14-3 SAO...worth a letter?

[hkcavalier]

Hey fellow collectors,

I won an auction for an as-is 14-3. My max bid was pretty low ($450) and it slid just under that. As the title suggests, when I got it in hand it's clearly an SAO gun. Finally got a chance to take it apart today and the hammer is factory, not one of the modified DA/SA ones. Grips are S/N matching. Gun was dry inside and dusty in the cracks, as if it had been sitting out in the open for some time and wiped off with a rag prior to sale. Getting oily dust out of the rear sight was a pain!

I know there are factory SAO guns in this range, but weren't most of them with target grips as well? From reading here, I get the impression that most SAO guns were made so with a S&W hammer/trigger kit after the fact and not original from the factory. Not sure a letter is a good investment when I have a handful of much older guns that might garner an interesting surprise.

Bad tabletop pic, I should get a nice outdoor natural lighting pic done soon.

 

[Retired W4]

I lettered a SAO 14 and found it left the factory that way. I don't know if one could tell if a S&W kit was installed or it came that way. Probably not. I don't remember if it came with magnas or targets. The letter went with the gun when I sold it. Save your money for something else.

 

[22hipower]

I have an SAO -3 and I've wondered if it was factory SAO or not. But I think the chances are high that it was modified with a kit after it left the factory. Either way, getting a letter and finding out that it was factory SAO, or not, wouldn't make any difference to me. Nor would it, I suspect, make much difference in value to anyone who considered buying it. I'll save my letter money for pieces with more potential for positive surprises. Bet it's a great shooter, enjoy it. Good luck.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[Truckman]

My newest SAO (shown below) is a dash one that letters as coming from the factory in 1961 with TT and TH (plus trigger stop is also present) but with checkered walnut stocks...The target grips available at the time were probably not ordered because of the planned addition of what is on it now...

My other SAO is a dash three with standard trigger and hammer and a questionable label on the box...I'll letter it at some point too......Ben

EDIT: Danged sideways pictures!...

 

[ken158]

Nothing special about a SAO model 14 as the factory conversion kits were sold in blister packs on dealer display along with target grips and other accessories. Save your hundred bucks…

 

[mmande]

"My other SAO is a dash three with standard trigger and hammer"
The factory parts for SAO (even the kits) where always a matched target hammer and target trigger. This is what gave them the shorter throw to cock the hammer. If you look at them side by side with double action parts you can easily see the difference. I'm sure some where here on the forum somebody has posted pictures.
Mike

 

[Truckman]

standard trigger and hammer"
The factory parts for SAO (even the kits) where always a matched target hammer and target trigger.

Thanks, I suspected my "other" was a non-factory production...It sure has a sweet trigger though......Ben

 

[glenwolde]

I don't think there's any value in getting a letter. The SAO's don't seem to bring a premium, as you just found out. I don't think it matters whether it's a factory SAO or not. It's unlikely to have an interesting history.

 

[JP@AK]

I know there are factory SAO guns in this range, but weren't most of them with target grips as well?

I'm aware of no evidence that the Model 14 SAO was "usually" shipped with target stocks. I own two dash 3s from 1973 that letter as factory SAO. Both of them left the factory wearing Magna stocks and the stocks on them when I acquired them are numbered to the gun.

I do agree that most, if not all, of the SAO units shipped with TT and TH. Both of mine have those features.

Interestingly, mine carry serial numbers that are just 151 digits from each other. They shipped at different times to two different locations, and I acquired them 2 years apart.

Whether or not to get a letter on your revolver is entirely a personal choice. I tend to letter the more interesting guns that I purchase and sometimes wrestle with myself over whether I should letter one or not. So far, I've never been unhappy with my choices and I still have a few more that I'll letter some day.

At 74, I've pretty much stopped buying guns. I guess that gives me more financial leeway to buy letters on the few that I still want factory details on. That gives me an idea I had not thought of before - maybe I ought to start setting aside royalties on my books and use that as a "kitty" to pay for S&W letters! Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Truckman]

I ought to start setting aside royalties on my books and use that as a "kitty" to pay for S&W letters!

If I depended on royalties, I'd never letter a gun, Jack...i haven't seen a check on any of my books in a couple of years...Maybe I should find more popular topics to write about......Ben