Just wondering what a 4 inch in good condition is going for now.

Condition condition condition. Pics are needed, but by good, you mean wear, blueing loss, shooter. $400 maybe. Grips?

Condition is everything, as well as accessories box, paperwork, etc. Also what year is the pistol? S&W has made for quite a while. Series/dash mark? Pinned recessed etc. The older ones usually bring more money.

Very wide spectrum.
Dash
Condition
Barrel length
Box-no box

Shooter -$350-500
Unfired, LNIB - up to $1000, maybe more based on criteria above

I recently traded in a S&W Model 19-3, 357 Mag, 4"bbl, (deep blued, pinned & recessed, perfect condition, possibly never fired) for $900.
Scheels re-sold it for $999.) I traded in for a new USA Sig P-210 Target, 9MM, pistol that was on a good sale price. I love this Sig P-210.

I had the S&W 19-3 at a small gun show previously & priced reasonably, for $800. Towards the end of the show I marked it down to $600 - No takers!
I also saw other S&W Model 19's that were not 'pretty' on other tables - priced much higher. They were in no danger of being purchased.

Blued, stainless, lock, no lock, original grips, way to much to guess. They run the gamut from true collectors to just a shooter.

I have a boxed, unfired 19-3. I would not sell for that price.

Good is nebulous. Look up the old NRA grading system, New, Excellent, Very Going, Good, Fair Poor. Most today use a percentage of new condition rating. Good would be somewhere around 60-70% which would be somewhere around 375-450.
Price the new ones and that seems rediculous but it is what it is. I just bought a 95% 15 for $400 and it was fair. The "good" 19, if pinned and recessed plus tt, th, and big grips would be about the same.

best way to judge is go on gunbroker and look at closed auctions

You should buy every single gun you can find like that for those prices and bring them to Florida.

I look at guns every single day. That is not the norm reality here, nor is it on GunBroker. There are only a couple times here and there where you can occasionally steal one at those prices, but you have to be actively and perpetually on the hunt to snag them..

VarmintGuy would probably have some good information about buying out west. Like me, he is out there on the hunt everyday.

There were a bazillion 19's made. But, that doesn't mean they are being given away.

Here in the Midwest where I've been working in the gun business for most of my life, on and off, what I posted is realistic. I watch the auction sites, do a bunch of appraisals for insurance companies and know full well that values vary geographically. I'd love to bring a bunch of stuff down for resale but am no longer a dealer and enjoy my freedom. Local shops can get premium prices for snakes and pristine Smith's (older and clean). Stuff described as "good" is usually rough. Like I tell the guys who ask for a value over the phone, "hold it closer to the receiver, I can't see it yet". Condition matters. Watch Rock Island Auctions for estimated price vs actual. Good stuff goes high, poor stuff is low.

Not so many folks even want revolvers anymore.

I never see them under $500 around here.

I recently asked a local gunship owner how well his revolver sales were holding up in today's market. Surprised me when he said he did quite well with revolvers. And not just ccw snubbies but 4" and 6" . 357's sell very well for him. This is a very rural shop and I'm sure that may have something to do with that as folks want woods walking and ranch guns.

Nor do I.

I agree most youngsters like black plastic guns. But in S/E Texas a nice Model 19 is still 700. Bucks. Hasbeen

Can you wear out a 19? I mean can you shoot them apart like the 29's?


I have a 6 inch GP100......but a 4 inch 19 would be better.

Yes they shoot loose. One of the gun writers, might of been Jordan, recommended practicing with 38's and carrying magnums to avoid shooting a 19 loose.

Dang.


I was hoping that they did not do that.


Me.....a general flunky.....shot a 629 loose.


I still love it and will not send it away.

Unless you're enamored of the Model 19 - and they are fine pieces - the Ruger Security Six is a same size option that AFAIK does not shoot loose even with a steady diet of magnums. They can usually be found for a god deal less than a comparable condition S&W. I've owned a few of them and any given example will be at least as accurate as any given Model 19 although the trigger isn't quite as nice, but then there are very few firearms anywhere with trigger pulls as nice as a K-frame single action pull.

What is "a steady diet of magnums?" I've heard that expression for years. How many magnum level rounds does it take to shoot a M19 loose?

Breakfast - 50 rounds of fried 158 gr. HP, side of 125 grainers
Lunch - 50 rounds of 158 SWCGC, 15.0 grains 2400
Dinner - appetizer of one box of 125 HP, main course of two boxes of 180 JSP.

Repeat daily.




Okay, so I'm a sucker for overused phrases, too. Basically, I'd call a steady diet shooting at least one or two 50 round boxes of full power .357 Magnum rounds every time you shoot. Depending on the frequency of shooting - daily, weekly, monthly, once a year on your birthday - a revolver could last a lifetime or start to develop end shake in a year or two.

But instead of trying to absolutely quantify "number of rounds = worn out" which varies from piece to piece I'll put it another way. Based on several examples from gun show tables I'd definitely want to examine an older Model 19 in person to check for signs of end shake or other wear, whereas I'd have few qualms buying a used Security Six from the internet as long as the external condition appeared okay.

Heck, I shot my 1981 vintage Model 586 enough to develop some endshake after about 20 years. Sent it back to S&W and they fixed it up nice and tight again.

Yeah, but the Security Six is bud-tugly.

End shake can be fixed. It's the cracked barrel extension and flame cut topstrap that supposedly are K frame killers that would concern me... if I ever saw a M19 that had either of those. I guess I don't get around enough but I just haven't ran across a bunch of busted up S&W K Magnum revolvers. I've carried them on duty and have owned at least a dozen over the years and they have held up fine. Admittedly I'm not running tens of thousands of magnum loads through them.

I have owned about the same number of Ruger Security Sixes as K frame S&W magnums. Though rougher in finish and action they have been pretty good guns. I do remember one Ruger that would bind up the cylinder when shooting handloads with Unique powder. A hundred rounds of Unique would lock that gun up while a M19 continued to operate just fine. While I'm sure shooting loose a M19 may happen, the whole thing seems over played to me.

Haha. Yeah. Diehard Ruger guys tend to gloss over that part.

Be nice now. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or the Owner!!

Haha. Of course. I don't really have anything against Rugers. Got a few myself.

The unfortunate thing with them is that they are no longer supportednby Ruger.

What is endshake?

It's what happens to older guns.

When you're young and just starting out buying new guns the end of the barrel is steady, but when the gun gets older it tends to shake around more, so it's called "end shake" or "endshake". Some folks say it's just me getting older but that can't possibly be, it has to be the gun....


OR

It's the front to back movement of the cylinder. Some revolvers will display a tiny bit of movement right out of the box which isn't detrimental, but a lot of heavy recoil can increase it. My 6" GP100 .357 which is about 10 years old shows just a teensy bit of movement but it always has, I'd guess no more than a few ten thousandths, whereas a 67 year old S&W K38 .38 Spl I bought recently has absolutely zero movement at all.

The 629 I bought new wobbles in all directions now. The frigging sights fall off, the ejector rod unscrews and locks things up. The cylinder release falls off.


I love that thing.


A 4 inch GP100 would be smart I guess, but the SW triggers are so much nicer.


Can a Ruger trigger be improved on very much?


Thanks for the explanation Jim.

But parts are still available in various places. I've got extra parts. Last I used was for a friend who wanted to convert his 38 speed six to a 357 mag. It was a cylinder. Check out Gunbroker if you feel you need parts. I think you would have to work at it to wear one out.