Not a Smith, but a Colt 1911A1. I purchased this through the NRA in 1960. It was sold as "unserviceable" Government surplus from Aniston Army Depot, Alabama. In fact, it was complete and in perfect condition, manufactured in 1942. The price was $17 plus $2 shipping. By comparison, a commercial .45 went for $65. at the time. An M1 carbine was also available for $19. We won't see those days again. Of course, I put a lot more $$$ into accurizing the pistol, but it has served me well over the years.

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Model 18-3 4in. Fellow Says "she won't index proper, she drags on the double action but I'm through fiddlin' with her". I say's "How much to take her off your hands"? "Oh, I'll take $185 and throw in these funny grips from some place named Herrett". Today, she's just another slick nail drivin' machine. Oh,--- that was back in 2010.

A pristine 1944 Winchester M1 Carbine. It traded a Sanyo turn-table for it

Smith M&P from 1929 from one of the big boys you see along the interstate. Prior owner had electropencilled "Gino" on one side and "Willie Romandino on the other and fitted it with real stag grips. $75. Best shooter in the stable.

5 screw pre-29, 6.5" blue, used but not abused, $700 about 5 years ago.
1913 manufacture Colt 1911, with a loose box of 1918 ammo for $125, about 80%.
1914/1815 double date P08, about 70%, $100.

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4 screw non model marked 44 magnum in 95% cond. for 750 back in july.Had 70 s era targets on it.Seller insisted it was a 3 screw.

In the last year a 3" 66-2 95% $550, 3" CS-1 may be unfired $625...............VERY good year.

About 2 yrs. ago I bought a very nice Model 60-7 for $250.00 (+ tax) from the local Cabelas. When the salesman told me the price, I had to work hard to keep my poker face going. I was almost too good an actor as he asked if I wanted to go see the buyer in the Gun Library to see if they would give me a better price. Me: "Noooo, I guess it'll be okay" as I forced myself to slowly draw my wallet.

Best of luck,

Dave

Not a Smith, but a friend had a 9mm he wanted to sell because his dept. switched to 40 S&W. It turned out to be a Sig 228 - W. German, triple serial number (a cult gun if you're into Sigs).

It had less than 200 rounds through it and no wear inside or out. He wanted what he'd paid for it - $250. In 1998 it sold new for $720 plus tax.

Second place: a CS9, brand new but mis-marked for $499. Gun shop honored the price even though they had a used one for $599.

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Get off my lawn.

$25.00 for a Colt Trooper in .38 special about 20 years ago. It had been dropped leaving the rear sight bent and the hammer spur broken off. Little finish was on the gun. It was and is ugly. A little carefull peening put the rear sight back in action. Some fine gunsmith had brazed the hammer spur back on. The good news is that the bore and internals are mint. Hundreds of rounds have gone down that beautiful barrel in those years. It resides in a place of honor under the seat of my pickup truck. No need to worry about a little more finish wear.

Best buy had to be a 1937 Luger that turned out to be 100% matching including the numbered magazine with a mint bore. The icing on the cake was having the selling broker put me in touch with the seller. Turns out his father passed away several years ago, he still had a box of papers including the original customs paperwork on the gun when his father brought it home. He also had a book called the morning report about his fathers unit, Rufus Arnold the vet that brought the gun home was mentioned twice in the book. At any rate this was my best buy picking this up for $875. It's also listed in one of Ed Tinkers bring back books now.

Full story with photos of the Morning Report

I've had two great buys...and amazing enough both came with lots of bad press and negative comments from others but I bit the bullet ( ha-ha) and bought them and boy oh boy am I glad I did because they are both awesome.... for me anyway.
1. Kahr PM9
2. S&W 1911 DK model 45 acp

My best buy so far is my M46 which I picked up last year for $400.00. This has been a excellent shooter so far with me having put near 3000 rounds thru it in the last 6 months. The only money I have spent on it was for a new set of grips from a fellow forum member. My "Chinese Kimber"-- Norinco 45TT was a good purchase as well for only $349.95 new. Two mags, cleaning kit and case delivered to my door. It also shoots extremely well with never any problems as well.

