Mr. Wonderful
Member
Hello friends,
Just a little story about a purchase made at the recent Miami, Florida gun show. For the last couple of years I really haven't seen much at the show of interest to me. I have all the "AR" type stuff I want, and after a couple of plastic fantastic guns, OK that's it. Decent used guns, whether handguns or rifles just weren't showing up... and a nice older S&W, forget it.
Anyway, I started out looking for one of the current model 317-3 AirLite kit guns. Several vendors had them, and I actually got a decent price. Bought one, and hey, I was happy.
A few minutes later I examined a table of used guns from a pretty good sized seller. It happened to be a pawn shop that deals in a lot of guns. Right there in the mix I spied a beautiful blued .32 Hand Ejector. It looked so nice I first suspected a re-blue/rework, maybe even by S&W. In any event the roll marks and screw heads looked perfect. There are several changes in the .32 HE lineup, and offhand I wasn't sure of the version and value. I looked at the serial number, but didn't write it down.
It had a asking price of $445 on the attached tag, and the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. However, after spending some good $$$ on the model 317 I was hesitant. My buddies and I were really ready to leave, so even though I went back to the table four times, I didn't buy the sweet .32 Hand Ejector.
That was Saturday, day 1 of a 2 day show. All the rest of that day, and the next morning, I couldn't get that little I-frame out of my mind. From looking up my reference materials on S&W, it looked like the gun was from about 1915. Now I'm even MORE spun up. On Sunday afternoon, my wife says "I've got to run some errands, and do a little shopping." That's all I needed to hear.
I jump in the car and head back over to the gun show. I got there at 4 pm and it closes at 5. For all I knew the gun of my fixation may have already been sold, or the vendor might be packing up to leave. Who knows? I never go to the gun shows late on the last day.
I get in the building and make a line for the vendor's tables. Ahhhhh, still there! I try to contain my enthusiasm as I handle the gun. A sales guy walks up and says, "That's a .32, you can still get ammo for that." I told him it was very nice, maybe a re-blue? He said he didn't know. No surprise there.
I asked him, "I've got a concealed weapons license, and cash. What can you do for me... out the door?" He said, how about $400? I told him, "Done".
While filling out the paperwork with another employee there, the sales guy stopped by to make sure all was ok. He said, "That gun is in really nice condition." I agreed, and mentioned that it's a WWI-era product. I only wish I could have had a video on his jaw dropping. It was really funny.
I was feeling pretty good about everything, and when I get home and examined the gun completely, it's even nicer than I thought. Stocks (grips) are correctly numbered to the gun, and bore, etc. looks like it came through a time machine. I made a request with Roy Jinks on the shipping date, and it was January, 1916. Very cool.
I realize it's not a rare gun by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a beautiful example of S&W craftsmanship. I'll try to attach a couple of photos.
I suppose the real message I want to say is, "You never know".
Best wishes everyone,
Roger AKA Mr. Wonderful on the S&W Forum
Just a little story about a purchase made at the recent Miami, Florida gun show. For the last couple of years I really haven't seen much at the show of interest to me. I have all the "AR" type stuff I want, and after a couple of plastic fantastic guns, OK that's it. Decent used guns, whether handguns or rifles just weren't showing up... and a nice older S&W, forget it.
Anyway, I started out looking for one of the current model 317-3 AirLite kit guns. Several vendors had them, and I actually got a decent price. Bought one, and hey, I was happy.
A few minutes later I examined a table of used guns from a pretty good sized seller. It happened to be a pawn shop that deals in a lot of guns. Right there in the mix I spied a beautiful blued .32 Hand Ejector. It looked so nice I first suspected a re-blue/rework, maybe even by S&W. In any event the roll marks and screw heads looked perfect. There are several changes in the .32 HE lineup, and offhand I wasn't sure of the version and value. I looked at the serial number, but didn't write it down.
It had a asking price of $445 on the attached tag, and the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. However, after spending some good $$$ on the model 317 I was hesitant. My buddies and I were really ready to leave, so even though I went back to the table four times, I didn't buy the sweet .32 Hand Ejector.
That was Saturday, day 1 of a 2 day show. All the rest of that day, and the next morning, I couldn't get that little I-frame out of my mind. From looking up my reference materials on S&W, it looked like the gun was from about 1915. Now I'm even MORE spun up. On Sunday afternoon, my wife says "I've got to run some errands, and do a little shopping." That's all I needed to hear.
I jump in the car and head back over to the gun show. I got there at 4 pm and it closes at 5. For all I knew the gun of my fixation may have already been sold, or the vendor might be packing up to leave. Who knows? I never go to the gun shows late on the last day.
I get in the building and make a line for the vendor's tables. Ahhhhh, still there! I try to contain my enthusiasm as I handle the gun. A sales guy walks up and says, "That's a .32, you can still get ammo for that." I told him it was very nice, maybe a re-blue? He said he didn't know. No surprise there.
I asked him, "I've got a concealed weapons license, and cash. What can you do for me... out the door?" He said, how about $400? I told him, "Done".
While filling out the paperwork with another employee there, the sales guy stopped by to make sure all was ok. He said, "That gun is in really nice condition." I agreed, and mentioned that it's a WWI-era product. I only wish I could have had a video on his jaw dropping. It was really funny.
I was feeling pretty good about everything, and when I get home and examined the gun completely, it's even nicer than I thought. Stocks (grips) are correctly numbered to the gun, and bore, etc. looks like it came through a time machine. I made a request with Roy Jinks on the shipping date, and it was January, 1916. Very cool.
I realize it's not a rare gun by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a beautiful example of S&W craftsmanship. I'll try to attach a couple of photos.
I suppose the real message I want to say is, "You never know".
Best wishes everyone,
Roger AKA Mr. Wonderful on the S&W Forum
