Originally Posted by DennisJettonJr

I had fired a friend's Glock10mm, and decided I liked it. So I went to a local small sporting goods store in Murray, KY to see what they had. They didn't have ANY 10mm handguns, but a gentleman who was a friend of they owner, quietly walked out to his pick-up truck, and returned with a S&W model 1046, and asked me would I be interested in IT? I looked it over, and the pistol was in absolutely MINT condition, but had no box/paperwork. I took a few photos of it, serial number, etc. I told him to let me do a little research on it, and I would get back to him. I walked out to MY truck but, returned within minutes and asked him how much did he want for it? He told me he would take $400... I didn't research it, but figured at $400, I couldn't go wrong... So, I purchased the gun, along with ONE magazine... Upon getting home, I immediately got online, and started researching. I was surprised when it said there were ONLY 151 of the model 1046s produced... I noticed that the serial # began with the letters TVA... Being that one of my great uncles was a retired officer of TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) , and I contacted him to see if he could shed any light on this matter... He told me that TVA had contracted S&W to design a firearm back in the late 1980s for TVA, and S&W designed and began producing a model 1046 (which was the ONLY model of the 10 series to have the DAO instead of the decocker)... After S&W produced and delivered the first 100 firearms to TVA, they began producing the next Lot of 1046s, but the Authority decided it was way too much gun for what they needed, and told S&W to halt production on these guns... Uncle Charlie said that S&W had already produced an additional 51 guns, bringing the totalk produced to 151 firearms... Supposedly as far as he knew the original 100 were shipped back to S&W, and ALL 151 firearms supposedly sat in a warehouse somewhere until 1998, where S&W held an auction, the those firearms were sold along with other items in the auction... Now, as I understand it, ONLY the first 100 model 1046s produced, carry the Serial# TVA at the beginning of the number, because they were the original 100 weapons shipped to TVA... The last 51 firearms (that were produced in the second Lot then halted), bear a different Serial# from the original 100 delivered in the first Lot... So, as I unDer stand it, the firearms that bear the TVA in the serial number are the more sought after, and worth quite a bit more money... I acquired my model 1046 in MINT/brand new condition, for $400, and since all this new information was brought to my attention shortly after I purchased it, I had the gun appraised at 4 different gunsmith's (one being a very prominent, dealer & gunsmith in Las Vegas), and I received 4 different values... the first told me retail was around $4500, and insure it's value at $6500... The second told me $5000 retail, and insure for $6500... The third was the guy in Las Vegas, he told me he didn't want to low ball me so he wouldn't make an offer, but I pestered him until he did... He told me all he could pay would be $6500, but advised me to decline his offer and KEEP my gun and NOT sell it... He said in its current condition without the box, it could retail as high as $8500, and he would value it at $10,000 for insurance purposes... He said if it were his gun, he would do one of two things... Hang onto it forever as a collector, or research nationwide collectible firearms auctions, and it could fetch as much as $12,000-$13,000 (keeping in mind I would have to pay the auction as much as 20-30% sellers fee to the auction)... So after all I have researched and learned about my model 1046, I am certain that I will just keep it... The only thing it can do is go UP in value $$$... I also learned one more thing about 3 months after the purchase of my 1046, the gentleman that I bought it from turned out to be a distant cousin from the other side of the family that I had never met in my 44 years... Part of me felt guilty, but he told me not to... He said I didn't rob him, and HE set the price before either of us researched the story behind the production of that particular gun...