Some of you all might remember me asking about a GunBroker auction which claimed there was a stamping error on a Model 25 in THIS THREAD.
Much to my surprise, I won the auction at my initial bid. It's a Model 25-2 made in 1976 with a 6-1/2" barrel, target trigger & target hammer.
It came with a box in really good shape, cleaning rod & bore mop (but no screwdriver), the manual in perfect shape (those are scanning artifacts), and the 1978 letter from Smith & Wesson acknowledging the stamping error. The finish is nearly perfect with zero holster wear. I doubt this gun has been shot much at all. There was a little bit of leading in the barrel which came out really easily making me think it was recent rather than old. There is a tiny bit of flanging at the upper corner of the sideplate. Maybe it's silly, but the figure of the wood stocks looks great to me.
Mechanically it's in pretty good but not quite perfect shape. Lockup isn't as tight on 2 or 3 chambers as my older Colts. Single-action trigger is right at 3 pounds and very nice (after a very thorough cleaning inside), but double-action trigger is over 11 pounds. The crane was really gunked up inside the frame and didn't move smoothly. Also, when open the edge of the cylinder can catch on the little raised area of the frame on the lower left edge of the cylinder window (nomenclature?).
I can't wait to take it to the range this weekend!
Much to my surprise, I won the auction at my initial bid. It's a Model 25-2 made in 1976 with a 6-1/2" barrel, target trigger & target hammer.
It came with a box in really good shape, cleaning rod & bore mop (but no screwdriver), the manual in perfect shape (those are scanning artifacts), and the 1978 letter from Smith & Wesson acknowledging the stamping error. The finish is nearly perfect with zero holster wear. I doubt this gun has been shot much at all. There was a little bit of leading in the barrel which came out really easily making me think it was recent rather than old. There is a tiny bit of flanging at the upper corner of the sideplate. Maybe it's silly, but the figure of the wood stocks looks great to me.
Mechanically it's in pretty good but not quite perfect shape. Lockup isn't as tight on 2 or 3 chambers as my older Colts. Single-action trigger is right at 3 pounds and very nice (after a very thorough cleaning inside), but double-action trigger is over 11 pounds. The crane was really gunked up inside the frame and didn't move smoothly. Also, when open the edge of the cylinder can catch on the little raised area of the frame on the lower left edge of the cylinder window (nomenclature?).
I can't wait to take it to the range this weekend!
