grail gun found in California! 627-0

[northslope]

So, as all we S&W accumulators and collectors in California know -- finding specific non-Rostered models is difficult, as there is a pretty ravenous population of vultures, er, I mean enthusiasts like myself making sure desirable models don't warm the shelf on a gunstore long. And honestly, as a recent emigrant to Cali I haven't been in shopping at local gunstores long enough for the staff at the local shops pick up the phone to alert me to desirable models before they end up on the shelf.

But, sometimes you just get lucky. And today, I got lucky.

This morning I bought a personal grail gun: a S&W 627-0 6-shot in .357 Magnum with an unfluted cylinder. Comes with a Target Hammer and grooved Target Trigger (flash chromed, not MIM) and round butt and rubber grips (those will get replaced with my Nill combat fingergrooves). This gun shipped around July of 1991 according to SCSW.

This is an N-Frame and is the linear descendant of the original Model 27 -- it even has the checkered topstrap. This model is stainless, of course, and has a 5.5" fully-underlugged barrel. Approximately 5,000 were made (only 500 or so of the original 627 were made before the engineering change to -0 as the weight of the unfluted cylinder was prematurely wearing the cylinder stops).

And finally, the damn thing is unfired -- truly NIB. Some pics below -- (many) more to follow in 10 days. And, to boot, it's my first post-Heller purchase.

cheers,
Neill

[northslope]

So, as all we S&W accumulators and collectors in California know -- finding specific non-Rostered models is difficult, as there is a pretty ravenous population of vultures, er, I mean enthusiasts like myself making sure desirable models don't warm the shelf on a gunstore long. And honestly, as a recent emigrant to Cali I haven't been in shopping at local gunstores long enough for the staff at the local shops pick up the phone to alert me to desirable models before they end up on the shelf.

But, sometimes you just get lucky. And today, I got lucky.

This morning I bought a personal grail gun: a S&W 627-0 6-shot in .357 Magnum with an unfluted cylinder. Comes with a Target Hammer and grooved Target Trigger (flash chromed, not MIM) and round butt and rubber grips (those will get replaced with my Nill combat fingergrooves). This gun shipped around July of 1991 according to SCSW.

This is an N-Frame and is the linear descendant of the original Model 27 -- it even has the checkered topstrap. This model is stainless, of course, and has a 5.5" fully-underlugged barrel. Approximately 5,000 were made (only 500 or so of the original 627 were made before the engineering change to -0 as the weight of the unfluted cylinder was prematurely wearing the cylinder stops).

And finally, the damn thing is unfired -- truly NIB. Some pics below -- (many) more to follow in 10 days. And, to boot, it's my first post-Heller purchase.

cheers,
Neill

[CH47gunner]

Very, very nice, and a very lucky find.

Especially in this state - you need to grab 'em when you find 'em.

Bruce

[Culina]

So tell us how you managed to find that complete package.

[D1911]

Great find Neill! I found one of these in the Sacramento area about a month ago that was also unfired, but had no box. Two in Northern California, are the S&W stars lined up right or what???

Don

[DWS]

very nice! ...I should be so fortunate

[stevie-ca]

Nice!!!

[LOBO]

Hey, nice gun!! Congrats on the find

[northslope]

Originally posted by Kurac:
So tell us how you managed to find that complete package.

Unbelievably -- on Gunbroker. Contacted the guy before bidding (buy-it-nowing, actually) to make sure he could do a PPT to a California resident.

Originally posted by D1911:
Great find Neill! I found one of these in the Sacramento area about a month ago that was also unfired, but had no box. Two in Northern California, are the S&W stars lined up right or what???

Wow -- closer than you think! I DROS'd this at River City this morning at 10:15!!! The seller was from just north of Sacto.

--Neill

[GLL]

Neill:

VERY NICE !

I bought mine new some years ago here in southern California and it has a serial number within 50 of yours ! My gun came with Goncalo Alves combat grips though.

Jerry

[Snapping Twig]

Perhaps the finest .357 ever made IMO - save for a Korth.

Mine has number 484 engraved on the crane, what number does yours have?

Great find - especially here in gun-unfriendly cali.

[Frizzman]

Yep, VERY nice!!!

[Andy Taylor]

Originally posted by D1911:
Great find Neill! I found one of these in the Sacramento area about a month ago that was also unfired, but had no box. Two in Northern California, are the S&W stars lined up right or what???

Don

I gave a heads up on that one on this forum a couple of months back. Great find for both of you. Congrats.

