Help me understand what to expect regarding current pricing on revovlers?!

[Safestuffer]

The prices are not what they were ten years ago, five years ago, or even two years ago.
Five or six years ago I was finding and buying good condition M10's for $200-$300 right and left, online and at LGS. The last "deal" I found for a M10 was last year at an LGS, an unfired nickel 10-8 for $450.

The days of cheap M10's for sale on every street corner are over. The days of surplus cheap revolvers in general is over.
Revolvers are now boutique and niche, sadly.

I have a very hard time selling any revolvers any more simply because at this point with the prices being what they are they are irreplaceable. I'm seeing prices that are triple what they were even 8-10 years ago

 

[Old cop]

I bought my first off-duty gun, a Colt Cobra, in 1968 for $85 and still have it. That was a king’s ransom back when my annual salary was $6800/yr. About three years ago I purchased a 1973 LNIB 4” Model 66 for $600, but have no idea what’s worth now.

 

[hkcavalier]

I don't have nearly the perspective as others on here. I've only been buying since about 2002 and didn't really go whole hog into S&Ws until 2012 or so.

But I remember those gun shows from 20 years ago where tables were FULL of 28-2s for $350, Model 10s for $200-$250, etc. Sure, the early 27s and especially the 29s have always held good value, but the "working guns" were being tossed aside for newer models. Police trade ins were everywhere and we're pretty much at the tail end of that phenomenon with just security services and foreign LE organizations left.

The time to get in cheap is over, but there are still deals to be had, and nice shooter grade examples are well within the reach of Joe Sixpack.

 

[glowe]

Friends don’t let friends buy on Gunbroker.

Your loss and my gain! Besides I know you are secretly prowling the GB website.

Two stories come to mind. The first was a purchase I made a month ago. It was a re-blued Model 1902 without the walnut stocks, No Change Target that got no bids at $400 so I bought it. Turned out that it was sent to Harry Hawes who owned a Sporting Goods Store in Springfield, MA. So who was Harry Hawes? It turns out that D. B. Wesson's wife Cynthia was a Hawes, so Daniel and Cynthia were Harry's uncle and aunt.

Another good luck story was even better, in that another apparent orphan came up for sale on GB about 18 months ago and the price was right so again I bought another 38 M&P Target for $400. As some of you know, I asked Roy for a ship date and his reply was this is a gun you must letter! Well, turns out that this one was sold to a guy in Lewiston, Montana in 1933 - Ed McGivern.

 

[mrcvs]

Your loss and my gain! Besides I know you are secretly prowling the GB website.

Two stories come to mind. The first was a purchase I made a month ago. It was a re-blued Model 1902 without the walnut stocks, No Change Target that got no bids at $400 so I bought it. Turned out that it was sent to Harry Hawes who owned a Sporting Goods Store in Springfield, MA. So who was Harry Hawes? It turns out that D. B. Wesson's wife Cynthia was a Hawes, so Daniel and Cynthia were Harry's uncle and aunt.

Another good luck story was even better, in that another apparent orphan came up for sale on GB about 18 months ago and the price was right so again I bought another 38 M&P Target for $400. As some of you know, I asked Roy for a ship date and his reply was this is a gun you must letter! Well, turns out that this one was sold to a guy in Lewiston, Montana in 1933 - Ed McGivern.

Actually, no, I don’t really secretly prowl. I look from time to time on Gunbroker, but not often, and not with a purchase in mind. Same with RIA. I’m too much of a bottom feeder and my energy is better spent looking elsewhere.

Not to say there isn’t a bargain on Gunbroker from time to time, and the two examples lettered well but just happened to be on Gunbroker.

I’ve purchased from Gunbroker once years ago and it was a fair price, not a bargain. RIA—I’ve placed many bids over the years and never been successful.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Keep in mind that they report year over year inflation..... 6-9% over the past six months........ but real inflation over the past 25 months(1/21-1/23) is more like 15-16%.

 

[Engine49guy]

You have to factor in that after they printed a trillion dollars out of thin air for "covid" and shut down the pipelines spiraling inflation out of control its not that the guns are going up as much as your dollars are going down.
I just paid $6.00 for an 18 count of large eggs that was $3 two years ago, gas was under $2 prior to this regime, it was up to $5 until they flooded the market by selling our strategic reserves to China, btw its trickling up in price again and your dollars are going down every time they raise the debt ceiling and run the $ printing presses.

 

[rufgr]

I purchased this model 10-5 two weeks ago at a local gun show for $500, the asking price was $575. I had been looking for a model 10 snubby for some time and was glad to get this one. My rule is to divide the price by 10 and if this seems like a reasonable 1970 price I buy it.

