So I'm at this auction........

**K. Funk** · September 20, 2012, 16:23

The lady I work with tells me her father-in-law is liquidating and is selling everything at a public sale including his guns. She said it was all "junk". So I head over this afternoon and yes, all the long guns, about 30 of them, were pretty much junk. The sale bill made no mention of handguns, but yet there they were, about a dozen. 11 H&R and I-J break-tops and a big ole Smith & Wesson. Hmmm, no model number. Hmmm .44 Special. This is getting good!! S prefix. WOWzers, Pre-24 .44 Hand Ejector circa 1950!! Rock stock and 95%+ condition. So I figure there is no-one at this mid day sale that has any clue what this is. I sit back and wait till the bidding levels off at about 5 hundred. Then I jump in and some guy runs me up to 1300 at which point I get it. So I ask him if/how he knew what it was. He looks at me and says, nope, I don't know anything about it, I just liked how it looked!! So, I guess I was right, no one had a clue what it was , but I didn't steal it for what I could have either. I'll try to get pics up soon. I did pick up mostly all of the break-tops for between $25 and $45.

krf

**MAINER** · September 20, 2012, 17:04

I hate it when people show up with more money than brains.

You do have to admit to his good taste, however.

Pretty rare six-shooter you picked up there, Congrats!

I'll be waiting to get a look at the pics. Glad you putting them up.

I'm pretty happy with my 4 inch M24-3. Not as pretty as a 1950 and such, but a good shooter just the same.
Wish I had bought a 6" to go with it, then a 4 and 6 inch of the SS models, etc.
I've learned there is no such thing as too many .44 Specials!

Or FALs!

**BUFF** · September 20, 2012, 19:30

Pretty high-demand, low-supply piece you got. S&W made only 5,050 .44 Special 1950 Targets from 1950 until 1966, when they discontinued them. 6-1/2 inch were standard, but they made some in 4 inch and a few in 5 inch. The finish was both the post-war soft sorta matte blue and then the high polish blue. Then they made about 15,000 Model 24-3's when they reintroduced that gun in 1983-1985, both 4 inch, 6-1/2 inch and 3 inch, round butt, the latter being the first round butt N frames from S&W. All are usually great shooters.

Congratulations!

wash · September 20, 2012, 19:39

Nice pick up, and cool story. Appeciate you sharing it.

Retired Bum · September 20, 2012, 22:23

I remember when S&W reintroduced the Model 24 as the 24-3 back about 1983 as I recall. The story was that S&W would produce a total of 7500. There would be 2500 four inch and 5000 6.5 inchers. I ordered up one of each and still have them to this day. They are not safe queens as I shoot them on an irregular basis with my handloaded 240 gr LSWC over Win #231.

S&W promised that there would be no more of the four and 6.5 inch models produced. But the demand for a Model 24 was so high that the stainless steel Model 624's were introduced. And then there were the Lew Horton three inch roundbutt 24's and the stainless copy as well.

I really have no idea what a 24-3 four or 6.5 inch is worth these days. A few years ago I turned down a solid offer of $1500 for the pair complete with the boxes, papers, and tools. Maybe I should have taken it.....

And so it goes.

The Retired One

FUUN063 · September 21, 2012, 01:53

Nice purchase. You usually cannot give too much for an N frame Smith because it seems that they always go up. I bought a new uopened S&W Taget Model from the guy that put in my septic sytem about 7 years ago. He said it was a Colt. He priced it at the sum of $375.00. I bought it sight unseen. He brought to my house the next day and I opened it up in my shop as he dug dirt. It was still in the carboard shipping sleeve that the factory used when shipping on the outside of the wooden display box. I cut the original packing tape. The owner never even bothered to open the darned thing!!!

To my surprise, it was not a Colt, but a beautiful Smith and Wesson N frame Taget Model of 1955 in the wooden display box and all the fixxin's. I still have it to this day sittin next to my Model 53. Deals are still around, ya just gotta find 'em.

Leland

ALL FAL · September 21, 2012, 02:33

Lucky Dogs ya are.

**SPEEDGUNNER** · September 21, 2012, 19:37

Pictures? I love the old S&W revolvers...you can't find that mixture of blue steel and wood in a gun today.

