Police Dept Stamped Smiths. Value?

[Whitwabit]

There is a guy that shoots at the range I do that collects the used police weapons .. don't know how many he has but more then a few (10) He was shooting a Beretta one day I talked to him and the pistol looked brand new .. I had commented that one day I would like to get one .. and he showed me the one he was shooting ..

Said they were a good way to get a new to almost new pistol many times .. the bad ones he writes off as luck of the draw and sells .. if you look at the comments on used police pistols on Bud's many say the pistol looks new and hadn't been carried .. then others say that the one they received had wear marks on it ..

haven't seen any say they didn't shoot good !!

Guess it depends if you want a brand new straight from the factory pistol or just a shooter with some possible wear ..

 

[Whitwabit]

I purchased a police marked gun last year for $329. It looked like it was marked up by a drunken sailor using a nail. It is a model 3906, an interesting pistol, and so I bought it. If the price were any higher, I would have passed as the markings definitely did not add value in my opinion.
Kim

looks like he used a had scribe .. not the proper way to do it .. the ones I have seen looked like they were stamped .. or etched ..

Still it makes a nice carry pistol worth the $329 ..

 

[Bear76]

guess I got lucky, couple weeks ago I bought a mod. 15-3, nice and tight, shoots good, little rough in a couple of places but don't hurt the shooting of it..I like shooters. price was right, about what other ones of like shape and vintage are going for around here.

marked OR. CO.CA. I guess it means Orange County California. that's my story and I'm sticking to it..

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Although such markings are marks of honor as far I am concerned I do not feel they increase or decrease value much at all unless it's a scarce variant model. With that said I did get a rather good deal on two of them. One a RHKP marked M-10, the counter guy seeing me examine the markings said someone stamped their initials on the back strap and could give me a deal on it. Another was a M-64 that was "neutered" to DA only and no one would buy it, offered me a great deal on it. Both are in the safe of course!

 

[bearman49709]

If I'm buying it lowers the value, if I'm selling it raises the value.

 

[les.b]

Bankers Specials are pretty rare to start with, but knowing that this one was issued to the Boston Police Department in the 1930s makes it more valuable to me. But I still shoot it, and it is a slick little gun, made in a different era when craftsmanship was paramount!!





Best Regards, Les

 

[charlie sherrill]

Because I take the opposite position, I hope there are more folks in your camp than mine.

.....and where is that marked 58 exactly????

Best,
Charles

Not exactly sure of your question, so I'll answer it twice. The location of the model 58 is with me. The location of SAPD mark is stamped on the frame on the left side under the cylinder. It does not appear to be S&W markings, most likely stamped by someone at SAPD.

 

[the ringo kid]

I was just on an auction site and saw a nice Model 58 .41Mag in great shaped but it is stamped with police dept initials. This brings up a question I've wondered about for some time. Does this stamp add or detract from the value of the handgun and if so about how much? 10%? 20%? Total non issue?

I'm not talking about collectables original in the box with papers etc. Shooters in good shape.

Contact ringo1957 on this site-he collects Austin P.D. guns, and can most likely tell you what you want to know.

 

[policerevolvercollector]

I'm at 150 + marked revolvers w/ at least one from each state. It is an addiction!

Nice Banker's Special Les! I have one from the Post Office Railway Mail Service.

Best
Charles

 

[1-1917]

I got a model 58 that had some serious holster wear. Figured for sure it would letter to a PD. It didn't, I was disappointed. I'd have paid more for it if had been PD marked.

 

[DeathGrip]

Bankers Specials are pretty rare to start with, but knowing that this one was issued to the Boston Police Department in the 1930s makes it more valuable to me. But I still shoot it, and it is a slick little gun, made in a different era when craftsmanship was paramount!!





Best Regards, Les

That just swayed the vote.

 

[Absalom]

My latest find (Some here may remember me showing this off in a separate thread a while ago). Because the photo of the backstrap in the auction was dark and blurry, none of the other dozen bidders seems to have noticed the US stamping in addition to the Metro DC police stamp; the US stamp elevates the value by a few hundred dollars at least.

 

[JSR III]

Bankers Specials are pretty rare to start with, but knowing that this one was issued to the Boston Police Department in the 1930s makes it more valuable to me. But I still shoot it, and it is a slick little gun, made in a different era when craftsmanship was paramount!!

Les did you letter the gun to Boston or are you assuming Boston PD? We have a Massachusetts member that specifically collects BPD guns if it's for sale.

His handle is ( Ben Cartwright SASS )

 

[bigchuck83]

I like department stamped guns, a local pawn shop had a T.P.D. stamped model 681 revolver last time i was there and they know i have a weakness for revolvers.

 

[les.b]

Les did you letter the gun to Boston or are you assuming Boston PD? We have a Massachusetts member that specifically collects BPD guns if it's for sale.

His handle is ( Ben Cartwright SASS )

Thanks, James, no, I haven't lettered it, but I've been in touch with Ben Cartwright, and he believes that the markings are consistent with Boston's. and no, it's not for sale right now. I really like the little guy. Long story on how I got it in the first place, traded it off, and got it back again.

Best Regards, Les

 

[S. Kelly]

Les, that's a Boston gun, take it to the bank. Great find!

 

[jsfricks]

I bought this 10-5 with original box from Joe Salter a few years back an, of course, paid too much. But I liked it, and how often do you come across a round butt snub model 10. This one is marked S.C.P.D. amd Joe said it was for Suffolk County P.D. I posted it on the forum and it attracted an officer that was currently working at that dept. He took my serial number and visited the armorer and they dug through his files and found the card for this gun. It shows it was purchased from J. Tobler on 5/2/68 and issued to Lt. Charles Neis on 5/10/68 and gifted to him at his retirement. Almost better than a Jink letter!

 

[Wally West]

I grew up in CA and thought it would be cool to have a SFPD marked 58 until I saw how much they were going for $$$. I don't think there is a set answer for the police marking value question. Depends on the gun and the department.

I didn't want to say anything until the auction was over but the gun that I was talking about was SFPD marked and well done, too. It had the slight cylinder turn but otherwise looked very lightly used. Went for about $1,000 which was over my price as the marking didn't add anything for me.

 

[Absalom]

I didn't want to say anything until the auction was over but the gun that I was talking about was SFPD marked and well done, too. It had the slight cylinder turn but otherwise looked very lightly used. Went for about $1,000 which was over my price as the marking didn't add anything for me.

It's really annoying for police collectors if there is an interesting agency they would like to add to their collection, but the underlying value of the gun is too high to spend the money. I'd love an SFPD-marked revolver, but have no inclination at all to spend a thousand bucks on a nice Model 58.

There was a wildlife agency somewhere in the West that issued Pythons sometime in the 1970s. They had a really pretty logo they embossed on the guns. Forgot which agency. But the one I came across that was for sale had a Python price on it. Forget that !

 

[JSR III]

but have no inclination at all to spend a thousand bucks on a nice Model 58.

What would a nice model 58 be worth without any LE marking?