Okay, I found a gun on my short list today. It's a 25-5 .45 Colt Model of 1989, 5" barrel, matte finish and unfluted cylinder, in excellent condition with the box. It does not have the original grips, (pachmayrs, yuck)! Asking price is $700. According to the SCofSW the price is little high for a 25 but I'm thinking that where this is a rare model maybe it's worth a little extra. I searched the forum and found that people that have these really like 'em. What do you folks have for an opinion on this, is the price to high?

Thanks for your input............

Mike

I'd try to get them down to $600 and see if you can settle somewhere in between. I have one of them. The model of 1989 was the 25-7 not the 25 -5, and late '89/early '90 became the 25-9, in either polished blue or the 5" matte finish with unfluted cylinder. The 25-7's came from the factory wearing Hogues.

They are awesome shooting guns, with the correct throats in the cylinder. They balance soooo nice

Factory original 25-7-


With forum member Kurac's "cokes"-

I believe there were to be 2000 of the 25-7 produced and they are one of the nicer S&W made in 45 Colt that I've handled or fired.
If I were looking for one I would probably jump on it for that price but first I'd have to try and talk them down a bit.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

I think that $700 is a good price if not an outright bargain. The last one I saw in person was priced the same and that was about 10 years ago. I thought it was way overpriced then, not so now. Besides, they are so hard to find you could spend a lot of money going to guns shows looking for one.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Well, I just won the auction! The seller had dropped the price to $639 and thats what I got it for. It was on Gunbroker and looks great in the pics. The seller has first-rate feedback so I don't really have any worries that the gun is misrepresented. If anything the feedback shows that he underestimates the condition! Hopefully I'll have it by the end of the week. The first order of business will be to get rid of the pachs and put an exotic Hogue on. I'll post pics when it all comes together.

Thanks for all you input...........

Congratulations!
You are going to love it, and you got a pretty darn good deal.

I'd like to get a set of Hogue grips coming, are these round or square butt? I am pretty sure that they are square but not absolutely positive!

Thanks again...............Mike

They are square. Congrats, you'll like it.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

That is a very good price. I was going to chime in with the already-expressed sentiment that $700 is not bad at all and you should jump on it. Shows what I know. You got it for roughly 10% less, so that is a super deal in my book.

As for grips/stocks, I would strongly recommend looking at Kurac's products, as illustrated in the second post.

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You're shy a few manners.

They were much less expensive when this one was adopted but then again that was a good while back.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Joni:
Who made those stocks?

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You're shy a few manners.

Those are from Herrett's custom shop and are the Jordan Trooper model.
Most of them are all made as close as humanly possible to the same exact size and fit my hand very well.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

I have to admit that the Kurac's in the pics are a fine looking stock, but every one of my Smiths wears exotic Hogues. That way they all feel and point the same and grabbing one is like grabbing any of the others. I'm thinking that it goes with the "beware of the man with one gun principal"! I've been buying Hogue's since Guy Hogue personally made the grips, back in the day you sent him a tracing of your hand and he custom made them. You could also call and he would see what he had laying around for wood. I have some beautiful stocks from woods that were not cataloged at the time. Arizona Mesquite, Bocote, and Brazilian Rosewood for examples.

I am glad you got it. I was debating about bidding. That was a very good price.

Congrats on winning the auction.

To me,......... gunbroker, gunsamerica, & auctionarms have been invaluable over the recent years in finding just the make and model I'm looking for at the time.

I've seen several go for less than $600 in the last year, so that is what I based my opinion on. I hadn't seen any for a very long time, then right after I bought mine, I started seeing them somewhat regulary for a while. I kinda wish I had bought more of them when I had the chance.

Believe it or not, I paid $475 for the one I posted above less than two years ago, and that was from a major outdoor equipment retailer. It was LNIB too.

I'd a paid that in a heartbeat. I love mine...........A 5" tube in Gods' own caliber...........YES!!!!

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Go big or stay home

You are obviously someone with impeccable taste and style! Love those stocks!

Thanks, I seem to have a bunch of them.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Can't argue with that logic.

I will remember to beware of you!

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You're shy a few manners.

Like the ones we posted here, or the shiny blued ones?
Barrel length? Send me some pics.

Thanks for the information, Joni Lynn.

I will look into getting a set of Jordan Troopers.

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You're shy a few manners.

They're made one set at a time and will be crafted to fit your hand size. It takes awhile to get them but they've always been worth the wait.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Joni, those stocks are beautiful, all of them. What makes are they as I am looking for stocks for my 625 and 60?

Bob

They are all from Herrett's in Twin Falls Idaho. The model is called the Jordan Trooper.
Gun stocks by Herrett's Stocks, Inc.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

You like Jordan Troopers, huh Joni?

