Model 18 Full Lug

[lscocoa]

Do you like it ? So someone wanted a full lugged S&W .22 and threw a full lugged barrel on it , an optima sight and very nicely grained grips and it looks cool and is unique . Is the price reasonable to you then buy it , people have been personalizing their own guns for years . Sacrilege to some , works of art to others . Ex: I saw a M-58 frame with a M-57 4" barrel , the frame was milled to take new style adjustable sights and the dealer sold it for 900.00 so someone liked to pay that price .

 

[Cardboard_killer]

The seller did make the claim that the gun was "Mint original finish S&W Model 18 no dash, 6.5 barrel. . .". The asking price is $800.

I'm not a fan of the full lug, and dislike the 617s' balance. I did, however, have one of the 17-8(?) with the full lug and the alloy cylinder that had better balance. Maybe the full lug without the extra weight of SS is the way to go. Buying a m18 and a 6" barrel and then paying someone to install it would set you back a lot more than $800.

 

[lowriderfxr]

Buying something and making it something else will always be expensive, but respectfully I don't see how that's relevant. There are plenty of 17-6 6" revolvers to be had for that price range that are factory assembled. That's the route I'd take if I wanted a blue, 6", full lug K22.

 

[jack the toad]

I haven't checked elsewhere, so the only thing I know is what I've read in this thread but I don't think most folks typically could buy the parts and do/pay for the mods for $800. I'm not saying its not worth it, just not to me as I don't need an $800 shooter right now.

 

[zonker5]

To call it a "fake" would be a misnomer, after all it is a real gun. It is however, an amalgam of revolvers of different eras and would be of no interest to me at any price. A really nice pre-18 was sacrificed to make it. No way it came from the factory in that configuration. Getting it lettered would be a waste of money.

Without a letter there is no way to tell for sure if this is a factory one-off or a home made. It is quite possible this "amalgam" was done by S&W.

I have a model 15 no-dash 4" round butt that every one told me had to be modified. A letter from Roy Jinks showed it was indeed a special order (1 of 3) factory piece. The model number was hand stamped so it was a no-dash even though it was built during the era of the -3 or -4.

Looking up the date of manufacture for that serial number may also give a clue as to when it was built.

 

[alcotune]

I don't have anything new to add but I do have a model 18 with a 6" barrel. It was re-barrelled by a previous owner but looks great and shoots just as good.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Additional photo of the crane.

 

[jack the toad]

#K356800 appears to be from 1959.

 

[sandspur6]

1959 would jive with the 4th screw and the beveled cylinder flutes. The barrel is obviously a recent addition.

 

[markepilot]

Mod 18

Just a thought. Is it possible that the gun went back to Smith and Wesson with barrel damage or something in the late 80's and they had no Mod 18 barrels and offered to install this barrel?

Thanks in advance

 

[k22fan]

Just a thought. Is it possible that the gun went back to Smith and Wesson with barrel damage or something in the late 80's and they had no Mod 18 barrels and offered to install this barrel?

Thanks in advance

Yes that is possible, but so what? That would help with collector value if it had any but it has no collector value.

I'm a meanie, aren't I? If the seller wants the most money out of it my advise is to go win a match with it then sell it to one of the always numerous competitors that have the illusion that the equipment, not the shooter, wins matches.

 

[josywales]

Just a thought. Is it possible that the gun went back to Smith and Wesson with barrel damage or something in the late 80's and they had no Mod 18 barrels and offered to install this barrel?

Thanks in advance

That was my thought as well, but S&W has no repair record on the gun.

 

[BUFF]

I was under the impression that S&W tracked factory repairs by the customers' names, not by serial numbers. Can you share who at S&W shared that info with you?

That is probably an excellent shooter if you want that sort of revolver but it would appeal to a limited number of folks on this site. Even if it was the factory that rebarreled the gun, especially 25 years after they built it, with non-original parts, that killed the collector value.

Everybody is free to spend their own money on what they want to buy, but it is always better to know what it is you are buying.

 

[zonker5]

I truly doubt that any such replacement would have been authorized at the Factory. Now the work done by some back room gunbutcher is much more likely in this case. Just any of the really professional gun builders would have been willing and happy to put their name to such a creation. But, then again, I doubt many, if any, of the good ones would have been willing to do any such thing to a nice collector grade gun. They would have shopped around until a proper barrel was found to do the work properly.

What makes you think it was a "nice collector grade gun."?

It may have been a shot out rust bucket that someone made into a nice shooter by treating it to a new barrel and a re-blue.

 

[josywales]

What makes you think it was a "nice collector grade gun."?

It may have been a shot out rust bucket that someone made into a nice shooter by treating it to a new barrel and a re-blue.

Just guessing now, but I lean that way as well. I think the gun needed "help", or maybe it was just the worst in his collection The owner was getting along in years and wanted something classic, but with functional sights. Probably had a friend who was a gunsmith and that made it all happen. And happen well. A friend of mine had his early Woodsman reblued by a local smith of ours. I tell you, that thing came out as good, if not better, than most of the Colts we've ever seen. The smith hand rubbed that thing, while watching TV every night for a looong time. He had a spaceship in his backyard as well, but that's another story...

The sad thing about collecting guns is that they can't tell their story. And some have quite a story to tell.