Pricing 3" K-frames, wow!

I hear you, as I'm sure many others do also. Some of us are begining to wonder if the S&W market isn't a bubble about to pop. In any case check with CDNN, I heard they had 3" 64's last week for $319 before shipping, ex-LEO guns in nice shape. If you have to have a .357 and are patient I think you'll get a serviceable one in the mid $300 range, if not I'm seeing 4" 65's going for $325 (a dealer here in SW Ohio has two) if you want to pursue barrel shortening, and maybe butt rounding?

Wow. Yesterday in my travels, I stumbled upon a NiB 3" model 65 LS for $450. I looked at it for a minute, but then put it back because I thought the price was a bit high and I didn't really NEED it. Last week, I picked up a really nice nickel 3" model 13 for $299.

I agree that prices have gone up, but also believe that with a bit of luck and patience deals can be had. Your proximity to that bastion of open thinking, Washington DC, probably has a good deal to do with the inflated prices down there.

Chaim - I can give you the shop information if you would like. I have no affilitiation with the shop other than satisfied custiomer. Im not sure about the legalities of shipping to MD, but if there aren't restrictions, you might be better off buying online or having something shipped to you. Just remember that you will add between $50 and $75 when you factor in shipping and transfer fee.

chaim My Friend-

I know what you are saying 'bout the pricing of those S&W 3" K-frames;
as the prices are slowly creeping out of sight. I would LUV to be able to
pick up a 3" S&W model 65 myself; but they are very scarce in these old
parts of the woods. For example, the last one I saw wasn't close to being
anywhere near mint, and it 'fetched $350 OTD. I'm always on the lookout
for good deals, but folks that have these tend too hang on to them for
they know that the 65's are excellent CCW pieces~!

High Dollar

Get one now if you can.I don't think the prices will get any better. Seems like if it don't have the lock on it they think it's a collectors item.I do believe most are hanging on to what they have. Maybe a few here and there out of an estate.Shorter barreled Rugers are even uncommon in my neck of the woods.

Seems like if it don't have the lock on it they think it's a collectors item.

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They're right.

Folks,

Like it or not, S&W DID make "collector's items" out of all their pre-lock wheelguns. The only thing that will change this fact is if S&W ever decides to boost the sales of their new wheelguns by going back to the pre-lock way of making 'em.

That ain't gonna happen.

In any event . . . if you think today's prices on a 3" K frame are high, just wait . . . ten years from now you'll be lamenting that you didn't buy that "expensive" M65 (or whatever) back in 2007!:banghead:

Maybe I'm the only one . . . but I lament passing on buying many Smith wheelies in the past due to a slightly "high" price . . . just as I grieve trading off several of my (now) desireable S&W wheelguns. (A NIB M27 in bright nickle immediately comes to mind, along with many others).

Alas, I now check in gunstores all over the area I travel for work . . . looking for nice old S&W wheelguns. Gone are the days when every shop had a lot to choose from. Heck, most stores only have a couple of ragged out Taurus and Rossis in their cases it seems.

I PAID $ 235 FOR THIS 1984 MODEL 65-3 3" . . . then again . . . this was about 17 years ago, and I probably paid a little "too much" back then. However . . . I'm sure glad I got it, and this one won't ever get away from me like others have.



BOTTOM LINE . . . paying a little "too much" today for something that ya have trouble finding, much less affording, later . . . sometimes becomes a wise choice indeed!

After all, we all know that Smith ain't makin' any more of 'em like this again!

Food for thought.

T.

Some of us are begining to wonder if the S&W market isn't a bubble about to pop.

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Alas, I doubt it. There are a number of reasons that I think S&Ws are going to continue rising in price:

1. The Dreaded Lock. As long as new S&Ws have that unsightly blemish on them, every pre-lock gun will remain a desirable classic.

2. With the exception of houses, almost everything is rising in price. Despite bogus .gov stats to the contrary, inflation is roaring at 10%+ when calculated the way it used to be in the 70s and 80s before Clinton's "Hedonic price adjustments" invention allowed the government to essentially pull bogus inflation numbers out of it's collective you-know-what.

3. The cost of new guns, and new S&Ws in particular. Cost is rising along with the aforementioned inflation. A new 3" 686 with the lock has an MSRP of $830, and a real price of around $650. Yet many prefer a K frame which is smaller, handles better (in their opinion) and is more easily concealed, yet has been discontinued. Most hate the lock, and many do not trust guns equipped with it for serious purposes. So, if you want a 3" revolver for CCW, would you rather spend $650 on a bigger, clumsier gun with MIM parts, a 2 piece barrel assembly, and a lock, all of which are features many people distrust, or a used 3" model 65 with a one piece barrel, no lock, and a smaller, handier, more easily concealed frame for only $400, or even $500? Enough people choose the used K frame that upward pressure on prices is inevitable.

