I really want to shoot my new Smith 27-2

[chutestrate]

I lucked out at gunshow last month. I came home with an unfired 27-2 in walnut case for $650. It was literally the very last table in a 2000 table show. I was just giving the vendor's table a cursory look over, and it called to me. It didn't have the original grips, but there is only on hole in the cylinder with a carbon ring on it. So to make me happy I'm saying it's only factory fired.

I didn't have any intention of using it, but now I'm thinking about it. I won't as I have a few other .357's to play with but this 27-2 looks sharp. The bluing is deep, and the 6.5 inch barrel is just the right length.

[Golfswithwolves]

These are very beautiful revolvers! Mine is very accurate and fun to shoot.

[contender1]

Well, I happen to own a few S&W handguns. Of which, a model 28 in 6", a model 19 in 4" and a pair of model 27's. One is in 8-3/8" & one in the harder to find 5" version. They are shooters, and fun. But if I found a NIB one, I'd likely put it aside & keep shooting the ones that have already been shot.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I am jealous over that find! I had a 27 - 2 some years back and it was a dream to shoot. As always seems to be the case I had an unexpected repair bill and sold the pistol along with speed loaders and a goodly amount of both loaded and fired brass and a very nice Hume holster.Robert

[dubber123]

I'd shoot it. With the prices of guns as they are, you could use that and still probably make money any time you wanted to sell as long as you cared for it correctly. Or you could leave it in the safe and maybe make another hundred or so. Sometime.

[GLL]

I say "go-for-it" ! :)
Factory firing will have three alternating chambers with a carbon ring.

Shooting a nice 27-2 will not have much impact on the value if you keep it clean and looking nice !
You got a good deal on your revolver ! It will always be worth more than you paid ! :)


http://www.fototime.com/22B82CCE38A6CD8/orig.jpg

Jerry

[chutestrate]

Maybe this isn't unshot. I can't tell. I'll give it a solid 96% though. I'll resist the urge as long as I can. The single action let off is amazing. It came with the hogue grips, and I had a set of the target grips that look pretty good on it.


127863127868127871

[osteodoc08]

Playing devils advocate here....

why by would someone buy a set of hogues if they weren't shooting it?

theres also a turn line best I can tell. There's also wear on the recoil shield best as I can tell. Need some up close pictures to determine better. Also a shot of the forcing cone.

Take her out and shoot her. It looks as if someone else has already. Just enjoy it.

[Love Life]

I'd shoot it until it was time to rebuild it, get it rebuilt, and then shoot it some more. I'll let the people still around after I croak worry about the value of the guns I still own at the time.

[Joni Lynn]

I would shoot it as much as possible. Enjoy it!

[Petrol & Powder]

Regardless of its history of being shot or not, That gun was made to be shot......a lot!
A N-frame in 38/357 is seriously overbuilt and an excellent firearm. Go shoot it and enjoy that fine piece of American engineering.

[Bored1]

Hope I find something like that at a gun show I plan on hitting soon. If so, the range isn't too far out of the way, on my way home. And if it's too cold outside, I will have to pay an indoor range. No gun stays unfired long around me!

[bigarm]

I would shoot it, but I have absolutely no self control, plus I am 61 and don't care about the worth after I am gone.

[Pb Burner]

"I would shoot it, but I have absolutely no self control".
^This would be me also.^
Very nice revolver by the way. Nice find.

[9mmsubgun-m11]

Just remember when they are shoveling dirt on your casket some shmo will be shooting it and loving it. Shoot it!

[floydboy]

I agree. Shot it like you stole it. I have a nickel plated 5" barrel that was my moms. Keep it clean and I don't know if you could wear it out in two lifetimes shooting 38 plinking loads. Granted I don't shoot as much as a lot of you guys but my guns don't sit and gather dust either. My M27-2 is the finest most expensive gun I own and I don't baby it. I shoot it and enjoy it. I also have a Browning A5 in very good condition and it doesn't sit in the safe either. I look at these two guns this way. They are some of the best ever made in their respective classes and they aren't being made anymore. They're not going to loose value if taken care of. They were both made to shot. Take care of it and enjoy.

Floyd

[GabbyM]

Coins and stamps are for collecting. Guns are for shooting.