Probably not the best deal, but this being a S&W forum I'd say the 915 I recently got for only $265 was a good one.

Like new Dan Wesson 22 revolver with a 6" barrel for $100.00 at a yard sale, no less. I no longer have it, but the deal is a good memory. wyatte

Colt woodsman sport model,1937 production, in 99% for $125, beautiful gun in every respect. 2nd place is a Colt police Positive with some 10% orig blue, cracked grips and painfully $50! In the S&W house, I scored a 98% 1964 production .41 mag in Nickel, cased, with amazing Cokes for $475 ! Kyle

2 yeara ago i got a remington 11-87 in 98% cond for 325. shot duck hunting once, and then put away for 10 yrs. also my model 12-3 snub for 275. love that airweight... original grips and box. no papes but for 275 had to have it.

Spotted a Model 41 A-series buried in a sporting goods shop's gun case a few years back. Had "$449 as is" on the tag. One mag, no box, is what the "as is" meant, I guess, that and a small chip off of the butt of one grip panel. The pistol was 98%. Real pleased with THAT deal.

A model 10 , probably a dash 5 or there abouts, in 1969 in RVN from a civilian for 60 bucks, and included a holster and some belch fire soft lead ammo-it was as new-shoulda brought it home maybe, but if I had, it coulda gotten ugly. Second was a Taurus 441 4 inch 44 SPL that the guy sold me because he was a S&W revolver guy, (as I am) and didn't like Taurus'. I'm almost positive he never shot it, because when he asked me how it was, and I told him it was great, and had one of the best double actions I had ever experienced, he looked startled-he was a dealer. Flapjack.

Bought it from an ex-cop in 1982 for $200. It has been all round the world and shot all kinds of rounds and its still pristine. This is a current picture.

Shortly after the S&W Mod 60-10 3" stainless came out in .357 I found a dealer selling one at a gun show NIB for $200. Like an idiot I passed, but picked one up at the next show for $215. Today this same exact gun sells for $600+ in stores and at the gun shows, and remains one of my favorites.

Product: Model 60

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I always wanted one of those, but by the time I found out it was too late. I'm still waiting for another gobmint buy like that one.

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For me it is my 4006TSW love that pistol just fills good in the hand you know.

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Boomer Sooner

"Got a weird looking, broken 1911 with a missing rear sight that I will trade ya...."

That is what a guy told me when I had a beretta 3000 semi auto...

I told him I would look at it, but it was going to take $150 cash to boot... Sight unseen...

Showed up with it and I couldn't identify it for sure until a day or two later after we had done the trade plus cash....

It was a clark compensated custom 1911 colt series 70 with compensator and every trick that could be done...

The slide would hang up when I first tried to cycle it and it was missing the custom low mounted bomar adjustable rear sight...

I disassembled it and found the flange on the spring stop of the two-piece guide rod was broken and hanging the slide up.

Clark happens to be just about 20 minutes from where I have to drive out of town for work anyways, so I paid them a visit and got a new two piece guide rod assembly and a new rear sight....

Absolutely the most accurate .45 I have ever owned.... For a short time.

I sold it to a gun friend that new the whole story for $1100 a month later.

I only had $150 invested in the clark colt and the guide rod and sight were about $100.. $250 invested for an $850 profit.....

And my friend is ever so happy with it.

I regret selling it, but my wife saw dollar signs.....!!!

Not a Smith but the best deal ever was a Beretta 390 20 ga at Walmart. It was red tagged for closeout at $350 and I put it in layaway. They kept discounting the price until i got it out, for $300, I got it home and it was shipped with 12 ga choke tubes. Back to Walmart where they arranged to ship the gun back to the factory. They got It back, called me, And when I came in said they had to refund me and then sell it to me again. Price then rang up $275! Great little semi auto.

Best Smith deals were a 686 6" police trade in for $239.95 and a model 66 4" in mint condition for $250. Traded both off. Sure miss that 686. It had the sweetest trigger of any revolver I've owned.

