Aegis,

I'm certainly not one to attach a value to the FBI 1076, or any other pistol for that matter. What I do feel qualified to do is comment on the rarity of these pistols. Only 1,000 (possibly up to 2,000 but this is not verified...yet) of these pistols reached the market. With a very, very few exceptions these are the only firearms that can be verified as being on the FBI's firearm's inventory. The FBI has never surplused its firearms to the public. In our generation the FBI has destroyed all of its surplus weapons regardless of current public policy. The wholesale destruction of all Colt products in its inventory in the mid-80s being the most aggregious example. All 10,000+ S&W Model 10s and 13s were destroyed as well.

Even in the case of the FBI 1076 the Bureau did not release them to the public. S&W did after receiving them as warranty returns. And I seriously doubt it ever occured to Bureau management that S&W would sell the pistols as used guns. Moreover, most of these pistols were carried by Agents working the streets.

Finally, the history of the pistol is fascinating and someday I hope it will be told in its entirety. So, if you are a collector, of law enforcement pistols, of historically significant firearms, of S&W or FBI failures, of FBI memorabilia, the FBI 1076 is a valuable addition to your collection.

I have certainly seen other collectible handguns with much less significance and intrinsic value than the FBI 1076 go for astronomical prices. Should FBI 1076s be trading at such high prices? I don't know, but apparently collectors, myself included, have decided that owning a piece of FBI history is worth the cost.

All the best, D