How Rare?
- Thread starter GSP Fan
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Jack Flash
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I don't think they are hard to find but they do seem to cost more. People like the short barrels. I think the 4" is actually the rarest.
It was one of the standard lengths and made in large numbers, probably comparable to the numbers of 5” models. Short barreled anything is popular these days and 3.5” model 27s have been so for the past few years; figure a minimum 25-33% premium over a 6 or 8 3/8”.
Desirable?... Maybe ...... Cooler ? Yes
I've found that on an N-frame the "overall" size difference between 3 1/2" and 4" barrels is minimal.
Always thought I wanted a 31/2" shooter grade 27..... but very happy with the 4" +90% shooter grade gun I found...... and figured I saved $500 or so.
At the time enough to buy another Smith!!!!! 
4" 27s are the rarest ... they were special order only until 1980 and only offered as cataloged guns from 1980-1990.
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22hipower
Member
And the better the condition/package the higher the price will go. Someone here paid over $6k for a complete package supposedly LNIB unfired a week or two ago. I paid $1200 for a factory refinished one a couple years ago which seemed too high at the time although it did turn out to have shipped to the Kansas City PD. Agree with others, not rare but very much in demand. Here's my pre-27 3.5; been seen here before but digital ink is inexpensive so here it is again. Good luck.
Jeff
SWCA #1457
Jeff
SWCA #1457
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GSP Fan
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Thanks to everyone on the feedback. I'm looking at a 5 screw but from what I've seen on recent GB auctions it's out of my price range. It's an auction so we'll see. I did get an as NIB 6 inch nickel with the presentation case and all the paperwork yesterday so no complaints
22hipower
Member
Congrats on the buy and we want to see pictures of that 6 inch nickel; pre-27? I don't see the pre-27 6 inch guns very often either and don't remember seeing one in nickel locally in many years. . . .if ever. And even less often the 6.5s. Good luck with the auction.
Jeff
SWCA #1457
Jeff
SWCA #1457
Bullseye 2620
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Added value, cost more, popular, desirable, cooler, hard to find......what else can be said about the 3.5'' pre-27........maybe in nickel
Maybe in nickel? Your wish is my command.
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H Richard
US Veteran
It's something about the quality that was put into the Pre 27's. And, the 3 1/2" version has always been the most popular. When you handle one, it just feels "quality".
Jack Flash
Member
And no matter how much we like the Pre 28 HPs, they just don't have the same quality, some would even say elegance.
When I was a teenager looking at Smith & Wesson brochures in the Mid-1950s, the .357 Magnum with the 3.5-inch barrel was always the barrel length pictured in the brochure. I thought it was the coolest-looking revolver I had ever seen. I prefer them with Magna stocks. Target stocks offset the "balanced" look with the 3.5-inch barrel for me.
I have related before that I bought a Mid-1950's gold box for a 3.5-inch .357 Magnum before I bought a revolver to go in the box. I bought the box from an estate with the intent of sometime finding a revolver to go in the box. It turns out that a couple of months later, the family found THE gun that came in the box originally. Needless to say, I paid over market for the gun at that point. (Time and the crazy gun market have wiped out that premium several times over in the last twenty years. Now, it looks like a bargain, even adjusted for inflation.)
I have related before that I bought a Mid-1950's gold box for a 3.5-inch .357 Magnum before I bought a revolver to go in the box. I bought the box from an estate with the intent of sometime finding a revolver to go in the box. It turns out that a couple of months later, the family found THE gun that came in the box originally. Needless to say, I paid over market for the gun at that point. (Time and the crazy gun market have wiped out that premium several times over in the last twenty years. Now, it looks like a bargain, even adjusted for inflation.)
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