S&W model 60 w/ported barrel help w/ ID and value

[nickel plate]

A friend of ours husband recently passed away and left behind this model 60 no dash/no lock .38 special snub nose with a ported barrel and bobbed hammer. She has no intention of selling it but has asked me to help establish a born date, approximate value and who might have done the work, serial number R187xxx. The trigger and hammer (what's left of it) have been custom swirl polished.
Could the grips be original factory or replacements? The inside of each grip is numbered 465 written with a black marking pen.
I personally haven't held or seen it in person, just in these furnished photos. It appears to be stainless steel?

[I Swan]

That polishing seems to be a process called jeweling. Barrel appears to be magnaported. This seems to all be aftermarket customizations. Not one of the perfomance center or Lew Horton special editions.

[cudakidd]

All those are after market mods. Bobbed Hammer, Jeweling, grips and the Manaporting...You can verify using the Blue Book of Gun Values that will list the limited edition Guns with the Factory mods on them...

[Eddy's Shooting Sports]

Everything said so far is right. The grips are a factory accessory and somewhat uncommon. The gun looks well used and the only mod that adds value is possibly the manga porting. Today's S&W revolver market is pretty hot in CA, so at retail in a shop, one could fetch $600 pretty easy. Don't expect a wholesale offer for any more than $350 or so. Private party, probably fivish.

[I Swan]

I'd he surprised if any gunshop would give $350 for it. Many wouldn't even buy. If you are going to sell try your luck here. Personally I'd not pay $500 but someone might. Those grips are less common hit not terribly rare they can be found on ebay if desired.

[russ69]

Everything said so far is right. The grips are a factory accessory and somewhat uncommon. The gun looks well used and the only mod that adds value is possibly the manga porting. Today's S&W revolver market is pretty hot in CA, so at retail in a shop, one could fetch $600 pretty easy. Don't expect a wholesale offer for any more than $350 or so. Private party, probably fivish.

Sounds about right to me.

[trigger945]

A friend of ours husband recently passed away and left behind this model 60 no dash/no lock .38 special snub nose with a ported barrel and bobbed hammer. She has no intention of selling it but has asked me to help establish a born date, approximate value and who might have done the work, serial number R187xxx. The trigger and hammer (what's left of it) have been custom swirl polished.
Could the grips be original factory or replacements? The inside of each grip is numbered 465 written with a black marking pen.
I personally haven't held or seen it in person, just in these furnished photos. It appears to be stainless steel?

Born date: Based on the SN (R187XXX) provided, 1974 - 1977 according to the S&W Catalog

Approximate value: Unmodified Model 60 in excellent condition and correct grips can fetch up to $600 max in the CA market, definitely lower outside of CA. According to the Catalog, value is at $500 for "Almost new in box" condition. Kind of tough to estimate the value of that specific revolver considering some modifications have been done to it. If I were to place a value on it (I am not an expert by any means), I would say $375 - $450 would be a safe range.

I can't comment on who might have done the work.

Good luck.

[trigger945]

Everything said so far is right. The grips are a factory accessory and somewhat uncommon. The gun looks well used and the only mod that adds value is possibly the manga porting. Today's S&W revolver market is pretty hot in CA, so at retail in a shop, one could fetch $600 pretty easy. Don't expect a wholesale offer for any more than $350 or so. Private party, probably fivish.

Curious to know if this is a general statement for pre-lock revolvers or the Model 60 in question. I can see pre-lock Model 686/586/66/19 fetching this much at a retail shop (heck, maybe a bit higher), but not the Model 60. Although hard to come by like most pre-locks, when available, Model 60's can fetch around $500 or even less, especially ones that are chambered for .38 special only.

[prob]

Everything said so far is right. The grips are a factory accessory and somewhat uncommon. The gun looks well used and the only mod that adds value is possibly the manga porting. Today's S&W revolver market is pretty hot in CA, so at retail in a shop, one could fetch $600 pretty easy. Don't expect a wholesale offer for any more than $350 or so. Private party, probably fivish.

I think whoever sells that gun will be waiting a long time if they expect to get $500. As far as I'm concerned, those modifications, unless reversible (and the porting certainly isn't), devalue the revolver considerably. If anything, it's not much more than a beater.

[Mr. Beretta]

Neat lil model 60 wearing factory targets that the previous owner had customized to his liking.

As presented.......$350.

[philobeddoe]

I agree. As presented maxing out at $350.

[nickel plate]

I think whoever sells that gun will be waiting a long time if they expect to get $500. As far as I'm concerned, those modifications, unless reversible (and the porting certainly isn't), devalue the revolver considerably. If anything, it's not much more than a beater.

Re-read my OP. "she has no intention of selling".

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Neat lil model 60 wearing factory targets that the previous owner had customized to his liking.

As presented.......$350.

I'm shocked! Mr. Beretta is usually 100% when it comes to S&W stuff!

Those are factory J-Frame 'banana' grips from the late 80's early 90's.

And I'm going the other way than the general consensus; IF (big if) the hammer bob (and especially if the revolver was converted to double action only) and jeweling work were done by Mag-Na-Port in their custom shop (which was pretty popular back in that era) it would, to a collector of those guns, be of great interest. Can't tell from the picture, but Mag-Na-Port used to roll mark their logo on the barrel of the guns that came out of their custom shop.

EDIT: looking at the pictures again, I don't see the Mag-Na-Port logo, which is inconclusive.

[Kestryll]

I like it!

Then again, this one is mine...

[Eddy's Shooting Sports]

All the valuation opinions are somewhat irrelevant since the owner has no interest in selling. I just find it amusing how everybody low balls the value. It's as if they want it and want to make sure the owner doesn't get top dollar. Based on the photos alone, I would pay about $300 wholesale for that gun and easily get $500, maybe even $600 for it at retail. That's where the market is.

The market sets the bluebook, not the other way around.

Give me a an excellent early 686 and I'll sell it easily for $900. Why that? New ones cost that and are hard to find.

I just bought a 98%+ model 18 in box. I'll get $900+ for that too. Why? We're in California. The 617 was $900+ when you could find one and now they're decertified. I paid something close to bluebook to make sure I could buy it, because I have numerous customers looking for that type of gun.

I've sold over 3000 guns in the last three years, so I think I could say I'm fairly in tune with where the market is.

Let the evil FFL flames fly!