So a couple days ago, I was at my lgs and noticed a very clean looking blued M28. According to the shop owner it’s never been fired, I saw through the glass (was in a bit of a hurry and was leaving) a very faint turn line. The gun is in its original cardboard box don’t know if it’s matching. I plan to go back tomorrow to put hands on. My question is the price. $1,150.00. What do you guys think about this? If it’s “unfired” and it looks mint with what appears to be original grips, is a pretty good price. My Smith knowledge only goes so far.
Price check!?
- Thread starter RoMAC21
- Start date
A tad high in price IMHO.
I just sold a very pleasing, like new 28-2, 4 inch, with box, on the Forum for $750. I priced it to sell, but I didn’t give it away. My vote is $1150.00 is excessive.
Tom H.
Tom H.
Seems bit high. What barrel length? 4” I hope at that price
4”
thanks for the replies. I’ll get a better look at it tomorrow if I can, get a look at what version, serial# etc.
SAFireman
Member
An early 4" gun (5-screw) with non-relieved diamond targets would bring over a grand if truly NIB.
Sure would.
Everybody is jumping on not knowing specifics.
Bevo84
Member
Check GB for comps. There are plenty for sale there with some "Buy Now" prices well under $1K
This is not the first time for this discussion... HPs/M28s vary wildly in value. In general, the older the gun, the higher the value. 4" brings a premium over 6". NIB condition can be a significant premium as these were working guns and are rarely found in such condition.
A late 70s production M28 with typical wear could be down in the $650-700 range. A LNIB early Highway Patrolman could easily bring $1100-1200. More details are necessary for an accurate estimate, and in the case of an M28/HP, the devil is in the details!
A late 70s production M28 with typical wear could be down in the $650-700 range. A LNIB early Highway Patrolman could easily bring $1100-1200. More details are necessary for an accurate estimate, and in the case of an M28/HP, the devil is in the details!
If it is indeed a model marked (28-2?) 4" Highway Patrolman, ANIB with original numbered magnas in EC, with the true original box I can see them asking $1,150. An even grand would be more reasonable.
Sebago Son
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Going in the opposite direction, several years ago I needed a 6" 28-3 to round out my HP Pile.. I chased after a good one for 3 years.... seems that by the time the -3 rolled around in 1982, longer barreled, heavy frame magnums, especially 6" guns had fallen in popularity in favor of the shorter 4" guns... Then all 28's went away in 1986. In a exercise in counter intuition, I paid a premium for that 6" 28-3.... far more than the price you mentioned.
The HP Pile...1 each 4" and 6" Pre-28, 28-ND, 28-2, 28-3. With a few duplicates and special interest guns thrown in
6" 28-3.
The HP Pile...1 each 4" and 6" Pre-28, 28-ND, 28-2, 28-3. With a few duplicates and special interest guns thrown in
6" 28-3.
True, but unfired typically means from the factory, but cylinder turn rings can say otherwise. I haven’t been back to the shop for inspection and they’re closed on Sunday and Monday so I gotta wait!
Happy Mother’s Day!
I believe this 28-2 was unfired when I bought this a few years ago.
I remember paying EUR 240, maybe a pretty good price?
I remember paying EUR 240, maybe a pretty good price?
jbrittbrown
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I definitely would try to nefariously the price somewhat. If I really wanted it, I would buy it.
Not impossible.
One example.
I purchased a gun from a retired LEO. We talked a little and he told me back in the 80s his department purchased directly from Ashland Supply.
Got my attention.
He goes on to tell me about a few he bought.
Then he says he has 2 66 3".
, consecutive serial numbers. Never fired.
My next question. What do you think they're worth? (Recent sales NIB $2600)
About $2500 for the pair. I paid $325 each. But I'm not selling.
I let it sit for a few days and then called and offered him $2400.
He said yes, not a penny less.
I sold the pair for $4800 and he also added 2 pair of Smooth presentations I sold for another $400.
They were NIB.
Any revolver can qualify as 'unfired' and have a turn line simply by being dry fired a lot. But then, perhaps 'unused' would be a more accurate description. That said, it's pretty difficult to truly get rid of ALL the fouling on the front of a cylinder, even the factory test shots.
