Holy cow! Vintage gun parts are EXPENSIVE!

I acquired a S&W model 29-3 .44 magnum a couple of years ago from one of our Filipina friends whose husband had passed away. He was a retired Cleveland police officer. When she was clearing out the house to sell it she found several older firearms that she just wanted to get rid of because she isn't interested in anything of that nature. Being as that I was still working at that time, and she and my wife are good friends, she offered them to me. They have known each other all of their lives, as they both lived in the same neighborhood back in Olongapo City.
There were 2 snub nose revolvers too, one Colt and another S&W. These are in real bad shape, as in rusted through and through and inoperable. Future project!
The .44 magnum is in very good condition, except the entire rear sight assembly is missing. It looks like it was tapped & drilled to mount a scope to it, which would explain why the entire rear sight is missing. Wooden grips, stainless steel, trigger is smooth as butter. It appears that this handgun was manufactured about 1967, or possibly even prior to that time frame.
This has been an odessy, let me tell you! I have called gun parts dealers in Texas, Iowa, New York and South Dakota. I finally found an entire rear sight assembly for it at a gun parts dealer in South Dakota. $225.00 worth of odessy there, BBN! I stopped short of contacting S&W because most of their gun parts are outrageously priced anyway. I went ahead and ordered the part, it should be here sometime next week.
I love working on guns, it keeps me busy. This, however, has been an adventure. Once I get this gun fully put back together, cleaned up and ready to shoot, I'll spring for some ammunition and take it to the range.

I have a client who is in the packaging business, to put it sort of generically. One of their biggest customers is an automobile manufacturer. I can't remember what they told me exactly, but the automobile manufacturer makes so much more money on parts than they do on selling the automobile as a whole. They actually gave me the total dollar value for a car and if I told you, my guess might be way off but I recall that it was many times a multiple of the sales price of the car.

That probably does not apply in your situation; just the first thing I thought of when I read your post.

I was in Bass Pro Shop this past weekend. I have been playing with the idea of buying AR parts and assembling my own...until I saw the specialy tool set I had to buy at BSP. Not just the cost but the tools and parts themselves told me I do not have the requisite skill set ...

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Originally Posted by VirginiaCat

I was in Bass Pro Shop this past weekend. I have been playing with the idea of buyin AR parts and assembling my one...until I saw the specialy tool set I had to buy at BSP. Not just the cost but the tools and parts themselves told me I do not have the requisite skill set ...

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I did the same one day. Of course, my skills are extremely limited anyway, but I thought it would be a good idea... until I saw a video on what was involved. I couldn't upgrade a Palm Pilot RAM, no way was I touching that.

If Darrell can find it, I bet he still has the screwdriver set used for Palm Pilot disassembly. :winking0011:

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Originally Posted by Darrell KSR

I did the same one day. Of course, my skills are extremely limited anyway, but I thought it would be a good idea... until I saw a video on what was involved. I couldn't upgrade a Palm Pilot RAM, no way was I touching that.

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Originally Posted by dan_bgblue

If Darrell can find it, I bet he still has the screwdriver set used for Palm Pilot disassembly. :winking0011:

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It's funny. I have zero issues with dissassembling or building from scratch a PC and even will take apart and fix my laptops. Even have my specialty tool set to do so. But ipods and cell phones have much more sensitive ribbon wires that I mess up.

For parts I start with Ebay, they still let you sell gun parts. Next is Numrich gun parts, gunpartscorp.com. They are not cheap but have a lot of options.

I didn't even think about Ebay, next time I will. Numrich didn't have the part at all. And I tried Schluder Shots and Midwest Gun Works too, to no avail.
The prices on these older vintage guns is very, very pricey. But they're worth having, just from the historical standpoint, not to mention their practical value as a functioning self-defense firearm.

Just ordered a nice gun rug, a laser bore sighter, and some copper & nylon cleaning brushes for it. Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rear sight assembly.

Well, humbly saying that I thought I knew most things about common weapons, but I have never heard of a gun rug. Mild telling an old country boy what it is?.

Basically it's a gun cover. The one I ordered is triangular shape, folds in half, has a zipper to close it up, and the inside has either nylon or velvet type material. Bought it from Midway USA.

Thanks. I have seen those and they have a functional use imo, as they protect the weapon from moisture, dust, and other harmful substances.

Btw for those thinking of building their own weapon, either thru purchased parts or by using a 3d printer for the parts that can be made not using metals, you might want to wait until the current court cases about "ghost guns" works it way thru the Supreme Court. Sleepy Joe used an executive ruling to stop this practice, but there have been 2 recent district court rulings blocking the executive order and the DOJ and ATF keep fighting the lower court rulings and most folks expect the legal action to wind up in front of the Supremes.

Linkage to internet info about the current status

The last item, the laser boresighter, arrived today. I will probably clean it up this weekend, install the new rear sight assembly, use the laser boresighter to zero in the new sights, and will buy some ammunition and go to the range and check it out.

GO AHEAD PUNK! MAKE MY DAY!