Just bought a 4 inch 28-3...have a 28-2 but 6 inch. Whats with all the hate over the -3 revolvers... folks seem to look down on no pin and recess.... I can care less myself, I needed a 4 inch so I could clear the holster faster if need arise. SO.... $497.00... about 96% factory blue, perfect mechanical...Fair Deal????

It's not "hate"..the simple fact is more people want/prefer a pinned and recessed model than not. If you are just going to shoot the gun..it doesn't make any difference. However..if you are collecting with the assumption of a rise in value...you buy what appreciates. Welcome to life. $500 bucks for a forged N frame 4" adj sights is a fair deal.

This is a tremendous deal.

I have a 6'' 28-3 and prefer it over some of my 28-2s. The 28-3 has smaller throats and shoots modern .357 diameter jacketed bullets much more accurately than the older models which require lead to be real accurate.

a 4'' 28-3 is quite rare and I'd love to find one especially for 1/2 the price they are in my neighborhood.

The same is true for model 29s. The later year 29-6s are the very best in any 44 I believe, accuracy, quality, action from my experience. My 29-2s shoot only lead due to the large throats but quite well. But they can not hold water to my two 29-6s with a Sierra JHC. I buy them any day over the 29-2.

Awesome deal! Pre-lock. Pre-MIM. N-frame. You hardly ever see a 28-3. 28-3 was introduced in 1982 and 28s were discontinued in 1986. I would have bought it, at that price and condition, just because it was the last Highway Patrolman.

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'Merica!

Please link the Hated posts you refer to that relate to a 28-3. No barrel pin or cylinder recess was decided upon as unnecessary by the factory and only purist collectors avoid them. Now, if you really wanted to see Hated, check out probably pages of internal lock posts...

Ken 158... Oh man the folks I shoot with curse anything with a Lock...me....Im pragmatic ....if it shoots well and has good design and build quality im in. I traded a COlt Lawman for a As NIB model 66...the new one...darn thing shoots perfect... by buds poo poo it due to 2 part barrel and lock... I say if im in a gun fight that **** dont matter... first on target with a accurate round wins... hasn't changed in 150 years.

I never heard about this "dislike".

Of all the HPs I have shot, the 28-3 was the most accurate. They were also the least expensive model N frame 357 around for some time. Oddly enough, the poorest shooting model I experienced was the -1. There are many variables with shooting revolvers, especially DA, that come into play. The very molested '59 vintage 28 does very well with the replacement target trigger and after market spring set. Changes that about any owner of a 'pre model would be hesitant to make.

Congratulations!
I don’t think people dislike them, they just don’t see them. 28-3’s must be fairy scarce, because they’re not discussed here very often. I’ve been to more gun shows than you can shake a stick at and I’ve never seen one in person.

Please post some photos!

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"I also cook."

It's just like 29-3's, the purists and collectors hate them because they lack the pinned barrel (a questionable feature) and recessed chambers (really unnecessary and a pain to thoroughly clean), yet my 29-3 has a really nice trigger and is very accurate. I'd say the 28-3 is the same, except there are fewer 28-3's than 29-3's. Less expensive to produce, but are still excellent revolvers.

I don't think that they are "hated" as much as the earlier versions might be preferred. Gun buyers tend to be very price/value conscious when laying down hundreds of dollars. The pinned and recessed versions represent a time when S&W was more concerned about real craftsmanship as opposed to cost cutting measures.

If you can buy something that is perceived to be better made as opposed to something that is deemed not to be, why not?

Many folks claim that today's computer aided manufactured parts are better than the old parts and don't require any hand fitting. On the other hand, there are a lot of us old timers that really appreciate that hand fitting from a time when human hands assembled works of art.

Really just a matter of your perspective.

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James Redfield
LM #497

When I bought mine new in 86, I didn't know about "Pinned and Recessed". What I got was a very accurate ,lovely 357 Magnum. I have put a lot of rounds through it, still looks great, and I paid less than 200 1986 dollars for it. It is the last gun I would ever sell.

I've never owned a M-28-3, so can't say if they shoot jacketed bullets better than earlier ones.

But I owned both M-27 and M28 guns that would group all six JSP and JHP rounds in a little ragged hole at 25 yards, firing from "offhand" position. Ammo was Remington 158 grain .357. I also got excellent accuracy from Federal's 158 grain JSP. Remington was more available where I live and was exceptionally accurate. This held true for .44 Magnum and .45 Colt ammo as well.

I probably couldn't have shot any better with a M-28-3. BTW, I owned a couple of Colt Pythons, six-inch barrels, and they shot as well, but not better, than my N-frame S&W .357's.

I've never seen anything bad in print about M-28-3's. Just never see them mentioned. Too few are seen. But if they'll outshoot a good M-28-2, they must be remarkable guns.

Agreed! My 29-3 is my favorite handgun I own in a stable of some really nice ones... from pinned barrels 70's production Smiths, Colts, and a plethora of 1911's and CZ's... To each his own. I don't care for anything earlier than the -3 because they lack the endurance package barring the -2E's... I have a -6 too that is my 2nd favorite. But the -3 beats it in accuracy and trigger by a good margin.

I wish I had an M28...