All right everyone, I was able to buy a model 34-1 on New Year’s Eve. I have been looking for one for a couple years off and on, and seemed I always was a day late or severa dollars short… this time I wasn’t missing it… showed up to the shop at opening, was the second guy through the door. Immediately went to the revolver section and asked to see it. Off the bat, had super nice bluing, was a tiny bit dirty, but not bad, mostly just dust. It was missing the rear sight which bothered me a bit. It was on consignment, so I had the salesman call the owner and see if they’d drop the price, and they would not.
While I was waiting to do the paperwork, 3 other people called to shop to see if it was still available, but I beat them to the punch for once! The Valera were amazed at 9:03 am it was already sold lol. It cost me $749 but I think it was worth every penny and I’ll tell you why…
1) it came with the factory matching number box with wax
Paper, tools (unopened), all the paperwork, and a vintage holster.
2) after looking it over, it appear to never have been fired
3) I missed out on another 34-1 earlier in the week at another shop that was $699 and in much worse shape with no box.
The shop I bought it from had a 3” Model 317 as well, for $719, but I don’t like the finish on those as much and it was really dirty. I debated for 2 seconds buying it as well, because I had never even seen one of those before, but it was really dirty- shot a lot never cleaned, and I don’t particularly like the finish on those.
Anyway, after I got it home and Started looking at it with a flashlight, I think it was never fired.
There are no cleaning marks anywhere. No powder burns, no flame cutting, with the exception of a tiny spot of bluing wear on the muzzle and some tarnishy rust on the backstrap and frame, some finish discoloration on the grips, it looks amazing. Original box, paperwork, original tools, wax paper… now that I see it, I bet it either came with broken real sights or they fell off, and someone left it in the box and never shot it.
I think it is a 1960-1969 because the box calls it a “22-32 kit gun, it is a 34-1 which is a j frame, and it has no “M” prefix in the SN. I haven’t found exactly what year it is, the serial number is 1332xx if anyone has any info on that let me know. The grip is serialized as well, but it is off by 2000 digits… grip is 1312xx. Probably misstamped or swapped on assembly line. The grips were stuck on one side from rust (all cleaned up nicely though)
The lockup is absolutely rock solid. Cylinder gap is very tight.
Here is what you’ve all been waiting for…
While I was waiting to do the paperwork, 3 other people called to shop to see if it was still available, but I beat them to the punch for once! The Valera were amazed at 9:03 am it was already sold lol. It cost me $749 but I think it was worth every penny and I’ll tell you why…
1) it came with the factory matching number box with wax
Paper, tools (unopened), all the paperwork, and a vintage holster.
2) after looking it over, it appear to never have been fired
3) I missed out on another 34-1 earlier in the week at another shop that was $699 and in much worse shape with no box.
The shop I bought it from had a 3” Model 317 as well, for $719, but I don’t like the finish on those as much and it was really dirty. I debated for 2 seconds buying it as well, because I had never even seen one of those before, but it was really dirty- shot a lot never cleaned, and I don’t particularly like the finish on those.
Anyway, after I got it home and Started looking at it with a flashlight, I think it was never fired.
There are no cleaning marks anywhere. No powder burns, no flame cutting, with the exception of a tiny spot of bluing wear on the muzzle and some tarnishy rust on the backstrap and frame, some finish discoloration on the grips, it looks amazing. Original box, paperwork, original tools, wax paper… now that I see it, I bet it either came with broken real sights or they fell off, and someone left it in the box and never shot it.
I think it is a 1960-1969 because the box calls it a “22-32 kit gun, it is a 34-1 which is a j frame, and it has no “M” prefix in the SN. I haven’t found exactly what year it is, the serial number is 1332xx if anyone has any info on that let me know. The grip is serialized as well, but it is off by 2000 digits… grip is 1312xx. Probably misstamped or swapped on assembly line. The grips were stuck on one side from rust (all cleaned up nicely though)
The lockup is absolutely rock solid. Cylinder gap is very tight.
Here is what you’ve all been waiting for…
