model 29-2, how old is it?

[vtxcrazy]

my 91 year old dad gave me his 44 mag revolver it is a 29-2 and the serial number is N 781283. my dad think he bought it new in the late 70's. he fired it twice and put it in the trunk of his 57 chev. its a little rusty but cleaned up ok. how much is it
worth? and how old is it?

 

[VM]

my 91 year old dad gave me his 44 mag revolver it is a 29-2 and the serial number is N 781283. my dad think he bought it new in the late 70's. he fired it twice and put it in the trunk of his 57 chev. its a little rusty but cleaned up ok. how much is it
worth? and how old is it?

Welcome to the Forum!
Your Dad is correct w/ late 70's time-frame as approx. date.
It has no monetary value as it was a gift from your Father.
Shoot it and enjoy it.

 

[Hawg Rider]

It has sentimental and monetary value

Well VM, I wouldn't say that it doesn't have any monetary value. Even if vtxcrazy wouldn't sell it because of sentimental reasons, it still has a market value of $500+ depending on barrel length, condition of stocks, and how much rust pitting remains. We'd have to see some pics to estimate it's true market value. It could be a "Dirty Harry" 6-1/2". His Dad might even have the original box and papers around somewhere.

 

[vtxcrazy]

it came with the 6.5 barrel and was in the box with some papers but no sales slip. the rust is only surface and took it to a gun smith and he said with a reblue and a little hand polishing it would look good as new.

 

[c21yankee]

57 chevy

hey! tell us about the 57 chevy

 

[fyimo]

it came with the 6.5 barrel and was in the box with some papers but no sales slip. the rust is only surface and took it to a gun smith and he said with a reblue and a little hand polishing it would look good as new.

The 6.5 inch barrel is very popular and wanted by most buyers over the 6 inch model. If the surface rust is mnor I would use 4 (0000) steel wool and gun oil to clean the rust of before I reblued the revolver as that usually gets most of the rust off. The 4(0000) steel wool is super fine and will not scratch the finish.

Rebluing the revolver will lower the value to any serious buyer and in the end you would lose money it you have it refinished. Now if you are going to keep the revolver forever seeing it was Dad's revolver then if you decide to reblue it S&W doesn't excellent work.

I assume from your handle that you own a Honda VTX and I have a 2003 VTX 1800 trike and it's a blast to ride.

 

[M29since14]

It has no monetary value as it was a gift from your Father.

Absolutely the right way to look at it.

Don't let anyone tinker around with your father's (now your) gun. Do what you can to stop whatever rust you find on the gun and let S&W do any refinishing that needs to be done. I am not one of those who agonizes over reblueing, in a case like this. It's your gun, it has no particular value as a collector's piece, and I hope you plan to keep it. If you want it refinished, do it. And for heaven's sake, don't worry about the money. People waste greater amounts of money on things a lot less important. Just get it done properly.

 

[marlin58]

make your day!

here's my 1973 M29-2....you are going to love shooting it...beautifully balanced .44, the older ones are way better quality than the new repro's....take er to a good smith and get it all fixed up...and they are worth way more than the posts....an original dirty harry .44 is running from $8-1,200 easy

 

[Kavinsky]

Just curious is there any place that lists the serial numbers by year for the Model 29, I'd be kinda curious to find out when mine was made too, althought I'd like to know specifically what year it was as I already know it was made in the 1970's sometime.

 

[geotech]

fyimo gave great advice IMO. Though I believe he meant to say the S&W does excellent work with refinishing. I have only had one Smith refinished, and it was totally for sentimental reasons, and the factory beautifully redid it.