I just found one of these last week for $2400. Consdiering where Gunbroker prices are going, I think I did pretty good.

I'm not sure it was ever even fired. The three mags appear to have never been loaded.

Does anyone know approximately how many 6" 952 pistols were built? I know it wasn't a whole lot. Thanks.

Enjoy the pics...



































Includes pretty much everything except the manual. The fired casing is dated 12/21/09, so it was later in its production.

wow that thing is so beautiful I am completely blown away...nice score!! I admit knowing very little about S&W third gens but from pictures I have seen they are really cool I want to get one someday! Shame they stopped making them, it would be cool if they had just a few models left at least.

Nice find! Still looking for a reasonable priced to add to my collection.

Don't mean to burst your bubble, that's a great buy. But don't let those GB prices confuse you. They are ridiculous and no one is buying. I think there were 3 long slides on there at the same time, all claiming they were rare. Really funny. I think somebody did sell one for a pretty high price a while back so everybody jumped on the bandwagon thinking they were going to get rich. Even the regular 952s are way over priced and not selling.

I buy rare guns all the time. Gunbroker selling prices are reality, not asking prices. One sold for over $6000 in a bidding war. Another just sold for $4500. A 5" model recently sold for $3000. They are not overpriced. That's what they're starting to bring on today's market.

Prices are going up. It's a great pistol that is no longer made.

Even before the $6000 model, long slides we're bringing $3500 and up. At $2400, unfired, it was a deal. Enough said.

By the way, they are rare. The reason there are a few on there at the moment us due to the recent sale. Before that, there wasn't a single long slide for months. That's how bidding wars happen.

IMHO, S&W never designed a more elegant handgun. I have the 5" but yours , with the extra inch, looks more balanced.

Here's the 5" for comparison:

Attached Images

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I own five 22 cal recreational pistols and 3 of them have 7 inch barrels.
It has always baffled me why the long barrel 9mm pistols have to cost so
much more. If any mfgr were to do large production runs of 6 in or longer
barrel pistols the cost should not be more than about fifty dollars more.
I think there is a huge market for plinkers and hunters that is not being
fulfilled. I wish I had the resources to make pistols myself as I would
make them myself. I am not going to pay double or triple going prices
for an extra inch or two in a hunter or target pistol.

You have a real nice one. I own the 5" and it is a real shooter.
I have been offered $3000 and believe I could get more.

Beautiful Score, Congratulations and very nice photos.
I most sincerely appreciate you sharing with us.

Today is my first time at the range this year. I took my
945, 952-2, Model 41 and my carry Ruger LCR .38+p.

The PC pistols will draw serious looks at the range and there is a lot of pride of ownership with these pistols.

I am 74 years old and i shoot 3" targets at 15 yds. and very seldom do I have a shot out of the black. Younger eyes will make the 952-2 sing.

Congratulations on your new purchase, you are going to love this baby.

Wow, I have a 5" blued 952-1 in nearly new shape. Are they going in the 3K range too?

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not in CA anymore....

Very nice pistol! Here is my 6" with the non relieved slide.

Beautiful pistols. That's what my 915 wants to be when it grows up!

Nice buy! I'd never sell it unless dire circumstances dictated otherwise.

I keep seeing things mentioned such as why doesn't S&W make the guns so many of us want to and would buy. Dumb question; but do you think they look at this site? If they do they're losing out...and so are we.

This thread is making me feel bad. I let my long slide go for 1500 a few years back. but it was to a friend, so I guess that is OK. And he is still in the club, so I could shoot it again if I wanted. That pistol, in a falling plates match, would drop all of the brass in nice little pile about two feet to the right, the tidiest pistol I ever fired.

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Ed

Man, That thing is nice!! Always liked the long slides, I just never had the dough to pony up for one. Looking back, I wish I had found a way to. I'll never afford one now.

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I reckon so

While I still disagree that these prices will hold (think AR-15s a few years ago, they're about half now) I will certainly be happy if they do. I own five of them including one long slide. If you look at the bidding history of the one that went for over $6000, it wasn't really a bidding war. The winner just put up a really high number thinking others wouldn't go that high. For whatever reason, he really wanted that gun and was willing to pay what ever it took. I've used the strategy before, put a max bid of $1500 for a Colt revolver that should have sold for around $600. Everyone dropped out and I won it for $800 which I was happy to pay. Only problem with the strategy is if another bidder has the same idea, that can get a little messy.

When I bought my longslide, I questioned my decision thinking it couldn't be that much more accurate than the 5" because they are so darn good and I was right. I enjoy it and and am glad I bought it ($2520, always bid just a little over) but it isn't really more accurate. In fact it took a little while to get used to it because the balance was slightly different.

I doubt I will buy anymore 952s, but who knows. You come across the right deal like bc1023 did, you gotta go for it.

