. I have no plan to shoot mine.

I bought one used, many years ago, before they cost much at all. It had already been modified slightly, also. It has since been modified more, and shot more.

By me, if you can't shoot it, it ain't a gun. Others are entitled to their opinions about their guns.

I picked up a model 520 about eight months ago. It has only been factory fired. I had every intention of taking it to the range and pulling the trigger.
I still haven't been able to get myself to do that. Don't ask me why. I did, however, pick up a couple other .357's and enjoy shooting the heck out of them.
One day I'm going to put this 520 up for sale on the forum. I have come to believe in shooting my revolvers rather than have them setting around somewhere.

I like Iskra's response. He speaks in terms of preservation of something worth owning. That was worth thinking about.

I suppose my inclination to shoot comes out of my background in music. Besides enjoying guns, I play a bunch of musical instruments. In the 1990s a bunch of Japanese collectors starting collecting old Fender and Gibson electric guitars and sticking them in safes in Tokyo. The prices went up (like a sky-rocket) and a bunch of nice guitars won't get played again. To me a guitar are not a work of art -- a good one is made to make good music. So when an instrument is being preserved just for the joy of owning it -- it is not being used for what it was created for -- making music. It seemed a waste -- to me. But the guy who bought it might just like looking at it and remembering the good old days of rock and roll and when real craftsmen made them (still $30,000 for a plank with pickups is nuts).

Are guns and musical instruments similar? Both -- especially in the good old days were made of first class materials by first class artisans. Though they were not primarily intended to be works of visual art, they certainly can have the elegance of beautiful design and craftsmanship (of course there are exceptions -- the elaborately orate or engraved specimens of guns or guitars that seem to be designed solely for visual gratification).

Maybe then I need to come to grips with the notion that simply because they don't make them like that anymore, that there is real value in preservation over the original imperative of purpose. Yes guns are meant to be shot, but beautifully crafted old ones -- well, maybe I can shoot something else.

Besides a 38/44 Outdoorsman a 520 is on my list of "must haves". I think they are really cool utilitarian pieces, just look all business, no filler. My non-collector vote would be shoot it!
-Jesse

My M-520 had 2 rounds fired through it by the original owner. One into the ground to see if it worked and then one through his noggin. His family had a gunshop sell it on consignment when they got it back from the sheriffs office. I traded a Model 39 for it. Later, when I got hired by the same sheriffs office, I talked to the investigator and then pulled a copy of the report.

I figured that since it had already been fired, shooting it some more wouldn't hurt it any. I fired a couple of boxes through it and then sat it aside. Shot great, but I prefer the bigger, blockier, easier to see adjustable sights for range use.

Y'all might think I'm crazy but I've always hoped to find a "holster worn" one of these at a "shooter" price. I think it would be a great woods gun for me to tote for shooting hogs and such.I like to switch my "toter's" around every now and then. Some different grips, a nice holster,that would be the ticket.

I have mine that is nib and not fired by me. I would love to buy a second that is shooter grade.

I love shooting n frames in 38 spl if it was mine I'd shoot it!!!! very cool 520

I would shoot it, but I suppose I'm what some folks call a "shooting collector". I own several nice revolvers and shoot them all, I just make sure to take good care of them. I figure that way I can enjoy them and they will still hold a good bit of their value. Seems like when I buy one that's NIB I always wind up selling it.

I hear ya. I only have two that I have not shot, the 520 above and a 27-2 3.5 inch that is nib. I bought it with the intention of shooting it but when I meet the guy and it was un fired I just could not bring myself to do it.

I'm looking for a nice 520, and when I find one not only will I shoot it, I'll carry it when I'm out hunting or fishing. With a total production run of 3,000 guns, and with about 90% of them still NIB, I wouldn't feel at all bad about giving one as much use as I could.

I am not a collector, I would not buy a 520, but I if somehow I got an unfired 520 gifted to me I would not shoot it.

I do have a couple of S&W's I have not shot, I have had them for25 or 30 years. They are spares, in case I wear out or break one of my shooters.

Until I need them I will not shoot them. No reason to.

Now do not let this post, in any way, indicate that I have any disdain for Collectors. I have known several people that are, and I admire their Collections.
To me Collectors are preserving History.

I have a NIB 520 and do not intend on shooting it at this time. I have been looking for a shooter grade for a while now. As with any gun, owner's personal choice as to wether he shoots it or not. Good luck on the great find. Joe

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Here's Buff's NYSP M520.



And the investigating officers initial carved into the bottom of the grip. I think the officer's name was Joe Friday.

It hasn't been fired since he put those couple of boxes thru it back 1981.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

I am so happy I don't have the collecting bug. Every gun in my safe has thousands of rounds fired. When you are dead, you are dead for a very long time.

Mine was NIB when I got it. Not any more.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

I'd hate to wear it out. Not sure just how long I'll be keeping it.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

Sorry (not really) but I'd most definitely shoot it.

My days of Scrooge McDuck , sitting in my armchair, while ogling my unfired, pristine examples of anything are waaaaay down the road I hope.

Just my $.02. YMMV.

Wear it out? At the rate of a few boxes a year, I expect mine to last virtually indefinitely.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

I actually don't have much interest in shooting it.

I have it because of what it is.

I think its the only gun that I have that I don't have much interest in shooting.

I have a couple of others that I haven't shot but will. Just not this one.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

The money spent on ammo will be significantly more than the depreciated value of the gun. That’s the way I look at it. They are great shooters, btw.

The original Model 520 is about the most serious "all business" revolver ever made. Well, maybe the Model 58 is. While these have historical significance, they were never intended to be museum pieces. I am glad there are collectors out there, who keep a gun in NIB condition for posterity. Me, I would have to shoot it because it was meant to be shot. I've never owned one, and it is one of a very few that I covet. I doubt I'll ever find one at a price I would be willing to pay, but if I do I will be taking it to the range for sure.

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FBINA, 204th Session

I love my 58 and I love shooting it.

I enjoy having both.

Over the last year or so I've sold most of my "collectibles" and kept the ones that I really liked.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.