Shooting Collectable revolvers

[bangswitch]

bangswitch

That's an outstanding collection of S&Ws you've got there; nicely represented with the K frames and especially the N frames!

Thank you very much. I'm rather proud of them (and a bit closer to broke because of them). My goal was to have one of each magnum caliber that S&W made during that era (end of the P&R), and with the M48, that happened. I also wanted one gun in nickel, one gun in stainless and one .357 in a K frame, one .357 in a N frame. I wasn't too particular regarding barrel lengths, but wanted a mix; it just worked out that all the large frame guns were 6" and I managed to get a snub nose in a K frame. That the K22 (M48-4) has a 6" barrel is appropriate since it is a target gun.

View attachment 971155


I came home from yesterday’s gunshow with this 1971 Highway Patrolman. It came in a period correct box labeled “Highway Patrolman” but no label to tie it to the individual revolver, so nice, but irrelevant. Oh yeah, it’s gonna be shot. A lot. Soon.

I love shooting mine; wouldn't have hurt my feelings at all to have found a 4" version like yours. Enjoy the heck out of it.

No firearm has ever left the Smith and Wesson factory without having been test fired. I know a lot of guys consider one that has only been test fired but never fired since as never having been fired, but they have all been fired.

I accept that as fact, and from a liability standpoint it makes perfect sense. There is some discussion among some collectors, though, that certain commemoratives were not even test fired. One of these is the NCHP 50th Anniversary that I have, and the apocryphal story among those who own one is that when the NCHP ordered them, they requested from S&W that they not be test fired. Now, whether that is true or not is a matter for another discussion, but the face of the cylinder on my gun is as devoid of burn marks as the side plate. Usually, there are three (every other chamber) for factory test firings. What other evidence can one look for to determine whether a very pristine gun has been fired or not? This particular commemorative came in nickel plate (the M29-2 that's the top gun in my photo above)

 

[CraigC]

You have to decide for yourself where you derive joy from them. Is it in owning, admiring and preserving them or shooting them? For me, it is in shooting and hunting with them. No matter what they cost.

 

[DR505]

I recently broke out an 18-3 that was ANIB and was using it to teach my son how to shoot a revolver. It cleaned up just fine, and we had a great time. The smile on my 10 year old’s face is more precious to me than looking at an unused safe queen. If I want an investment, I have a financial advisor to help. Guns are for shooting.

 

[orionengnr]

I had a pretty nice M57, didn't shoot it much, sold it a year ago.
Kinda wish I had shot it a bit more.

Makes me think...I have a pretty nice M27 and a pretty nice M25.
I'm not going to live forever...maybe I should be shooting them a bit more.

 

[walnut1704]

I

This is my concern as well. I would not say I am lacking in shooter experience. I have all kinds of guns my entire life, hunt frequently, and handle guns daily. I have also sold thousands of guns from behind the counter in my younger days. But I am not a range rat by any stretch and can go several months without pulling a trigger.

When you say 'more guns are harmed by cleaning them than by shooting them' can you expand on that? My thought is to properly oil the barrels and gun and not use any metal since the round count is so small. But what other steps should I do, or avoid.


Last, a couple of poster mentioned less than full powered loads. I am not a reloader and never will be. That kind of tedious, time consuming work is not in my blood, at least not yet. I would assume the most important thing is to use modern, clean burning ammunition or possibly cowboy action loads and avoid the cheaper stuff we typically take to the range for, say, our Glocks/Sigs/Kahrs, etc. Most important thing is finding the cleanest shooting ammo correct?

The slip of a screw driver when removing the cylinder to clean. Improper screwdriver. The lack of the aforementioned guide for your cleaning rod, ramming the end of the cleaning brush into the firing pin bushing. An overzealous desire for absolute cleanliness can lead to the imprudent use of inappropriate abrasives and *gasp* power tools.

I don't think you're in this category from the sound of it.

But let's talk ammo. In the .41 you don't have much choice. There's the full power factory stuff. That's kind of unpleasant stuff (I have a .41) but for a cylinder or two I guess that won't matter much. It's hard to find and expensive, but again given your volume....

There is some mid-range ammo with lead bullets that's great. But the lead bullets are dirtier than jacketed and are likely to leave some traces of lead somewhere. Lead is always a bit of an issue removing it. From a wear-and-tear point of view they are easier on the gun but from a cleaning point of view not so much. There may be a less violent factory load. I don't shoot factory ammo so I'm not sure. Maybe the Hornady stuff? You could probably figure it out from their listed ballistics.