[Petrol & Powder]

Coins and stamps are for collecting. Guns are for shooting.

Well said

[tygar]

get a set of diamond Goncalvo Alves (sp) grips & shoot that puppy! They're great. Also, factory are 3 cyl alternately fired. The best 357 ever made! Like others, would shoot myself with it if I could get my -2 back.!

[9.3X62AL]

I'd shoot it until it was time to rebuild it, get it rebuilt, and then shoot it some more. I'll let the people still around after I croak worry about the value of the guns I still own at the time.

Guns that remain unfired for 2 years or more at my house tend to get sold off. If I spend that much for a fine revolver--and you did just fine, BTW--I sure as h--l won't shove it in a safe and just look at it. I am another whose view is that presence of the Hogue neoprene stocks says it was fired at some point--and agree with Gerry's observation that three scorch rings every other charge hole indicate factory-only firing. Collector consciousness and focus is an unnatural course of conduct, AFAIC.

[mattw]

I have a 627, no dash and I will tell you that it is an amazing shooter.

[Hickok]

I say shoot it and enjoy it. Why save it for the next guy who may own it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYaN5IGQdIA

My one big regret was selling a Model 27 5 inch barrel that I once owned, pinned barrel, beautiful bluing,.....[smilie=b:.

[bobthenailer]

If in 100% condition maybe not ! You can still shoot a less than 100% gun and not really loose any value if you take good care of them ! most cosmetic blemishes are done when not shooting it ! to and from safe & shooting bags through doors to and from cars ect, are usually the problem!

All the long guns and handguns stored in my safe are each in there own sock type gun protector. Then taken from the safe to the reloading bench and then taken from the sock and put into a padded gun case or shooting bag . when at the range they either go directly back in a padded case or laid on the bench on a microfiber mini towel .

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I've has a lot of guns that weren't shot before. Fixed that problem right snappy. Once you do the same you won't have to worry about it any more.

[BruceB]

Let's be practical here.

You have a lovely, functional revolver. That is GREAT.

If you shoot it, and enjoy it, (and you will enjoy it) what value can be placed on that enjoyment? The decrease in the revolver's value from being USED, might amount to a couple hundred bucks.... and maybe not.

What groundshaking loss will that represent a few years down the road? Compared to value of the ENJOYMENT you will obtain from using it, a few hundred dollars in one's estate is insignificant.

I once bought FOUR S&W blue revolvers, all new-in-the-box, from a gent who'd stashed them many years before.

I immediately fired all of them, and enjoyed them immensely. Three were 8.375" guns, in .357 (M27), .41(M57) and .45 Colt (M25). The fourth was a 25-2 in .45ACP. All were new, and all are now "used".

With due respect to Bob, my guns see as much fresh air as I can manage, get put into holsters, get carried and shot as much as possible. He has truly described "safe queens", which is perfectly OK because they are HIS guns, to be handled as he sees fit. More power to him, but it's not my way.

[chutestrate]

I'm going shootin this week.

[osteodoc08]

I'm going shootin this week.

Glad to hear it! Pictures needed.

[gmsharps]

I have a consecutive serial number pair of Colt SAA that were new unturned when I got them. I carried them to the range for many months to shoot them but could not get the nerve. Finally I said to heck with it in that if I am going to will these down to the grandkids they will be well used abut not abused. They can say their grandpa used these a lot instead of a new set of unfired revolvers with no sentimental meaning and just monetary value. Just my 2 cents worth. And by the way these revolvers are mighty fun to shoot.

gmsharps

[bobthenailer]

My guns are not safe Queens , i just take good care of them because that's just me !
I do shoot them with about 200 + rounds a week even in winter.( a club i belong to has a 50" indoor range ) . i usually go for Quality shooting not Quanity shooting !

There's no wrong or right way as long as you are shooting !!

[9.3X62AL]

How another gun owner makes use of his sideiron is none of my business. If your soul is soothed by leaving a NIB Colt SAA unfired and its cylinder unturned, by all means do so. Such a course of conduct is just unfathomable to me, though. I buy firearms to use them, it is through their use in the game fields or the shooting venues that I derive joy from their presence and possession. Crafting ammo to enhance their accuracy and power is another large phase of that enjoyment.

