Smith & Wesson 27 2 Full engraved Questions

[Gentges1]

First off let me say hello I am new here. Some of the members at another forum told me this is the place to come for information about Smiths.

I am looking for information on these two pistols. The pistols are Smith And Wesson 27 2 they are fully engraved. They have what I believe to be bullhorn grips and they are sequentially numbered. I was wondering what the value of a set like this might be. Also should I get a factory letter on these? Is there any way other than a factory letter to find out who engraved these? Thanks for the help I just got these today from a LGS I feel I got a dam good deal on them.

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Email from FEGA
Next, I was able to see enough of the scroll work to determine that the engraving was done by one of the Japanese engravers who were working in the US during the 1970's. REI Engravings of Illinois employed Hiroo Ogawa and other Japanese engravers who all worked in the style evident on your guns. Also, Ken Eyster who owned Heratige Gunsmiths in Ohio employed Sam Kinamuchi who also worked in the same style. Unfortunately, it is very rare for any of the Japanese engravers to sign their work.

The style of ornament on your guns is based on German black leaf scroll. Because of the type of graver and method of cutting, the work of Japanese engravers is distinguishable from similar work done by German engravers. Some of my fellow engravers have speculated that at some point a Japanese engraver was trained in Germany and later taught other Japanese the style. However that idea has never been confirmed.

I hope the foregoing has been of help in determining the provenance of your revolvers.

Sincerely,

C. Roger Bleile

 

[VM]

Amazing first Post! Welcome to the Forum!
Those are gorgeous - what is barrel length, 41/2"?
With the price of gold, those have to have some good value.
This is totally out of my knowledge, but they have to be worth $7500 as a minimum for the pair.
Yes, a letter is a must!

 

[Nightowl]

Very interesting. A factory letter is the only way to tell for sure if they were factory engraved. The barrel length is more than 3 1/2 but looks less than 5". Please measure from the end of the cylinder to the end of the barrel and let us know. I would guess the guns shipped in 1968 or there abouts, as the serial number is very close to my Model 29. Standard barrel lengths of the 27 was 3 1/2, 5, 6, and 8 3/8th at the time. There were a very few made in 6 1/2 as well, but not in 4". From the pictures, your guns appear to be non standard barrel length. If so, that would make them even more valuable. I think you should be very excited about them!!

 

[JayCeeNC]

Holy cow!
Those are two exquisitely engraved Model 27's.
A $50 (for each gun) factory letter from Smith & Wesson will confirm the shipping configuration.
Several of the members here are knowledgeable about S&W factory engraving, I'm sure they will be along and add their opinions.

 

[Gentges1]

Engraved

The barrel measures 4.5 inches I sent off the paperwork to Smith and Wesson today. I paid less than 2 grand for the set. I am really excited about these I really like engraved guns it is amazing the level of detail a engraver is capable off.

 

[VM]

The barrel measures 4.5 inches I sent off the paperwork to Smith and Wesson today. I paid less than 2 grand for the set. I am really excited about these I really like engraved guns it is amazing the level of detail a engraver is capable off.

You hit a homerun - CONGRATS!
Please be careful with your mail

 

[shawn mccarver]

As to value, who knows? As to the factory letter, I vote to get one. I hope they shoot as well as they look.

 

[A10]

Welcome to the Forum! What an intro! Regardless of factory engraving or not, you made a great deal. The engraving is, to my untrained eye, reminiscent of Alvin White.

 

[Gentges1]

Wouldn't that be cool if it was an Alvin White I will have to look for any initials that may tell who the engraver was. Thanks for all the information

 

[flundertaker]

The barrel measures 4.5 inches I sent off the paperwork to Smith and Wesson today. I paid less than 2 grand for the set. I am really excited about these I really like engraved guns it is amazing the level of detail a engraver is capable off.

Less than $2k from a LGS?? Where they going out of business or does the owner have a heroin addiction? Seriously, its tough to believe any gun peddler in business today with the interweb and forums like this would so undervalue 2 guns such as those. Kudos to you but I need the name of the shop to see if he has any original prewar 1911 or other unicorns I can get for a wooden nickel.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[Gentges1]

No the shop is still in business I believe someone took out a loan on them and never returned to pay the bill. They seldom have old guns but they had just put these two out today and I just happened to have a snow day since I teach and they called school do to the cold weather. I new it was to good of a deal to pass up so I bought them.

 

[Flint Ridge]

Interesting, my snow days never turn out like that.

You did very well, regardless.

 

[franzas]

The barrel measures 4.5 inches I sent off the paperwork to Smith and Wesson today. I paid less than 2 grand for the set. I am really excited about these I really like engraved guns it is amazing the level of detail a engraver is capable off.

I think you just scored the deal of a lifetime. Congrats!

 

[Gentges1]

Engraved

I think this is a deal of a lifetime also and to think if school would have not been called I would have never found it. Thanks for all the info on this set.

 

[JayCeeNC]

Your investment is worth several thousand dollars more than you paid.
Congrats on a great score.

 

[Doc44]

Very nice set!! I am sure the two 27-2s were engraved after they left S&W. The barrel length is certainly unique and it will be interesting to see what the factory letters say about that. The engraving and the inlays remind of the work of Angelo Bee.

Bill

 

[Culina]

this has to be the nicest first post of all time, I think you could only top it with a newly found RM in the box.

Pinning a value is going to be tough, you know they are worth at least what you paid for them. a nice 27-2 goes for what $750 + then you add the cost of engraving, I have no idea what that is but I would suspect $2-3K per revolver. If you can find some provenance or if they were engraved by someone well know, the price will increase. I think the only real way to find out how much they are worth is to put them up for auction. If you want a replacement value for insurances purposes, I would say $10k is safe.

 

[Gentges1]

So the factory letter will tell me who they shipped out to and off they where shipped in the white specifically ordered to be engrave. And with any luck they will have been shipped directly to the engraver. I have no intentions of selling theSe they are to darn nice and I know I would regret it. I am going to look over the pair with a magnifying glass tonight.

 

[Tom K]

The barrel measures 4.5 inches I sent off the paperwork to Smith and Wesson today. I paid less than 2 grand for the set. I am really excited about these I really like engraved guns it is amazing the level of detail a engraver is capable off.

You sir, have just blown my mind.

Congratulations and deep, hard, green envy. And welcome to the forum. It's going to be difficult to top your first post!

 

[kozmic]

So Gentges1, buddy, you wanna make a couple hundred bucks....quick?!?!?!?!

Seriously, that was an amazing snag and proves the ol' adage that "timing is everything". I would definitely get an S&W letter. And then dig into the interweb to see if there is anything out there that is similar or would determine who, when and where of that beautiful engraving.

Wonderful first post. Thank you for sharing and welcome to the forum from the frozen north.