I love S&W revolvers but as I often point out I am not a serious collector. I see these long threads where several members are going back and forth about when this stamp appeared and at what point such and such ejector rod was first used and it gives me a headache. The serious collectors revel in the minutia and the detail but it's all just too much info for me to keep track.

I'm an accumulator who makes most purchases on an impulse. I see something, it appeals to me, and I buy it. I will pick up some information on a gun along the way but my paltry knowledge pales next to the guys debating the stamps and ejector rods. But sometimes I have a story about one of my guns. Either the way it was acquired...or used. I hope you don't find this one too long.

Around 1978 I saw a new 2.5" Model 19 in a gun shop. It was a cool looking revolver and I had never seen one before. Remember, I was very young and inexperienced at that time. I now figure it was likely a 19-3 but at the time I didn't know about model numbers or how to even look for one on the gun. Anyway, I bought it. Shot it some. Carried it for a while. This was one of the guns that taught me I can't carry a handgun with adjustable sights as they catch on my clothing while drawing the revolver. That 19 shredded the lining of my favorite sport coat.

Then I sold it. I don't recall specifically why but knowing me I'm sure that I saw something else I wanted and sold the 19 to fund the purchase. I was often very foolish back then.

Maybe two years later I saw another 19 just like the first one in the used pistol display at the gun shop. Heck, it may have been the same one for all I know. It looked hardly used at all so I bought it.

This time I managed to hang on to the revolver for about five or six years. Didn't carry it any longer, but I shot it a few times. Mostly I admired it.

Then in June of 1985 disaster struck. Returning home from work I found the house in shambles. I had been burglarized and all my guns had been stolen including the Model 19. I had stupidly neglected to record the serial so there was no hope of its return. Of the 24 guns stolen I had the serials of 19 written down. To date four of the guns have been recovered.

So, I moved on. I bought more guns to replace the ones I lost and yes, I bought a safe which is what I should have done years earlier. My home has been hit twice more (different houses for each) by thieves but thanks to the safe I lost no more guns. I went from 1985 to 1992 without a 19 in the the house. Then, just as I was preparing to move to another state, I dropped in to a gun show a couple cities over.

An older gentleman had maybe a half dozen firearms out on the table. "Private collection," he said. One of the offered guns was a 2.5" Model 19-3 (I had learned about model numbers by then). Unlike the ones I had owned previously this one was in nickel. I like the shiny ones. He was asking $185. And he was firm on that price. I dug out all my cash. I had $180 with me. No, he wouldn't take the 180. Finally he offered to let me mail him the $5. So he wrote down his address and I took the 19. The next day I put a five dollar bill in an envelope and sent it to him.

The 19 didn't look new. It looked carried...a lot. Finish was so dull I thought it was a stainless 66 at first until I realized the hammer and trigger were case colored. But it polished up pretty nicely.

The seller told me he was a retired federal agent and had carried the 19 for many years on duty. I was dubious because a nickel 19 didn't seem like a gun a fed would carry. More dumbness on my part. I lettered it back when it cost a sawbuck and the 19 did in fact ship in 1970 to the Customs & Immigration Department in DC. I later learned that the agency did issue nickel 2.5" 19s to agents. Who knew?

So, it's 28 years later and so far I have managed to hang on to the 19. I guess I'll let the wife sell it someday.

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No life story has happy end.

Good story that tells how one makes mistakes when young and figures out how to overcome those blunders.

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S&W factory revolver armorer

Good story. Great gun.

I too have a fondness for Model 19's, but mine have to have the 4" barrel. I bought my first one back when I was much younger, and like you didn't know anything about dash numbers. I knew "new" and "used." I bought a "new" one. I've learned now that it was probably a -4. And like you, I traded it off for something else, specifically a Colt Government Model in 45 apc, when I got bit by the IPSC bug.

I don't know how many Model 19's I've owned over the years. From a "no dash" one, to one of the present -9's. I probably at least a dozen, maybe more. For a long time I didn't have one at all. I've had mostly blue, but did I had a nickle -4, and several Model 66's, which as we all know is just a Model 19 in SS. They all got traded for sold for one reason or another.

I've finally quit. I've got three now, and I expect to hold onto to them, Lord willing. I've got a -1, a -4, and the -9. All with 4" barrels and target stocks.

The 2 3/4" one you've got is a beauty. If I had seen it, I might be tempted myself. I did have a 2 3/4" Model 66 at one time.

By the way. I blame all this on Bill Jordan and Skeeter Skelton. I wouldn't have known a Model 19 from a B-17 if not for them.

