I sold a gun that I should have kept.
Elmer Keith Deluxe Edition 29-3 .44 Magnum EMK0013.
Sold it at a gun show in North Texas for $1,000 a few years back. It had the box with it, but think the wrong presentation case.
$1,000 was probably OK for non-deluxe version. SCSW 4th says 2X to 3X for the deluxe gun.
Did not know what I had.
The gun originally belonged to my dad, also David Reynolds.
He had a gun store in Dallas, Texas and was friends with Roy Jinks.
My dad's favorite number was 13.
Roy Jinks collected number 13 guns.
Occasionally S&W guns came out that Roy could not buy or did not want.
Twice he offered those guns to my dad. One was the 1st 645 model and the other was the Keith Commemorative.
Elmer Keith was one of my dad's heroes.
Roy Jinks was one of my dad's heroes.
Hard to believe that I thought selling this gun was a good idea.

The reason I am posting about this now is that I saw the gun for sale online today. They are asking $4500. Pretty sure that is too much. It especially hurts considering what I sold it for. What do y'all think would be a fair price for the gun?

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David Reynolds

There’s a reason the windshield is large, and the rear view mirror is small… Got to keep looking forward! But hey, I get it, it’s tough to sell a gun, never mind let some value slip. But at the time, it had to be a good deal for you, or you wouldn’t have sold it, right?

That said, I’m not sure what the value would be for that specific revolver. I believe it’s one of those cases where you’d really need to find the right collector to bring any big bucks. Otherwise it’s a condition thing for that model. In those terms I’d think $900 - $1,500 in very good to excellent condition. With the right collector, it may be worth a couple/few grand…? I think $4,500 is a bit of a pipe dream unless the PT Barnum factor kick in… That’s my opinion…

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NRA Life Member

One sold at the recent RIA auction. Not sure if it was the same as yours but apparently had the presentation box, a cardboard box and shipping box. Price was $1880 including the buyer's premium but not sales tax.

Smith & Wesson Model 29-3 Double Action Revolver | Rock Island Auction

As to regretting selling something, I suppose we've all done that. I think though I regret more some I should, and could, have bought and didn't.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I have done almost the same thing, was just stupid, I sold or traded 5 guns that I should have kept, 4 was my dads.. that gun is worth the most $ to you because it was your dads, I still have a M10-5 that was my dads, can not put a price on that, told my son he will have it someday..

Thanks, 22hipower. That is one of the standard models. So 2X or 3X $1880 is $3760 to $5660. So maybe $4500 not too far out of line for the deluxe gun. Probably will try to talk them down some and then just bite the bullet. Not their fault I sold it for $1000.
It belonged to my dad, he got it from Jinks, it is number 13 and honors Elmer.
How many times do you let one get away and then get another chance at it?

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David Reynolds

Unless you and yours lack food, shelter or medicine - buy it. If it's not worth quite that amount now it will be some day. Money ain't everything.

It's only money. Some things are special and the price really doesn't matter. It would be cool if you got it back and you'll certainly appreciate it more this time around.

I had previously missed that you are actually considering buying it back. I read your initial post as you regretting selling your dad’s gun and now being surprised at how much they are asking for the revolver now.

That said, I’d reach out directly to the seller and explain your connection with the gun and ask for some mercy on price. I would not mention the Roy Jinks connection if he’s not already awre of it! Not sure what your financial circumstances are, but maybe offer $3k / $3,500.

Could be that the seller is a decent human, and is not into the gun for that much, and he’ll work with you to help get your dad’s gun back to your safe. You’ll find out both when you make your offer… I think that if you end up paying above $3k it’ll be more for love of the gun/sentiment than expecting to get that monetary value back anytime soon. If you’ve got plenty of cash in the bank, just buy it no matter the price and sleep better at night, and with lesson learned. Good luck!

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NRA Life Member

What he said. I’d not go into a lot of detail, just “it was my Dad’s. I got stupid as a young man and sold it and I’ve regretted it ever since”. He may or may not help you out, but It can’t hurt. I’d not go into any other details as those would add provenience to the gun and maybe make him think it’s worth even more🙄

When I was about 12 years old and just starting to hunt and shoot ...
My Dad had given me my first shotgun ... brand new , not a hand me down and it was all mine ... we were cleaning our guns after a squirrel hunting trip ...
He looks at me all serious and tells me ..." Son , don't ever sell a gun you like ... you will come to regret it ! "
I think my old man was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for at the time ... That was good advice and I've never sold a gun I liked and I would add ...never sell a gun that belonged to your dad or grandfather ... those need to stay in the family .

I sure hope you are able to get your's back ... Good Luck !
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Well my experience with "Decent Humans" in any trading selling market, is that if you let them know how special something is to you, the price stays firm or goes up.... but you can try.

