Model 63 22lr

[SharpRedOne]

Greetings. New to the forum but not to S&W's. I recently purchased a sweet Model 63 22lr, no dash, pinned barrel, with original wood Coke (?) grips in pristine condition. The serial number is M159xxx. My question is, when was this revolver manufactured? Also any other information you might have on it. I haven't made it to the range yet but plan on shooting it tomorrow before the workday at the gun club.
I guess to post pictures you need to use a photo hosting site. I uploaded pictures to Photo Bucket but they are not showing up after uploading them to it. What host do you use, or how do you post pictures?

Pics added below.

 

[murphydog]

Welcome! The SN puts it as shipped in 1980. These are very nice trail/plinking guns, as I'm sure you're about to find out.

Photobucket should work for photos. Click on Post Reply under the last message, then Manage Attachments. Copy and paste the URL of the photos you want to post, then click Upload. Unless they are too large they should post with the message.

 

[SharpRedOne]

Thank you for the information. Hope this works.

BTW murphydog, my Bessie could be your Labs twin.

 

[murphydog]

Very nice! This type of stocks is called the Magna, and are the original type for this gun. If you look on the inside of the right panel you may see the digits of the SN stamped there, showing they are the originals fitted to your gun.

 

[SharpRedOne]

I took the stocks off and there was a faint number there that I couldn't read. There is a green film on the inside of the stocks that would not rub off. I have not tried to clean it with anything yet. Was going to ponder on what to use. The gun was in a closet for 18 years along with several others. The gentleman that owned them passed and his widow was selling them through a friend. I purchased the gun for $300 not knowing for sure what it was worth, but from what I read here I may owe them more.

 

[Camster]

Worth a minimum of twice what you paid.

 

[peepaw]

You got an excellant deal on a very nice pistol.
Congrats.

 

[H Richard]

That green may be a kind of mold, I'd wipe off with denatured alcohol. You got a steal.

 

[SharpRedOne]

Thanks everyone. I am going to give her more for the gun as I am not the type to take advantage of someone in her situation. But even so I think I got a deal on it because it is in such good condition. Got to run a few rounds through it before the workday at the range this morning, and it is a sweet shooter. Just need to adjust the sights. Very heavy double action trigger pull though. May have to have to work on that.

H Richard; Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try that and see what happens. That hadn't crossed my mind.

 

[Pef]

I bought the same model/dash around the same mnfr time in almost as good condition for $600, and I thought that price was fair.

Kudos to you for going back to her, too.

These are nice guns. I've always said there's something about a .22 revolver that makes the shooter feel like a kid again.

 

[M3Stuart]

Nice gun! I agree on the $600. Last one I saw was $650 - and that was the ONLY one I've seen for sale in years.

 

[SharpRedOne]

Thanks for the help guys. I forgot to mention that the box did not come with it, just the gun and a leather holster. Hoping she finds it in another closet sometime.

 

[murphydog]

The green on the insides of the stocks is present on many S & W wood stocks of this era; it is definitely there from the factory but I have never heard or read what it is. It does no harm to the metal on the grip frame so I'd leave it alone.

The J frames have pretty stiff springs, but after a few (thousand?) cycles the pull will tend to lighten up some. You now know what you must do. . Enjoy!

 

[SharpRedOne]

Thanks Alan for the information. Like you said there is no adverse effect on the frame and it didn't come off on the rag I used to try to rub it off with, so I'll leave it be.
I guess if the best way to lighten up the trigger is to just shoot, that is what I'll have to do. The things we are forced to do. Now to find a few thousand rounds of 22lr.

 

[BJoe]

I got the same one. I looked for YEARS to find it.

 

[Kevin G]

"I am going to give her more for the gun as I am not the type to take advantage of someone in her situation."

SharpRedOne,
You're truely a Gentleman, welcome aboard!
Kevin G

 

[SharpRedOne]

Thanks for the compliment Kevin. I just treat people as I want to be treated.

Dennis.

 

[Green Frog]

SharpRedOne, my welcome and kudos as well. If you want to lighten the trigger pull on that little J-frame, which I assume you won't be using to defend your life on a regular basis, you might consider buying a Wolfe Spring Kit for it. They provide a coil mainspring and rebound spring that are enough lighter to give improved trigger pull without giving up too much reliability. The stacking effect of that coil mainspring (unique in S&Ws to the J-frames) can be a little annoying on some of the little guns. BTW, you might also want to look for a pair of the factory target grips that were available for that gun... they look really nice and give you some more to hold on to... I like them on my small frame 22s.

Regards,
Froggie

PS I applaud and agree with your attitude toward the lady from whom it came... I wish more of our number would treat even our friend's wives so fairly in the same situation. I know I try to.

 

[SharpRedOne]

Thanks for the kudos Froggie. I won't be using the 63 for self defense (my Bodyguard fills that holster). I'll definitely check into the Wolfe spring kit for it. I'm mainly going to be using this for plinking and our 22 shoots at the range. I'm going to get different grips for it as I have big hands and want to put the original grips in a safe place. Any suggestions as to where I can find some originals.

I have a suggestion that others may already do, and that is to place a list inside of their safe with names of trusted friends, inventory and prices that your spouse (or children) can use in case something happens to you. My wife would have no idea as to how much my guns were worth and at least she would have someplace to start. Just one less thing for them to worry about.

 

[hsguy]

SharpRedOne, welcome to the forum! You have picked up a great gun and I too applaud you for not taking advantage of someone. Please feel free to hang around and learn a bit more about S&W's.