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John 3:16 .

Tell her I can be there tomorrow morning with the cash......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

I can tell stories till the cows come home. Don't need no gun to do that.

But, I like the guns History, like them to be as close as they were as possible. And for that, I need to know pesky little details about stamps, proof marks, type of finish in a given period, variations through prodution, you name it.

And the golden rule still is. "Buy the gun not the story".

If you dont't think that way. I can sell you the 1911A1 pistol(Remingnton Rand frame and Ithaca slide) George Armstrong Custer used to capture Robert E. Lee for a very reasonable lump of money.

Edit. The reason I first came to this forum was to learn things Smith & Wesson.

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Expect the unexpected

Good story. It shows a lot about how we were foolish when younger, and eventually matured and grew wiser.

Here's my story. I was married for 33 years. I got divorced. Now I have a lot more guns.

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John
SWCA #3401 SWHF #737

That story reminded me of my M58 I bought new in the 70's. Took me almost 40 years to find a suitable replacement.

I'm the same way.

Most of what I own is just passing through the safe. As I've gotten older, I've been trying to hold onto things.

One of my favorite things to do is go out and hit the local Pawns & GS. I can have anything I want sent to my local FFL, but I like the hunt. My interests range from old to new, so there's always something I can find to buy. Unfortunately, I don't have an unlimited amount of funds. So when I get home after the latest purchase, something might have to leave the safe.

And some of the guns I buy, are based on "the story" of when I used to own the same model in the past. Those are usually the ones I try to hold onto for "Nostalgia" reasons.

I try not to buy any "Collector" guns. If I can't shoot it, or it's too nice, I'll usually get rid of it.

I had a nice 2 1/2" 19 in the 90's that I did an action job to. I carried it a few times and it was a great shooter. My ex-brother in-law got it for me for Christmas. When I got my divorce in the late 2000's, my ex really wanted that gun. So I let her have it.

I haven't come across another 2 1/2" 19 worth buying since.

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Watch & Pray

I regret not keeping all the 18,000 guns I've owned both in and out of the gun business, however briefly, but the demands of living dictated another fate...And I'm not alone...

A few months ago I found a collector at a gun show who was lacking in funds, and needed to sell something...I negotiated a price on a S&W 39-2 he had and bought it...Several weeks later I was walking the same gun through another show, and the same guy asked to look at it...He didn't recognize me or the gun, but said he regretted selling one some time back...He offered me $75 more than I bought it for...What could I say, I took the money...

Now I look forward to seeing him again and if he still has it on his table, maybe I can catch him in another period of financial embarrassment......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

I thought that this was the best part of the story. But then I read this part.

Very cool, Doc. "Buy the gun, not the story." But sometimes the story is still worth telling.

From your self description, I believe we are long lost brothers.

I am (and was) the very same way. Glad to know I am not alone regarding my accumulated firearms.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Neat story! Reminds me of all the good guns that I've bought, sold, or traded over the years without even thinking of their collectible value. I usually just kept them until I found something else I wanted more at the time. Wish I could see some of them again, but it would just make me wanna kick my butt!

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Mike H

I sold/traded guns off I shouldn’t of done. I replaced three of them but the python. Lessons learned I’ll never get rid of anything again.

I never thought of their collector value I missed shooting them.

The world famous s&w nickel finish gets my juices flowing, colt nickel finish too.

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Plant garlic in the fall

Thanks for sharing your story. It was a fun read.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

"I'm not a collector. I'm a storyteller"

And a fine one at that...

I am a story teller also. It is in human nature. Before the written word story telling was how history was pass from generation to generation. A powerful passage about stories from the book "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien an author and Viet Nam Veteran.

"Forty-three years old and the war occurred half a life-time ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."

I’m all about the hunt...local pawn and gun shops have been great places to be at the right time. I’m 37 and I’ve found many bargains in my younger years and sold or traded them. There are some K frames, n frames and hi powers I wish I had back now. I just recently a week ago found a 14-2 6 incher for $450 with the original numbered grips in roughly 90% condition. I was dumb founded at how low priced it was and snatched it right up. There’s about 12 guns I wish I had back from the last 15 years of buying, trading, selling etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just inherited my model 19 (1958) and another S&W semi automatic. These are my first two firearms ever.
I've always looked at guns with "meh, it's a gun" attitude.
But something about the 19 made me fall in L-O-V-E with it just cleaning it up before firing it the first time.
My friend had said he purchased it from a retired LEO who wanted to take his personal protection in another direction. Maybe that adds to the mystique of its history? I don't know?

