Got my fingers crossed

I think over half of my guns were bought new in the box but they have since lost all collectors appeal because I shoot them faithfully. I don't think I have any collector items except the ones with family and sentimental value as opposed to any monetary value. To me, a fine weapon has more character if it has been well used and well cared for. Chris S

That is the way I feel. In fact there was one of the Elmer Keith Memorial S&W29s for sale recently and it created a bit of a stir around the house because I wanted to buy it and do exactly what EK would have done---shoot the darned thing---a lot. The debate is not over yet but I fear I weakened my position with this latest round of acquisitions.  

again, I get the photos into my album in thumbnail but <insert image> gets me no joy

I'm no great computer guy but on my laptop running win7 I have to click the compatibility thingy up in the upper left http: block. There is a kind of broken page symbol that when you click it the computer sometimes allows more flexibility to download pictures. I am not very good at explaining this but windows help talks about it. On this site I often have to click it several times and redo post to finally get pics, also may have something to do with your security settings which can block downloads or uploads. Hope I didn't confuse you more. Chris S

of sixguns, Countrygun. I think you will enjoy them much more than the money you spent on them
Mike

That middle one is a Colt isn't it? Love the sights and what caliber? Chris S

The middle one is a Colt Officers Model (Target) .38 Special.  I always wanted to compare one of those to a 5 screw S&W M&P which is what the blued Smith is.
The nickled smith is a 1905 second change 32-20 why I bought that??/ Well I had  "Homer moment "Oooohhh, Shiny". I should have waited for a later model with the hardened  cylinder but that one was just so nice, probably a re-plate but it will be a terrific BBQ gun.
 
Now, I have to explain to my wife about the 5 screw, pre 27 5" .357 I just bought today, to fill the spot of the 5" 27-1 I had to sell for college tuition thirty-years ago.
Then there will be the Herrett "Roper " Grips and the El Paso 'Tom Threeperson's" rig, but that is why there are 24 hrs in a day, so you can beg for forgiveness when there was no way you were going to ask for permission.
 
 

apparently the snatzenfritzen compatability doohickey works
The "big one" of the week.
 
Yes, I know the grips just ain't right but replacements were planned anyway.
 

 

 
 

The 1905 arrived yesterday.
The owner of the LGS was seriously interested in it. It look even better in person than it does in that picture. From crunching the numbers and the changes it appears to have been made in 1909 and its amazing that the nickel is still intact. The LGS owner and I agreed that it doesn't appear to be a re-plate  It's kind of "frosty" on one side of the frame and one side of the cylinder as if it had laid, undisturbed for some time.
 
Just holding it takes you back to another time.

The ones I was talking about originally all arrived but then things went a bit further and the wife even got involved. Soooooo, I am waiting for the "last" gun of the year to arrive. It will make a "unique" (IMO) little run that includes 5 five-inch, five screw S&Ws, a couple of Colts, a 4" five-screw S&W and some others. For a caliber count 1-.45, 2-.44 Specials, 3-32-20s, 2-.38 Specials, 1-.357 Magnum.
 
(I confess that a couple of the new-fangled bottomfeeding funny guns snuck in the house but I promise to shoot them in private and wash my hands immediately after)

...the rest of the images

Oh well,
 
I waited as long as I could for the weather to break so I could get some nice "Outdoor" pics of my "outdoor guns" but the weatherman isn't on the same page. Then, with my customary ineptitude I am having trouble uploading the rather plain indoor photos I did take so y'all will have to look at the auction pics and settle for my descriptions for the moment. Heck, I'd have to put big captions under the pics anyway.
I started out looking for a DA 32-20. Yah, crazy huh? Well Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton both wrote about the round's usefulness as a "kit gun" with some bite to it. I ran into the 5" nickel model being way under valued on a GB auction and while I knew it wouldn't be something I'd take out in the wet brush, I felt it needed a good home. I knew, given it's age and condition it would be "in the safe" most of its life with a few powder puff loads fired for the heck of it.
My wife got interested and came around to the idea of a centerfire that we could reload for with less powder and lead but with a "K" frame so she picked out a heavily used nickeled 4" of a much later vintage that was going for very little. In the meantime I had found what I started out looking for, that being a 4" Colt Police Positive Special, just like Elmer and Skeeter had recommended. To ease my conscience it bear only faint traces of a blued finish in the nooks and crannies, other wise, it wears a "Vintage" brownish "patina" The bore and action are in fine shape however and it will not trouble me to toss it in my kit with some useful level handloads.
 