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Forum consigliere

Sad, but true…

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NRA Life Member

I think we have at one time or another sold a gun we regret. As we get older we learn.

We all have sold guns to pay a bill or obtain another - kinda like trading up. You cant agonize about value now as you were satisfied with what you got at that time. Wish I had some of my 65-70 Mustangs back at the price I sold them for… As far as the story behind your gun, you know it was your dad’s but without provenance beyond that, anything connected to a famous person or incident has no value.

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S&W factory revolver armorer

[QUOTE=dmar;141942525]There’s a reason the windshield is large, and the rear view mirror is small… Got to keep looking forward!

Those words right there say all there is to say-----I wish I had enough sense to have said them.

Ralph Tremaine

If the reason you want that gun back has anything to do with correcting a bad decision many years ago, let it go. Correcting bad decisions are steps most all have taken, but how to correct all of them?

Held an Old nickel SAA decades ago for about 20 minutes, put it down, came back and held it another ten or fifteen minutes, and walked away from it. Had a lot of responsibilities at the time and didn't want to further burden my credit card. It was as mint as perfect. Hate myself for letting that one get away. Let a beautiful young lady get away many years ago.
How I hate bad decisions, but many live on with us.

I'd go by my Dad's grave for a little while for a reality check and a talk. I'm sure he would tell you not to worry about it.

The decision is yours to make. If you do decide to go and pay the piper and get your gun back, it will only add to the story/history that makes the revolver special to you. We've all done similar things before, most of us don't have the opportunity to correct the mistake.

A fair price?

Push come to shove, it doesn't really matter what the price is.

The most practical reason for that is it's very likely each and every one of us is going to get some more money----tomorrow---or the day after that---or directly----directly being soon enough.

Ralph Tremaine

I say you should buy it back. You may regret passing this opportunity. As Ralph said we can make more money. Besides, this revolver has valueto you beyond the asking price.

Don't feel bad, I once traded a 68 Camaro SS in on a Chevy Vega. NOW THAT was a MISTAKE I regret.

I bought the gun. Will post pics when it arrives.
The guy would not reduce the price, so an expensive lesson.
Elmer Keith Deluxe Edition: Serial number EMK0013 with Gold inlays and Ivory Magna Grips.

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David Reynolds

Lesson learned. And it’s only money! Congratulations!

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Shortly it will be back where it belongs.

Uh-huh. '69 Firebird traded in on a '71 Mercury Capri. Still makes me sad.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

As others have said, don’t feel too bad.

I owned and hunted with a very nice pre-WW2 Winchester Model 70 rifle in college, and for some reason, I decided I needed to sell it and buy a new push feed Winchester Model 70, both were .30-06. Easily my dumbest gun buy/sell move ever and one for the record books.

I would pay a pretty penny to get my old M70 back!

Congratulations on retrieving your dad's gun.

I know that I would pay an absolutely stupid price for the Remington 870 that was the last gun my dad bought for me.

Your thread reminded me of a similar situation. A dear relative passed away and his major collection of Federal Mahogany furniture went to auction. My wife and I attended the auction as I have been into that style of furniture and lusted over that particular bunch of items for a looonngg time.

As the lots crossed the block, I won every one I bid on. Yay. The auction dragged on with other consignments and I had to leave to catch a plane. I left my wife there (we brought two cars) to bid on the final lot I wanted, a matching pair of exquisite Pembroke tables.

Wifey said “how high should I go?” I thought about it a minute or so and replied “go $1500, but whatever you do, don’t leave here without them!” The implication was clear. Boy did she have a worried look on her face as I hurried out the door.

The Pembroke tables flank the sofa in our living room. That was 10 years ago.

DARE, congrats on recapturing an important revolver!

Congratulations! , Glad you got it.

You know, I want to feel bad for all these regrets ... but this one just deserves a slap upside the head.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

Well, congrats. You're already a grand ahead because that's what you got for it. So, $3500 tuition in the School of Hard Knocks. Imagine the regrets you'd have if you'd passed!

Kinda stings, still.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

At least you got the chance to correct your mistake. Many of us never have that chance. Glad you got her back. I agree with what folks here have said you can always get more money.

As I age, I have become more comfortable with my regrets. The saying hindsight is 2020 is so very accurate.

What Steelslaver did is just inexcusable - A Vega c'mon man! :>)

Yup, only money, and if you don’t really need that money…

Another thing you might consider (to make yourself feel a bit better ) is what else you could buy with it. $4500 just doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to, does it?

I’m glad to know you got that gun back. Good choice.

My dad and I have been through this with motorcycles. When you get a chance to right a wrong sometimes you just gotta do it. You can’t take the money with you when you’re gone. If I had the funds I’d get it back

Congratulations, very happy for you!

