Gun trading mistakes I have made: Model 19 combat

Tomkat

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Many years ago I acquired a Model 19. It was a good shooting gun. Mine had Pachmeir grips and a 3" barrel? If memory serves. Anyway, I have regretted selling that gun for over 25 years. I need to bite the bullet and find another one....they don't make em like that any more.
 
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I have a worse one than that

Model 27 3.5 inch in the presentation case gun was zip tied mint, never shot. I had a hankering a few years ago for the S&W 1911 sc commander when they first came out , I traded it - what a fool I am wish I still had it.
 
I've made a few good trades over the years. However, the worst mistake I ever made was trading a nearly new, in the box, two cylinders, S&W M-650 straight across for a Ruger 10/22 International. The guy I traded with had covetted my 650 for a long time and badgered me at every gun show we showed at. In a weak moment I traded and I have been kickin my rear ever since. Live and Learn.
 
Many years ago I acquired a Model 19. It was a good shooting gun. Mine had Pachmeir grips and a 3" barrel? If memory serves. Anyway, I have regretted selling that gun for over 25 years. I need to bite the bullet and find another one....they don't make em like that any more.


If it really was a 19 with a 3" barrel you are going to do more than "regret" selling it....... .......................

only 50 3inch model 19s were ever made!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Hopefully it was the much more common ............ 2 1/2" model.
 
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While I have made some trades I was happy with, like most of us I have also made several that in retrospect I can only think, "What the hell was I thinking of?". The one that probably galls me the most is, a few years after I quit shooting bullseye, I sold my Smith Model 41 to buy a Ruger .357 magnum.
I know. I know.
 
I regret trading in two guns I can't replace. One was a Colt series 70 goverment 1911 in nickel and a 1975 colt python. Both had problems that I regret not getting them repaired. Both were brand new.
 
Back in early 1972 I got interested in Smiths, and at 21 yoa I could finally purchase handguns. I recall all sorts of gold boxes,small red boxes and black presentation cases in the USED pistol cases.

I would pass right by those as I wanted the NEW MODERN S&W's. Put the FROWNY face emoticon here.
 
I am lucky. I have only one handgun which I regret selling.

In 1972 I bought a brand new Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Long Colt (no ACP cylinder) with a 4 3/4 inch barrel. It was indeed one of the last "three-screw" Blackhawks on the market probably. It cost me $99.00.

I added a pair of Jay Scott faux ivory grips to it. I put in in a Hunter Model 145 25 round cartridge belt with a Hunter 1100 holster. I thought I was John Wayne.

Dick Metcalf (I think) had just done an article in Shooting Times about loading the .45 Long Colt with jacketed bullets to 1100/1200 fps for Rugers only. He empathically stated to use the .45 ACP bullets because they were generally .451 and .452 diameter and therefore would provide less resistance down the Ruger .454 bore. He did not speak of cast bullets and I have since learned that cast bullets in general can be driven faster than jacketed bullets because of the reduced friction of lead over copper.

Anyhoo...I loaded the Hornady 250 grain jacketed hollowpoint to an estimated 1100 fps in my Ruger. I did this for about two boxes and realized it was not a good idea and got a .44 Magnum instead. I then loaded my Ruger with the Speer soft cast 200 grain SWC and Unique to about 900 fps and could get 2 inch groups at 25 yards from a rest. Ultimately I settled on the Speer 250 grain soft cast SWC at about 850 fps.

I carried the .45 everywhere when outdoors and it was my main home defense weapon. I have loved anything .45 Long Colt since then.

But I sold it thinking I needed money for a divorce. If I had it today I would not carry it much but I would have some very nostalgic shooting sessions with it. Any replacement would not do.
 
If it really was a 19 with a 3" barrel you are going to do more than "regret" selling it....... .......................



only 50 3inch model 19s were ever made!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







Hopefully it was the much more common ............ 2 1/2" model.


It probably was 2.5"

But I miss my Model 19 Combat.

Who else has owned or shot them?
 
My first carry gun was a 2 1/2 in 19......... sold it to my Chief of Security after I got a brace of 3" 66s...(89/90)

Tomkat........ along with the 21/2 inch 19s there are a fair number of 2 1/2inch 66s (stainless) but another gun you might want to be on the lookout for is a 3" Model 65 .357 a fixed sighted version of the 19/66...... there are also 3" 66s; but only about 5000 were made over about 20 years.
 
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I was a LEO and I traded something and ended up with a nickel snubby Model 15, which may not have been fired by the initial owner. I never fired it and wanted a 357 gun for hiking and fishing. I had no interest in it at all and we had made the transition to semi-auto's at the department. I finally sold it after a couple of years for much less than current prices. I kick myself for selling that one, all the time.
 
I had a beautiful Chiefs Special I sold to a friend that bugged me until I sold it to shut him up. I should have kept that one.
 
Man, do I FEEL your pain. After growing up in the 70's watching Dirty Harry movies, I wanted S&W something. The Model 29 was out of my reach at the time. So, in 1977, I bought a 4 inch Model 19. I had a wide trigger put on and red indexed front sight. I could easily hit the bull with it consistantly. And, I do not claim to be a good shot. I believe that gun shot extremely straight. But, like a dummy, I sold it in the mid 80's to move on to another hobby. I keep an eye out for them at gun shows. Do not really see very many. They are in the 600-800 range. I think I paid $325 for mine, new, back in the day. I remember going to the range, loading it up with magnums, relaxing my arms some, and let the recoil kick the gun up as high as it would go. Dirty Harry, I was, lol. I miss that gun. Hopefully I can get another one day.
 
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I don't regret making the sales-I had some logic in what I was doing.I do regret not being a little more patient or a little sharper,in what I realized for a few.
 
When my department transitioned from POW to department issued only I sold my SW model 14 and my Colt Detective Special with shrouded ejector rod. Dumb Dumb Dumb


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This past winter I traded a one-year-old Ruger SP101 .357 Magnum for a 1971 Model 19-3 with 4" barrel.

So far, the regret has been bearable. :D :D
 
For those of you who regret selling a gun, go out and buy a replacement. There are many guns available for sale.

That's exactly what I've done, and with guns that were better than I originally had. Except for one.

I bought a 4th Model Safety Hammerless, .38 S&W, 2" barrel, blued, in pristine condition, for $150. This was around 1990, when I lived in Idaho. It was a good shooter, and easy to handload for. I traded that, and a Security Six, for a brand new Ruger SP101. I just HAD to have it! And yes, today I'm still kicking myself. There'd be no replacing that now for a price I could live with.

Thankfully, I haven't made a bad trade in over 20 years now.
 

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