Value on pre Model 27, 1954-55 S&W 357 with 5" barrel?

Twisted Canuck

Twisted Canuck

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Hello gents. I have a good friend (that I've never met, but we have bought and sold S&Ws to each other over the last few years), and he has a very nice pre model 27 S&W 357 with the coveted 5" barrel that he is thinking of selling. He offered it to me, as I'd asked for dibs on it some time back, but my gun budget got crucified for a couple years to come with a Python that I had to have....he has asked me about valuation on it and I am frankly at a loss on what fair market value would be on it, as I don't see them come up for sale often. I would put condition at VG+, maybe even EX. Bluing is very good on the gun overall, expected but moderate turn line, slight loss of bluing at muzzle. Has the target grips, in good condition, no chips or cracks. It has no box or paperwork.

It is a really nice looking piece (and I'm still tempted to buy it, even though I'm broke!). His request to me was:

I would appreciate your help regarding my S&W 357 Magnum with 5" barrel, Ser.# S122### mfg. circa 1954-55.

I have a raft of pictures of it, but don't want to post them here (and don't know how to go about it anyway since photobucket went all corrupt on me!)....but I would consider sharing them with some of the S&W crew on here that I know and have dealt with in the past. If you are interested in having a look, to help put a fair price on it, let me know by PM and include your email. Thanks for any help you can offer. TC
 
I would say that a pre-27 in VG condition is a $1200-$1300 revolver. In excellent condition ~$1500. The 5" barrel will add a 10%-15% premium being a rare length. Box would add ~$100.

I have a near new (looks unfired) S101### early '54 pre-27 6" w/o box and would not take less than $2k for it. Probably worth more to a true collector.

Remember that we are not in the US where it could fetch more.
 
Thanks Harry, I was hoping you'd chime in. That is about where I was thinking, but as I said I haven't seen any 5" come up recently (or at all that I can remember).
 
I think HC is pretty close in his assessment. I would have said 1200 or so for a pre model number gun and agree that the 5" barrel probably adds a few dollars more.

He's right that it's worth more in the US
 
hatman1793 said:
It's a C$900.00 gun, really. While the 5" barrel might make it special, it's just a large frame magnum revolver. This gun has limited applications. Most competitions have obsoleted it. "N" frame HKS speedloaders are not fast enough and six chambers always get beat by 10 in any magazine.
Click to expand...

$900 might buy a nice example of a 27 from the 70's/80's but not a pre model number gun. I'm not sure what it's "applications" has to do with anything. Most people would buy a pre model number N frame Smith simply because it's a pre model number S&W .357. I think most S&W collectors would agree with me and it's collectors that make the market for this gun.
 
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