My guess is this was a personal firearm that was shipped direct to his place of employment. I have a Model 60 that was a personal purchase that was shipped direct to my agency. I have never heard of any federal agency in this time frame that allowed an employee to take their GI guns with them or buy them. We tried it with no luck.

I'd be interested in hearing any contradicting experiences. BTW, that is a great story and a nice revolver. I carried one of those that the government owned for many years. I never liked the 2.5", didn't balance well for me. Then along came the SIGS. ))))

I just love the story behind the design of objects (I am an industrial designer so it is something that comes with the territory). And that story telling is the one that pushes me to "get in love" with the objects, mostly S&W revolvers, some semi autos and watches.....I think human beings are collectors by nature, and at the same time we are never the final owners of what we have, we are just the guardians of those things (we care for them, use them with pride, and keep them in optimal conditions), and in time will pass those objects to some else.

As I live in Mexico....a country that bans its citizens of owning 357 magnum revolvers, I want to clarify here, with you as witness, that I dont have a model 19-2, with 2.5 barrel, and Arhends Combat grips that shoots like a dream. Just love it....

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"lets be careful out there"

I think snub 19's just look gunlike. My first was actually a snub 66 and I traded it for something. The first gun I bought online was a nickel snub 19. All but one of my Smiths are nickel by the way. It came from a pawnshop in Florida. I called the shop owner and he told me a lady brought it in carried in a Kroger sack. She told him her husband had recently died and she found it in a drawer.

I kept it for 20 years or so, shot it a time or 2 and sold it to a friend a couple of years ago. I miss it, but carry an autoloader and have lots of other revolvers. At my age, I need to be selling anyhow.

I've sold a couple of guns I shouldn't have. The Model 16-4 I sold resulted in building Project 616 and my Faux Model 16-3. The Buckeye Special Blackhawk combo in 32-20 and 32 H&R led to the 327 Blackhawk 8 Shooter and the Uberti SAA in 32-20 I've bought, so all in all I guess I'm making progress in getting back to where I was, right?

Froggie

I read long ago...somewhere...that the nickel 2.5" M19-3 was issued to one or more federal agencies. Many years ago a member here mentioned he was issued one as a federal agent. I assumed the gentleman was able to purchase the gun when it was taken out of service or when he retired.

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No life story has happy end.

Liked the story about your guns and how this one came to you.
I am an accumulator. The tiny and obscure details of guns are of little interest to me either. However, I am glad there are people here that enjoy all the details. When I do want information about a gun the people here can provide it, and for that I thank them.

Enjoyed the story, especially the part about the 5 dollars.

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Joshua 1:9

I too am an accumulator...your story reminds me of when I was first married...we used to cash our paychecks at the A&P grocery store...one day as we are walking out, my buddy and I see some rifles advertised on the bulletin board, winchester 94 in 30-30 and a Savage bolt in 22 hornet. $75 each. I went home with the model 94, and my buddy took the hornet....I brought my prize home and my lovely wife said, "I hope you like the taste, because that was the grocery money." Okay, mac and cheese for two weeks....so, a year later I decide I need a new, better rifle and I buy a Remington Bicentennial 760 in 30.06...my lovely wife says' "you don't need two rifles, so sell the little one." Okay, my dad buys it to give to my brother....(over the next dozen years, I try to buy my 30-30 back, but my brother won't budge). ..Fifteen years later my son starts to hunt, and my brother loans him the model 94 to hunt with......meanwhile, a friend offers to sell me a savage bolt action 30-30...i buy it for my son and bring it home to him...he says he likes the 94 better....i reply tough toenails, this one is yours, that one ain't...so one day at camp, i am telling my brother how I bought this rifle for my son...he asks, " A bolt action 30-30?" I reply, yes and he says, " I'll trade you for the model 94." So the end of the story, I get my 94 back and give it to my son, and my brother's son still shoots the savage bolt action 30-30. And, now my lovely wife knows I am allowed to own more than one gun.

Sorry for the hijack, but stories are fun


Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

From about 1978 to 1993 I bought and sold a lot of guns in search of the "perfect one(s)" for Concealed carry, hunting, shooting sports or just plinking. Probably never had more than a handful of guns at any one time as I lived in 3 different cities and 6 different Apt or houses.

At the ripe old age of 39 I got married and we've lived in the same house in this Burb of the Burgh for 27 and a half years.............. I've become an accumulator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

^^^^^^^^^
Dito!

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213th FBINA