the naked prophet
Member
I was at an auction, looking for a big bore woods gun. There were two guns that I was really interested in (S&W 29 4-screw P&R stainless 8-inch, S&W 29-3 blued 8-inch), and a couple that I would have settled on (couple of ruger super redhawks, and a S&W .460 that I knew was gonna go high).
This particular auction was ridiculous, with rusty beat up gunky SKSs going for $250 and a Kel-Tec P3AT going for $370 or so. So I wasn't hopeful, though it seemed there weren't many people there who appreciated fine guns (I accidentally let a pre-64 Winchester 94 in great condition get away for only $230) so maybe I'd do okay.
The S&W .460 magnum went first, and I stopped bidding at $600, it went for $750.
I should say here that I did Jim March's revolver checkout on all the guns before the auction. I read about it on Xavier's blog (yes X, I'm stalking you to learn your gun-show and pawn-shop ways) and decided to try it out. None of the guns were particularly tight, the rugers were pretty sloppy, but that one blued S&W model 29-3 had definitely been smithed. I knew that a pinned and recessed S&W is pretty nice, but that's common knowledge among people who want revolvers, so I figured that'd go for pretty high. But unless someone else had performed the revolver checkout, I knew that one was worth more.
When I checked it out, I discovered that the gap was between 0.002 and 0.004, the cylinder locked up as tight as if it had been welded (on all cylinders!), every cylinder lined up perfectly, the double action trigger pull was like butter, and the single action pull literally felt like I was snapping a thin glass rod inside the gun somewhere. The hammer did not fall when cocked and wiggled, and the side plate screws were in perfect condition. The bore was perfect and mirrorlike, as were all six cylinders. This was the only revolver that was clean and free of carbon at all (except just over the gap, where it never comes clean). The finish was nearly perfect except some wear around the muzzle, but no rust anywhere, all a deep polished blue. And the grips look identical to the regular wooden S&W target grips (square butt) except the wood is a much deeper vibrant red.
All in all, the S&W .460 and rugers both went for $750, as did the P&R 4-screw M29. I got the S&W Model 29-3 for $500 + 10% for the auction house.
Did I do well?
This particular auction was ridiculous, with rusty beat up gunky SKSs going for $250 and a Kel-Tec P3AT going for $370 or so. So I wasn't hopeful, though it seemed there weren't many people there who appreciated fine guns (I accidentally let a pre-64 Winchester 94 in great condition get away for only $230) so maybe I'd do okay.
The S&W .460 magnum went first, and I stopped bidding at $600, it went for $750.
I should say here that I did Jim March's revolver checkout on all the guns before the auction. I read about it on Xavier's blog (yes X, I'm stalking you to learn your gun-show and pawn-shop ways) and decided to try it out. None of the guns were particularly tight, the rugers were pretty sloppy, but that one blued S&W model 29-3 had definitely been smithed. I knew that a pinned and recessed S&W is pretty nice, but that's common knowledge among people who want revolvers, so I figured that'd go for pretty high. But unless someone else had performed the revolver checkout, I knew that one was worth more.
When I checked it out, I discovered that the gap was between 0.002 and 0.004, the cylinder locked up as tight as if it had been welded (on all cylinders!), every cylinder lined up perfectly, the double action trigger pull was like butter, and the single action pull literally felt like I was snapping a thin glass rod inside the gun somewhere. The hammer did not fall when cocked and wiggled, and the side plate screws were in perfect condition. The bore was perfect and mirrorlike, as were all six cylinders. This was the only revolver that was clean and free of carbon at all (except just over the gap, where it never comes clean). The finish was nearly perfect except some wear around the muzzle, but no rust anywhere, all a deep polished blue. And the grips look identical to the regular wooden S&W target grips (square butt) except the wood is a much deeper vibrant red.
All in all, the S&W .460 and rugers both went for $750, as did the P&R 4-screw M29. I got the S&W Model 29-3 for $500 + 10% for the auction house.
Did I do well?
(Just kidding, of course!
