S&W Revolvers. Any Rare Collectibles in this bunch? Current Values?

[JSR III]

The only problem with that is that the stocks were a fitted item IIRC so even if the gun languished in the vault for years, the diamond stocks would have all ready been with the gun.

There is no telling exactly when S&W stopped using the diamond stocks on all models however, the general feeling is that it phased in in 1968.

 

[Hondo44]

James,

I have to agree, I thought the same thing!

 

[one65r]

Sorry to keep yall waiting

Sorry to keep everyone waiting. I'm still here. I just added a 3rd addition to my family about 2 weeks ago, so priorities first along with my day job. Needless to say, this is a big project to undertake even without all the other stuff I've been juggling.

I thought I had all of these photographed, but I just got through looking at them to post specific pistols people had requested, I realized I had skipped a few. I'll try and get to them tonight and if I get a chance today, I will post the pair of 36's, and a few others.

Regarding the grips on the Model 15, I had 4-5 sets of Smith grips that went with these pistols and had just been put in a box over time to keep them together (normally I label everything, but 2 pair of these weren't). One of the sets has a diamond and I believe is identical to the non-diamond set that is currently on the Model 15-2. Once yall see pics, I'm sure some one will be able to fill in the gaps. Will the symbol on the box in the Stock section, designate between Diamond and non diamond grips?

I know one set is serial #'d to go with the 6.5" model pre-24. It's a smaller set that came with the pistol along with a set of target grips that aren't #'d to the pistol, but the larger grips have always been on it. Would this have been common? Serial # and match a pair of the original smaller grips to the 50's model target pistol, and then add a set of the larger target grips before it left S&W? Shipped with 2 pair of grips?

I may post a pic of the grips in another thread, because I can't remember exactly which gun 2 of them went with.

Thanks again for everyone's input and PM's. It's been a overload of welcomed information. Honestly, this has fueled the flame for my revolver appreciation, so while most of these still have to go, I'm putting a lot more thought into what I may hold on to, or what I can sell from other parts of my collection in order to hang on to a few more of these. I also figured the least I could do was to join as a paying member of the forum, and start contributing back a little if at all possible. Unfortunately, right now, if it doesn't come from pictures or the boxes, I'm not going to be much help.

On a side note, does anyone know a way to bulk post pics to imageshack and get the link codes for the enlarged pictures and not just the links for the thumbnails that link to the larger picture stored on imageshack's server? You know what I mean? Right now, I'm having to upload all the pics, and then cut/paste the links in individually.

 

[one65r]

Sequential Model 36's

Ok, here's some shots of the 36's. I'll probably re-take these once I've had a chance to wipe them down and get the fuzz from the safe off of them. I'm in MS and the heat/humidity prior to the past few days has been insane. When I moved these from my air conditioned house into my workshop, the difference in the temperature just causes these to fog up repeatedly for awhile and it's hard to even out the oil that's on them. The lighting isn't that great either. Now that we've had a cool streak, I may smooth out the smudges and link and work on some better lighting for my next shots. Let me know what you guys think.

One member mentioned checking to see if these shipped as a pair or separately and how that would add to the value. To me, if they weren't shipped together, it's amazing to me, that they ended back up together. If you look at the writing on the boxes, one just says Target under the Special Features section and one says T.P. Target. I'm sure different builders marked the same features slightly different.











So, what do yall want to see photos of next?
I figured out how to do a batch post of photos, so you just click the thumbnail and it takes you to a larger photo.

 

[Engine49guy]

Yet another rare set of Smiths,
The previouse owner really knew what to collect, those target sighted Model 36's are rare birds too.
Wow!

 

[JP@AK]

WOW! Two target Chiefs Specials! Unbelievable.
Thanks for posting these photos.
JP

 

[JSR III]

Those two Chief Special targets were part of a group of 1006 that were produced in 1966. See page 227 of the History of S&W by Roy Jinks. That was the largest single production of that model.

 

[jeremyws1]

I had the pleasure of meeting one65r and viewing his collection today. Even as a jaded collector, I was impressed. The pictures in this thread don't do the guns justice. I felt like I took a time machine back to the mid-60s. I'm selling my collection, or I would have made several offers.