S&W 65-A hidden gem?

[Shrek Of The Arctic]

A few weeks ago I found myself with a $100 off card that was to expire soon and $80 worth of award points burning a hole in my pocket at the local Sportsman's warehouse. I looked at many neat options in the gun rack, but my eyes fell upon a beat down looking Model 65-4 with astonishingly ugly grips for $420. The timing was good...excellent infact. No end shake or hammer push, tight lock up, etc. Being a knifemaker, I'm pretty good at making things shiny, so...I decided to buy it for a knock around kinda gun. I gave my license over, the clerk went back to get the box and start the paperwork.

Then he came back and broke the news to me. The gun had been mis-marked. After cursing under my breath I asked through clenched teeth "How much?" He grinned and notified me the price was $380. ($40 less than the original price) I dramatically sighed and told him I supposed I'd still make the purchase, even though it was not the price we had agreed upon.

The gun was scratched up, rusted up a bit on the inside and may not have seen a drop of oil since the day it left the factory. I spent a few hours removing the worst of the scratches, polishing it up inside and out, and finally installed a Wolff spring kit with a 14 lb. Trigger return spring. Grips were replaced with an old set of Magnas and a BK grip adapter.

It's a really nice shooting little gun that leaves nothing to be desired for all practical purposes. I'd been about to dislocate my shoulder patting myself on the back for the amazing deal I'd found. Then I went and looked them up on Gunbroker. 'Lo and behold, the 4" bbl. seems to routinely go for $450 or so all day long...and they look alot nicer than the one I put all the extra time into. It seems that folks are wild about a 19, or a 66. Heck, even Model 13s get a fair bit of love. But the model 65? Just seems to be an under dog...unless it has a 3" bbl. Seems a real sweetheart of a gun for the current prices.
I kinda figgered there were darn few deals left to be had out there. It's beginning to appear that I was wrong, and I'm okay with that.

Edited for pics. Fakey pearl image is before, other three are after.

 

[SS336]

Let me get this straight, you had “ $100 off card that was to expire soon and $80 worth of award points” on a M65 so you purchased that for $200. WOW!!!
The deal of the thanksgiving weekend.

 

[Sevens]

Bwahahaha okay the thread title threw me off.

I read it as “Model 65-A”

Did anyone else do a double take at this exceedingly rare variant?!

65’s are cool. Not my first choice but I like em better than 13’s and your was absolutely a BUY NOW price, great haul.

 

[Shrek Of The Arctic]

Yeah. I guess that's the case. Happened a couple weeks ago, so I reckon it was a bit of a pre-Black Friday kinda thing...?

Call that an early Christmas present to myself so no one else has to worry about it...lol. (holsters, speed loaders and ammo will still be welcome under the tree though!)

 

[billj47]

65-2 This is a great gun.

This is a smooth shooter. Doesn't need the 66 sights.

 

[Dino44]

Great Buy Sir, the gun in your picture looks to be in pretty good shape to start with. In my onion, worth the $400 dollar range all day long. I do have a question though. I live near Seattle, WA and there is several Sportsman's Warehouse locations around the Puget Sound. I have never known any of them to buy and sell used hand guns. Is that something particular to your Alaska location?

 

[Shrek Of The Arctic]

Great Buy Sir, the gun in your picture looks to be in pretty good shape to start with. In my onion, worth the $400 dollar range all day long. I do have a question though. I live near Seattle, WA and there is several Sportsman's Warehouse locations around the Puget Sound. I have never known any of them to buy and sell used hand guns. Is that something particular to your Alaska location?

Ehhh...I dunno. I've never been in one outside of Alaska. I do know Alaska locations have been dabbling with used guns for a year and a half or so at all locations. The one I picked up had come in with a couple dozen or so used pistols and police trade ins a long time ago. They sat around for a very, very long time. Some have been well priced, some over priced for the condition. I'm not seeing many used guns at my local Sporties lately, so I'm thinking it may not be working out well for them.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

Nice deal on a very good revolver.

I bought mine brand new in 1977 and I used it for several years on the PD. I always qualified "Expert" with it. It still gets pulled from the safe now and then for a trip to the range.

 

[GaryS]

Nice pick up at a great price. Personally, I've always preferred the K frames with fixed sights over the ones with adjustable sights. Why I shoot them better, I don't know, but I do.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

A nice acquisition, the reduced cost makes it that much sweeter. Wishing you many years of enjoyment.

 

[heeter3]

I bought one for my son for his 21 st birthday 20 years ago.Its a great shooting gun and although he's totally into semi autos now it was the first gun he owned and he still thinks the world of it.

 

[Dino44]

Ehhh...I dunno. I've never been in one outside of Alaska. I do know Alaska locations have been dabbling with used guns for a year and a half or so at all locations. The one I picked up had come in with a couple dozen or so used pistols and police trade ins a long time ago. They sat around for a very, very long time. Some have been well priced, some over priced for the condition. I'm not seeing many used guns at my local Sporties lately, so I'm thinking it may not be working out well for them.

The two area Cabela's stores closed their gun libraries during the pandemic. Since re-opening their inventory has been sparse. A couple of their outfitters have blamed that on the buyout of Cabela's by Bass Pro shop. I wonder if Sportsmans Warehouse was trying to capitalize on the situation. I guess I will have to check out Sportsman's Warehouse again.

 

[S&W Fan]

Congrats and a nice everyday shooter!

Seems a few months ago Sportsman's got a whole boat load of extremely rough Smiths, a few Colts and a smattering of various semi autos. Some at the store near me have what look like evidence engravings on them. I know a few members have been able to get deals and I salute them-"my" store stands firm on the high prices on guns that look definitely the worse for wear.

 

[NCBeagle]

Good score. Did it come with Jay Scott pearlite grips? Those look like Jay Scotts in the photo. Well done.

 

[Baxter6551]

Model 65

I also bought my 65 in 1977 for a police duty gun.
I took it to S&W for an action job, a model 66 hammer and red ramp sight. Sweet. Couple of years later they issued us 65’s so I stupidly sold my personal one. When we switched to Sig’s we got to buy our issued revolvers for $100. Still have it. All fixed up with bead blast finish. Hammer / trigger / screws polished.

 

[gerhard1]

OP that's a real beaut.

Here's my 4" M-65.

 

[jframejoey]

Still on the hunt for a round butt 4 inch 65-5 with grooved back strap.

 

[CA Escapee]

I stopped by the local Sportsman's tonight. Most of the blued revolvers, Colt & S&W, had a fair amount of surface rust. They do have a few rough 3" Model 65's and 686's, too. Most of the original grips have the checkering worn off. There were even a couple of Browning Hi-Powers there. Maybe the cream of the crop were sold off already, but the prices were more along the lines of more pristine examples from a couple of years ago.

They do have signs up that they buy guns.

 

[Shrek Of The Arctic]

I stopped by the local Sportsman's tonight. Most of the blued revolvers, Colt & S&W, had a fair amount of surface rust. They do have a few rough 3" Model 65's and 686's, too. Most of the original grips have the checkering worn off. There were even a couple of Browning Hi-Powers there. Maybe the cream of the crop were sold off already, but the prices were more along the lines of more pristine examples from a couple of years ago.

They do have signs up that they buy guns.

This one was originally priced a bit over $600 almost a year ago as I recall. Then it went down to $550ish.....$500....$450....and it hung at $420 for a very long time. Even the guys behind the counter were surprised it lasted that long. Maybe keep an eye on 'em? A rough 65 is easy to make purty again. The blued ones....not so much.

 

[shovelmike]

A very nice revolver, you did really well.