Why is the no dash so important?
To a shooter the no dash is minus the upgrades?
The dash-number means how many upgrades or times it's been in design reviews and upgraded. To me a shooter too the more upgrades I have the finest model there is.
I been told my brand new s&w m29-10 in 44magnum is the finest quality m29 that s&w has ever offered to day. She can handle the newer hotter purchased ammo too.
So what's the hub bub on the no dash or dash numbers?
Which one is the better quality revolver?
No dash is more a collector piece? It's number uno of the model?
I don't get it yet.......
For me it has more to do with when it was made. A no dash 27 would have been made in a distinct period of absurdly high quality guns coming from S&W.
A 27-2 could also be just as great, but it could also be not quite so great because it was made later. For me it's generally down to the S serial range on N frames. That S is all important to me because I just really like what the factory was doing at that time.
In truth the differences may be minor for someone who just wants to take a gun out and shoot it, but after you have done that enough and already have favorite shooters you start to find yourself looking for the best made of that particular model, or variations you happen to like.
In the case of my 27 no dash I just really love the 6.5" barrel, patridge sights, and the balance in my hand with the cokes on there. It's just
right in ways that my first 27 (a -2 in the N range) just wasn't. A similar thing occurred with my first model 57, I sold it 4 years ago to look for a better one, which I just finally found the other day.
The way I feel about it is that every gun I own should evoke in me some sort of emotional response. If it doesn't then I may as well just sell it for another gun that does, because that other gun is out there. The bulk of my S&Ws do that for me for one reason or another. Heck, I keep eyeballing this:
because I basically just "upgraded" it to essentially the same gun with an HBH:
and I try to maintain a rule for myself that I shouldn't have duplicates, but you know what? It's not going anywhere. I could probably have a very large pile of heavy duties and I would love them all.
I can't say the same for any of the post 1960s S&Ws I have owned, all of which are gone save the model 60 I carry.
