Sunday, March 18, 2012

Fun Show AAR:

A pretty good crowd inside the show at the 1500, although there wasn't much of a line when we got there and none when we left.

It wasn't just tire-kickers, either. I rarely linger at the tables of the larger dealers that sell new guns; I don't have much interest in the stuff there ("Oh look. A new XD/SIG/M&P/Glock/AR/Mossberg. Just like the fifty thousand other ones I've seen,") and generally just crane my neck to scan their used stuff and see if there are any interesting-looking old Smiths or pocket pistols or military surplus guns. All of these bigger dealers usually have a little area set aside for folks filling out 4473s, and all of those areas were full of customers scribbling away.

There was a definite air of folks turning depreciating pieces of paper into appreciating chunks of metal.

I got caught up in the spirit myself. At the last show at the Armory, the one where I acquired the Savage, a dealer with whom I'd done some business before had a darn nice S&W .35 pistol. That's the last one I needed to complete my early American autopistol set, and the price was good, but still too rich for my blood. I'd been chewing it over since then, and when I saw it again at this show, I asked to look it over; it was in really good shape, and the price was actually pretty good, but still steep. The Smiths aren't common, and I'd only seen three others at shows over the last several years: A primo one for something over eight bills, a re-nickeled shooter for four-hundred and change, and a parts gun that looked like it came up off a u-boat wreck for just under two bills...

I thought and pondered and wandered the show and Bobbi bought a Star and we said hi to friends and acquaintances and that Smith was gnawing at me even if it would mean Ramen for a while and... there's a new Sunday Smith up.
.

17 comments:

Tim Ellwood said...

That is one very nice 35. I have always loved the lines of that pistol, but it is one of the few S&W's I have never owned or even fired. Being enamored with the 320 bicycle guns, I saw a picture of a 35 done up as one once, and have coveted it ever since. Hope it shoots as well as it looks.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Nice Pistol! But now you have 2 Dilemmas. A) Since you completed your run of Early American Autopistols, what Category do you try to fill out next? B) What goes good with Ramen? Personally, I like to get some Canned Chicken and Peas and Mushrooms....

libertyman said...

I have a few rounds of .35 S&W I have accumulated, though I have yet to fire it. And .32ACP is okay to shoot in it as I have come to understand.

DaddyBear said...

Sweet!

I can never resist once they've turned their big eyes up at me and asked if they can come home with me. Then I have to explain to the wife how it followed me home, and I'll take care of it, and it'll never be a bother to her at all!

Guffaw in AZ said...

Bully for you!

Matt G said...

Yay!

Sunday Smith is one of my favorite-ist things!

Anonymous said...

Sweet Smith! Worth the Ramen!

Dave said...

The scene was similar at last weekend's show in Kville, it seemed to be a buying frenzy. I picked up 2 new lovelies, but there were 6-8 people in front of me to fill out paperwork both times.

Joe in PNG said...

A simple egg in your ramen makes it more like a meal...

the pawnbroker said...

In more than 30 years of buyin'/sellin'/tradin'/pawnin', my best guess is I logged about 20,000 firearms in and out of my FFL boundbooks, and that included a lot of odd birds. Yet this is one that I don't recall ever crossing my counter; a true testament to rarity, and with a total run of 8,000 it's no wonder. Even at six bills, this was a good buy, and as you alluded, a great investment.

The old saying that Colts is square (or flat), and Smifs is round? This particular market-fail, borne of the brilliance of the JMB/Colt design/marketing machine, might've played a good part in that truism.

You asked me a while back, in the midst of a pissy back and forth, why I hang around and read you. Posts like this, and its sister one at your Arms Room, is why. Thank you.

Montie said...

Tam,

So you went for the primo one, good for you! Very nice (I'm jealous). Now the quest begins for some shootable .35 S&W I'm pretty sure it is pricey collector stuff these days.

Old NFO said...

That is a sweet one!

NotClauswitz said...

I know the taste of Ramen and will become even more familiar with it in the upcoming months... You did the Right Thing.

Sigman said...

I have to admit that until today I did not realize there was/is a .35 pistol round. Another nugget for my general fund of information. Congrats on the new "baby."

Frank W. James said...

Tam: I wonder what base cartridge case we can use to make .35 S&W? We can cast the bullets to bore size I'm pretty sure and Hunnington will have dies, but we have to have a base cartridge case we can start with. When I get time I'll research that one as I'm sure something can be used to make the correct ammunition for it...

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Justthisguy said...

I like my Star better. It is a PD, in .45ACP.

Robert Langham said...

I've turned my pistol cleaning rug around toward Indianapolis and bow to your gun-nuttery three times a day.