I have herd I think right here on forum that the 19-3 is the best
M19 for shooting purposes. I was looking at a 19-4 today, a 6"
I know this is last P&R m19. Which one is better? The asking
price is $600 from a individual and has the box/ docs- tools have
been lost and gun is 90% finish, and I doubt if 100rds has been
through it.

Check active bid auctions on Gunbroker. That sounds like what I might pay out the door for a real nice P&R shooter grade gun by itself. The box is around what, guys, $50 bucks by itself? I gave $500 or so for a 95% or so nice shooter naked about 3 years ago.

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On the whistle draw and fire 6

$600, way to high!

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Buy it. Try to talk him down, but buy it. They don't make them any more, and the ones out there are getting picked up left and right by folks that intend to keep them for a long time. Not saying this is the last one you see, but you'll see fewer and fewer down the road....

We do not all agree on this: Dash 4 indicates a blued target sighted K frame has the reintroduced gas ring. Except for about a year and a half of K frame production that included the last 19-3s all S&W hand ejectors have gas rings protruding from the front of their cylinders. Discontinuing K frame gas rings was a cost cutting measure that S&W was forced to admit adversely affected function. In my opinion the last year and a half of Model 19-3 production were the worst of the Model 19s. Earlier Model 19s and 19s from dash-4s until the discontinuance of broach cut rifling are the best shooting 19s. However, in addition to opinions you know what we all have. There are no better shooting 19s than 19-3s with gas rings and some members write they like their polish and the shade of their bluing.

In your opinion, what is it worth? If the OP wants a 6" Model 19 bad enough, he will always regret letting this one pass.

I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a -4 Model 19. The ones I have seen have all been very nice and what has been said here about trying to do away with the gas ring, while not necessarily just a cost saving measure, is true and it was negative, in my experience. Especially if you you shoot cast bullets, which I do, my experience is that the 19s without the cylinder-mounted gas ring are nothing but trouble.