How About A $49 Smith & Wesson?

[Phydeaux642]

I've been going to Bass Pro often to try and find some Aguila Super Colibris and I always make a loop through the Fine Gun Room while I'm there. Friday I found a Ruger New Model Blackhawk in .357 with some nice stag grips on it for $349.
This afternoon I walked through and found this Smith & Wesson Model 61-2 for $49...yep, $49. It doesn't have a magazine and has a bit of rust on the slide, but hey, it's $49. I'm sure a magazine will run me what the gun did.

 

[1KPerDay]

Cute!

 

[9mmepiphany]

The sales people likely didn't know what they had or weren't willing for the right buyer to walk through the door.

The M-61 is rare enough to be collectable, although maybe not in that condition...functional when referring to the M-61 has always been a relative term

I'm betting a magazine for it will cost much more than you have in the pistol

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Escorts go for pretty decent money in good shape, heck you could probably part it out and triple your investment.....

That said, Id keep it. They are super fun little guns. You might be able to cut down a M41/422 magazine if all else fails.

 

[Phydeaux642]

Magazines seem to be in the $40-$50 range.

 

[ontarget]

I would have bought that one even if mags were unobtainable. That would have made a sweet desk decoration at the very least.
Hope you get a mag so you can let us know how it shoots

 

[WestKentucky]

So you got a neat single shot 22 S&W… $49 ain’t bad

 

[Phydeaux642]

So you got a neat single shot 22 S&W… $49 ain’t bad

Not even a single shot. It's got a mag disconnect. Looking for a mag now.

 

[earlthegoat2]

So, when are you going back for the Blackhawk?

 

[Phydeaux642]

So, when are you going back for the Blackhawk?

I bought it Friday.

 

[potmetal]

You hit the lottery. Congrats to you.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The S&W 61 Escort magazine is catched at the heel.

For collector purposes a S&W M61 branded magazine is imperative. For shooting purposes, I would not hesitate to adapt any closely matching magazine to fit but that's me.

Not all M61 Escorts have magazine safeties. That feature was introduced after the gun had already been in production.

[What I have read is that the S&W M61 is very sensitive to bullet shape and recoil impulse of ammunition used. Some owners claim they run perfect with the right ammo.]

 

[Phydeaux642]

The S&W 61 Escort magazine is catched at the heel.

For collector purposes a S&W M61 branded magazine is imperative. For shooting purposes, I would not hesitate to adapt any closely matching magazine to fit but that's me.

Not all M61 Escorts have magazine safeties. That feature was introduced after the gun had already been in production.

[What I have read is that the S&W M61 is very sensitive to bullet shape and recoil impulse of ammunition used. Some owners claim they run perfect with the right ammo.]

What I have read is that the 61 no dash didn't have a mag disconnect. S&W regretted that almost immediately and changed it with the 61-1.

 

[bannockburn]

At $49 you can't go wrong with that, even without the magazine! Found factory magazines and owner's manual on Ebay.

Nice score on the Blackhawk too!

 

[Speedo66]

I wound up with an excellent 61 I didn't want, factory box , papers, and all.

Sold it to a local gun shop and it sat there for years. His price wasn't exorbitant, there was just no interest.

Good luck with yours!

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

A local pawnshop has a nickel plated M61 for $599, been sitting there a long while......

 

[EmGeeGeorge]

On eBay now, cheapest one at this point.

 

[Phydeaux642]

On eBay now, cheapest one at this point.View attachment 1009498

Yep, I'm watching it.

 

[Monac]

Ed Buffaloe has a good article about the S&W Escort at his website: https://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/SWE/swe.html

I know nobody asked me, but I have to agree with Buffaloe when he says "It is a mystery to me why Smith & Wesson chose to copy an outmoded 60 year old design" (the 1908 Pieper Bayard). I guess making the frame out of aluminum and chambering it for 22 Long Rifle was supposed to be enough to get big sales. They made about 65,000 of them over three or four years before they stopped.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_&_Wesson_Model_61

According to Wiki, they were only made for 16 months. I also found it curious that the first so many made weren't reliable and were sent back, and instead of repairing them the S&W employees replaced them and stamped the original serial numbers on the new gun. It sounds like the labor to repair them was more than the cost of a new one.
The total number to hit the market would be skewed by the number of replacements sent out that replaced the originals that weren't reliable.
This is according to Jim Supica from S&W, according to Wiki.
I'll have to look it up in my S&W book to see what is correct.