Old S&W

[dtknowles]

A picture of some of my collection of old S&W break action revolvers.
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Tim

[reddog81]

I’ve got a couple .38’s and a .32. They are actually well made guns. The .38’s are pretty small yet as potent as a .380 acp and would be a decent carry gun if nothing better was available.

I’ve wanted a larger one for years but have never pulled the trigger on one.

[BLAHUT]

I carry a .45, if it was good enough for a backup piece to my M24, in the army it's good enough for a carry gun now !

[hoodat]

dt, you have a bunch of sweethearts right there. A fine collection. I love these little, (and big) top-breaks, and have a couple myself. And I use them.

Yours are primarily single action, and older than mine. You've gotta wonder what stories they could tell. jd

[FergusonTO35]

The .38 S&W was a fairly good defensive round compared to what else was available at the time. Not much if anything else available in such a small revolver with that bore size and boolit weight.

[dtknowles]

I carry a .45, if it was good enough for a backup piece to my M24, in the army it's good enough for a carry gun now !

Yeah, the DA New Frontier in 44-40 is a fine holster gun for open carry.
TEK

[pworley1]

Nice collection.

[dtknowles]

dt, you have a bunch of sweethearts right there. A fine collection. I love these little, (and big) top-breaks, and have a couple myself. And I use them.

Yours are primarily single action, and older than mine. You've gotta wonder what stories they could tell. jd

I wonder about who carried them in their day. Who knows, the old army #2s could have been carried in the war between the states. The baby Russian could also have some stories to tell.

I have more double actions but they duplicate what is displayed. There is just more noticeable variation in the single action guns.

Most of these guns were not working properly, were missing parts or had damage when I got them. Everything in the picture functions properly (except the baby Russian, the ejector still needs work) and has been fired by me. The workbench still holds a few that need more loving care.

Tim

[dtknowles]

I’ve got a couple .38’s and a .32. They are actually well made guns. The .38’s are pretty small yet as potent as a .380 acp and would be a decent carry gun if nothing better was available.

I’ve wanted a larger one for years but have never pulled the trigger on one.

The larger ones carry a pretty big price tag or I would have more. I am still looking for deals, especially ones that need some work.

Tim

[shooting on a shoestring]

Kudos Sir!
Great collection.
Best part is:
“Most of these guns were not working properly, were missing parts or had damage when I got them. Everything in the picture functions properly (except the baby Russian, the ejector still needs work) and has been fired by me. The workbench still holds a few that need more loving care.”

That’s what I call making the world a better place.
Using your abilities to bring an old gun back to life is a worthy effort.
I sincerely hope you and someone after you enjoy the fruits of your labor.

[Frank V]

Wow, that’s a nice collection of an era past. Are they as expensive to collect as it is to collect other older guns? That is a very nice group. The larger ones are expensive?
Thanks for sharing.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Only piece I have from the 1800’s is this First Model 32 Safety Hammerless aka New Departure.
317327
317328

It carries a 3-digit serial number.

The old Smiths have a certain appeal. Even though I see them as frail compared to my Rugers, and awkward compared to my K-Frames, they get respect for leading the way to the wonderful revolvers we today.

[dtknowles]

Wow, that’s a nice collection of an era past. Are they as expensive to collect as it is to collect other older guns? That is a very nice group. The larger ones are expensive?
Thanks for sharing.

All the .38, .32, and .22's were less than $200 but like I said most of them did not function properly. The two .44's were in excess of $500. Everything would sell for more than I paid but my labor is extensive and can't be counted in the cost as that is just love. I have hundreds of dollars more spent on parts guns that will never be whole (sad) sometimes it takes three guns to make one that works.
Tim

[dtknowles]

Only piece I have from the 1800’s is this First Model 32 Safety Hammerless aka New Departure.
317327
317328

It carries a 3-digit serial number.

The old Smiths have a certain appeal. Even though I see them as frail compared to my Rugers, and awkward compared to my K-Frames, they get respect for leading the way to the wonderful revolvers we today.

Nice, I have stayed away from the DA only guns. Focused more on older models. Yes, more fragile than Rugers but not more awkward than swing out revolvers. Topbreaks are actually more easily functioned and reloaded than swing out revolvers. Though they did not use moon clips or fast chargers if they did with their auto ejection, they would be faster to reload. The Schofield (I don't own one) you can eject with just one hand, pushing the barrel against whatever and reload with the other, quite simple.
TEK

[Battis]

I looked at an original Schofield last night that had been refinished at some point. It looked like a professional job - all the lettering and numbers were plainly visible. How much does the refinish detract from the value?
Beautiful gun.

[dtknowles]

I don't know how much to add or deduct for a refinish. If a gun had much finish, I would not refinish, I think that would be a deduction, certainly would not cover the cost of refinish. A poor refinish is a crime. I have asked myself if maybe I would want to refinish any of my old guns and the answer is always, nah. I would buy a refinished gun if the job as good and the price was right but one refinished to like new would seem phony. A high condition original finish, I could not tell, have never seen one to know the difference between original and refinished.
Tim

[murf205]

The main thing to remember when thinking about refinishing an old or neglected gun is that you only get 1 first chance to get it right. After that, if it goes south, the disappointment is worse than blue wear or nickel freckling. Nothing looks more terrible that the edges buffed rounded and logos and lettering buffed out.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

My local FFL is a retired cop. He was telling me that when it was brandy sippin time at the hunting camp, they would sit in lawn chairs and shoot an old .38 spl. BA smith at a tin can or something.

[murf205]

Charlie, what is a BA smith?

[dtknowles]

I think he meant DA, double action.

Tim

[Frank V]

Those old break action revolvers were probably carried a lot more than people expect. In an era where a dollar was really a dollar, I’m betting a lot of folks used what they could afford?