Thread: gun show..WOW
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Old October 15, 2009, 07:44 AM   #16
Jart
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 24, 2001
Location: Grand Prairie, TX
Posts: 1,647
With the caveat that personal anecdotal experience is what it is, I'm pretty much with CarGuyChris.

Some models are still easy to find in reasonable condition for less than MSRP on the new version and, in some cases, less than street price.

Others are next to impossible barring swindling a widow out of something she has no clue of its market value.

At least regionally, one of the less obvious is the model 29. I looked for three years before one of a vintage and condition I wanted materialized locally (during which time 3 M57s showed up - go figure). If one wants a 95%+ 29, one will pay considerably more than the going rate for a "classic" or be prepared to wait for someone to die.

(sounds morbid but one of my 57s and the 29 came from estate consignments)

The days of "older, better and cheaper" being viable as a blanket statement are toast. At the risk of blaspheming in the presence of the faithful I would also submit that, in the specific case of the 29, the "better" part might be up for grabs as well - S&W didn't exactly cover themselves with glory on some of those early to mid 29s. I'm happy with a post-Tomkins, pre-Saf-T-Hammer 29 but finding it was like snipe hunting on a grail expedition.

Admittedly, I limit my auction buying to a very short list of sellers that I know will allow a firing inspection - one too many bubbafied innard S&Ws have mostly cured me of internet purchases otherwise. Those with a charmed life or higher risk tolerance might be able to come up with viable older S&Ws easier than I.

Additionally, I would suspect that "NIB with warrantee" carries a lot of weight with the general gun-buying public - probably not internet gunboard denizens but the actual buying public - two different groups with only moderate overlap.

I suppose we'll find out by the speed with which certain "classics" hit CDNN's close-out pages (I believe I've seen some already). Whether any of them can beat the apparent land speed record set by the Thunder Ranch 21 should prove interesting.
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