.44 Magnum (Pre-29) Price Request

semperfi71 · #1 03-31-2012, 02:36 PM

Here is a S&W .44 Magnum. By the serial we think it dates to 1957. It's a 4 screw.

Blue wear on both sides of the barrel about an inch or so longer. Some blue wear along the very front edges of the cylinder but not hardly any on the sides. A bit of what I consider a little excessive cylinder ring. Probably from improper closing of the cylinder as the recoil shield does not indicate that much firing.

Remainder of the blue is very good. Action, and lockup is excellent.

Serious negatives. The trigger was crudely ground down a bit to narrow it and then polished. The cylinder thumbpiece was definitely ground down and polished. The "Cokes" were "relieved" in the places marked, shortened at the butt, and crudely refinished.

The trigger and cylinder release (in theory) should be easy to replace.

Notice the interior box lining damage and stains. Exterior of the box is black and appears to be okay with no serious gouges or tears.

I think it makes nice shooter. But......without a letter does it have a value that takes it into the $1,000.00 range or above?

We looked at Supica's book and BlueBook values but it's hard to price it with the damage to the trigger, cylinder release, and grips.

I would appreciate any value estimates and overal comments.

fat tom · #2 03-31-2012, 03:03 PM

I'm far removed from being an expert on these guns. But let me ask are you buying it as a shooter,as an investment or to re-sell? If the answer is the former,then you should buy it if you can get it for 1K. You would have a VERY cool shooter indeed. If as an investment,there are too many negatives for it to be truly on the high end of the spectrum and you might have to wait a long time to make any appreciable profit on it. Same if you plan to buy and re-sell. If you replaced the cylinder release,the trigger and the grips,you would be into it for another $500 or so. So,with the wear it shows,you may not get your money back out of it. Now,you can always sell that case for $300 or so and reduce your initial outlay. If it was me,I think I'd probably pull the trigger. But that's just me. I don't have a 4" example at this time.
f.t.

LEO918 · #3 03-31-2012, 03:40 PM

I agree with Tom. That will make a great shooter. The box is gravy.

semperfi71 · #4 03-31-2012, 05:14 PM

Thanks for the input. I am not a buyer.

The revolver is owned by a friend who might be interested in selling it. I am just trying to give him some input as to its worth.

I would not buy a shooter pre-29 if the price was too high. But I'd take any shooter 4 inch S&W .44 magnum, be it "pre", or "model number" as long as it was a M29-2 or earlier. Maybe even a M29-3. But for a shooter I'd probably not pay over $700.00 or so.

The challenge on this handgun is that as a shooter it's price may be too high because it is a "Pre" and it has a collectible box.

As a collectible it has too many "warts" and the box is not all that good in the interior.

Possibly a buyer might look at it as never becoming a collectible anytime soon and therefore pay as much as $1,000.00 and sell the box for as much as $300.00. Then he'd have a shooter in the range of $700.00.

Hondo44 · #5 03-31-2012, 05:57 PM

I would take it alone for $700 or with box for $1000 but purely as a shooter.

Therefore I would not replace anything except the thumb piece. I would clean up the grips especially the butt and make it parrallel to the bottom border of the checkering. The incorrect angle on the butt makes it stick out like a terd in a punch bowl. They'd be the length I prefer for shooting then too.

The trigger crudeness I would clean up to factory .400" combat trigger specs and give it a satin finish or get it case hardened. I prefer a smooth combat trigger anyway.

It has good potential as a shooter/keeper.