4. The internet. While the internet makes it a lot easier to find used S&Ws, it also means overall increased demand, as people who weren't previously looking for a particular model discover how desirable it is to others by reading THR, the S&W forum and other sites, as well as seeing the bids on gunbroker or auctionarms. Prices are set at the margin, and when the internet allows 2 or 3 collectors to compete for a gun that previously would have been simply negotiated between the seller and one buyer, the price inevitably ends up higher. Others then see these increased prices, and either expect to get the same when they sell, or decide not to sell at all, hoping for an even higher price in the future. This then reduces supply, which increases competition for what is available, sending prices higher yet again in an upward spiral.

The only scenarios in which I see used pre-lock S&W prices falling are:
1. The US economy enters a deflationary period similar to the great depression in which prices on most or all goods drop. I think this is unlikely as the Fed is flooding the world with liquidity already and stands by to open the taps even further if they feel it is needed. Hyperinflation ala Weimar Germany, and not deflation is our more likely fate.
2. S&W abandons the lock. This would relieve a significant portion of the demand for used pre-lock S&Ws, and thus have a lowering effect on prices.
3. Hillary, Giuliani, or Obama win the election, and private ownership is outlawed. Of course, after the initial drop to near zero, black market prices might do ok, except for that nagging worry about prison or being declared an Illegal Enemy Combatant by President Hillary and disappearing.

I got a model 10 3" square butt LNIB from J&G Sales for $189. It had the aftermarket pacs on it so I replaced them with the factory style target grips. It is in absolutely pristene condition, doesn't appear to have been fired. It is so pretty it just sits on top of the gun cabinet posing for me. Great little guns and they are definitely going up in price.

Last month I picked up a couple M-65's in ss with 4 inch barrels at the local pawn shop. They were used guns from a state prison in a western state. They show some wear but mechanically they are excellent. $600 for both out the door. They were the first K frames around here I had seen in ages.

2. S&W abandons the lock. This would relieve a significant portion of the demand for used pre-lock S&Ws, and thus have a lowering effect on prices.

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If it wasn't for the lock, it would just be something else in the Internet rumor mill wrong with them, like:
*The two-piece tensioned barrel? Check!
*The new style rifling? Check!
*MIM internal parts? Check!
*The hideous "Black" bluing? Check!
*The even more hideous stamped & lazered barrel markings? Check!
*The Fuginugly rubber grips? Check!
*The Fuginuglier new style wood grips? Check!
*All of the above? Check!


rcmodel

You might try Robertson's trading post if you havent seen it. They have a bunch of 65's listed well below going gunbroker rates.

http://www.robertsontradingpost.com/sw65.htm

If it wasn't for the lock, it would just be something else in the Internet rumor mill wrong with them, like:
*The two-piece tensioned barrel? Check!
*The new style rifling? Check!
*MIM internal parts? Check!
*The hideous "Black" bluing? Check!
*The even more hideous stamped & lazered barrel markings? Check!
*The Fuginugly rubber grips? Check!
*The Fuginuglier new style wood grips? Check!
*All of the above? Check!

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Why RC, you took the words out of my mouth....

Those are the very reasons I keep snapping up those older guns. Unfortunately there are too many people starting to think the same way...

Old Fuff wrote:
I keep snapping up those older guns.

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Old Fuff is way too modest.
I am not.

See the reason Old Fuff, myself, and others want these Older guns is...well, we really care about folks , we like you and ..tell ya what we are gonna do...

Three is a odd number, everybody knows odd numbers are bad luck i.e. 13.

You get a J frame one with a 3 inch barrel it only holds 5 round and 5 is an odd number, and we have established odd numbers are bad.
You get a K frame size and it holds 6 rounds , which is also bad luck because 6 divided by 2 equals 3 and remember 3 is bad luck as it is in 13

These OLD 3" guns also have the added headache and expense of grips and stocks.
These are held on by screws, which means *sigh* you gotta have a screwdriver, what a pain in the rear end.
Some stocks are pretty and expensive, and if one slips with a screwdriver, these expensive , and pretty stocks gets messed up.


Old Fuff is too modest to admit why he suggests everyone get rid of these Old, Antiquated 3" revolvers, heck any revolver for that matter.