[D1911]

Originally posted by Lucky Derby:

I gave a heads up on that one on this forum a couple of months back. Great find for both of you. Congrats.

Yes you did! I was very surprised to find that it was still available a few weeks later (I had some medical issues and couldn't get to it when you made the first post about its availability). Anyway, Thanks!!

[S&WIowegan]

I got mine at a local gun show in December 2006. It was offered as unfired which was total BS! since it was obviously dirty from firing. I bt. it anyway(of course) since it's the only one I've touched in 20 yrs.

It came with the original box, inserts, unopened tool bag and papers. I shoot it occasionally. I must say the manufacturing flaws and burrs are obvious on mine. It does have the RB combats too.

I really wonder if 5,000 of these were made since we so rarely see them. What do you guys think?

[Mickey D]

Wow, great find Neill! You did real well with that one.
All us from the Bay Area need to get together again for a personal show-and-tell!

Mike

[CH47gunner]

I'd be up for a show 'n' tell.

Maybe some lunch & an impromptu swap meet, sounds great.

Bruce

[Allen-frame]

Congrats ,Neill , and for that matter ,the rest of you all in California who manage to find a pony among the manure from time to time.
The 627-0 is certainly a fine checkered stainless beast. I was fortunate enough to find one on
Gone broker last year. They did ship with N round fingergroove combats with a cutout on either side . The stocks have a plain no gloss finish. The workmanship on my example is very good ,well up to par with any other stainless revolver I have.

In this picture it is the 4th. from the back on the left side .







.............629-5 P.C.... ......28-2 ................
.............624 .... ,,,,,mod 28 ...........
.............29-3 ................................n.m.m. 4 screw Highway Patrolman ...
.............627-0................................n.m.m. 4 scr. H.P.................
.............Mod 27................................ 5 scr. H.P.....................
.............27-1 5" ...............................1955 target .......................
.............27-2 ..................................25-2.............................
................325 s.c.................................

You guys out west keep the faith ,I managed to escape 20 odd years ago and couldn't imagine going back . I guess I could be persuaded to visit sometime ,,I just couldn't bring my guns !


Good luck and God bless ,,,AL

[S&WIowegan]

WOW, Al!!! What a great pic Are they all .357 Mags? Tell us what each one is.....Please

[Andy Taylor]

I'm up for a get together. Busy next weekend, but after that I should be free for the next few.

[4864]

Very nice 627. It may be just me but you don't see 627 very much any place. Last one I saw in town was in bad shape.

[pinkymingeo]

Mine, with a BEK serial #, has different barrel markings.

[snowman.45]

Very nice, Neil.

[Snapping Twig]

Mine has the same barrel markings as yours Pinkymingeo.

I'm up for a G-T-G!

I have asst. Rangemaster duty Aug. 9 at Richmond R & G club. Graduation day for the Gunsite course. Other than that, I should be available.

[northslope]

Originally posted by Mickey D:

All us from the Bay Area need to get together again for a personal show-and-tell!

Yes, agreed -- august looks good for me for a saturday mid-day kind of meetup.

--Neill

[Andy Taylor]

Originally posted by neillcallis:

Yes, agreed -- august looks good for me for a saturday mid-day kind of meetup.

--Neill

So who will host this time? Do we have a voluteer? Where will we meet?

[stevieboy]

We'd all like to think that every handgun made is perfectly safe to use as directed. But, in reality, no manufacturer can exercise perfect quality control over every item it produces. Stuff happens despite the best efforts. That's why planes sometimes crash, microwave ovens sometimes short out, and guns occasionally (thankfully, very rarely) blow up. There's no way of telling from the photo why this gun blew up. It could be caused some defect in the steel used for manufacturing it, a problem with factory-made ammunition (yes, that happens, too), or some misguided attempt by a shooter to load and shoot a load that greatly exceeded specs. Or, possibly, the blow up was the culmination of long use of overly hot ammo. The point is, we'll never know, not from just looking at the photo.

[stevieboy]

Ok, sometimes I malfunction, too. My post was intended to reply to the one about the gun blowing up. Never mind!

[Andy Taylor]

It's ok Stevie. I am glad I saw the other thread though.

[mrdix]

there is a 627-0 on gun broker now for 600.00 buy it now, no box, and appears to have been shot...not mine but if your looking for one...I think its in california too...

[stevie-ca]

Yup, ends in a hour or so... thinking about it hard