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NRA Life Member

Thanks for all the wisdom and advice and stories.
Feel very fortunate to have found the gun.
I'll bet the odds of selling a gun and finding it again are not very high.
Interesting the way it happened. I was looking for a 4 screw, 4" pre-29 on GunBroker. To search I entered S&W, 4", .44 Mag.
Think there might have been one in six pages of guns.
Looking through the list I saw this gun. Clicked on it and low and behold it is the gun I sold.
I guess God really does look out for fools.

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David Reynolds

“Luck will be with you if you have been playing fair.”

One of the things I regret most, I bought a new '69 AMC AMX with my reenlistment money from Vietnam. $2650 Thru the Base Exchange in Spain. Fast forward to 2015 My grandson got to bugging me to sell it to him. I finally relented and sold it to him and purchased a '93 40th anniversary Corvette. 4 months later my grandson sold my AMX, He said he got too many tickets with it. My biggest mistake was not making him understand that If he wanted to sell it, he should sell back to me.
SWCA 892

I just got a call from the seller. They are very upset with me. Said I made an untrue statement.
When I posted about buying the gun I said the guy would not reduce the price. Actually they never responded to my requests, so what I should have said is the seller did not respond to my request to reduce the price. I apologize for my misstatement.

Someone on the Forum contacted the seller and said they thought it was bad Karma to not offer a discount in this situation. Thanks for going to bat for me. Sorry for stirring things up.

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David Reynolds

Too many time for me. For the last few years, I've been trying to buy guns that I can pass down to my son and grandsons. I hope they will not sell them after I'm gone.

OP, good luck with buying your gun back.

Too many times for me. For the last few years, I've been trying to buy guns that I can pass down to my son and grandsons. I hope they will not sell them after I'm gone.

OP, good luck with buying your gun back. Just saw you bought it back. Congrats!

Just got a call from the seller. They said they went to pack up my gun for shipment this morning and encountered a problem. Turns out they had already sold the gun to someone local. An employee was supposed to end the GunBroker auction, but had neglected to do so. She offered to contact the purchaser and see if they were interested in selling the gun. She will get back to me if she has any news.

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David Reynolds

Well, you can protest to GB, which will be a complete waste of your time.

I’m really sorry to hear this. It smells of something other than the story the seller related. Nevertheless, I still hope this works out in your favor, one way or the other.

I agree with the above.

It sounds awfully suspicious; and I believe that once the seller was contacted about not adjusting the price, it tipped her off and she came to this forum and saw how much it meant to you and then made up that story.

I bet that you'll be hearing back that the "new" owner will gladly sell it to you for 25% more. I'm hoping that the "buyer" has a heart or a bit of buyer's remorse and maybe you'll get it for even a little less than what it would have been on GB.

I hope that it doesn't turn out that someone with the best of intentions screwed this up for you when they got involved with something that was none of their business.
I really hope that it works out for you and please keep us updated.

Anyone else think this needs it's own new thread? It would be painful to relate, but I'm in if you all are.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

Happy you got it back, now just remember why you wanted it back so it does not get legs again. Made that mistake with my 686, twice. At this point I accepted it was just fate. Don't make the same mistake, twice, because you won't usually get a third shot.

What dmar said.
You should limit the time you spend looking backwards.
Only major exception would be you are a Tail Gunner.
OK! I’ll tell one. But only one!
One of the several retired NYPD folks I have met here in town went ga-ga on a gun I had at a local Gunshow.
He had wanted one of those probably before he was born!
So I sold it him fairly low.
About an hour later I walked past his table.
There it was! Marked up about $100 for sale!
He apparently got full satisfaction by owning it for an hour or so.
And it was time for it to get a new home.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Sorry to hear how this has turned out. All you can do at this point is wait and hope things turn out in your favor. It may, you never know.

I hope you get it back. Ask Dad if he has any pull up there.

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Two Handguns every day

Sounds like a bunch of "butt talk" to me, trying to wrangle more cash out of you.

It's just a fancy commemorative and wasn't given to your dad by Elmer, so Let it go. You'll never shoot it and commemoratives typically aren't good investments. I'm sure you have plenty of good memories to honor your father.

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"I also cook."

Good advice, Dave. I'm OK with not getting it back.

The reasons I wanted it back are:
When I sold it I did not know there were two variations of the gun.
The deluxe model has Ivory grips and Gold inlays. There were only 100 of them.
It is serial number 13. 13 was dad's favorite number. Roy Jinks collected number 13 guns.
In his notes on the gun dad said "This was Roy Jinks gun."
Elmer Keith was one of dad's heroes. He brought him to Dallas in 1979. We had a banquet at the Fairmont Hotel and went to the range to shoot .44 Magnum revolvers. Dad and Elmer did the shooting.

I met Elmer, I met Jinks, I have 12 guns that belonged to my father. One of them is a S&W 9mm Auto serial number 1313.
I can do without the gun if that is the way it works out.

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David Reynolds