24-3 3” at the LGS

tlawler

US Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2014
Messages
5,268
Reaction score
13,884
Location
S&W Florida
DoubleDelta’s thread about his 24-6 Lew Horton got me thinking about this one. I saw it a few weeks ago at my LGS when I was using their range. It was still there today when I went shooting again and I examined it more closely. It’s nowhere near pristine, but in good mechanical condition. Stocks need refinishing, some blueing loss but no visible rust or pitting. Turn line is pretty prominent. Bore is clean and shiny. No box or anything else. Looking in SCSW4, it appears to be one of the product code 100787 Combat Lew Horton Specials. The asking is $1500, so he probably knows it’s a LHS, but it’s worth nowhere near $1.5K in my opinion. What do you guys think?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1757.jpg
    IMG_1757.jpg
    81.6 KB · Views: 215
  • IMG_1756.jpg
    IMG_1756.jpg
    61 KB · Views: 167
  • IMG_1760.jpg
    IMG_1760.jpg
    85.3 KB · Views: 170
  • IMG_1761.jpg
    IMG_1761.jpg
    80.8 KB · Views: 176
  • IMG_1759.jpg
    IMG_1759.jpg
    44.8 KB · Views: 189
Register to hide this ad
I wouldn't pay anything close to $1500. It's got deep flame cutting for a modern .44 Special, so I suspect it has a lot of rounds through it.

Flame cutting isn’t as deep as it looks. I think it just needs a good cleaning. I could barely catch the groove with my fingernail. Is there any way to definitively check the depth of it, or is it more subjective than anything else? What kind of value would you place on it?
 
It’s not a $1500 gun, to me, but if you want it, why not make an offer? Niche guns like that sell for whatever the market bears. I’m sure there are quite a few people who would pay that price, I’m just not one of them.

Let’s say it’s a $1000 gun, but you have to pay $1350 for it. Can you find a nicer one, quickly, and pay less? Maybe. Maybe not. And how much will it cost you, time (frustration) and money, to find that nicer one? If you want it, why not see what you can buy it for? I’ve “paid too much” for several guns in my life, but I don’t recall any big regrets. JMHO. :)
 
The flame cutting wouldn’t worry me. I’d be much more interested in end- and yoke-shake. Even those can usually be easily repaired if the yoke is still aligned. Is carry-up uniform on all six chambers? Extractor rod appear to run reasonably true?
 
Last edited:
The flame cutting wouldn’t worry me. I’d be much more interested in end- and yoke-shake. Even those can usually be easily repaired if the yoke is still aligned. Is carry-up uniform on all six chambers? Extractor rod appear to run reasonably true?

I had to look that up:D Visually, the timing is good. I didn’t have a range rod to check it further. So what about being a Lew Horton? Any ideas?
 
On another website I see a blue 24-3 #AEMxxxx three inch unfired with blue box and tools for $2000. Now that is collectible grade. The one the OP posted is shooter grade.

The downside to .44 Specials was the previous owner a reloader who wanted to run hot loads in it like Elmer or Skeeter? So a regular diet of .44 Special +P and +P+
 
That is a designed and commissioned Lew Horton revolver. Whether it was actually distributed by Lew Horton can only be determined by contacting Susan Lorosso at [email protected], since Lew Horton closed their doors a few years ago.
 
$1500 and no box, no docs? That's a hard "no". What is pictured is more in the neighborhood of $1000, it's shooter grade, not collector grade.
 
$1500 and no box, no docs? That's a hard "no". What is pictured is more in the neighborhood of $1000, it's shooter grade, not collector grade.

And that’s the problem!!!! I’ve been monitoring LH of all type’s lately as I’d like to have a3” 629 or 29. No so pristine guns are bring $1000ish and very nice guns sometimes hit $1500. But everyone thinks they have something “special “.
 
$1,500 states to me they don’t really want to sell it.

And it has been there for over a month that I know of…and probably a lot longer. I’ll let it languish for a while longer and make an offer in another month or two. I’m thinking $900 and see what he comes back with. I think it will clean up very nicely and refinishing the stocks is easy. I’ve done several sets of smooth combats that have turned out very well.
 
That is a designed and commissioned Lew Horton revolver. Whether it was actually distributed by Lew Horton can only be determined by contacting Susan Lorosso at [email protected], since Lew Horton closed their doors a few years ago.

Thanks for the link. I’ll definitely email her. Until DoubleDelta posted that he had made contact and got a confirmation on his 24, I hadn’t realized anyone was still doing it since Earl passed away.
 
As I posted on another thread, I saw one yesterday (with its cousin a 624) at a gun shop in NC. Both had replacement grips and were marked at $1295 each. I don't know if they had the box.
 
I bought a 24-3 this summer from a member here. No turn line, 4" with tools and papers. Asking price was $1500 but we agreed on $50 less as I met him 30 minutes from his home. I would call the 3" shown as closer to a $1200 gun.
 
I saw a similar with magnas here in the INW @ 1200. It stalled a while then disappeared. I would liked to have had it but... In this era of plastic fantastic lovers, I question the desirability of revolvers to any others but ourselves. I am more in the mood of 800$ blue steel and happy with what I have snatched in the last ten years.
 
That one does look a bit rough……more like $900 gun. You just don’t see them often…..took me some time to find mine. The blue is a Lew Horton and I do have the holster to go with but I would not assign any greater value to the gun because it is a Horton. I wouldn’t let my 24 or 624 go for 900 though.
8efd3d7e00da6b856d564f10a11d089e.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top