Two years ago I paid $250 from a dealer for a used GP 100 with a bit of surface rust. Otherwise the gun was perfect. Since it was stainless steel I was able to buff out the rust easily.

A Colt Diamondback, .38 sp, in close to perfect condition for $125 a few years ago.

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I just found a really nice lightly used S&W 410 .40 cal and H&K USP .40 cal for 800.00 shipped

S&W 27-2, 8 3/8ths, TT, TH, TS, circa 1975 in 97%-98% condition in the presentation box with original papers and tools for $475 about a year ago. Has a 2.75lb single action trigger to boot.

About 7yrs ago, mod 952-1 w/briefcase, paperwork, etc in near perfect shape for $825. Think it was mistakenly priced as a mod 52.
Kevin


Kevin G

Interarms Stainless PPK/S LNIB for $325 (w/extra mag).

3913LS - NIB for $350.

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Classic Stainless, with HS Precision octagon barrel hand lapped chambered in 280 AI, Lone Wolf Carbon Kevlar stock bedded to gun and original walnut Featherweight also bedded, Timney trigger, custom dies, brass, and Barnes bullets, for $800.00. Best part is the seller provided load info that turned out to consistantly shoot sub 1/3 moa. I am sold on quality custom guns now. I never knew I was actually a pretty darn good shot until I had the equipment that could do better than me on average!

S&W model 35 with box and goodies, original grips and a set of real stag grips for $250.00 from a pawn shop dealer, that had just bought an estate and could not figure out why anyone would want a small, long barrel .22 cal. It was about 5 years ago.

medxam

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Doc Garrett
Dead Man's Doctor

Back in the summer of 2000 I walked into my local gun shop and was handed a 6 1/2" Model 29-1. The saleman said "You like 44 magnums don't you? I said "Yes, but I have 6 of them". I looked inside the crane to see the serial number and saw the Model 29-1 stamping. The shop had just bought the gun earlier in the day from an estate of various guns, so they wanted a quick turn over. I didn't know that much about dash 1 guns, but because of the price I bought it. $500 was a fair going price for any Model 29 back then.
I later read the S&WCA Journal Doc 44 did about the various Model 29's and decided to letter the gun in early 2003 if I remember correctly. The gun was sold in a gun shop about 65 mile from where I live here in upstate New York, and it did letter as a Model 29-1 blue finish 6 1/2 inch barrel revolver.
In the fall of 2003 I went to the Tulsa Oklahoma show, and met Doc 44 (Bill Cross) who was at the section of the show where all the S&WCA members setup and talked to him about the Model 29-1 I had bought and he confirmed the gun as well.
I decided to sell the gun a couple of years later so I put it on Guns America, and it sold in about 15 minutes to a fellow S&WCA and Forum member. I did get a very good price for the gun, and don't regret selling it, knowing it is the right hands off a Model 29-1 collector. I also sold the same gentleman one of my 5 screw Pre-Model 29's to help him with having one 5 screw Pre-Model 29 for every calender month of 1956.
I think that is one of the best finds of a rare gun at a very low price I will ever come across. Things like that make collecting alot of fun.

4546 and 2 mags for $185, bought it at auction. It used to belong to a friend of mine, he even shot a guy with it.

Doesn't get better than that.

/c

last summer i bought a 66-1 for $300 off of a lady who made a post on craigslist.

I have been fortunate enough to have obtained many quality firearms back in the 60's and 70's that have become 'best buy guns' as time has passed. One that comes to mind right now, and I have mentioned over the years in the forum when appropriate, is my Model 29-2 4". I purchased it, with a letter from my department, from a company called Chesire and Perez in Monrovia, California. They were the West Coast distributor for Smith and Wesson at the time. In 1973, I drove there, along with my letter, and purchased wholesale the new 29-2 4 inch blue revolver, with target hammer, target trigger, and target stocks, in the maghony box for the sum of $137 out the door. As some may recall, it was Dirty Harry time and 29's were scarce. When available they were three to four times that much. Four inchers were not hot, so the distributor had several in the warehouse. Not my best deal, as things go now, but not too bad.