[UnderDawgAl]

There is no gun in my safe that I enjoy NOT shooting.

[unclebill]

i have a 27-2 as well
my most accurate wheelgun
what a beauty

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l272/billhedges/1_zps42a75d42.jpg (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/billhedges/media/1_zps42a75d42.jpg.html)

[GLL]

Coins and stamps are for collecting. Guns are for shooting.

I think a better analogy might be collecting muscle cars and not driving them ! Stamps and coins have no function in a collection other than to admire.
I collect (accumulate) old S&W hand ejectors but certainly shoot them all.

2nd Model .44 Special
http://www.fototime.com/DB2FB904F454895/orig.jpg

I can still "admire" them for their beauty though ! :)
Jerry

[Thumbcocker]

^^^^^^

Drool

[SSGOldfart]

what would you take for it??

[Snow ninja]

From what I've seen, having an "unfired" gun doesn't add much to the resale value. As long as you don't disrespect and ruin it, you'll always get way more out of that than you paid. I have no use for a gun I can't shoot. Guns, women, and cars: should be respected and treated with care, and never left alone without any attention.

[tygar]

From what I've seen, having an "unfired" gun doesn't add much to the resale value. As long as you don't disrespect and ruin it, you'll always get way more out of that than you paid. I have no use for a gun I can't shoot. Guns, women, and cars: should be respected and treated with care, and never left alone without any attention.

OK have to jump in!

As a collector (mostly former) I was on the Browning, Winchester, Colt & S&W collector lists with permanent numbers. That meant I got the same # each time a new collectible came out. I also had a very large NIB Belgium Browning Rifle pre 67 collection & believe me, if you even turned the cylinder or worked the lever etc. you drastically reduced the value.

I found it hard to just have all these in safes & sold them all - except for a Win M63 & SAA 45, both with slight problems so no problems shooting them. Just can't stand not shooting them.

[9.3X62AL]

Tygar, it is good to read of your recovery. ChuteStrate, do we have to send someone by to check on your status? Where izzat range report?

[RJM52]

What I do...if a gun is LNIB and I can roll it over to a collector for a substantial profit then it will go and I'll go look for a shooter grade gun....otherwise it gets shot.

27s are wonderful guns. I have two right now. One was offered to me by one of the members of the S&W Forums as being made in 1952 which is my birth year...he further stated that he had a S&W letter with it stating it was shipped to the George Lawance Leather Co on May 21, 1952 ....my birthday...my next question was "how much do you want for the shipping...".

The other is a 5" 1966 in very nice condition that I recently traded for...it the original grips are missing but the consolation grips are ok...Nill Custom Retro-Cokes...

In this case I would say enjoy the gun..6.5s are great shooters...

Bob

ps...have you figured out when it was made...I have the book if you have not.

[chutestrate]

No sir, I don't know when it was made. That would be nice to know if I could impose on you. Do you need the serial?

[9.3X62AL]

If I'm talking about age-dating by serial number, I prefer to send it as follows.....

S123456 would be "S1234XX

ABC 1234 would go "ABC 12XX"

That much will almost certainly get you the year-range, and sometimes month and year--depends on records source depth.

There are some info items I just don't like to fully lay out on the net.

[Char-Gar]

I can think of no good and solid reason why a sane man would not shoot that hangun...allot!

[gwpercle]

Shoot it, enjoy it and let your heirs worry about how much they can get for your stuff.
Life's too short not to....do it while you can, don't wait another minute .
Have some Ahrends in Retro Target or Retro combat made up in the exotic wood of your choice and take her dancing!
Gary

[9.3X62AL]

Gary--THANKS LOADS for the recommendation of Ahrends stock sets. I didn't really need that $146 anyway.

I think my friends cost me $50 for every buck an adversary caused me to shell out. This place is the largest hive of enablers in the known world.

[TheDoctor]

I wish I had your delima to deal with! One of my biggest regrets gun wise, besides selling a second year python, was selling it unfired! I think about that one almost everyday.

[Patrick L]

If I die, my son will likely trade in all those "old six-guns" for something cool with a laser, like a Glock. Might as well shoot it...