Another darned WIW post - 19-7 snub nose?

[ChargerBill]

I have the opportunity to buy a 19-7 in new condition for $895… wondering if that seems like the current going price. Snubbies are hard to find, so I was surprised to find one. The gun is at least a 98%… or better (faint ring only). Minor issue… it is wearing rubber grips. (unless that was an option)

I haven't paid attention to pricing lately..sorry about asking such a worn out question.

On frame under yoke:
CBY 1972

on yoke / crane:
369

2 1/2 " barrel

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

I'm not up on all the revisions…does that have the lock. If not…that seems good price to me. I just turned down a somewhat used 19-4 last week for $1200. NIB…maybe…but not a used example for that money.

 

[31FordA]

My 4" 19-7 has a CBP prefix and dates to Dec 1996 according to the Spec Ord number on the box label. A 19-7 snub should have come with the round butt Uncle Mike's rubber grips. I would say $895 is on the high side of reasonable, but everything is higher these days. If it were me I would pay $895, but I want a snub 19-7 to pair with my old 19-7 service revolver.

The 19-7 was the last pre-MIM version of the Model 19. It was also the last with a hammer mounted firing pin.

 

[ChargerBill]

I was going to offer less and see what happens. The closer I get to the high $700's the more apt I am to buy it. It has also had a trigger job, which feels like it was done well, but my concern is one's that have gone too far and started altering sears and hammers.

I keep seeing MIM… can someone refresh my memory?

 

[22hipower]

I keep seeing MIM… can someone refresh my memory?

Metal Injection Molding (MIM); developed in the 1980s as an improvement over conventional forms of metal casting. Finely powdered metal particles are combined with a polymer binder, then injected into a heated mold. Supposedly better, probably less expensive.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

Done correctly MIM can do the same job at less cost. Parts are more consistent and take less work on the parts of assemblers…and labor is very expensive.

Parts of the landing gear on some Navy jets are MIM. They take a pounding and hold up.

 

[ChargerBill]

Thanks for the clarification. I get that traditionalists would rather stick to the older revolvers. I have a few old Smith & Wessons that I really enjoy owning and shooting, including a model 19, a model 27, a model 10, a Victory and a 1917. They are like swiss watches… just incredibly fine tuned and accurate.

I know this 19-7 comes at the end of the better S & W's, but it is still timed just right and I have always wanted a snub nose .357.

 

[ChargerBill]

Well, I bought it. I ended up getting it for significantly less than they were asking. I'll start a new thread and post pics once I take possession.

I believe it is a 1995 version because it comes with the molded case, but doesn't have a lock, and it has the Uncle Mikes grips, so it is a round butt.

 

[murphydog]

Good decision.

If you have the box with end label we can let you know almost exactly how old it is.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Sounds like that one worked out well for you. Congrats.

 

[SLT223]

19-7 is the same engineering as 66-4. Forged parts, drilled and tapped even in the snub models. They are nice guns for sure. That was last engineering change before MIM, if I recall correctly. I don't mind MIM at all, but will admit the forged parts are more aesthetic.

 

[DevilDog72]

buy it.... you wont regret it

 

[BEEBEE]

Please don't call it a Hillary hole and I get it. If you don't like the safety lock I get it. I just dont like the ideal of fine firearm being saddled with a gun feature attributed to Hillary.
Many firearms have locking mechanisms and nobody calls them Hillary holes. The locks can be removed and holes plugged.
Just my opinion

 

[desmodue]

Please don't call it a Hillary hole and I get it. If you don't like the safety lock I get it. I just dont like the ideal of fine firearm being saddled with a gun feature attributed to Hillary.
Many firearms have locking mechanisms and nobody calls them Hillary holes. The locks can be removed and holes plugged.
Just my opinion

The term is accurate. The Clinton administration had S&W over a barrel and used their power to force S&W into selling the company to avoid long and costly legal battle with the US Govt. Saf-T-Hammer was a one trick pony corporation, they invented a revolver safety lock that they tried to sell to multiple gun manufacturers. After Saf-T-Hammer bought S&W the Clintons publicly praised the inclusion of the safety lock on the new S&W Company's products...thus the Hillary hole.

Most people don't know why certain terms are used, they assume that it has no basis in fact. Hillary hole is an example. Another is calling fast high performance motorcycles "crotch rockets" Typically from someone on a Harley as a put-down, because faster and better handling is bad? Post WWII, former Nazi rocket scientist Walter Kaaden (contemporary of Werner Von Braun) postulated the scavenging loop that transformed small 2 stroke motorcyles from inexpensive 3rd world transportation to fire breathing race machines

 

[chief38]

Thankfully there are still a plethora of well cared for and rarely shot vintage S&W's out there with no holes in them. That's my cup of tea!

Just recently picked up an as new (only Factory test shot) M19-4 2.5" bbl. RB in 100% condition and from a friend. Well.... it's getting shot now! Don't know how he didn't want to shoot it all they years he owned it (since 1974). I certainly could not do that!