Reddog
Absent Comrade
You guys are giving me second thoughts. I ordered an M-28-2, 6", S2232XX, for $695, shipped, as new, no box! I'm to pick it up this afternoon.
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Wow. Just... wow.
- Thread starter Art Doc
- Start date
My dad had a 6 inch model 28 when I was young, I always liked it and twenty five years or so back I saw a like new one in the case of a local dealers shop and thought for 250 out the door I needed it. I now have it, dads and a four inch and they are nice for sure. I agree though the days of sub five hundred n frames as a common thing are going the way of the do do...
NFrameFred
Member
More than possible, absolutely the case. The world has shrunk dramatically with the advent of the internet. Before the net, dedicated collectors had to advertise locally or in print media such as "Shotgun News" and that reached a mere pittance of the folks who now view online gun trade/sales sites hourly. You had to snail-mail photos back and forth if you were serious about dealing in used guns or just take the seller's word for it. And prices stayed low or depressed in certain areas depending on the saturation of certain models geographically and by how isolated a population of shooters in a particular area was. In the '70's my gun trading area (sans "Shotgun News") was within driving distance of my house, and we used to go on 'road trips' on a Saturday morning and hit every known shop within 2 or 3 hours driving distance. Many times a lot of these places chose not to even deal in used guns.
Enter the internet. I can converse with someone clear across the country for free, exchange detailed information and pictures, negotiate a price and set the details of shipping and purchase in nothing flat to get a firearm I may have never even seen in this part of the country.
That creates opportunity and demand. Those who live in backwater areas where the shooting/gun owning population was older and drug their feet coming to the digital age had an opportunity for a while to still take advantage of artificially depressed market forces. But that is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. The new reality is with newly manufactured guns bringing the prices they are listing for these days, used guns are still a bargain but the demand is there and people are willing to pay to get them, and that creates competition for what is out there and higher prices.
I liked buying them cheap. I like selling (when I do) for a profit. Who doesn't ? When I bought my first new-in-the-box model 28 for $225 many years ago, I thought that was high. Now, I afraid you guys paying that plus $200 for well used ones are the ones finding the rare "bargains" these days . . . .
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CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Next thing ya know, Someone with a 28 will be asking for boot on a swap for a 27.
NFrameFred
Member
I've bought MULTIPLE guns for the price of a pair of the Keith Brown grips I've been lusting after . . .
Reddog
Absent Comrade
Here it is, Guys!
I can't find any sign of it being fired and the turn ring is very light. The stocks aren't marked. Could they be original?
Dick
Attachments
MAG-NUM
Member
Reddog, that serial number puts you right around late 1961. Yes those very well could be the original grips since S&W used the diamond in the checkering up until 1968. Very nice model 28! Bob
stantheman86
US Veteran
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27's are becoming the S&W equivalent of Colt Pythons.......in a few years a nice 27 will be a $1,000 gun and a 28 will be $6-700.
samandglove1
Member
Nice piece Dick. Did you pay a little too much? Maybe or maybe not, it depends on availability. Do you love it? I bet the answer is yes.
NFrameFred
Member
Dick, if most folks here were honest about and went to post those grips in the classifieds they would likely ask at least $150 for them if not more; so based on that I figure you have about $550 just in a 1961 S numbered gun in excellent condition. Some folks have paid that much for such a nice specimen with Pachmayr grips on it. I think you did OK. And I believe two years down the road you'll say you did pretty good.
USSR
Member
Jack Flash
Member
I think that another factor that drives prices up is that there are a lot more collectors and accumulators nowdays than there used to be.
Sure, there were collectors back in the day, but just not so many. In the fifties and sixties, it was common for the average person to own a gun, but often that was all he owned, one gun, and usually a long gun at that. From reading this Forum, it sounds like it is not uncommon for members here to own a dozen handguns or more. That trend is bound to drive supply down and prices up.
Sure, there were collectors back in the day, but just not so many. In the fifties and sixties, it was common for the average person to own a gun, but often that was all he owned, one gun, and usually a long gun at that. From reading this Forum, it sounds like it is not uncommon for members here to own a dozen handguns or more. That trend is bound to drive supply down and prices up.
Reddog
Absent Comrade
Thanks, Guys!
It's going into the safe! I have another 28 with wear that I'm using for a shooter. And will soon have a cut off 5" barrel 27 that was a 6.5" originally, to shoot too! I'm pleased!
Dick
It's going into the safe! I have another 28 with wear that I'm using for a shooter. And will soon have a cut off 5" barrel 27 that was a 6.5" originally, to shoot too! I'm pleased!
Dick
stantheman86
US Veteran
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The problem is yesterdays's "used guns" became today's "collectibles".......a working guy can't even get a Model 10 from the 80's to shoot for less than $300 anymore. It wasn't too long ago you could get PD and security trade-in S&W's for actual USED prices, not collectible prices. A holster worn Model 10-7 was a $150 gun, because it was just used. Now people decided to become "investors".