Not a Smith however..

I picked up an old Llama pistol. Dont know exactly how old but from what I could find online, possibly 1930s-50s service weapon. Its was on consignment for $150. I offered $100 and waited to hear back.
I was looking for a "beater" pistol my gunstore had one on consignment for $150. The whole gun was spray painted black. The salesman said that the owner told them that he had kept it in his car as a trunk gun and checked it once a week. If he thought he saw the slightest bit of corrosion he would quickly apply several layers of regular black spray paint. This gun has layers upon layers upon layers of paint but it slides smooth and the trigger is also very smooth. There is dark brown crud behind the trigger, behind the safety and inside the serrations on the slide. I guess its a combo of spray paint, dirt/crud, and maybe some minor surface rust. We came to the conclusion (myself, my buddy and the salesman) that most likely there is actually very little is any surface rust on the gun, overall, since the owner practically painted it once a week. The barrel...oh boy the barrel....lots and lots of dots inside but not a sewer. Kinda brownish/black but they only go about half way down and then stop. Since this guy spray painted the gun without taking it apart or even taping off parts we are betting that a lot of this brownish black coating is just the over spray. He did make an attempt to not hit the grips with the paint so they are only painted around the edges! They look to be original wooded grips with deep vertical serrations. Left side has some dents in it from hitting something (maybe the owners head) I did not see any pitting on the gun. At least nothing that ate holes in the metal.

Very similar to the Star pistol. Has no grip safety, a small thumb safety on the left, same type of hammer as the Star and about the same size. On the left side on the bottom of the frame toward the back it has one of those lanyard rings and comes with a ww2 type holster. I dont know if the holster is original but it looks like its been to Stalingrad and back. This is what makes me think its ww2 era. The price is $150. I told them $75 at first but they said that was too low. I said $100 and the salesman went to call the owner. The owner didnt pick up so they put it aside for me and waited for the owner to call back

After doing research I figured out it was a Llama (pronounced Yama) Especial. This Llama Especial was produced for a long time however this particular gun was made in 1946 and by the serial # appears to be early 1946. Everything seems to match and there are no import marks...so far. Also this particular gun with vertical striations wood grips were all used in the Spanish civil war and they we're built with match barrels. Checked grip versions were built for export.

Anyhow, I proceded to take it apart. Well the whole guy is spray painted black inside and out, including inside the barrel.

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These are just a few of the many pics I took as I took the gun apart.

Next I proceeded to take off the paint out of the barrel and off of the slide. BTW as a side note the slide, bushing, barrel, spring work just like the TTs. With very few minor differences. Ok after I took the paint of the slide I was left with a dirty looking, oxifized, tarnished gun.

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I set out to try and completely de **** the slide. Overall it was a failure but not a total loss of a day. The main problem was getting the paint out from inside the slide. It was so caked on that it was taking forever using carb cleaner and paint thinner and multiple brushes. And still I was only able to get about 5% of the paint off.

The outside of the slide was a different story. I used some metal polish/tarnish removed and a cloth and by hand started to rub out the oxidasion.

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Here you can see the rear part as it was under the paint. The front had been polished slightly.

With these results I desided to try the tarnish remover and a dremel on a small part. The mag release.

Before
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After
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I took the slide to work and let it sit in gasoline or some other desolving fluid for a while. To get the paint of easier.

Meanwhile I cleaned the slide inside with CLP as well as the frame. After I put it back together the slide moved like butter and the hammer and trigger were like silk as compared to before.

Here is a pic of the gun assembled. You can see the before and after in one pic.

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There is pitting all over the slide but its very light and not deep. My ultimate goal is to restore this gun to a presentable condition and make it a nice shooter.

Had some spare time and managed to clean up the frame a little. I couldn't find the paint thinner and I was to lazy to drive out and buy some so I dipped the frame into degreaser and let it sit for about an hour. Afterwards I scrubbed it down with a rag and a tooth brush. That took 99% of the paint off. The end result left me with a brown oxidized frame. Now I know why it was spray painted. The gun had about 0.0001% of its bluing left

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I then did a quick polish using 0000 steal wool and polish/tarnish remover

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Here she is all cleaned up

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I cant find pics of the range results however it was impressive for a 70 year old gun thats been thorugh who know what.

