True. A PERFECT K-frame .38 might break $500. Maybe. With the box and no drag line. A nice honest one is really a $400-425 gun at best. I am going on real-world experience here, and the nice 4" HD that sat for YEARS in a shop in Jonesbourough for $475. Or my 24-3 I only got $250 out of, as nobody wanted it as it was "only a .44 Special."

Take it to a gun show, and 9/10 of lookers won't even want to look at it once they find out it's a .38. In East Tennessee, a nice HD would at best be a $450 gun. Might be a regional thing, as prewar .32-20s are significantly more common than .38s here, but that's my experience.