 

[Doug M.]

In addition to the general inflation, a significant number the older revolvers of many formats were LE trades. Darned few agencies have had revolvers to trade in any significant numbers since at least mid-90s. That means a LOT fewer to fill a relatively inelastic demand.

 

[hkcavalier]

Prices on collectibles are only weakly tied to inflation. New guns are affected much more.

 

[dogdoc]

This is very simple. Old fashion supply and demand.

 

[The Gila Bender]

At the December 2022 Phoenix Crossroads show, renowned for stratospheric asking prices, I found a very clean 586-3 6-inch square butt in the original box (prod code 103536, spec ord 2036 - Feb 5, 1992) top strap drilled and tapped for optic, with docs and spare Hogue rubber grip. IMO the final negotiated price was reasonable, given current conditions, at $700. YMMV. A friend recently spotted a decent N-prefix 28-2 at a local pawn shop priced at $850.00. Sign of the times.

Gila's 586:

 

[Bigdog357]

I scooped up this 14-3 from GB for $550. I threw what I thought was a low bid out on it and was surprised that I got it. I expected I would get sniped at the last minute, but it stuck. Great shooter and really nice trigger.

 

[Modified]

Friends don’t let friends buy on Gunbroker.

Most of my great deals have been off of Gunbroker. Without gunbroker 3/4ths of my favorite guns wouldn't be in my posession. It's just always a gamble, and sometimes you have to live with the results of that gamble. The platform can be pretty weird, and requires a lot of patience and persistence to do well on, but you can.

It is not a place to just go to and buy stuff though, if you are going to do well with gunbroker you have to invest time into checking it every day, and by that I mean manually looking at everything that comes up in a very broad search. The only good buys on gunbroker are mis-labeled, or the seller doesn't really know what they have.

 

[bigmtnman]

"The only good buys on gunbroker are mis-labeled, or the seller doesn't really know what they have."

That's how I got this $500 .38 spl "Model 10" which was actually a 1954 mfg Heavy Duty. I swapped out the walnut magnas for something more to my liking

 

[Green Frog]

As we're bemoaning the inflated cost of S&Ws these days, keep in mind that we are in the midst of a period of serious inflation. This means too much cheap money chasing a decreasing amount of merchandise. I look at the increases that have occurred since the onset of the Wu Flu as an anomaly, and hopefully at least partially temporary. The political climate may also be fueling part of this increase as well.

I just kind of shake my head when I compare current prices to those I was paying as recently as 2018 or 2019, and think of what I paid or got for the several used guns I bought in those happier times. Now I even have to check my credit rating when I want to buy a dozen eggs, a quart of milk and a loaf of bread on the way home from the range!

Froggie

 

[PeteC]

The OP mentioned a "Utility grade model 10". I don't think those have gone up in price much in the 10 last years. Just before Covid, LE surplus revolvers like Model 10 and 15 were still selling online in numbers for $300~400. One dealer told me he bought a pallet of worn M15 and M19s. Dealers have gotten smarter and don't put out more than one or two at a time, and say they are "from an estate", which sounds a lot better than "crate in my garage", lol.

This weekend I got a Model 10 with a worn finish but in perfect mechanical shape for $500. It would have been $350-ish, but came with later combat grips.

By way of illustration, one saddle-worn M10 HB 4-screw, with some funky donated shoes. It does not get more "Utility" than that:

 

[MrG5122]

A local pawn shop has 4 J frames I might be interested in.....
A probably 1980’s era 37 in nickel that looks to be excellent for 495, and a much older blued 37 flat latch in VG condition for 595.

If I ran across these two around here for that money they would be in my safe.

 

[BC38]

The last two well used but not abused Model 10's I've bought were actually pre-model M&P 38s
One three years ago for around $250 and another about a year ago that had a fair amount of rust freckling for $300.

 

[dekeshooter]

2022 was a good year for stumbling into S&W revolvers at good prices.

In January I bought a 4" Model 24-3 for $820 at an auction.

The next month I scored a 6 1\2" Second Model Hand Ejector for $740 also at auction.

A 6" M&P Model of 1902 1st change was aquired in a trade for a gun in had paid $300 for a year ago. This gun I later sold for $425.

A Gunbroker auction yielded a very nice Brazilian Contract M1917 for $555.

I was offered a very clean 4" Model 10-5 for $300 and I quickly snapped that one up.

Finally, at a gun show in December I purchased a 90%+ Model 28-2 for $800.

Bargains are out there, you just have to find them and pounce when opportunities reveal themselves.