This is where handloading would be beneficial, and why many of us that shoot the .41 consider it a reloader's cartridge. You could load a cleaner bullet to lower velocities. But as you said it's not for you.

My 657 is the best shooting revolver I have. Do you know any reloaders you trust?

 

[Agsalaska]

To your last question, no not really. But I have other guns in other cartridges in other cartridges that are in the same boat as the 57.

The slip of a screw driver when removing the cylinder to clean. Improper screwdriver. The lack of the aforementioned guide for your cleaning rod, ramming the end of the cleaning brush into the firing pin bushing. An overzealous desire for absolute cleanliness can lead to the imprudent use of inappropriate abrasives and *gasp* power tools.

I don't think you're in this category from the sound of it.

But let's talk ammo. In the .41 you don't have much choice. There's the full power factory stuff. That's kind of unpleasant stuff (I have a .41) but for a cylinder or two I guess that won't matter much. It's hard to find and expensive, but again given your volume....

There is some mid-range ammo with lead bullets that's great. But the lead bullets are dirtier than jacketed and are likely to leave some traces of lead somewhere. Lead is always a bit of an issue removing it. From a wear-and-tear point of view they are easier on the gun but from a cleaning point of view not so much. There may be a less violent factory load. I don't shoot factory ammo so I'm not sure. Maybe the Hornady stuff? You could probably figure it out from their listed ballistics.

This is where handloading would be beneficial, and why many of us that shoot the .41 consider it a reloader's cartridge. You could load a cleaner bullet to lower velocities. But as you said it's not for you.

My 657 is the best shooting revolver I have. Do you know any reloaders you trust?

To your last question, no. But I have others in other more common cartridges that are in the same boat as the Model 57.

 

[Agsalaska]

——
You’re a collector. You know what other collectors look for: chamber rings, drag lines, wear at the forcing cone and grips, etc... If you want your guns to hold relative value, shoot them using period equivalent loads, clean, oil, and all that, but mostly swap the grips. They show the most wear.
I shoot all of my revolvers regularly and they are still accruing value- because they aren’t being made anymore.

In my opinion, shoot them, be careful and be safe, and enjoy. Not shooting a nice gun is like not kissing a pretty girl.

Good advice

Howdy Again

The most damage that happens most often when cleaning any firearm is the cleaning rod rubbing against the bore near the muzzle. It is impossible to clean most revolver barrels from the cylinder end with a rod, so if you want to do the least harm, use a Bore Snake and clean the bore from the cylinder end. Same with the chambers, you can clean with a Bore Snake instead of a cleaning rod. But I will be frank with you, I have found over the years that I can remove more crud with less elbow grease with a cleaning rod than with a Bore Snake. The Bore Snake only has bronze bristles at the end, and it has to be inserted and run through the bore many times to get the same amount of cleaning as running a rod with a brush on the end a few times, because I can run the rod back and forth lots of times without removing it from the bore. Frankly, if you are only going to shoot it a few times, and clean it afterwards with a brush on the end of a rod, you are going to have to try pretty hard to do any damage to the rifling near the muzzle. You can buy aluminum rods that are softer than the steel, you can also buy steel rods that have a plastic coating on them so they don't abrade the steel of the barrel.

I don't worry at all about finding 'clean burning' ammunition. As I said, I shoot some of my antique cartridge revolvers with Black Powder all the time, and Black Powder is anything but 'clean burning' I just have to remember to clean them afterwards. For modern Smokeless ammo, forget about trying to find 'clean burning' ammo. I can't tell you how many times I have heard guys on the firing line at a CAS match complaining because their ammo is not 'clean burning'. Their concern is that a little bit of Unique leaves some burnt powder flakes behind and they are concerned this will affect how well the guns function. We don't shoot fussy semi-auto firearms in CAS, a little bit of burnt powder in the barrel is not going to cause them to jam. Forget about trying to find 'Cowboy Action Loads'. There is nothing about them that is necessarily any cleaner burning than any other Smokeless ammo on the shelf. Trust me on this. Particularly these days when there is an ammo shortage because so many guys are panic buying guns and ammo. Just buy what you can find, shoot as much or as little as you want, and clean carefully afterwards.

Appreciate this response and the one before. Great posts.




