Collection Strategy

opaul

opaul

US Veteran
Bronze Supporter
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
2,415
Reaction score
6,254
Location
Central NC
What made you decide to start collecting S&W's and how did you decide to build your collection;based on barrel length, consecutive model numbers, only stainless; random madness, etc.?
How long have you been collecting?
 
Register to hide this ad
Started collecting s&w when I was 21 years old.growing up my father always had smith&wesson.to me they are art work on a steel canvas.only collect blued revolver's everything else is just to much bling for me.27 years later and I have more intrest now then ever.happy shootin my friends.
 
Oh my !!!! You're in TROUBLE . Especially 'round here . It all depends on the depth of your pockets , your interests , how much time are you willing to devote etc . I've always been a shooter . Once the kids were grown & gone I started picking up whatever I could find that was NIB with all the goodies Colt's included . After a while it got to be like work . I thinned the herd & now concentrate on pre war , post war S prefix & sometimes latter . If I want a shooter that's what I buy preferably 90 - 95% guns . If I want collectors I get the best possible specimen with the original box , grips , papers , tools etc . In other words the complete package . When you look to sell & have prime top condition stuff it cuts out a whole lot of BS . They either pony up or back in the safe it goes . Buy yourself a copy of The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson's . Wealth of info . Lots of very knowledgeable folks on here too .
 
Bought one on "accident/impulse", shot it and have been hooked. Get the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson.

I got my first one week before Christmas last year

4" 66-1 - hooked
6" 66-1 - longer barrel
4" 66 no dash all SS - hey an all SS no dash in a pawn shop
63 - early stainless .22 for plinking and getting the girls involved
2 1/2" 66 no dash - well you have to get the snubbie too!
27-2 - if you get .357's you might as well step up to the top shelf
27-2 S pre-fix - wanted a true vintage Smith, circa my birth and pre-buyout
on the trail of a nicer used 28-2 Highway Patrolman

So, I'm sticking within existing calibers, been tempted by several .38 specials but did not bite. Get the catalog and you will soon know what trips your trigger(s). I also want the hammer block in there for an actual safety device. Oh, and if it is not P&R, well why bother right?
 
Last edited:
Most of us don't buy our first S&W revolver thinking we are going to start collecting. Most start with shooters. But then you start learning what guns or features are in relatively higher demand or just appeal to you more -- and you see one at a local gun store or gun show and you're hooked.

For example, I like 3 inch barrels -- on anything. I also like fixed sights rather than adjustable. It narrows the field considerably, but that's fine -- I can't afford to buy everything.
 
Started off with different calibers, 22, 32, 38, 357, 41, 44, 45colt, 45acp, then different bbl lengths, 4's, 5's, 6's, 6-1/2's, 8-3/8's.........
No short tubes......Yet.....
 
I started off with 29-2's, then K-22's and now it's just the oldest in the highest condition for the cheapest price!:D

And I don't mind buying something I already have if I can upgrade condition or it's to be had at a good price.

I've got a lot of good friends right here on the forum that advise me, scold me or help me fix things I bought & got screwed on!

GF
 
I seem to be collecting police trade-ins. Not just Smiths, but once I got my first 10-8 and took it out to the range, it was all over. I am proud to say I have zero safe queens.
 
Lot's of great info and different strategies. I did get the book for Christmas! Problem for me is everything looks good. So, i've been able to get three nice guns with boxes and papers, which is a plus since these two items alone can add up to ~$50 - $100.
 
"...i've been able to get three nice guns with boxes and papers, which is a plus since these two items alone can add up to ~$50 - $100. "

Oh Lord. You're a gonner now.:)

You've stepped over into the world of Sight Adjustment Tools that usta' be just "little screwdrivers", Vapor Paper and cleaning rod with PERIOD correct brushes.

