She was lonely too, surrounded by a bunch of Taurus and Kel-Tec paperweights.

Supposedly this was part of an old man's collection (he passed away) that his kid walked in with and sold in entirety to the shop a month or so ago. Apparently he had quite a collection and just liked to look at 'em, but was unable to pass that value/trait to his children..

Man I wished I had come in there a month or so ago. I'd probably have to stick it out for another year or two in the Corps in order to replenish my retirement fund, but it would have been worth it!

Not that it matters a lot, but for those wondering, I paid $800 for this. It appears to be missing the key to the box, but that is it.

This one will now get passed down from generation to generation in my family (God willing).

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Wow. What a steal!!

You got my vote of approval. I know I couldn't have passed on that.. I'll have to get out more often to local shops.I had stopped going in the last few years as much of the inventory was just modern zombie stuff with some odd occasional bones to pick over. Although lately, I have seen items worth buying. Great find! I really like the way they only decorated only one side so you get both "views". Like having two great guns in one plus a sweet display box,medallion,certification papers..all S&W. Love the grain on those grips. Care went into making them match. Wow..

Nice gun at a great price. I had a 25-3 at one time and duh, sold it. On thing about the 25-3 45 colts is they use the shorter 44 special length cylinder instead of the 44 mag length cylinder found on the later 25-5. Because of this some of the heavier cast lead bullets seat to long for it and stick out the front of the cylinder. I never found a factory round that would not work though.

Agree steelslaver.

I have a 25-5 as well in comparable shape (beautiful), but that one is more for shooting and this one sitting pretty.

Very nice!
I have a great fondness for the .45 Colt cartridge and the S&W N-frame is my favorite gun to shoot it out of.
For myself, I don't care for safe queens. I shoot every gun I own. But it this case, that would be the right call. Aside from its outstanding condition, every one of these I've ever seen had seriously over sized cylinder throats. I looked at a shooter grade 25-3 once. Did the old bullet drop test on the cylinder. Bullets fell straight through without even slowing down.

Awesome find! Looks in great shape too.

I bought 2 of them in November, 1977, when they first hit the dealers and distributors. A friend who worked in a large local sporting goods store was keeping an eye out for them for me, as demand was sure to be high for S&W's first cataloged .45 Colt revolver. When the delivery truck arrived at his store that afternoon, the gun department manager had been instructed to put them on the store manager's desk in his office as the manager wanted them for his brother and himself. My friend overheard the conversation but nobody directly told him to NOT sell them to customers. It was happenstance I stopped by the store that night. Blaine, my friend, brought one out and we looked it over. Blaine said, if I wanted it I needed to buy it right then. Retail was $350.00. I bought it with a credit card and drove home. I thought about it and went back and bought the other one.

Blaine said he caught heck the next day. He played dumb. He pointed out that nobody had told him NOT to sell them, and since he was a salesman, he thought he was doing his job. And besides, he got FULL RETAIL for them! He wasn't fired that day but said it was close.

The rifling in the barrels was significantly different from my Model 25-2, much deeper. I figured if S&W went to the trouble of different rifling, it might be a good shooter. Next free weekend, I took the one with the plainest grips to the range and shot a box of Winchester 255 grain factory ammo through it. It shot pretty well, as good as I could hold it.

I cleaned it very carefully. I took it to the next big gunshow and just carried it around in the nice wooden case. I got all sorts of trade offers. I sold it to a fellow who always had a couple of big tables at these shows. He paid me $750.00 for it. He said he likely would keep it for himself but he thought he could make money on it if he flipped it, demand being very high. I went to my car and brought him the outer cardboard box and plain blue inner box they shipped in.

Secondary market prices for the 125th commemorative stayed high only for a short while. 10,000 of them were made and soon most folks who wanted one had one. Prices came down. Then S&W announced the Model 25-5, a regular production revolver. 25-3 prices dropped all the way. For years, prices weren't much different than for a NIB 25-5 which, with it's longer cylinder, is probably the better shooter.

I still have the second one I bought. Read the book in the lid but haven't shot the gun. It had it's 39th birthday a couple of months back. I didn't even send it a card...

Congratulations! It is quite NICE! I wanted an older1 such as yours with no luck. Bought a 25-15 at local gun show on impulse. Close, but no cigar. I really enjoy shooting it! I have the original stocks, & case. Bob

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I bought one in 1978. In those days, before the Internet, I didn't know about oversize throats. Couldn't get that gun to shoot worth a hoot. Probably should have tried jacketed bullets. Anyway I traded it off and probably got my money back out of it. It was very expensive as I recall. I want to say $6-700. Absolutely beautiful gun. Gorgeous stocks. But only accurate guns are interesting as they say.

I bought one Used off GB a few years ago..No box or papers came with it.

Likely my most accurate N frame pin barrel..Great shooters, as mine will

eat most anything.. Never tried to make a Magnum out of it...l found box

W/papers later at a gun show to complete the pkg...No 25-5 l ever shot

Comes close to this 25-3 for accuracy, feel, balance

Diggler,
I should call the cops on you. You'd probable go up for grand theft Smith & Wesson. All I can say is, "WOW!" Good snatch.
Monte,
PS, A proficient locksmith can provide to with a replacement key.

__________________
Fred
S&WCA 3238

Can't beat that

I have a virtually flawless 25-5 but it didn't come to me preserved in a locking box. I bought it as a shooter, and I paid more than $800! I changed the stocks, too, just because....

Well done my friend.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/members...elk-grips.html

Every once in a while a guy gets lucky. I'm not going to lie though, that every time I drive by a LGS I stop and swing in to see what they may have lurking about in a counter.

I have a friend that owns a pawnshop. He dedicates a significant portion of his store to guns. He spends several days a week driving around searching gun dealers in the state for inventory. If I had the money to buy his collectable S&W's I would no longer have any money. Many of you would seriously soil your pants.