I still have to blue her and then she's all done!

Academy always puts the 9mm Sigma on sale for $299 or less. At that time, they had a $50 rebate, so the final cost was $249+ tax. My best deal is my 457 I bought new and I have the receipt in hand. I got it with taxes and including the background check for a grand total of $375.18. The gun shop owner said it was collecting dust and he would make me a deal on it because everyone wanted to buy only the polymer guns. I also got the Hogue Grips on EBAY for 99 cents with free shipping.

About two weeks ago I picked up a Model 10-6 4" blued gun with just a little holster muzzle wear for $267.50 out the door.

I've had several,what I call, "gun store saves"..... over the past 4-5 years. I would have to dig out the paperwork for the exact numbers but .......

First a dirty S&W 66-4 3" which cleaned up to 95% condition, about $350 out the door. (2008-09) "An older gentleman wanted to go to a J-frame carry gun"

A S&W pre 39 (ser.# 22xx) 98% condition with the origional mag., $450. (Nov. 2011)

Two 3914s used but both almost nib; both were plus or minus $300 ( 2005-06). No one wanted them as "they weren't stainless, and low cap mags."

The best for last; Marked as a "Model 27" with rubber grips and an Uncle Mike's shoulder holster.... was Registered Mag. #4629; 6 1/2 inch. gold bead ...+95%......on consignment for a wooping $325 plus tax and transfer. (2005-06)

I also bought 2 S&W 66-3's both 3-inchers, new in 1989/90 for about $275 each. One is still unfired nib. A local dealer in Harrisburg Pa. told me the distributer had "a bunch on the shelf that he couldn't move... everyone wanted the new "Wonder 9s".

Not too long ago I bought the JM Performance Center gun shown second from the bottom in the picture below for $850. It came with an Aimpoint H1 Micro red dot sight I subsequently sold for $450. The only cost I incurred was for a new rear sight, which allowed me to install a .160" rear blade and .300" front which was ideal for my bullseye shooting. I figure I spent a total of $500 (not including grips) on a gun worth two or three times as much.

Mine was an almost perfect Model 15 four inch for $125.00.

A 1006 in nice condition for $318.

My nickel one was $225. Didn't want nickel, but the price was right.

In 1990, an elderly fellow I worked with asked if I would tell him "what a gun was worth"? I said I would and he brought me an 1886 Win in 40-82. It was not pristine but in decent shooting condition, made in 1891. I told him 1886s weren't my line but I would have it appraised for him. A local gun shop owner told me it was worth $1200. I reported back to my co-worker and he asked if I'd like to buy it. I declined. He said "It's yours for $100.00." He insisted. I bought it.

I later found out an acquaintance of his had been hounding my co-worker to sell it to him, something you just didn't do with this guy. He got P Oed and decided I should have it, instead. I've still got it. Wonder what's it's worth today?

I have only been "collecting" for a couple years, so mostly I have been buying what I like at hopefully fair prices. Maybe in ten years the $450 I paid for a 66-2 and $500 for an 18-3 will look like screaming deals, but right now I think I paid about what they are worth. The only great deal was a perfect 10-5 that was given to me outright.

Bought a 624 for $189.44 in 2005. This handgun had been neglected with small areas of pitting due to bad storage. Later returned to Smith for Patridge front sight and general maintenance. Still a favorite.

SW40VE for $219. A little beat-up on outside, but shoots great! Cheers.

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4" 14-2 in box (Dayton HQ gun) 95%+........ $200
8 3/8" 16-4 in box 95%+....$325
4" 547...$315

10 - 15 years ago, these prices were the norm...
I remember passing up 581's & 681's for under $250 because they were only fixed sight....

Local gun show 12 years ago; my brother spots a black box across the way, comes back with it, in it... a 4screw pre 29....$325 (guy was asking $350) tools & all.