Holy Grail Found….

… Have found and purchased my grail gun. I have wanted a 3.5 inch S&W model 27 for quite some time. Usually, something else I wanted to have would come along that I wanted and could afford before I had enough money saved up…. but not this time.
I figured I would probably get a 1970’s blued version. They seem most common and most affordable, but I really like the pre dash 2, nickel plated revolvers with the blued,pinned front ramp & blade.
Well, a model 27 no dash came up on Gunbroker. Never used Gunbroker but started watching and eventually bidding and winning the gun. Here is a picture from the auction. The grips have been altered but the finish looks pretty decent

A few more. The Standard Catalog of S&W says its a 1960-61

Gordon said:

Congratulations ! That gun was for me my grail gun too. Looks like I won't be getting it- "the one that got away " !

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Were you bidding on it?

.455_Hunter said:

Outstanding!

I would ditch the 2"x2" lumber profile grips for some barked elk horn Magnas and put it on duty immediately. A warm 158 gr LSWC-GC loading paying homage to the original style ammo without the leading should do nicely.

I love that the sights are free from the red ramp insert abomination.

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I haven't yet decided what to do about grips. I might go with period correct Magnus with a Tyler T grip. I don't care for horn grips with bark. Period correct targets are another option I may explore. The gun about cleaned out my discretionary funds so nice grips may have to wait a bit.
With the nickel finish I have thought about a black horn grip, like some I have seen that were possible buffalo/bison

Old_Grouch said:

I'm not sure the grips were altered. To me it looks like they're K frame grips.

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They definitely are altered. I didn’t post all of the pictures but it is fairly obvious in a couple of them.

Pat Riot said:

Congratulations!
That is a very sharp looking revolver. And thanks for planting that seed in my head…I didn’t know there were 3.5” model 27s out there.

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The original standard barrel lengths for these was 3.5”, 5” with 6.5” and 8 3/8” added later. In 1967 the 6.5” was discontinued in favor of a 6 inch and in 1979 the 3.5” and 5” were replaced by a 4 inch. The 4 inch is the most uncommon but sells for less than the 3.5 or 5 inch. In the 1950’s, the FBI carried 3.5” model 27’s

cfullgraf said:

Congratulations on finding one of your grail guns, I'm sure you have others.

Personally, I'm not a fan of short barrel large frame revolvers but they do have some historic significance. I have a 3" Model 624 Lew Horton 44 Special. I'd rather shoot my 4" Model 624 than the 3" Model 624.

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As far as other grail guns go, there is nothing I really, really want. About a month ago I was browsing Gunbroker and thought to myself, Man, a model 27 will cost a good bit of money. If not that, then what would I want instead. I looked at some favorites I don’t have like. 2 inch M15 or a 2.5” M19… maybe a 3 inch M625 or 3 inch M13. In the end, none of those did it for me. Even IF I could have bought 2 off that list for the same money or not much more it was only briefly tempting.