And thanks to everyone for the responses on how to do this responsibly. I think yall have given me the confidence and knowledge to go ahead and take a couple of them to the farm next week. The 57 may not be shot for a while, but I have a few others that are going to get their first action in many, many years. And a few others will stay in the safe.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

P.S.

There is no need to take anything apart to clean a revolver. You do not need to remove the cylinder, so there should be no reason for a screwdriver to slip and mar the finish.

 

[Steve Milbocker]

Do you own a gun that is or could be worth enough money to actually change your life? If so now would be good time to sell it! Otherwise I would enjoy it for the reason it was built for. Take good care of it and chances are it will still be worth a bunch down the road.

 

[wcwhitey]

I can see not shooting from a monitory collector standpoint, maybe it’s the collecting that makes you happy. The older I get I realize that life is too short, I already have way too much stuff that’s going to be sold at a garage sale for $1.

 

[mavracer]

I don't buy NIB type collectors, just for this reason. I will buy no box or slight flaws collector types that I can shoot with care and not kill value.
I have a legendary frontiersman and a legendary lawman Winchester commeratives that both have small flaws and no box and they're both shooters. I even drilled the LF for a tang sight.
I have a bunch of Colts and Smiths that are in this class and have held their value well.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

As a firearms collector I can tell you that buying firearms as investments is not financially sound. Investing intelligently in the stock market will give a better return than investing in firearms, except for some very rare instances.

If you happen find one of the original Walker Colts hidden away in somebody's attic, and don't let them know what they have, a fortune can be made as Walkers generally sell for over $500,000. I have handled a few original Henry rifles, no I do not own one. One recently sold for $25,000.

Barring that, investing in firearms simply is not a good strategy for long term return on investment.

I collect firearms because I really like old firearms.

Eventually my estate will dissolve my collection, but allowing for inflation, I do not expect it will go for much more than I paid for it.

 

[mavracer]

As a firearms collector I can tell you that buying firearms as investments is not financially sound. Investing intelligently in the stock market will give a better return than investing in firearms, except for some very rare instances.

If you happen find one of the original Walker Colts hidden away in somebody's attic, and don't let them know what they have, a fortune can be made as Walkers generally sell for over $500,000. I have handled a few original Henry rifles, no I do not own one. One recently sold for $25,000.

Barring that, investing in firearms simply is not a good strategy for long term return on investment.

I collect firearms because I really like old firearms.

Eventually my estate will dissolve my collection, but allowing for inflation, I do not expect it will go for much more than I paid for it.

They ought to open a museum I'd pay good money just to look thru your collection DJ.

 

[tark]

I am a collector as well. I have a few very high conditioned guns with my C-96 being the crown jewel. It was never fired after leaving the Mauser factory in 1913. It is a 99+% gun and the interior of the gun is gooped in cosmoline. If I put enough ammo through that gun to wear off 1% off of the finish I would have cut the gun's value in half. On really high end collectables each percentage point over 97% can greatly increase the value of the piece. Going from 98% to 99% can double the value. If that broomie was a 96% gun I would be shooting the snot out of it. Three years ago I grabbed a High Standard Sentinel revolver with a six inch barrel. New in box with papers. I took it home and put 300 rounds through it that day. Why? It's not a high end collectable. It would never be worth much more than I paid for it had I left it sitting in the box. One must take into consideration many factors when deciding whether to shoot a near new gun. Is it a high end collectable that will rapidly go down in value with even slight amounts of finish wear? Or is it a near new example of a common gun that was made in the hundreds of thousands and will never be worth much anyway.

There is no reason not to shoot your model 57. With proper care there is no way you are going to hurt its value.

 

[1KPerDay]

You have to decide for yourself where you derive joy from them. Is it in owning, admiring and preserving them or shooting them? For me, it is in shooting and hunting with them. No matter what they cost.

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I always enjoy it when you post that pic. It rekindles the fire in my loins. LOL. Dang, that's a looker.

 

[dickydalton]

I only have one unfired gun. It's a 5 screw K-22 masterpiece that was born in the same month, year and possibly the same day as I was and is in the box. I have another one liner that I shoot instead.

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• dickydalton
• Feb 19, 2018

 

[Agsalaska]

As a firearms collector I can tell you that buying firearms as investments is not financially sound. Investing intelligently in the stock market will give a better return than investing in firearms, except for some very rare instances.