I just remembered, I have their Detective model on my 60-7 LadySmith.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Yes, I like them. My first one was for a Redhawk and I have had many made since then. Many from very deluxe figured wood. I like wood on a gun more than plastic or rubber.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

The only S&W in 45 Colt that I like more than the 25-7 is this one.

It's also a model called 'Classic' and is one of about 1500 made.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Here's another 25-7 with box. I put on a set of magna grips. I like the look.....
[IMG][/IMG]

I paid abourt $100 more for mine. Worth every penny to me...

IC

A bit off topic...But stopped in at Herretts on my way to the August Reno show. Dropped off a set of K and N Jordan Troopers I have had for years. They are going to make me a few sets of each size,then keep the dimensions on file for any future builds.

Good news...the workmanship and the figure on Deluxe wood is as good as it gets.

THE bad news though...16-20 week build time.

FN in MT

I've always thought it was worth the wait.
Is Dee still making them or has someone else taken over the position?

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Joni Lynn,

Yes I believe it's still the same Gal. I do know she works strange hours...and maybe only 3 or 4 days a week?? Worth the wait though!

Several years back I stopped in and got to look through the "returns" box. I snagged 4 or 5 sets of Jordan Troopers all fairly large, and a few knockout AAA fancy walnut. I think they charged me $50 each.

Another time I got to look through hundreds of 1911 grips all layed out drying on a big table. Picked out a set with knockout wood...they hit me like $25 i think.

Nice folks at Herretts.

FN in MT

Congrats on finding this 45 Colt. I've handled a couple of them over the years, but unfortunately never grabbed one when I could. They do seem to keep going up in value. Can't wait for pics.

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Tom
"Panem et Circenses"

Well, I picked up my 25 today and it is a 25-7, I was incorrect with the 25-5. There was one fairly major issue. Somewhere along the way somebody polished the case hardening off the sides of the hammer and trigger. The double action is pretty smooth and the single action is pretty darn nice so I would say that there was probably an action job done. The pulls aren't especially light just crisp and smooth so hopefully whoever did this knew what they were doing. I've got a bunch of Andy Cannon tuned guns and one thing he always did was hard chrome the hammer and trigger. So as long as the gun is reliable I'm not going to worry about it. There is no push off, or endplay, and the gun locks up tight. It does look like it has barely been shot. The finish is really nice except for a couple small dings and a tiny bit of holster wear. This weekend I'm going to pop the sideplate off, check out the mainspring and the rebound slide spring, give it a good cleaning and lubrication, get rid of the Pachmayr's and install a set of Hogue Rosewood stocks. Then if I can figure out how I'll post a pic!

Congrats. They handle very well and are fun to fire. I think you'll be pretty pleased with it.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

I own a few of these in both 25-7 & 25-7 versions. All have correct cylinder throats and are great shooters !

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

Those are really nice, congrats on the guns and on having good taste.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Jerry,
It's interesting to note that just about every single 25-7 I have seen has a slightly to moderately purple colored cylinder. I know that different metals will blue up differently, but the 25-7's are the only ones that I see that are consitantly like that. I would say that mine is slightly purple colored, but it is colored.

I have noticed that as well. All five of my 25-7 & 25-9 5" unfluted guns have varying degrees of purple on the cylinders.
This 25-9 is the only one that has the frame and cylinder pretty closely matched.

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

Does anyone know of any photo's of the 25-9 with a 5" polished blue half lug barrel? I have never seen this variation. I have the 25-7 in matte blue.

Thanks
IC

IC:

The only 25-9 variations I have seen in polished blue were the 4" & 6" guns with fluted cylinders.

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

Jerry is correct, and I should have been more clear. If there were a25-9 that was polished blued steel with the fluted cylinder and half lug barrel, it would be sitting in my safe.

Jerry,
my 25-7 seems to be about like the last 25-9 you posted. Mine looks like a good match until you get the light just right, then you can see the difference.

Were the polished 25-9's a full lug or half lug? (similar to the configuration of all the matte blued 25-7's pictured in this thread)

So the ONLY 5" guns are 25-7's, correct?

Thanks

IC

The 25-9's that are polished blue are either 4" or 6" guns with the half lug barrel.

The only 5" 25's are both the 25-7 and the 25-9 like Jerry's above with the matte finish and unfluted cylinder.

I finally got around to taking some pics, and figuring out how to post them on here. Here is a pic of my 25-7 that I bought on Gunbroker that I promised quite some time ago. I got rid of the Pachmayrs and added some rosewood Hogues. Stripped it to clean and lube it and found that someone had cut some coils from the rebound slide spring, so I replaced that. Unfortunately the same person, (Bubba), also polished the case hardening off the sides of the hammer and trigger. This wasn't mentioned in the auction listing! But it does shoot well, and other than the polishing it is in great shape, so maybe at some point I'll look into having the case hardening redone. All in all I have to say I'm pretty pleased.

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I found one as well. Put Walnut Ahrends on it. Wolff spring kit.