Anyone interested in seeing pages from this catalog? Just ten pages. I [img] [/IMG]don't want to waste bandwith so I will post just the first page now.

Anyone interested in seeing pages from this catalog? Just ten pages. I [img] [/IMG]don't want to waste bandwith so I will post just the first page now.

Sorry looks like I have forgotten how to post pictures to this forum. Please Help!

jolsen, man that catalog gives me a heartache. Ah,for the good-ole-days. Now, I'm depressed. I'm going to bed.

I'll take one of each please...at those prices.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

A few more pages.

If Smith would return to those days, they'd be the most successful company in America!!

Odd that for the M28 they mention the optional target stocks but not for the M27?

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They lack our altruism.

After seeing these, I wept uncontrollably and cannot be consoled at this time .

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The Last Standing Knight

Who do I contact to place my order from this catalog?

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Thanks for posting those pages.

Sometimes it's hard to recall the days when fine revolvers were made. I recall lusting after all those fine handguns. Regards 18DAI.

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

This type of posting comes up often. Before anyone gets too teary-eyed, just remember that people earned a whole lot less back in 1963.

Using an online inflation calculator, the price listed for the M29 translates into 2007 dollars as follows:
"What cost $140 in 1963 would cost $938.73 in 2007."

The figure for 2009 would probably be well over a thousand. Just trying to put things into perspective.

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They lack our altruism.

I'll take a dozen of those $65 Model 10s.

I love those artist renderings of the guns on display. They used those same images for years in their advertising. Very cool.

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Tony

I was two years old.....

For some perspective, here are the equivalent prices in 2009 dollars:

.44 Magnum M29 - $976
.357 Magnum M27 - $837
Hwy Patrolman M28 - $593
1955 .45 Target M25 - $732
38/44 Outdoorsman M23 - $662
1950 .44 Target M24 - $662
38/44 Heavy Duty M20 - $558
1940 .44 Military M21 - $558
1950 Army M22 - $523
.357 Combat Magnum M19 - $767
.38 M&P M10 - $453
.38 M&P Airweight M12 - $474
.38 Combat Masterpiece M15 - $516

Granted you're not going to find a 38/44 Outdoorsman today for $662, but they're not making them anymore either. I got examples of the current batch of M21 and M22s for about the above-listed prices. And look at how expensive the M19 was compared to the others of its time! $250 more than the similarly appointed (but only .38 Special) M15. Looks to me like price gouging, proabably the M19 was still pretty new and in high demand.

For further perspective, a 1963 Chevy Impala base price was $2,661.00, loaded was about $3,100.00.

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Tony

Baby!

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They lack our altruism.

So the M-29 came with Coke grips and the others were diamond targets? Did any other Smiths come from the factory with Coke grips or could you pay $5 more for special order?

Only the Model 57 (introduced in 1964) was standard with coke bottle stocks like the Model 29. However, I believe any N-frame could be ordered with those stocks for an extra amount. I doubt that many were special ordered as most people did not order their S&Ws, but just bought them off of the dealer's shelf.

I placed an order for a 44 Magnum in 1971. It took fourteen months to arrive and I had to take whatever came in as there was a line of orders behind mine. It wasn't until late 73 or early 74 that Model 29s or 57s began to become more generally available to FFL holders (I had an FFL back then).

Bill

I had my FFLs until the mid '80s and while the Model 57s had become fairly easy to come by - mostly (in my opinion) because the caliber never became popular - but the Model 29s still remained a "Back Order" item with a several month waiting period. At least, we weren't getting stuck with 4 or 5 Model 10s just to be able to place an order! And, some people call those the "Good Old Days".

The days of "Special Orders" pretty much ended with the '68GCA and Dealers took what they could get and were generally happy to get those few .44s coming down the Pike.

In 1963 I was 23 and making about 60.00 a week and they were out of my range then but about 1978 I started to get what I couldnt get when I was young also the same holds true with double barreled shot guns. Buyem and call them investments but you will be like me and not want to sell them.

The rest of the catalog

In 1966, I contacted S&W directly concerning model availability from their current catalog. There were no N frames in stock, or in the planning except the 29, 27, 28, 57, and 58. Even though they were cataloged, your only chance to get one was used or new/old stock from a dealer. I suspect that was also true of a number of other models at that time.

Was that because of the same kind of frenzy then, that we have had in the mid-1990's and today?

But that was around 2-3 years after Kennedy...
and prior to the 1968 GCA.

Or was it other factors?

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I'd guess it was because we were ramping up in Vietnam at that time.

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With S&W, you're holding history in your hand

The sight adjusting screwdriver might have increased more on a percentage basis than the guns.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

When I first began in law enforcement, we could purchase the blue steel S&W Chief's Special (Model 36) J-frame revolver for just $48.00!

Howdy

I just came across this thread and thought I would bump it to the top. Very interesting information.

I agree, me too. The old "Shooters Bible" used the same images as well.


Russ

The M-52 wasn't exactly cheap was it? $150.

I hadn't seen this before, I really enjoyed it.

Bump for a cool thread

I started as a machinist in 1963 for $1.81 an hour and retired in 2010 making $21.50 an hour. All the revisions these models went through were done in order to keep these revolvers affordable. Steps like counter bored chambers, pinned barrels and bluing were precise and time consuming operations so if you do the math you can see why they're expensive today.

Wow! I have that exact same 1963 model 19-2 in bright blue, 4" plain black sights, and checkered goncalo alves diamond target grips! I would love to have a copy of this catalog. I have the original box and paperwork but no catalog. Where did you get that??

I am afraid if they made them
Today we could not afford them.
And only old foggies like me
Would buy them.

Love looking at the old catalogs. I have Gun Digest issues from the fifties,sixties and seventies. I don't find the prices all that interesting (inflation makes it all relative), but I do like looking at what used to be available.

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I type. Therefore I am.

That literature was called the "All Models Circular" used in the 60s! There aren't many left these days!
jcelect

The catalog as you call it was not in the box with the gun. It would have a Parts List.

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Don Mundell