Instead, these Polymer Guns do not have grip screws, so you cannot mess up the grip.
These Polymer guns also alleviates having to clean all them charge holes them Old Antiquated revolvers have. What a pain to clean to 5 or six holes, Polymer
guns only have one.


Old Fuff is just too modest, I am not. Just, well, we care, we like you and tell ya what we gonna do...

Seems like this is my day to have other folks just take the words out of my mouth....

But (sob!) it's getting harder for the poor Fuff to keep taking others to the cleaners. I sure hate the way this darn Inter-Net keeps informing my former suckers... Ah... I mean suppliers.

I may even have to turn honest....

Dear Oleg and THR Staff,

I respectfully request we make posts of older revolvers an off topic genre' here on THR as we do other topics.
This is for the Children and Old Fuff, Myself and others just want the children to be safe is all.

Respectfully,

Steve




pssst Fuff, you still ain't sent me my Reprobate Certificate yet.

Upon looking for a 3" K frame .357 at a gun show a while back, I wound up with a Taurus M66 3" for 180 bucks that's very accurate and perfectly timed with only slight wear and holster wear, though it has been fired enough to wear down the "checkering" on the back of a rubber pachmayr gripper. I wanted a 19, ideally, but forget that! I have an SP101 2.3" now, but will sell it back to my son-in-law when he gets back from Iraq. It was collateral to get him out of the pokey on unpaid tickets. I just couldn't see it going to a pawn shop, told him I'd sell it back to him. I like the gun, thought about getting a 3" version of it, but it's too close in size to the Taurus and I have other things I want worse. The Taurus shoots very well, but that little SP101 is built like a tank. Buying another gun and excluding the Taurus which I like, but many don't, I'd take the SP101 over a K frame, stronger gun and less money to boot. Only thing it lacks is a round in the cylinder. That really don't bother me. It's slightly lighter than a comparable M19, though, at 28 ounces dry, but not by that much. It is thinner, too, and is amazingly more comfortable IWB to me than a six shooter. Given that I can get a brand new STAINLESS SP101 for 450 bucks, though, you won't catch me buying any used K frames regardless of barrel length, but especially in the 3". I'm not a collector, I'm a shooter, and one that ain't rich. Frankly, the SP101 is a better gun than any K frame Smith and I'd rather tote it, thanks. I've had a couple of K frames, hang on to my grandpa's old M10, but I'm not a huge Smith and Wesson fan, not THAT huge as to pay that kind of money for a K frame anyway.

And the Prize

For Curmudgeon of the Year goes to (the envelope please) Wow a tie! The award will be shared by Old Fuff and sm.

Rey B, they're multiple winners in that category on this BBS.

Last month I was lucky enough to get a M-66 3" NIB for $650. I bought my first one for $300 almost 20 years ago.

Hereabouts 3" M-65 are edging up on $400. This, by the way, is the best carry revolver ever made. Tough, sturdy, packs a punch and idiotproof.

Hereabouts 3" M-65 are edging up on $400. This, by the way, is the best carry revolver ever made. Tough, sturdy, packs a punch and idiotproof.

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Well, I'm one idiot that's had a K frame forcing cone split.:banghead: I'm glad it was at the range and not in a gunfight.

The K frames definitely are collectible and getting harder to find. 3 years ago I bought my first K frame, a 19-3 in nickel, 2.5-inch barrel. Paid $299 for it in very good condition and used it as a primary ccw for the past two years.
About 2 years ago bought a model 64 2-inch for my daughter for Xmas in like new condition. Paid 350 for that one. This past January I bought a 3-inch model 66 with box, papers and two triggers in like new condition. Paid 500 for that one. If I came up on another 3-inch 66 tomorrow for 700 I would buy it and not bat an eye and feel like a giddy school girl taking it home, all the while thinking I'd just ripped off the fellow who sold it.
No, I am not rich. Not hurting either though. Point is, these are great guns that are special as being the best of their breed from a bygone era of law enforcement and they still shine today in the civilian ccw role.
For the gentleman who is a fan of the sp101, I hear you on that. I have been looking at these for a few years, studying them, shot a few owned by other kind shooters at my gun clubs. They are quite tank like and can be made to have superb triggers, do not be fooled! I finally succumbed and I just bought a 3-inch sp101 with windage adjustable rear sight in 32 H&R Magnum. Will pick it up next weekend. It is used but seemed in excellent shape. I think the previous owner carried it as the trigger job is obvious and nice. Finished will need some mothers and a new pair of Hogues will go no as the current pair is pretty worn down. Look forward to working up good loads and adding it to the CCW. Love those Ks and other medium frame revolvers as well!