It makes me take a step back and decide what I really NEED anymore........I would have a lot more in the bank if I wasn't an "accumulator", a lot more for ammo, gas, etc. Lots of folks got by just fine for life back in the day with a shotgun, a 30-06 bolt rifle and an M&P wrapped in a handkerchief stuck up in the closet.
This whole business with the N frames shooting up in price shows that shooters are better off buying the new stuff.......
It makes me take a step back and decide what I really NEED anymore........I would have a lot more in the bank if I wasn't an "accumulator", a lot more for ammo, gas, etc. Lots of folks got by just fine for life back in the day with a shotgun, a 30-06 bolt rifle and an M&P wrapped in a handkerchief stuck up in the closet.
This whole business with the N frames shooting up in price shows that shooters are better off buying the new stuff.......
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I looked around at what I could buy for $650.00 NIB not long ago.
Suddenly, $650.00 didn't seem too high for a 28-2.
Suddenly, $650.00 didn't seem too high for a 28-2.
Thanks to the DOJ list, it is still this way in California. Here, any used S&W regardless of price is a deal just because it is available. I visited all 6 local gunshops regularly for 14 months looking for a 29, and never found one, so I bought a beautiful 57 no dash for $700. The following week I found a pristine early 29-2 at a gun show for $750. I would have been extremely lucky to find either of them, with both I'm over the moon. I have never even seen a 27 for sale around here...
I don't think there is much of a mystery behind the rising cost of older/used S&W's. One only has to look at the number of members on this forum, add in all of the people from other gun forums, and those that don't do the Internet, and you have a lot of potential buyers looking for the same things.
How many time have you read or heard people say "I've always wanted a fill-in-the-blank but couldn't afford it when I was young" or "I used to have one like that and got rid of it, and now I want another one".
There's a pot load of 50 somethings (myself included) that now have the financial means and the spare time to indulge in pursuing those "wants", and I don't think demand is in danger of slacking off anytime soon, so sometimes you just have to strike while the iron is hot.
Here's the way I look at it.
If I take a pass just because something has a higher than average price tag on it, I can't count on another one like it popping up for sale period, let alone that it might at a lower price. So if the price is not completely outrageous, I'd rather have the "bird in hand".
Whenever I end up buying something that I really want and pay a higher than "average" price in the process, I'm secure in the knowledge that although I overpaid this time, I've also or will underpay on other occasions, so in the long run when I calculate what my dollar cost average is per gun that I have now, it comes out being pretty darn reasonable.
How many time have you read or heard people say "I've always wanted a fill-in-the-blank but couldn't afford it when I was young" or "I used to have one like that and got rid of it, and now I want another one".
There's a pot load of 50 somethings (myself included) that now have the financial means and the spare time to indulge in pursuing those "wants", and I don't think demand is in danger of slacking off anytime soon, so sometimes you just have to strike while the iron is hot.
Here's the way I look at it.
If I take a pass just because something has a higher than average price tag on it, I can't count on another one like it popping up for sale period, let alone that it might at a lower price. So if the price is not completely outrageous, I'd rather have the "bird in hand".
Whenever I end up buying something that I really want and pay a higher than "average" price in the process, I'm secure in the knowledge that although I overpaid this time, I've also or will underpay on other occasions, so in the long run when I calculate what my dollar cost average is per gun that I have now, it comes out being pretty darn reasonable.
Thank you Gunhacker!! That sums up my feelings exactly! Since I saw my first Model 28 when I was about 20 years old I've wanted one. A Model 19 was my first handgun. I traded it off. I used to spend hours wearing out a Shooters Bible. I can't tell you how many Smith & Wessons I wanted out of that book.
Your description fit me to a "T". I'm retired now, but took a job again so I could afford to buy those guns now. Pay too much? Maybe so, but I don't see a lot of 28's or 19's. I'll try to work the best price I can, but I also know if I don't want it, the guy right behind me does.
And it's not just us old coots we have to worry about. I've noticed lately when I'm looking at a nice revolver, a lot of times, I'll find a young person standing right there beside me asking questions about them. "What are you looking for?" "How can you tell?" "Which is better?"
I guess one of these days if nothing else, my kids will wonder "Where did all these old guns come from?" I believe they will appreciate them.
OP
Art Doc
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
The 58s go for $1,200 (I've seen it) the 28s bring $700 and 10s are priced at $600.
It's a brave new world. I'm glad I have all the guns I need as I can't bring myself to pay the prices being asked today.
It's a brave new world. I'm glad I have all the guns I need as I can't bring myself to pay the prices being asked today.
NFrameFred
Member
I'm just about with ya on that one. My trading has slowed to a trickle. In fact, I can only think of one piece I stubbornly want for the collection and the only reason it's not already in the safe is a nagging feeling that every one I find is at least $200 over-priced . . . .
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