To Buy Or Not To Buy

[Miami_JBT]

Local shop has a S&W Performance Center .40 Recon for $1,400 plus tax and background fee.

For those that don't know, the .40 Recon is an aluminum framed compact 9rd .40 S&W 3rd Gen.

Only a few hundred were made. They came with Bar-Sto barrels and Briley two-piece titanium barrel bushing. Plus all the fluff and buffing along with the hand-fitting of the PC shop's staff. Back when the PC shop was a real custom shop and not a marketing brand.

Mechanically, the gun is what led to the development of the S&W Model 4013TSW.

A commercial production variant, that took all the best features of the PC line, but streamlined it for general mass production. The slide and frame went through the entire assembly line together and are actually number-matched from the start.

I have a 4013TSW, which I paid a whopping $135 for back in the early 2010s.

Now, my question is this, do I buy the .40 Recon since it is a rare bird in the collector circles as a PC piece? Or do I just stick with what I have?

Both have MIM hammers and triggers. Both have the same slide mounted safety/decocker. And both have the same overall size, the grips are even the same.

I was able to dry fire the .40 Recon, and the trigger is the same as the TSW.

Again, the TSW line is a commercialized mass production line of the PC guns. The bean-counters took all the best features of the PC guns and applied it to the assembly line.

The collector in me is saying get the PC gun, the shooter in me is saying stick with my TSW since I got it dirt cheap when S&W 3rd Gens were being given away has door-stops at gun shops.

 

[URIT]

I'd let my collector-self buy the PC gun as a safe queen, and my shooter-self continue to bang away with the TSW.

 

[HYPURR]

It's only money

Geez, why even ask...buy it.

"It's only money" (Robin Trower 1975)

 

[JMD999]

If you always wanted one grab it now. If your doing as an investment I would pass.

 

[Heymatt]

Asking a bunch of S&W enablers if you should buy another one?
Me thinks you already know the answer

 

[4T5GUY]

I understand that the 40 Recons don't show up very often. Roy confirmed in a letter that just 200 total were produced. It took me a long time to get one. I wanted an extremely high condition one but didn't want to pay an extremely high price. If I didn't have the 9 and 45 Recons I wouldn't have gotten the 40.

I'm not putting you or the Recon down but it appears to have been "worked on" cosmetically. The slide looks brighter than it should be and the billboard is very muted. (Maybe holster wear.) The rear sight isn't factory, (at least I've never seen them on any Recon.) $1,400++ seems high considering.

Jim

 

[Miami_JBT]

I understand that the 40 Recons don't show up very often. Roy confirmed in a letter that just 200 total were produced. It took me a long time to get one. I wanted an extremely high condition one but didn't want to pay an extremely high price. If I didn't have the 9 and 45 Recons I wouldn't have gotten the 40.

I'm not putting you or the Recon down but it appears to have been "worked on" cosmetically. The slide looks brighter than it should be and the billboard is very muted. (Maybe holster wear.) The rear sight isn't factory, (at least I've never seen them on any Recon.) $1,400++ seems high considering.

Jim

That's not the one in the shop. It is just a representative picture.

The one at the shop is clean and barely touched.

 

[Yendor357]

Is it going up in value?

Does it bring you joy?

That other pistol has nothing to do with this one.

 

[panamajack310]

I say buy both if you can afford it.,.if you can only choose one then I say get the .40 recon. Just my $.02

 

[4T5GUY]

That's not the one in the shop. It is just a representative picture.

Well that makes a difference. A representative picture is better than a Court rendition artist submission.

The sold/realized prices that I have seen and tracked for several years now have been holding steady. @ $1,400-$1,800 for the excellent examples. The high end, high priced examples still had the aluminum PC case, papers and 2 PC marked magazines.

The images are courtesy of BLUEDOT………

Jim

 

[clang444]

I'd look for a lightly used Shorty 40 to scratch that itch. That way I could shoot it.

 

[hardluk1]

I would not buy it even though I am a long time fan of the 40sw cartridge and had at least one 40sw for carry since '90 but then I'm not a collector of firearms , I shoot what I buy , alot even if not a carry option .

Do your own research on this pistol as there is plenty of info out there and make up your own mind to buy it or not . Better buy any extra small parts you may need too .

 

[BLUEDOT37]

The Shorty 40 is the patriarch

Mechanically, the gun is what led to the development of the S&W Model 4013TSW.

If I had the money & it was in excellent shape I'd add it to the collection if they'd sweeten the deal a tad.

Not to nitpick but the Shorty 40 came out much earlier, in 1992-1993 timeframe, & the 4013TSW pre-rail came out in 1997.

The 40 Recon didn't come out until 1998.

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[4T5GUY]

I've commented about this before but the 9 and 40 Recons just did NOT sell when first delivered to RSR. (RSR was instrumental in their design/differences from the LH Shortys.) I'd be interested if this was the same with the 45's.

It's nice to see any of the Recons available, especially if in nice shape. The 40 Recon was the hardest one for me to find.

Jim

 

[colt_saa]

I never buy a firearm for an investment. If you are only looking for an investment there are probably a lot better choices out there to put your money into

Usually my sole purpose in buying firearms is because I enjoy them. Sometimes they are purchased for defense or hunting or even specifically for target shooting but then those are all things I enjoy

The nice thing about firearms is if you keep them for a long time, which I do, they will always sell for more than you bought them for. That's even if you end up using them and keep them in nice condition

Unless I really hate the firearm, I tend to hang out to them for 20 or 30 or even more years than that. So many sell for considerably more money than I paid for them. That is just l luck, not brillant buying and selling

As to the issue of waiting for a shooter grade Shorty 40 to come along. I would buy the Recon today and if a shooter grade pistol comes along and I really wanted to go that route. You could sell the recon(probably at a profit) and buy the shooter grape pistol.

If you pass on a really clean Recon right now who knows when you will find one in that condition again

 

[Brian Parrish]

If an investment cannot even keep pace with inflation, it is not a good investment. However, what I always tell the wife,
"A gun is never worth nothing...which is more than I can say for the US dollar!"

 

[cherrypointmarine]

Luckily I have one of each , 40Recon and Shorty40 . I actually had the 40 and 45Recon out to the range last week , hard to tell them apart when shooting them . I second what colt_saa said , if you buy them in nice shape and keep them that way , even if you shoot them , and keep them for some time , you SHOULD make money off the deal .

 

[Miami_JBT]

I'm not looking at this as an investment piece. I shoot my Heritage 29-9 and event carry it. To me, I buy guns because I like guns.

 

[Tntcwg3]

If I had the expendable funds available, it would be coming home with me. IMO, that seems to be inline with current sales for PC compacts in good condition.

 

[Frank Black]

I already have a railed 4013TSW, and I had a 4013/1013 conversion done, so for me I'd pass on this .40 Recon.

For the pure S&W collector, it's probably worth the monetary stretch.