If you happen find one of the original Walker Colts hidden away in somebody's attic, and don't let them know what they have, a fortune can be made as Walkers generally sell for over $500,000. I have handled a few original Henry rifles, no I do not own one. One recently sold for $25,000.

Barring that, investing in firearms simply is not a good strategy for long term return on investment.

I collect firearms because I really like old firearms.

Eventually my estate will dissolve my collection, but allowing for inflation, I do not expect it will go for much more than I paid for it.

I am a collector as well. I have a few very high conditioned guns with my C-96 being the crown jewel. It was never fired after leaving the Mauser factory in 1913. It is a 99+% gun and the interior of the gun is gooped in cosmoline. If I put enough ammo through that gun to wear off 1% off of the finish I would have cut the gun's value in half. On really high end collectables each percentage point over 97% can greatly increase the value of the piece. Going from 98% to 99% can double the value. If that broomie was a 96% gun I would be shooting the snot out of it. Three years ago I grabbed a High Standard Sentinel revolver with a six inch barrel. New in box with papers. I took it home and put 300 rounds through it that day. Why? It's not a high end collectable. It would never be worth much more than I paid for it had I left it sitting in the box. One must take into consideration many factors when deciding whether to shoot a near new gun. Is it a high end collectable that will rapidly go down in value with even slight amounts of finish wear? Or is it a near new example of a common gun that was made in the hundreds of thousands and will never be worth much anyway.

There is no reason not to shoot your model 57. With proper care there is no way you are going to hurt its value.

I completely agree that they are certainly not financially sound ways to make money long term. I do it for the same reason both of you do. Because I like them. A LOT. There is just something about certain firearms that really get and keep my attention, very much like antique furniture or other older collectables can be for other people. When I go I have a couple that I hope my family keeps and I am sure they will since they have been in the family long before I was born.

When it does come to them being investments, they are better than cash in the sense that they do generally increase with inflation and they don't spend as easy. It's a lot easier to spend ten hundred dollar bills than it is a Smith & Wesson. But if you ever run short on cash they are very liquid. Fortunately that has not happened to me in many years, but it is always there.

 

[ontarget]

I completely agree that they are certainly not financially sound ways to make money long term. I do it for the same reason both of you do. Because I like them. A LOT. There is just something about certain firearms that really get and keep my attention, very much like antique furniture or other older collectables can be for other people. When I go I have a couple that I hope my family keeps and I am sure they will since they have been in the family long before I was born.

When it does come to them being investments, they are better than cash in the sense that they do generally increase with inflation and they don't spend as easy. It's a lot easier to spend ten hundred dollar bills than it is a Smith & Wesson. But if you ever run short on cash they are very liquid. Fortunately that has not happened to me in many years, but it is always there.

I agree that guns are a poor money maker.
To me, and for the exact reasons you stated I find guns to be a safe place to put my money. That said I don't own any high end collectables but rather a bunch of nice guns that could easily be sold or traded if necessary.

 

[tark]

I only have one unfired gun. It's a 5 screw K-22 masterpiece that was born in the same month, year and possibly the same day as I was and is in the box. I have another one liner that I shoot instead.

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• dickydalton
• Feb 19, 2018

I'm drooling with envy....

 

[cfullgraf]

My holy grail is a S&W Model 16-0 through Model 16-3. These are K-frames chambered in 32 S&WL. I'd shoot them alot if I ever found one.

Unfortunately, between the K-32's (pre-1957) and the Model 16-0 through Model 16.3, only about 3000 were produced.

About 8000 Model 16-4's were produced in the 1990's chambered in 32 H&R Magnum. These are a bit easier to find, but not chambered in 32 S&WL.

If I ever find one, I plan to shoot it. The 32 S&WL is a slick, accurate cartridge.

I'm not particularly concerned about the "value" at that point.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Oh, I can't resist.

My K-32 Masterpiece. It left the factory in 1954. Refinished at the factory in 1975.






Yes, it is very accurate.

 

[cfullgraf]

I'm jealous.

 

[Jimfern]

I believe there are more NIB guns and knives than we would guess are out there. If you get one that's not in perfect condition, you're probably not going to hurt the value too much by shooting it and cleaning it properly.

 

[Rexster]

My revolvers become collectible museum pieces when the moving parts have become too loose to function precisely.

 

[nofendertom]

If it is all about money---don't shoot that collectible.
If it is about fun and entertainment---shoot it.