Thanks a lot Java.

Was on the range today with my Smith 18. Nice little revolver!

Btw, I blame this thread for getting me thinking about revolvers. The end result was a Smith 686+ 6" and a Colt Trooper mk3 6". Bastard.:D

Whatever you do, do not look at a Blackhawk, acquiring one of those (you know they make a .357/9mm convertible, I mean that's useful, right?) could lead you considering a model 92 (the .357 magnum really comes alive in a carbine). With all those hungry .357's, you'll need to spend lots of time reloading just to keep them fed. It's best not to think about such things.

The "end" you say...ha ha ha! :D

Whipped, you've been warned. You start out curious about Pythons, but the end isn't a beautiful Smith or Colt, it's the beginning. You should have been satisfied with a nice Sig or Kimber in a decent kydex holster and shiny store bought ammo. You think it is just an experiment, and revolvers are nothing more than a fun diversion, but you are starting down a road littered with snubbies, single actions, and leather holsters, and the result is having to assemble your ammo at home just to feed your habit. You know you've hit bottom when you wake up and find yourself digging through gas checks and Alox to find a wheel weight to melt down. Allow this thread serve as an intervention, it's early for you, you still really can quit any time you want to. Leave those revolvers for the people who really have a problem.

Taz's Master is right............I myself have been sucked down the "Early S&W Revolver" black hole.
Suddenly, I'm thinking about, 5 screws, recessed cylinders, pinned barrels, diamond grips........

1973 911T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

Steve

I would start and stop my revolver collection with a Smith mod. 25. 5" barrel, please.

Carter

Oh, and in Long Colt, not ACP.

I just want an airweight hammerless. And a carbine. And a 12 gauge. And a higher capacity 9mm. That's it. Oh yeah, and an AR-10. And a......

Back to the original question - my brother just sold an early '80's issue 6" blued Python for $3,200. Pretty much pristine condition, but by no means "new in box". Insanity - sheer insanity. I've personally shot that gun enough to know I prefer my S&W Model 19. When we bought these things new, the 19 was only about $100 cheaper. I doubt I could get $700-$800 for it today, and it's in equally pristine condition. The "collectors" have run amok and ruined yet another formerly affordable niche in the shooting world.

As far as revolvers in general, I just have to kind of chuckle to myself whenever I see the reaction of younger and/or newer shooters when first exposed to them. When I started this game, everyone shot revolvers. Autos were pretty much just a curiousity that a few shooters played with, unless they were using them for some form of competition. Certainly no one carried one. If you shot a handgun, you shot a revolver. Even more certainly, no one's first handgun was an auto - we all learned the basics on revolvers. Safer, simpler, and more reliable.

The fit and finish of the standard Colt or S&W revolvers back then, what they applied to their run of the mill working guns, was head and shoulders above anything available today. The glass smooth actions, the wonderful triggers, all of that was simply how they were. My how times have changed. Hand one of these standard old revolvers to a new shooter weaned on today's matte finished, mostly plastic autos with their horrible triggers and they are universally stunned to see what a good handgun can be, what they used to be. I just chuckle at the thought that they have become more or less a novelty today. Amazing...

Jeff just reminded me, I want an older Model 19 as well.:D

You want to minimize fill the pool in wt concrete as suggested and keep the Python. The spoon will always have value...no matter what happens. U could even trade it for food one day?

Why people chose to get rid of the best quality things that they have is beyond me? The few $$$ waved in front of their faces seems to sway them, when if they kept the item it would keep on appreciating over time.

Never cared for the glorified 38 spl that the S&W 19 is....

Preferred the mdl 27 or 686 when it became available...

Jeff, I'm seeing Model 64's going for better than $400. A 686 is $700-$800. How long before a 686 is a $1000 gun? 2 years? What is the price of entry into the double action .22 game? When is the last time you saw a deal on a Security Six? What used to be a very affordable entry into the handgun experience, is quickly becoming prohibitivly expensive. Any US made revolver is an investment.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1395933506.jpg

I have one that is unfired and in the box to!:)

Tabs is that a 7" barrel? Looks longer than 6".

8 3/4 inches...

Depends on what you want out of a revolver - shooters vs. collectors. The K framed 19 is a superior carry/duty gun due to its light weight - much prefered by guys who actually use them. The N framed 27 is one hell of a big, heavy gun that offers no performance advantage. If I'm going to carry something that big, it's going to be a .44.

Good points. I'm not sure where this is going in the long run. Old revolvers used to fly under the radar, and now it seems like they are getting noticed. It's funny (and kind of sad) that as newer and younger shooters find them, they seem to think they are something special, and therefor worth a premium. They just aren't - there are litterally millions of old S&W's, Colts, Rugers, and others out there, and there is nothing "special" about a damn one of them. Lots of old farts are laughing all the way to the bank, selling run of the mill old revolvers for astronomical prices to wild-eyed shooters who don't know any better or, worse yet, to "collectors" who are rushing to get in on the next hot thing. My brother's "$3,200" Python is an absolutely ridiculous example of this.

The Python like Johnny Rotten is gone but not forgotten...and as such the collectors are all over it like flies on any other Colt.