Quote:
Originally Posted by NavySCPO
Lee, I can almost see the sarcasm dripping 😉, but I’m still learning so I’ll bite. From my limited observation, the Model 27 (or pre) in the 3.5” barrel seems to be the most desirable and highly valued. Every time I see one offered the price seems to go up, and they don’t last long.
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Now, yes.
Then, no.
In the 70s, I would decline a trade on a 3-1/2" gun.
A friend brought one into the shop in 75 and wanted to trade it for one of my guns. I declined. He came back with it 3 or 4 days later. I still had the gun he wanted. He'd been trying to sell his 3-1/2. He was a cop and knew how to move guns. He said "Get me out of it." I said "I'm gonna hurt you." He said "Hurt me" and we traded. That was in Atlanta, which is not a small gun market.
They were actually that hard to move back then. Anybody wanting to pack a 357 wanted a 2-1/2" 19 or 66.
The publicity given to 3-1/2 Reg Mags packed by G-Men and Lawmen before WW II, to a large extent done on this very board, have added the mystique to the 3-1/2" guns. BUT, don't forget, they didn't have a choice of a smaller, lighter magnum.
How many would have chosen a 3-1/2" N frame to wear with a suit if a 2-1/2" K frame had been available?
The Mod 19, a smaller, lighter 357 came about largely through the recommendations of Bill Jordan, just about the LARGEST man that ever packed a gun all day, every day.