I was at the Germantown gun show today. I had with me a couple of revolvers that I was willing to sell or trade.One fo which is a Smith & Wesson 3" Model 624 Lou Horton Special. Been totin' these guns around to various gun shows for a while now and although I get lots of lookers, so far no buyers. Same thing with trying to trade for something I liked. I know that dealers have to make money on a trade, but most of the offers I got were downright insulting. Frankly, I'm gettin' tired of carrying these guns around.

[Side bar] My younger son has a Sig P220 Compact. Nice gun, but I don't care for the short grip frame. I've shot it many times and and while I'm not realy a DA Auto kind of guy, I've often thought it might be nice to have a full sized one of my own.

So there I am at the gun show. Once again, many want to look at what I have, but nothing but bad low ball offers.
Anyway, I'm making my way down through the show and a voice from behind one of the tables asks about my 624. Its a pretty good sized dealer with lots of tables and the inquiry came from one of the salesmen. I show him the gun and the guy is about to pee himself. He's been looking for one of these for his personal collection for quite some time. He looks it over and agrees that my asking price is fair, but sadly, he can't spend the money right now what with Christmas coming, small kids and of course the wife to deal with. We all know the story.
They have lots of guns there, so I ask if maybe we can work out a trade?
I look around and find a brand new Sig P220 Carry. That's the full size frame with the slightly shorter barrel and slide. I like it. It feels good in my hand. So the salesman goes and gets the owner, who is the only person allowed to make trade deals. So we commence to haggling. At first it was no go. But over the next couple of hours I drop by occasionally, make an offer and he counters. After about the 4th time, we reach a deal we can both live with. I figure I'm loosing about $50, but that's to be expected when trading with a dealer. So I'm ok with it.
I sit down at the table and start the paperwork. The dealer tells some other saleman that I hadn't spoken with to pack everything up and bring it down for processing. Then right in front of me, this (insert appropriate term) DROPS THE NEW SIG ON THE CONCRETE FLOOR!
He picked it up, gave it a quick look see and announced "its ok, it doesn't look hurt." But its already too late for me. I was so mad that there was no way I was going to take this gun now. I demand my gun back and say "The Deal's Off!"
Needless to say I was not in a good mood when I left the show.

But now that a few hours have passed and I've calmed down, I think maybe that God, fate, nature or whatever forces may control our lives was just telling me that for semi-autos, I should just stick with my 1911s.

Hi It was something telling you NOT to part with the 624 If you let it go and change your mind the sticker shock will kill you if you ever go to replace it Save your money and buy the sig outright That way you buy the current model 220 and still have the 624 [hard and expensive to replace] If you don't like the sig you can still trade it off for something else I get remorse so bad that I quite trading something with collector/shooter value on some current production firearm [Like a Colt det 3model early production in on a Stainless commander current prod Should have gone back and retrieved the dick special next show] Its gone and the asking prices have gone up by $200 now I'm going to let my estate figure what to get rid off LOL Rich widow someday

Greyfox, good vent, I like to think things happen for a reason. I'd sure hate to be the guy who dropped the Sig when the boss gets a hold of him.

IMO someone upstairs was looking out for you today. There's no way you should trade a Lew Horton 624 3 for any current production pistol.

I own a couple 220's (my favorite semi-autos) and I also trade guns. I think you would hard pressed to find any 220 that would be worth that trade. I think you lucked out when that gun was dropped.

Personally I wouldn't be mad. Actually wouldn't really care one way or the other. I would however ask for a discount or another Sig P220. If not I'd take my gun back and leave but otherwise It's just another chunk of metal and plenty more out there

A couple of you have expressed concern about me trying to trade off the 624. Let me clear that up so I don't appear as much the idiot y'all think I am.
I stumbled across it locally from a private seller at a very good price. It doesn't have the original grips. It wears goodyears. I also don't have the box. While the gun is in very good shape, it does show a few minor handling marks. And its been shot quite a bit. Mostly by me. So its not like I'm trying to sell a mint collectable. I figure this one to be about an $850 gun.
I might also mention that I have several other .44 Specials including a 3" 24-3. I just like blue better than stainless.
Also, in the OP I said it was a gun I was "willing to sell or trade". I never said I needed or even wanted to sell.
This gun was actually an impluse buy. (There's a thread going about that ya know.) I really bought it with the intent of reselling it. So this 624 is more or less an extra in my collection. I like it, but don't necessarily need it.
If I can sell it for what I consider a fair price or trade for something of similar value that I want, I am "willing" to do so.
Otherwise, I'll keep it, enjoy it and continue to shoot it.

But....that is a really good gun. I think if I had to bet my life on any .45 to be dependable and accurate, it would be a P220.

Being both a S&W and Sig fan I can say the Sig P220 is a great pistol and one of the last I would sell and I have 2 of them a Early P220 DA/SA and a P220 Carry SAO. The Sig P220 SA0 is the most accurate Sig I own and the trigger is awesome.

I had my lgs hold for me a M66-4 that I saw on their online used list. While there I noticed an older two tone P220 in excellent condition listed with the exact same price as the 66. I left that shop with the Smith
I have and really like a Sig P220 and the two tone was calling me...
But I know that 66 wouldn't have lasted the day on the shelf whereas the P220 has been on the list for a while.
Maybe I'll go put it on layaway if it still there after the holidays.

Locally here in Alaska is a nice 80's Sig P220 for $650. Good deal but I got mine..........

__________________
Go big or stay home

I had a similar experience when I was trading for a gun with a dealer years ago. The assistant stuck the gun in the back pocket of his jeans and scratched it on a folding knife he had clipped on the pocket. He pulled it out and started getting the paperwork...I asked to look at the pistol. It had a light scratch on the slide. The counter guy tried to brush it off, "It's going to get some wear from carry anyway, right?"...I told him I did not want HIM to put any wear on it before leaving the store. I asked for another, undamaged gun. The store manager also tried to gloss over it so I took my trade item and left...I was tempted to put a scratch on mine and see if he liked that...That wouldn't have been wise and I have learned not to act on anger.

So far as trading your 624 for the Sig goes, it is your gun and if trading it for something you like better, there is nothing wrong with that. I traded a unfired LH 624 3" new in box condition with all the stuff for a pristine three inch 686 CS-1 recently...Was that foolish?...Perhaps, but it made me happy since I will shoot the CS and the 624 was a safe queen. I hope you end up with whatever makes you happy!

The SIG however would likely be easier to find another. I prefer the heavier s/s full size da/sa ones. Reconditioned ones from Sig can be a good deal. The extra wt makes them more controllable/ comfortable/ faster follow up, FOR ME. I also like to be able to keep my ENTIRE hand on the grip. These features are not a + for c/c though, I use a 40 cal 239 in s/s for that.