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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 06-29-2008, 05:59 PM
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i have been bitten by the smith collecting bug. my questions is how do you know if you have a lew horton gun & who is lew horton? thanks all
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Old 06-29-2008, 05:59 PM
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i have been bitten by the smith collecting bug. my questions is how do you know if you have a lew horton gun & who is lew horton? thanks all
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Old 06-29-2008, 06:13 PM
BPHORSEGUY BPHORSEGUY is offline
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he is a distributer in the WORCHESTER MASS area who was the first exclusive distributer of smiths pc line. they deal in really sweet limited production smiths.
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Old 06-29-2008, 06:41 PM
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Lew Horton is a major distributor with enough clout (and credit) to get special run guns produced through regular production as well as the Performance Center. They also distribute catalog guns and you can’t always tell by looking whether they handled a specific gun or not. Their name won’t appear on the gun. Special runs can have unusual barrel lengths, stocks, porting and other non-standard features, but other distributors (RSR, Davidsons, Camfour, Tallo, Ellett Bros …) have commissioned special runs as well. Some guns initially exclusive to LH became available to any distributor.

Some of the more desirable Performance Center guns were Lew Horton exclusives and there seems to be a premium when their name is attached to a gun, so be careful. If you have the original packaging, the product code can help ID a gun.

Buy the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd edition and start reading. If you like S&Ws, you need a copy.

http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Catalog-Smith-Wesson/dp/...id=1214789769&sr=8-1
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Old 06-29-2008, 06:46 PM
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I've heard rumors that he is related to King Midas. Everything he touches turns to gold.

Here are my three:

29-3 3"

629-4 3"

PC940 (photo by SmithNut)
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Old 06-30-2008, 04:54 AM
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I really like that 3" 29-3 you have there Jeremyws1. Sweet!!
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Old 06-30-2008, 05:11 PM
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thanks to all for the help. i ordered the book today. hey jeremyws1 i have the same model 29 lew horton but my grips are darker. was 750.00 to muck to pay for mint n.i.b.
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Old 06-30-2008, 05:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by holo:
was 750.00 to muck to pay for mint n.i.b.
Nope
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Old 06-30-2008, 07:56 PM
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What Wyatt said
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Old 06-30-2008, 08:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by holo:
thanks to all for the help. i ordered the book today. hey jeremyws1 i have the same model 29 lew horton but my grips are darker. was 750.00 to muck to pay for mint n.i.b.
I think you did very well.
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Old 07-01-2008, 01:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by BPHORSEGUY:
he is a distributer in the WORCHESTER MASS area who was the first exclusive distributer of smiths pc line. they deal in really sweet limited production smiths.
They are in Westboro, which is about 10 miles from WORCESTER, MA. They commission and distribute limited S&W runs, but were neither the first to do it, nor are they exclusive for PC guns.

All that debunked, this is a 629 Lew Horton from 1985, a cousin of the ones jeremyws1 has pictured. They do help make fun guns.

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Old 07-03-2018, 09:02 PM
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Several years ago I emailed S&W a question about my 3" 610, unrelated to whether it was a LH run. But they did mention in the reply like "BTW, that's a Lew Horton run by the serial # you gave us." I had no other documentation stating that when I bought it other than the dealer's word.

It's a no-lock and not the original grips. Paid $600 new in '99, CA no less.
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Old 07-03-2018, 09:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BPHORSEGUY View Post
he is a distributer in the WORCHESTER MASS area who was the first exclusive distributer of smiths pc line. they deal in really sweet limited production smiths.
Interesting. I’ve been familiar with Lew Horton for years but didn’t realize he was the first distributor of their PC guns. Learn something new everyday!
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Old 07-03-2018, 11:51 PM
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Distributor Horton's Smiths aren't worth a penny more that the same guns sold by S&W. S&W's arrangement with L. Horton ceased about 10 years ago.
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Old 07-04-2018, 12:30 AM
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Distributor Horton's Smiths aren't worth a penny more that the same guns sold by S&W. S&W's arrangement with L. Horton ceased about 10 years ago.
Note to self:Buy popcorn. That is all.
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Old 07-04-2018, 06:10 AM
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Quote:
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.... how do you know if you have a lew horton gun....
Call or email them. They're still in business and more than happy to let you know if it was one of theirs. They will even send you a free provenance letter on their fancy letter head to document it. The free letter is the one advantage a LH gun has over an otherwise identical Smith.
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Old 07-05-2018, 10:14 AM
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Distributor Horton's Smiths aren't worth a penny more that the same guns sold by S&W. S&W's arrangement with L. Horton ceased about 10 years ago.
Other than putting his name on the gun, I don't see anything he does that would command a higher price? I think it's just all marketing?
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Old 07-05-2018, 10:20 AM
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Wow...ten year old zombie thread! That’s gotta be some kind of a record!
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Old 07-05-2018, 10:33 AM
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I read once that a puppy dies every time somebody necroposts, but in this case, I'm happy to learn anything and everything about Lew Horton distributed Smiths as I just figured out I own one. Woohoo!
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Old 07-05-2018, 10:37 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 03hemi View Post
Other than putting his name on the gun, I don't see anything he does that would command a higher price? I think it's just all marketing?
Horton's name is nowhere on the Smiths he sold. Not even on the box( I have 2) Lay one sold by Smith and one sold by Horton side x side.....Zero difference.
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Old 07-05-2018, 01:50 PM
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OP, my Lew Horton M29-3 is my favorite revolver I own. It's also my most favorite to shoot out of my new(er) and Classic 70's era/manufactured Smiths and Colt revolvers. I think it has recently became my favorite pistol between all my semi-auto's and revolvers.

I like that it came with a 3" barrel and 3/4 ejector shroud, Goncalo Alves stocks, & round butt frame. It balances almost perfectly in my big hands!

Lew Horton revolvers were guns that came with a certain set of features that LH Distributors dictated. That is the way they differentiate from other Smiths. They generally do command a higher price upon resale because those features to many are considered desirable... myself included. Check out the current and "sold for" prices of them on GunBroker and that will tell you pretty quickly that they come at a premium. Whether it's worth it to you or not that is what you have to decide. It was to me over a 3" barrel equipped 629 that was my go-to .44Special/Mag. Whether the LH revolvers got extra TLC or not from Smith's "Smiths" before being shipped out, who knows? I can tell you it has the best trigger pull/break out of all my other Smiths/Colt along with the tightest cylinder stop lock-up and timing. Is that coincidental, probably...maybe? It doesn't matter to me as its still my favorite. If you get a chance to handle and shoot one I bet you'll like it too.



Taking her to the club at least once a week now as she's our Go-To "Woods-Gun". Pile of brass from the last 2 outings of Mags & Specials...


Popper silhouette/gong gives an instant report of satisfaction!

Last edited by HamHands; 07-05-2018 at 02:00 PM. Reason: Better AR500 plate pic.
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Old 07-05-2018, 07:18 PM
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Total agreement, HamHands. My 610 is the only LH run I have. It's look and feel of quality is way above some, not all, of ordinary Smiths I own or have owned. They seemed to have paid more attention to detail on these. Call me crazy, but I wouldn't trade the 610 for a Python.
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Old 07-06-2018, 12:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike, SC Hunter View Post
Horton's name is nowhere on the Smiths he sold. Not even on the box( I have 2) Lay one sold by Smith and one sold by Horton side x side.....Zero difference.
At least Lew Horton holsters are marked as such. Here is mine, attached. While I don't have a Horton revolver, I did find this to fit my N-Frame 627PC 2-5/8" rather well.

What I do not know, is what does the "BLW" stand for?
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