Colt King Cobra help needed

[bikemutt]

A collector I know well has a drop-dead gorgeous 4" stainless King Cobra for trade or sale. I've been wanting one of these for a long time but when they show up around here they are pretty much used up.

So here is the scoop: the asking price as of now is $975, I'm sure he will extend his bottom line price to me but I don't expect it to be a whole lot lower. The original owner did a first-rate job of polishing the gun so that it resembles a factory bright stainless finish. It comes with box and papers but unknown if they are original.

From an investment standpoint, has the high polish detracted from it's market value? I'd have to do some safe cleaning to buy this, and I don't mind doing so, but I don't want to end up overpaying for a fine gun that's been altered.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Seems our KC has the serial number on the box so there's that to check for originality and if you care it shoulda come with a lock as well as the paperwork.

Polish? Definitely detracts from the "as issued" value for those folk but adds for a fella not liking the sad finish originally applied (compared to "classic" S&Ws). I personally would like to polish mine but it's a carry gun and don't really want to unless it achieves "Bar-B-Que gun" status for me. hen, hell yeah!

The big thing with the polish is that the polisher hasn't melted lettering or dimensions. If not, the purist can easily return one of these to the matte/satin original finish.

Anyhow, not knowing regional value consideration (used to do that Puyallup show so I know the pricing in Washington can vary from here) I'd think it may be a touch high but I consider these to be "legacy" guns which even when over paid for will meet and exceed that amount eventually and will also become more scarce by the year.

I'd sure like to see the number start with an 8 but given my extreme satisfaction with ours - I'd be OK with just a taste of overpaying by other people's standards. The worlds full of things I didn't buy because I thought they were too expensive at the time and yet never came down. We were a frog's hair backwards in our own KC but today, it matters not a whit - 'cause it's in my holster now!

 

[CraigC]

Sounds like a collector price for a sixgun that is no longer in collectible condition. No collector will knowingly pay top dollar for a sixgun that has been polished, stainless or not. So its value is as a shooter and the price should reflect that. Like Todd above, you have to decide if it's worth the premium just to have one.

I have to agree about the things we pass on because we think they're too much. I remember a really nice and minty blued King Cobra I passed on several years ago. Along with several other sixguns I remember passing on and later regretted. Don't know where the money went but today I wish I had those sixguns. Of course, I have more money than I did now so......

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I would give $750 for it if I wanted it as a shooter.

 

[OilyPablo]

So this isn't the one JB had for sale on SGN.

If the polish looks professional, around $900 is not so crazy in our area anymore.

Personally I like buying Trooper III's and fixing them up with light springs and such, to make perfect shooters.

 

[bikemutt]

The last one I saw around here was a 4" stainless at DJ's for $775 but it had seen a lot of action.

I will tell you about "the one that got away"; I got an email blast from Pinto's saying they had a 4" NIB Blue KC for $595. I excused myself and called, I was caller #4 and no, I did not get that one

Anyway, my observation so far is every gun I have sold that was visibly and irreversibly modified had to be priced significantly below market, basically sold as a shooter. I don't think I will be paying collector price for a shooter.