FWIW, I'm looking around myself even though I don't really have the money. Whoever got theirs for EUR240 (about 282 US dollars as of this date) or even $750 got themselves screaming good deals IMO. That brings me to another thought. I see some guns on GB with proof marks, evidently from Europe. Particularly from a certain importer. That a good thing or a bad thing, what do some of you think? I'm intrigued, partly bc I would be inclined to think MOST European owners tend to take better care of their personally owned firearms, given the difficulty of getting them and supposed expense (but maybe not at 240 euros!)
Or maybe I'm just looking in all the wrong places?
Tom
FWIW, I'm looking around myself even though I don't really have the money. Whoever got theirs for EUR240 (about 282 US dollars as of this date) or even $750 got themselves screaming good deals IMO. That brings me to another thought. I see some guns on GB with proof marks, evidently from Europe. Particularly from a certain importer. That a good thing or a bad thing, what do some of you think? I'm intrigued, partly bc I would be inclined to think MOST European owners tend to take better care of their personally owned firearms, given the difficulty of getting them and supposed expense (but maybe not at 240 euros!)
Or maybe I'm just looking in all the wrong places?
Tom
stansdds
Member
Not really, it just requires a really close inspection of the firearm.
stansdds
Member
Well, did you go back and give it a good inspection? I do feel that $1150 is too much for a 28-2, even when NIB. The firearms market has cooled quite a bit over the past couple of years.
I mentioned on another reply that I haven’t had the chance to return and they’re closed Sun/Mon. So I will try on Tuesday, I’ll see if I can get pics too.
zogger
Member
I too think the price is about $250 too much based on prices in my area and I bought a lightly used 28-3 4" a year and half ago for $800.
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Repeater
Member
$799 for this one with both sets of grips, no box or papers, 1970 vintage
You could not get this one from me for $5000. Well...I might have to think about that.
Shipped to Evaluators Ltd. on June 9, 1954.
Shipped to Evaluators Ltd. on June 9, 1954.
I sold a 1969 vintage 4" for $600 at the Lakeland show last year. It was maybe 90% with replacement stocks. Double that would need to be a "NOS/in box w access" 4". Joe
444 Magnum
Member
If I'm not mistaken, box and grips ^^ aren't from the same timeframe. Still, I think you were generous.
Comparing this pistol and the other newer models posted to RetiredW4's is like comparing an '82 Mustang to a '65 Mustang. Same model but apples and oranges.
As previously said, more information is needed.
charlie sherrill
Member
I've got two. One is a 4" 28-0 four screw. It has a white front sight insert, a .400 smooth trigger, and a target hammer. It apparently has an action job, it is butter smooth. A friend of mine has a 28-2 with the same set up. We're wondering who did the work. My other Highway Patrolman I picked up in a local shop a couple of weeks ago. It is a 6" with no apparent modifications. However, it is a very low serial number for a 28-2. N430.
Sorry to all the "believers", but I NEVER buy the story of a firearm being unfired unless there is documentation to prove it. If I had a nickel for every claimed "unfired" firearm I have looked at I would be a very rich man. Fortunately for us non-believers when dealing with firearms, especially revolvers, the evidence can usually be seen. Turn lines in and of themselves don't prove that a revolver has been fired, but it certainly proves the pistol has been operated. My wife asked me once why I have such deep crow's feet around my eyes and forehead lines. I told her they were from my automatic facial response to people telling me a firearm I am thinking of buying is UNFIRED. Some of the biggest scammers are selling firearms. Just my belief after a lifetime of dealing with buying and selling firearms. It wasn't always this way, but it is today. A very wise man once told me a long time ago to buy the gun, not the story. That advice has served me well through the years.
Rick H.
Rick H.
On my recent tour of S&W's new facility in Maryville, TN I got to witness the assemblers give those guns a work out on the bench (no revolvers there) and the test firing after final fitting. Handguns (pistols) and AR got one mag full and sometimes more. If the gun needed tweaking, it went back to the bench then back to the firing line. I have always heard that revolvers got every other chamber fired and if adjustments were needed they got fired again once that happened.
Unfired outside the factory? A fellow show vendor once told me he thought about polishing the cylinder face super clean, then fire a round in every other chamber the simulate S&W's test firing.
That being said, I really believe this nickel model 58 was unfired outside the factory. I have posted this before as an example of such. Note the light carbon ring around every other chamber.
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