Hi I got a chance at a 22 4" barrel one dont have the factory wood grips tho just rubber pac., are these worth the $$$$$? blue is great, trigger pll is very light & smooth, Im temped, what do you guys think!

I've always wanted a Diamondback in 38 Spec. They are worth every penny. Not sure about the 22 version, but I'd bet it does everything you'd want.

Jim

It all depends on how many $$$$$.

about 200 more than I want to spend its in an Estate sale I can get it for 800. I see they are going for alot more on g.B., very temped!

I tie it to Python prices. They aren't worth as much as a Python. Python prices are all over the map. If you can get one around here for a grand, you haven't done bad. I'd think it would probably be worth that in today's market. Anything can happen though, so I wouldn't buy it strictly as an investment.

Yes id shoot it, also two pythons, 4' 6", All with the same pac. grips, and white paint on the front sights, they are 1100, 1200

They are high grade, modified, Detective Specials. Sweet guns. Halfway in frame size between a S&W K and J Frame, and probably more ideal in size than either of those for a .22 revolver.

saddlering, you would not get hurt by those prices at all on any, especially the Diamondback. I really enjoy the Diamondbacks and shoot them way more than I do my Pythons, mostly because they fit better in my hand. Plus, the .22 is just so much cheaper to shoot.

In my neck of the woods, the .22 will bring a good 10% premium over the .38. The 4" is the most common, but would still sit in a gunshop with an asking price of $1200 or so. It might not sell quickly at that, but would at a $1K.

Just my $0.02.

Coltfan

Yes Im going to call the shop today and see if they will hold it with a deposit, I consigned 3 handguns there yesterday, and said if any sold hold the DB for me! thanks all!

You oughta see if they'd take $2800 cash for the lot. Be sure and knock them down for having non-original grips.

A few years ago a friend bought a LNIB DB for about $1100. I found him another cylinder and he had it fitted and rebored to .22 Magnum.



They, as well as the Pythons, were exquisitely made revolvers and the price now demands that....

If you can find a Shooters Bible from when the first year the DB came out one of the calibers listed was .22 Magnum...only a handful got out of the factory. One day a LEO friend of mine who had been looking for a .22 DB called and said he had seen one but had passed because it was .22 Magnum and didn't want the expense of .22 Magnum shells... I told him want he had passed up...the dealer wanted $350.00 and that was about in 1996. My friend called back and but it was gone. That gun today would probably bring $3K.

Here is a current auction for a .22...it is already over a grand...yours for $800...if I had seen it the gun would already be in my safe.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=273507110

.and another...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=273375642

..$1200 and counting...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=273028395

Shooter grade 4"...$1100.00

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=266714008

Run don't walk to get that gun and kiss him after the sale...

Bob

CDNN has original looking wood grips for $44.95. WITH the Colt emblem, too. I wish I had seen these and known about these grips when I had a Python with the same Pachmeyers. I would buy that Diamondback in a New York Minute if I had the bucks to do so. Not only a really fine shooter, but an hierloom to pass down someday and something to be proud of and majorly enjoy in the meantime.

The Diamondbacks (and the Pythons) are great looking revolvers.

Be warned the last ones from the dark days of the 1980's may not be so well made. I saw one once that came new in the box with the Diamondback stamp upside down.

Scary.....

http://www.gunrunnerauctions.com/listings/details/index.cfm?itemnum=1012790607


...and a .38..only half as scary....

http://www.gunrunnerauctions.com/listings/details/index.cfm?itemnum=1012927278

...and finally BIG Daddy...

http://www.gunrunnerauctions.com/listings/details/index.cfm?itemnum=1013043242

SWEET!!

I think they are grossly over priced for the quality they represent. As others have noted, they are tied to the Python in price, but don't confuse them with this action; they are nothing close.

I've had a couple, back when they weren't so dear, and neither held a candle to my K-22 (M17) S&W. I'd much prefer a Smith, and you can get a -4 (P&R) much cheaper and in really nice shape.

The Python is similarly over priced, IMO. Nicely made, much higher quality than Diamondback, but still not my cup of tea. The three I had all shot extremely well, but I didn't like the stacking of the action in double action, nor did I like the way they feel in my hand as much as the Smith of any variety.

I have a Diamondback .38 and like it quite a bit. It is significantly smaller and lighter than a K-frame Smith but shoots very well. Of course I got it a number of years ago when prices were much more reasonable. Not sure I'd care to buy one at today's prices. I don't care for the original grip but it is easily replaceable - I used wood grips from a Police Positive Special (similar to the late Detective Special grips but longer) which I feel is appropriate since it is essentially a target version of that revolver. The DA trigger pull does stack some but I find it tolerable, and there are a couple of smiths around that are supposed to be able to modify it to a single pull like a Smith and Wesson.

You can improve the stacking in some cases by checking whether the two leaves of the mainspring contact each other as the trigger is pulled. If they do, that worsens the stacking significantly. In that case, putting a thin piece of metal between them and cocking the hammer (on an empty cylinder, obviously) will bend them enough so that they no longer contact. Do it carefully and only as much as is needed to prevent the two leaves from contacting each other partway through the DA trigger pull. This won't completely remove the stacking but will improve it and as an added bonus will decrease the DA pull a pound or so.

I should add that I have a Smith M18 in .22LR that I also like a lot. I guess I'm fairly "promiscuous" when it comes to handguns. :-)

GF1, You are a Soul-less heretic....

I bought a 22 Diamondback with a 6" barrel a few years ago.

Very accurate, works well. I don't have a lot of experience with 22 revolvers but this one is certainly well made, fits the hand well, and very accurate. Not sorry I bought it.

WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$800 I wouldn't even think twice. I have a DB 22 in 6" and love it.

Well, picking up that Diamondback on monday moring! thanks All! John

Enjoy, you lucky SOB.

saddle,
Are the two Pythons still available? The 6" is what I would be interested in.

Dave

Yeah, pretty much. You'd think that as hard as I tried to love the Python I would have.

Not sure Ill check tommorow!, they were there yesterday! the 6" was real nice, the 4" has a slight wear on the muzzle!, Pacmare grips on both, but if the wood grips turn up they will be, given to the buyers!, Im betting they are in abox , at the Estate, I guess alot of stuff to go thru, as the owner, pasted away .

well I got it today!, heres a pic! Thanks for the help!

Very nice, you will like it A LOT!

I bet you'll find that's real accurate. Congrats.

As said in an earlier post...a friend of mine called me one day about 15 years ago saying he had just passed on a 4" blue Diamondback because it was in .22 Magnum. When I told them how rare they were he called the dealer back but it was gone... I also remember seeing one NIB in Dallas at a gun show in the 1980s...

Apparently I didn't imagine this....

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=275614321


If one has a 1968 SHOOTERS BIBLE the DBs were listed in .22 Magnum with 2.5 and 4" barrels...


Saddlering...enjoy the gun...if you want a .22 Magnum cylinder to go with it there is one listed on GB...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=276278104

If there were properly marked barrels and factory cylinders, somewhere there are entire guns...


Bob