Not all old guns were wonderful, but many were, no doubt. A recent acquisition of a 1922 era
S&W .44 Spl 6.5" 2nd Model HE (I believe) immediately started shooting fine groups with all that I tried. Exterior
is only fair-to-good, insides are minty. Grips are genuine old sambar stag with a lot of 'grip' wrinkles in them. Not
my favorite LOOK, but they sure do WORK well and are unlikely to be replaced with my near-standard S&W grips,
the Hogue Monogrips, which happen to fit my hand perfectly, even though they are pretty plain jane at
best for looks.
I have an old Colt Police Positive .38 Colt New Police (.38 S&W) and when I got it, it was a mess timing
wise, and end shake, and all jammed up. Once I got the timing right and the end shake eliminated, it
is a really great shooter, like 1.5" at 25 yds many times. Well worth the $100 I paid about 6 or 7 years ago,
with it locked up and unusable.
Each gun is it's own thing, I have seen some S&Ws from the 80s that were pure horrors of beautiful looking
junk. My newest 625, after a barrel reset is a tack driver, and I love the great easy-to-change front sight and
factory stock 1.5 lb single action pull. Old vs new, shiny vs worn???
All sorts of things set values on guns. Some must have shiny new, others want the latest style and features,
others looking for a certain nostalgia. Others want just performance.
Bill