Hello BC1023 and fellow shooters.
It seems a very good deal you have done. Looks like new, the crown 100% intact as I view it at pics. I own a 952 longslide, see pics, and enjoy it very much. It's precise and always functions like the rest of my S&W family. It's more accurate than my 1911DKS&W 952 6'' venstre - 170274.jpg

S&W 952 6'' højre - 170274.jpg

Thanks. Yeah, I've had a 5" 952-1 for many years. Great pistol.

For sure. I own quite a few PC pistols.

All of these are Performance Center guns, other than the 52 and 745.


Comp 40, 52, 745, 845, 945-1, 952-1, 952-2

Thanks

Its never been fired. I just lubed it for an upcoming shoot and its brand new inside. None of the mags look like they were ever loaded.

I'm just here to be jealous, and thank you for posting quality pictures.


Congratulations! That is a beautiful pistol! IMO the finest purpose built target gun ever made in the USA, and possibly the world. I'd very much like to do a serious comparison one day with a copy of the 952 and the Sig P210.

Thank you sir.

I've done that a few times, as I've got a number of P210s. When comparing the best to the best, it's very hard to pick a winner. I'm not a good enough shot to see a difference. I will say that I firmly believe the 952 matches the P210's accuracy and sheer beauty. As far as sheer build quality is concerned, I feel only a few pistols in the world can match the P210. The 952 comes close and certainly holds its own in comparison.

Here are my Sig P210s. The most amazing thing about it was that it wasn't designed as a target pistol. It was strictly a military/service gun. It's wasn't until later that the target variations were introduced. The craftsmanship that the Swiss put into a service pistol is mind blowing.


[/QUOTE]

Sure would be nice if one of these 952's in the thread was lettered from S&W Historian Roy Jinks to confirm production numbers on these exceptional pistols from the Performance Center. There were up to 952-3 models, and some variations within those according to barrel length and other features, and knowing how many were made would help answer the question of how rare they are. No doubt, they are rare, considering how seldom they have come up for auction until a flurry recently, and considering the prices asked and given for them. Yes, I think prices are catching up to value on these, for sure.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

As I am fairly new to this particular site, I would imagine this subject had been talked about before/frequently, but to the point about production numbers & "value", WHY has the Standard Catalog of S&W not been given a Fourth Edition? Surely it would seem that Supica & Nahas must know how well this series has been received and I would like to think or hope that a Fourth Edition would have one tremendous section simply on PC guns.

The price paid for this particular pistol is very nearly a -steal- it seems. It's not like there are places to find them (regularly) outside of Gunbroker. The $6,525 recent sale does not set the market but it is foolish to suggest that it doesn't affect the market. These long slide 952 pistols were closer to $3,000 a year ago and now $3,500 seems to be the low end. This one at $2,400 in the year 2015 -- I dare anyone to match it (I have cash, just LMK...)

There are now five "rare" long slides on GB. The latest has a starting price of $3445 with no reserve and a BIN of $3995. Should be interesting, IMO those are more reasonable prices. There is still one listed for $6500 if you just insist on paying more.

Everyone started putting them on GB once the one sold for $6000+

Before that, there had not been one for a couple months.

---within the next two days actually, as I watched that auction unfold. And since that auction ended over $6,000 -- there has been no period on Gunbroker that didn't have at least one 952-2 Longslide up for bids.

I believe that some guys who happened to have a 952-2 Longslide watched that auction unfold and decided right then an there "well heck, if someone will pay over SIX GRAND, then yeah, mine is for sale as well."

If anyone reading this was REALLY paying attention a number of months back (I want to say it was just short of a year ago?) there was a listing for a 952-2 Longslide that still had the red zip tie attached to it. The red zip tie that the SHOT Show (maybe it was an NRA Show?) required it had as a display model. So while some of the sellers say, "this has barely been shot" or "I can't be sure but it appears to be unfired...", well, the offered Longslide was a Smith & Wesson Performance Center event display piece.

I believe it went for $3,300. Gunbroker doesn't keep auction details for more than a handful of months back.

Point is... yes, the "going rate" is not north of six grand.
But the OP's purchase at $2,400 is "MUST BUY" for that pistol if you don't own one and you believe you need one. Because if you see a minty 952-2 Longslide for $2,400 and you say "meh, I want it but I'll get a better deal down the road..." you just missed the boat.

See the recent post by Jim Supica in "The Forum Office" section regarding a new "folder" for the S&W Forum....I'm not sure what it means, but it is interesting to me, and I hope he will respond to my inquiry about it.....SCSW4um

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

Much thanks for your reply, Vigil!

I think it is safe to "assume" that a Fourth Edition is close!

This is simply fantastic news. I am fully prepared to buy hardcover, new retail for such a book, something that I'm sure most "gun folks" don't all too often do, due to our frugal nature.

Frankly, I would find it that useful, that valuable, and I don't mind saying that it simply seems to me that it actually takes an enormous amount of work by those two guys (and others) that it is worth it in my mind.

It isn't going to be a low-priced book, but I'll pre-order it if I have that chance. And boy will I be annoyed if there isn't a wildly, radically expanded PC section, for certain.

Thanks again!

I'm not too familiar with some S&W models, just learning. But you have a real beauty here!