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S&W Revolvers: 1961 to 1980 3-Screw PINNED Barrel SWING-OUT Cylinder Hand Ejectors WITH Model Numbers


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  #1  
Old 04-15-2018, 11:22 AM
lofton&1952 lofton&1952 is offline
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Default Engraved S&W

I have a engraved S&W 19-4 4inch barrel according to the letter I received from S&W it was engraved by S&W class A engraving with a delivery date of 2/08/79. The gun does not appear to have been fired, has the wrong grips, ivory of a nude lady and in a wooded display case that has a small screw driver, clean rod and cleaning cotton rod. I am not a hand gun collector and have no idea what this gun would be valued at. I did remove the ivory grips, they have a repair made, and installed a set of Altamont target grips that are a good match for the engraving.
The letter did tell me the wood box and the ivory grips had been added later. I have no paperwork with the gun, it came from a private collection and was traded to me for one of my collectable Winchester long guns.
Could some body help me with a value of this gun. No sign of any use or firing. No drag lines nothing.
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Old 04-15-2018, 11:40 AM
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Photos would help....
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Old 04-15-2018, 11:48 AM
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If you want to sell it I would buy a set of factory Target stocks. The aftermarket stocks will turn off collectors. If you want one of the experts (not me) to offer a monetary estimate you will need a couple of good quality photos. Somebody might be able to ID the engraver and that would help sell it.

PS: The stocks you want look like these. This is a Model 14 but it uses the same stocks as your 19. Square butt, K frame, and these are called "Football Targets" because of the oblong relief cut on left side.

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Last edited by Art Doc; 04-15-2018 at 11:51 AM.
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Old 04-15-2018, 12:50 PM
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Engraved gun value will depend greatly on the quality and style of engraving along with who did it, and then the completeness and originality of the package.

= very subjective

You would need to find a collector who likes scratched up guns to get the most money. Most just don't care for them and therefore won't pay any premium to obtain them. It's a small niche for engraved guns.
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Old 04-15-2018, 01:03 PM
lofton&1952 lofton&1952 is offline
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I am new to this forum and do not know how to post a picture. I have a S&W letter that tells me the gun was engraved by S&W Class A what ever that means. The gun is in new unfired condition. The letter tells me what grips should be on the gun and I have located them.
I do not understand why I would need to find somebody who likes scratched up guns to get the most out of a very nearly 100% gun.
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Old 04-15-2018, 01:56 PM
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scratched up guns = engraved guns.

Factory engraved ... you will most likely not know who engraved it. Factory frowned on engravers putting identifying marks those guns.

Would love to see the pics ... of the nude grips.


Charlie
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Old 04-15-2018, 02:04 PM
Camster Camster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iPac View Post
Engraved gun value will depend greatly on the quality and style of engraving along with who did it, and then the completeness and originality of the package.

= very subjective

You would need to find a collector who likes scratched up guns to get the most money. Most just don't care for them and therefore won't pay any premium to obtain them. It's a small niche for engraved guns.
I respectfully disagree. Most like engraved guns, but can't or won't pay up for them. Count me as one that likes engraving,provided it is well done.That takes some experience in evaluating.Bottom line-it has to speak to you.
Regarding the original grips for it, I would think that smooth target grips could also have been on it.
"A" engraving is the highest level of coverage done for standard production guns(not special order guns) ."B"and "C" have less.
1979 might have been the era when a lot of engraving work was done in Italy.Others here can better answer that.
I doubt that the casing is factory.I'm no aware of factory cases in that era for other than the larger L frame guns. I also have some doubts that the grips are actually ivory.

Last edited by Camster; 04-15-2018 at 02:18 PM.
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Old 04-15-2018, 02:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lofton&1952 View Post
I am new to this forum and do not know how to post a picture.
You can go here to upload a picture from your files.

http://postimages.org/

I copy the url from the hotlink for forums after the picture has uploaded and just paste it here.

I hope this helps.
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Old 04-16-2018, 12:23 PM
lofton&1952 lofton&1952 is offline
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I am totally confused. My letter from S&W says the gun was shipped with a 4 inch barrel, ramp sight, blue finish and Class A engraved. What I am confused about is all the questions as to who engraved the gun. Did S&W not have their own engravers? The letter states the gun had Goncalo Alves target grips. The grips and wood box were added after the delivery of the gun.
The person in charge of the estate sale told me he had posted this gun on this forum but the posting was removed by the site because of the grips being of a totally nude women, completely exposed. If you want to see the grips or gun send me your email address.
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Old 04-16-2018, 12:31 PM
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The factory employed engravers for a long time and still do I assume. However at some point in the 70's-80's most of the engraving was farmed out to engravers in Italy.

I am in Central MO too. Send me a PM
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Old 04-16-2018, 02:55 PM
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lofton&1952...S&W had engraving done by in-house engravers and also sent guns to outside contractors for engraving (I have 44 Magnums that letter as factory engraved, but one was engraved in Germany in 1957 and one by Alvin White in 1958). Given the time frame of your Combat Magnum, Model 19-4, your gun could have been engraved by an in-house engraver such as Russ Smith, or done by a contract engraver in Italy. Guns engraved in Italy generally are very similar in engraving pattern, and while well done, usually sell for less than guns engraved by in-house engravers which usually exhibit more unique patterns of engraving. A photo will generally allow many of us who have collected engraved guns for many years to determine the engraver (or, at least if the gun was contract or in-house engraved) and give a decent estimate of value. I hope this information is of use to you.

Bill

Last edited by Doc44; 04-16-2018 at 02:58 PM.
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Old 04-18-2018, 02:26 PM
lofton&1952 lofton&1952 is offline
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Bill, I just can not get my pictures to work on this sight. If you would send me a e mail I could e mail pictures of the gun.
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Old 04-18-2018, 04:47 PM
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lofton&1052...You can email photos to: [email protected]

Bill
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