I love my N-frames. They comprise about 50% of my total S&W collection. To sharpen that focus even more, I prefer that the caliber start with a “4” and my favorite barrel length is 5”.

Two out of three isn’t bad. I get e-mails from a small, local auction house. They auction all kinds of stuff, most of it junk – but as they say, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Up to this point I hadn’t found any treasure. I got an e-mail from them early last week, touting their upcoming auction on Friday. It was an on-line auction only and any lots won had to be physically picked-up on Saturday or Sunday or they reverted to the auction house.

They had about 11 guns in this auction and most of them were the aforesaid “junk”. But one caught my eye. Headlined as a S&W .357 Revolver, you had to actually read the description (or look very closely at the pictures) to ascertain that it was a Model 27, a dash 2 to be exact. The description didn’t even disclose the barrel length. It certainly looked like a 5”, but the longer I looked at it, the more it started to grow – is it a 6” or a 5”. At that point in the week the top bid was less than $300, so I said, “What the hell” and threw a low-ball bid at it, fully expecting to be outbid. My bid was less than half of what I paid for a 6” 27-2 (gun only – as this one was).

Never looked on Friday – the day of the auction – but I came home from a Cars & Coffee event that I did with my older son, to find an e-mail that I had won the gun.

Now the scrambling began. Everyone knows NJ sucks when it comes to guns (and property taxes and car insurance and…the list goes on) but you need an individual “Permit to Purchase” for each individual handgun. Time was that I used to keep two or three always on hand, but that was before our esteemed governor saw fit to increase the price from $2 each to $25 each (and yes it is being contested in the courts). At $2 each I really didn’t care if one expired before I needed it, but, call me cheap, at $25 per I only get them as I need them and the process usually takes several weeks.

Fortunately, the owner of a LGS works pretty closely with me and he provided me with a copy of his license so that I could pick the gun up and transport to him for entry in his bound book and subsequent transfer to me when my purchase permit came through.

I went to the auction house and paid for the gun. I asked if they had a ruler and he handed me the gun and a tape measure. First, the gun was in pristine condition – barely a turn line and clean as a whistle. The tape told the tale – it was, indeed, a 5” barrel. He told me it came from an estate and I imagine that this was a “sock-drawer gun”, fired little and put away. It was also an interesting configuration. The serial number puts it at 1974 or 75. I guess all the 3T guns came a little later. This one has a standard trigger and hammer and Magna stocks with a Tyler T-grip (metal).

Once the state gives me permission, it will come home to join its brethren.

Adios,

Pizza Bob


[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/8zZW**Mv/27-2-Five-B.jpg[/IMG]

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NRA Benefactor Member