So, the was the first 5" 5 screw. I had one already on my list that I decided to attend to. My first centerfire revolver was a 5" 27 (I can't remember the "Dash", but it was used by a friend who had been a cop in the late 60's) My business startup years ago had forced me to liquidate assets for capital. It has bothered me since. I decided to rectify it with a 5" pre-27 post-war "S" series. If you look at the auction picture I posted earlier you will notice the grips are not a particularly good match up. Close examination revealed some sloppy checkering as well. I would speculate that they were (or should have been) "Seconds". I have the ability to correct the situation with some internal surgery but it will take some bedding compound as the medallion backers that fix the position are the culprits in the misalignment. I wouldn't bother but they are the first type "target grips " that actually work very well for me and beat the heck out of the "oversize target 4X4's" they slapped on the "N" frames later.
While prowling for that revolver I ran into a 5" M&P post war "S" series .38. It was mis-categorized in GB and was another "undervalued" gem. "What the heck?" I said to myself, I was on a roll. Great shape hardly a bit of wear and it and the pre-27 have actions to die for.
For some reason at this point a 5" Colt Officer's Model .38 seemed like a real good idea. Actually, since I have a Colt Officer's Model Match and an early Python I told myself I was sort-of "rounding out that series". (I am never found without a rationalization in the face of a gun that interests me)
Now I was really tiptoeing around carefully. I can only buy so many guns. There are exceptions and "exigent circumstances" in my world, and finding a 5" S&W Second Model Hand Ejector in .44 Special was just such a circumstance.   This is a fascinating piece. Cosmetically it has seen better days but not in such a way as to be offensive to look at. I would opine that it is not in unexpected condition for it's age. At some point, to the future wailing of collectors, the owner had the front of the grip frame tapped and threaded for a grip adaptor that was common in the day. Being the type I am, I actually LIKE that little modification because it tells me that someone, long ago was a shooter who cared about such things as having a comfortable and effective grip on the gun. According to the S&W collector types the 5" model is considered "Scarce" for whatever that means.
About this time the wife got back into the action. She came to the conclusion that, while I had my Ruger Flattop, a Charter Arms Bulldog and the New/Old S&W, she did not have a .44 Special of her own. I have tried to talk her into a Bulldog but she has other tastes. She also has a thing for underdogs and one of her first "solo" purchases was a Taurus despite warnings she has found it to be a fine gun so she is rather proud of not listening to the naysayers. I shouldn't have been surprised then when one evening she walked over to me with her laptop and asked me if the gun she had just found on GB was a "good one?". It was an older original Taurus 3" .44 blued, in excellent condition. It had just gone up a couple of hours earlier with a starting price $50 below a "Buy it Now" price that was easily $150 less than I have seen them bid up to. "Should I bid on it?" she asked. "NO" I said in a firm tone, "You should hit "Buy it Now" as quickly as you can." I replied. In a rare display of acquiescence the Mrs. did as I suggested. I have to say the results were worth just going ahead and buying. It has a very nice action and look not o have been fired hardly at all. The seller said he has purchased it for his wife's nightstand. She fired it a few times and there it stayed. Needless to say, the wife is as eager as I for the rain to stop.
So to make it to 5, 5", 5-screws I needed one more.  I cheated. It's a 5 1/2" and "Buy it Now" came to my rescue. (I rarely discuss what I paid for something without being asked but this one breaks that rule). If you have recently shopped for a S&W 1917 you will have noticed that they have sort-of "Bubbled". Most of the ones I see have been refinished and, in most cases, no attempt is made to ignore the fact and a refinish job is often used to justify the $650-$1,000 opening numbers. Totally ridiculous in my opinion. So, when the dogs woke me at o500 for an "outing" I turned on my computer to see the overnight/early morning GB " offerings". I spotted a 1917 that had just been put up. I can say it is the original finish about  50-75% remains on the frame and somewhat less on the barrel. All numbers match, original grips etc. Yes a "Buy it Now" of $350 was irresistible in today's market. I had a surprise for the wife when she got up that morning (And she has vowed to get up with the dogs in the morning to keep me from further good deals) .  I had a Colt 1917 in earlier times that I paid a whopping $165 for at a gunshow while a more well off friend bought a S&W for $200. together with out Series 70 GVT models we shot a meteric ***-ton of .45 acp for a few years. I always wished I'd spent the extra bucks for a S&W back then.
 
So, if anybody needs me, before the spring greenup, I will be in my reloading room. I have lots of ammo to make.
 
 
 
 

 

 
Well, for some reason the "N" and "K" frame images don't want to upload even though they are done the same as this one. These are the "other" revolvers (IE: non-5" 5screw)
 

 

 
OK, Some how I think I got it working now. "N" frames first
 

 
Now the Ks
 

 

That's some nice hardware there. Glad you could post the pics. Chris S

I am going to do some more "in Depth" photos as I shoot and reload for this batch. The Second Model .44 deserves some careful study. I am kinda of glad that they are the "Redheaded stepchild" of the pre-war .44s. Everyone wants the Triple-locks and the 1926's. I kinda like the simpler lines of the second model.