A small but vocal minority here on the Forum!:D

GF
 
New Here but not to Collecting guns...Id say Random madness as far as Smiths go...Im trying to get at least one example of the N frame Guns...and what ever else catches my eye...So far I have 2 on the way from Gunsamerica buys..a 25-5 Nickel 8 3/8 .45 Colt~~a 27-2 Blue 6 .357~~and in the safe theres a 28 blue 4~~a 29 Blue 8 3/8~~a 629 Classic hunter II from Lew Horton~~a 686 no dash 6" and a 1911...along with all My Winchesters the Conn river valley Companys are well represented here!...They are just Beautiful Guns and Im Glad Im able to give them a good home...And My Cats are Named "Smith" & "Wesson"...
 
my 27-2

My mother in law gave me a like new 27-2 8 3/8 barrel for christmas. I have been wanting to learn to shoot for some time. Well, she gave me the opportunity to do this. Like someone else posted, YES, I am obsessive compulsive and bought a Kimber Pro CDPII. Some of you guys said I started at the top of wheel guns, so - - . I am now looking for my next wheel gun. Want one as old as me. workin on it! Bet I will have more than my wife of 32 years wants me to have shortly. S&W wheel guns are just cool as heck to look at, and more fun to shoot!
 
You've stepped over into the world of Sight Adjustment Tools that usta' be just "little screwdrivers", Vapor Paper and cleaning rod with PERIOD correct brushes.

Well, GF........NOS in unopened plastic with a sight adjustment tool, bore brush, bore mob........is shipped for ~$25....One of the boxes needed it :)
 
Started looking for a snubnose to carry about 10 years ago. Found a beautiful no dash 36 in Tulsa. There was just something about a "flat latch". Then the wife and I got distracted and discovered the wonderful world of the safety hammerless.
 
For me it was making the "FATAL MISTAKE" of finding this website to find out a little info on a cool old S&W I had traded for.All starry-eyed and awed by the great pistols other forum member had,it made me WANT SOME FOR MY OWN. At first it was just a couple of the "classics." Then I decided to quit fooling myself and just get one of every model made. Then I NEEDED a couple of pre- models. THEN I needed just one at least, antique.And finally, one day I accepted the fact that I wanted them ALL.After that i was FREE. Free to give up the notions of collection direction. I just buy the ones I want as they appear.If I go to a gunshow or pawnshop and don't find one, it's all GOOD.The "One" I don't have will show up...
 
I started back around 1963 when I set up at a gun show next to a man with a whole table of S&W pistols, all new ones. I spent the weekend looking them over and on Sunday afternoon I bought a nice Model 10 4 inch heavy barrel to carry in the car. Well about three weeks later we met up at another gun show, and I acquired a Model 36 SB in 3 inch flavor.

Over the years I accumulated more and more, trying to accumulate every 2 digit model numbered gun, which I consider to be the best made handguns of all time, then I started on the barrel lengths (or as many as I could find) and it just got worse from there.

Anybody been to the doctor to find a cure for this malady? :o
 
Fatal attraction.......but then again, if I give up stuff...like golf, cycling, eating, etc, I can keep adding to the safe.
It's amazing how it can all begin....one look, an article, finding this forum...
 
I have no strategy past just what I think is interesting. And I find just about anything that is decent quality and goes "bang" interesting.
For many years I even denied that I was a collector. Just went after what I liked or thought interesting.
But after 35 years of doing that, I found that my accumulation of guns had turned into several fairly respectable collections. Colts, S&Ws, 1911s, 10mms, ect.
I have not changed any. If I like it, and I have the spare cash, there is a good chance I`ll buy it.
Some collectors buy guns and put them on display. That never appealed to me. I once swore I would never own a gun that I couldn`t shoot. I`ve since made a few exceptions to that rule, but not very many.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Sometimes I Wish I was a 357 Mag Kind of Guy
Replies
15
Views
3K
roaddog28
roaddog28
F
  • Locked
Several pistols, rifles, and shotguns NEW GUNS ADDED 2/26/09!!!
2 3
Replies
46
Views
6K
firedog3700
F

Latest posts

Back
Top