"I have two guns, one for each of you..." I`m sorry, I just always wanted to say that...
I`ve been reading on the forum for years but I`m pretty new to posting on here and this will be my first thread. I picked these two transitional magnums up separately a few years apart, the blued one first at a gunshow and the other one at an estate gun auction a couple hours away. I decided to do a thread on these since the forum is the first place I went to for more information about this particular elusive model after I traded for the blued gun and looked it up in the Standard Catalog after I got home to see what I had.
The first thing I noticed when I got my hands on the blued gun was the prewar grooved hammer on the same gun with a postwar sight and S prefix 71,800 range serial number. I was aware of postwar transitional guns and had a few K and N frame .38`s but I`d never seen nor heard tell of a transitional magnum so I wasn`t completely sure of what I had. I`ve always had a thing for the 5 inch and shorter N frame 357`s so I knew I needed this one too, whatever it was. I spent the better part of that night reading and learning about the transitional magnums and felt mighty lucky to have stumbled upon one. I`m not a rich guy and I knew I could sell it at a hefty profit but never really considered it because where would I ever find another one???
You can imagine my surprise when I checked on a big estate gun sale I`d heard about in another town and saw a picture online of the silver finished gun which I believe to be aftermarket chrome but at the time imagined might be factory nickel. It was listed in the auction catalog as a "model 63 357 magnum" or some such rubbish and the serial number they listed wasn`t even close to being correct but even in the small blurry photo I could tell I was looking at a 5 screw N frame with a prewar hammer and postwar sight despite the 70`s era wood grips it was wearing. Could it be?? After a long drive the day before the auction to preview everything I saw that sure enough, it was. Thanks to the 40 degree temperature causing condensation to form on the guns and the poor lighting I thought with the hammer, trigger, sights, and ejector star not being plated I thought it might even be factory nickel. I couldn`t sleep worth a darn that night thinking about it... It turned out to look more chrome than nickel in the daylight the next day, but I pounced on it anyway as it was one of the few S&W`s there that didn`t go for about 125% of their full retail value. It`s hard to put a value on this one I suppose since it`s been chromed and I`m not aware of any similar refinished 3 1/2" transitionals selling at auction lately but I guess it doesn`t matter since obviously I can`t sell it either.
I contacted bmg60 with the serial numbers for his database and he supposes that both were probably shipped to the Kansas Highway Patrol in the same 25 gun shipment. I haven`t lettered either of them yet but it is on my list of things to do. Does anyone on here have any idea when KHP quit using these and surplussed them out?
I`ve been reading on the forum for years but I`m pretty new to posting on here and this will be my first thread. I picked these two transitional magnums up separately a few years apart, the blued one first at a gunshow and the other one at an estate gun auction a couple hours away. I decided to do a thread on these since the forum is the first place I went to for more information about this particular elusive model after I traded for the blued gun and looked it up in the Standard Catalog after I got home to see what I had.
The first thing I noticed when I got my hands on the blued gun was the prewar grooved hammer on the same gun with a postwar sight and S prefix 71,800 range serial number. I was aware of postwar transitional guns and had a few K and N frame .38`s but I`d never seen nor heard tell of a transitional magnum so I wasn`t completely sure of what I had. I`ve always had a thing for the 5 inch and shorter N frame 357`s so I knew I needed this one too, whatever it was. I spent the better part of that night reading and learning about the transitional magnums and felt mighty lucky to have stumbled upon one. I`m not a rich guy and I knew I could sell it at a hefty profit but never really considered it because where would I ever find another one???
You can imagine my surprise when I checked on a big estate gun sale I`d heard about in another town and saw a picture online of the silver finished gun which I believe to be aftermarket chrome but at the time imagined might be factory nickel. It was listed in the auction catalog as a "model 63 357 magnum" or some such rubbish and the serial number they listed wasn`t even close to being correct but even in the small blurry photo I could tell I was looking at a 5 screw N frame with a prewar hammer and postwar sight despite the 70`s era wood grips it was wearing. Could it be?? After a long drive the day before the auction to preview everything I saw that sure enough, it was. Thanks to the 40 degree temperature causing condensation to form on the guns and the poor lighting I thought with the hammer, trigger, sights, and ejector star not being plated I thought it might even be factory nickel. I couldn`t sleep worth a darn that night thinking about it... It turned out to look more chrome than nickel in the daylight the next day, but I pounced on it anyway as it was one of the few S&W`s there that didn`t go for about 125% of their full retail value. It`s hard to put a value on this one I suppose since it`s been chromed and I`m not aware of any similar refinished 3 1/2" transitionals selling at auction lately but I guess it doesn`t matter since obviously I can`t sell it either.
I contacted bmg60 with the serial numbers for his database and he supposes that both were probably shipped to the Kansas Highway Patrol in the same 25 gun shipment. I haven`t lettered either of them yet but it is on my list of things to do. Does anyone on here have any idea when KHP quit using these and surplussed them out?
Although it is disappointing that it was modified in the first place. I do like the modifications - 3.5" barrel with a Patridge FS, and what looks to be a bit of smoothing on the edges of the trigger - pretty cool! I'll bet that baby is a smooth shooting long-action .357 lead slinger and a total blast at the range. 