September 20, 2012, 16:23	#1
K. Funk Real Life Metallurgist Gold Contributor FALaholic #: 38 Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Myerstown, PA Posts: 3,940	So I'm at this auction........ The lady I work with tells me her father-in-law is liquidating and is selling everything at a public sale including his guns. She said it was all "junk". So I head over this afternoon and yes, all the long guns, about 30 of them, were pretty much junk. The sale bill made no mention of handguns, but yet there they were, about a dozen. 11 H&R and I-J break-tops and a big ole Smith & Wesson. Hmmm, no model number. Hmmm .44 Special. This is getting good!! S prefix. WOWzers, Pre-24 .44 Hand Ejector circa 1950!! Rock stock and 95%+ condition. So I figure there is no-one at this mid day sale that has any clue what this is. I sit back and wait till the bidding levels off at about 5 hundred. Then I jump in and some guy runs me up to 1300 at which point I get it. So I ask him if/how he knew what it was. He looks at me and says, nope, I don't know anything about it, I just liked how it looked!! So, I guess I was right, no one had a clue what it was , but I didn't steal it for what I could have either. I'll try to get pics up soon. I did pick up mostly all of the break-tops for between $25 and $45. krf __________________ The Mason-Dixon FAL Association wants YOU!! Ask me for details. You never know what's going on inside the mind of a crazy man!! Check out username kandainv on Gunbroker; always some neat stuff!! FYB!!!!

September 20, 2012, 19:30	#3
BUFF Old Fart Silver Contributor FALaholic #: 789 Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Posts: 7,140	Pretty high-demand, low-supply piece you got. S&W made only 5,050 .44 Special 1950 Targets from 1950 until 1966, when they discontinued them. 6-1/2 inch were standard, but they made some in 4 inch and a few in 5 inch. The finish was both the post-war soft sorta matte blue and then the high polish blue. Then they made about 15,000 Model 24-3's when they reintroduced that gun in 1983-1985, both 4 inch, 6-1/2 inch and 3 inch, round butt, the latter being the first round butt N frames from S&W. All are usually great shooters. Congratulations! __________________ BUFF

September 20, 2012, 19:39	#4
wash Registered Contributor FALaholic #: 67148 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky Posts: 153	Nice pick up, and cool story. Appeciate you sharing it. __________________ CCDW instructor in the great state of Kentucky. Guns are tools.

September 21, 2012, 02:33	#7
ALL FAL Registered Contributor FALaholic #: 24447 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,167	Lucky Dogs ya are. __________________ The Future is ALWAYS Open!! An ARMED society is a POLITE society.

September 21, 2012, 19:37	#8
SPEEDGUNNER Firearms Connoisseur Gold Contributor FALaholic #: 43933 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Scenic Chester County PA Posts: 1,346	Pictures? I love the old S&W revolvers...you can't find that mixture of blue steel and wood in a gun today. __________________ "There's a race of men that don't fit in, A race that can't stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will." - Robert Service

September 20, 2012, 17:04	#2
MAINER Old Fart Bronze Contributor FALaholic #: 18465 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Maine Posts: 6,282	I hate it when people show up with more money than brains. You do have to admit to his good taste, however. Pretty rare six-shooter you picked up there, Congrats! I'll be waiting to get a look at the pics. Glad you putting them up. I'm pretty happy with my 4 inch M24-3. Not as pretty as a 1950 and such, but a good shooter just the same. Wish I had bought a 6" to go with it, then a 4 and 6 inch of the SS models, etc. I've learned there is no such thing as too many .44 Specials! Or FALs! __________________ Joe Biden for President.

September 20, 2012, 22:23	#5
Retired Bum Registered FALaholic #: 21904 Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,184	I remember when S&W reintroduced the Model 24 as the 24-3 back about 1983 as I recall. The story was that S&W would produce a total of 7500. There would be 2500 four inch and 5000 6.5 inchers. I ordered up one of each and still have them to this day. They are not safe queens as I shoot them on an irregular basis with my handloaded 240 gr LSWC over Win #231. S&W promised that there would be no more of the four and 6.5 inch models produced. But the demand for a Model 24 was so high that the stainless steel Model 624's were introduced. And then there were the Lew Horton three inch roundbutt 24's and the stainless copy as well. I really have no idea what a 24-3 four or 6.5 inch is worth these days. A few years ago I turned down a solid offer of $1500 for the pair complete with the boxes, papers, and tools. Maybe I should have taken it..... And so it goes. The Retired One

September 21, 2012, 01:53	#6
FUUN063 Computer Illiterate Bronze Contributor FALaholic #: 35576 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Converse, Indiana Posts: 4,585	Nice purchase. You usually cannot give too much for an N frame Smith because it seems that they always go up. I bought a new uopened S&W Taget Model from the guy that put in my septic sytem about 7 years ago. He said it was a Colt. He priced it at the sum of $375.00. I bought it sight unseen. He brought to my house the next day and I opened it up in my shop as he dug dirt. It was still in the carboard shipping sleeve that the factory used when shipping on the outside of the wooden display box. I cut the original packing tape. The owner never even bothered to open the darned thing!!! To my surprise, it was not a Colt, but a beautiful Smith and Wesson N frame Taget Model of 1955 in the wooden display box and all the fixxin's. I still have it to this day sittin next to my Model 53. Deals are still around, ya just gotta find 'em. Leland

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