Any revolver guru's/exeperts/no-it-alls in here?..what did my buddy inherit?Pic inclu

Hey guys a Facebook friend inherited some old revolvers and he's not sure what he has..he reached out to me because I useally post gun related material on my Facebook and i guess I'm the only one he knows who might know something BUT I dont..i dont know nothing about revolvers but I told him ill ask around..so here I am..
Hes motivated to sell them because he said he doesn't want guns in his house around his young boys but he would like to know what would they honestly go for in the condition they are in..he said they look pretty good minus the little bit of surface rust and I have agreed to meet up with him to personally check them out Monday and maybe take some more pictures to post up here..

Here are the pics its 3 revolvers

1.is a colt .38 special











2.colt "officers model match" 22lr

3.smith and Wesson 38sp "ctg"

I would be interested in the colt 22 officer match when hes ready to sell. Im in new orleans as well.

Of the three, I'd guess the Colt Officers Match 22lr is probably the most valuable. I'd guess it would fetch at least $1k, but might be even well north of that, you'd have to look at the market on those. I can't see the full condition of the Colt Detective Special, but those go for at least $500 even in rather poor condition, more typically $700-$1,000 or more if it's really nice. The S&W I'm less familiar with, but it looks pretty nice, the nickel models tend to go for more when in that good condition. I'd guess it's worth $500-$800.

I'm trying to be conservative in these estimates, so that those are starting prices for today's market. But I'm no expert, so you need to do some looking around to see comparable models to these in the same condition and what they are fetching. As always, comes down to finding the right buyer. These are all desirable to a collector. But at the same time, I feel the market on these has possibly topped off. It's a better time to sell these than to buy, IMO. The prices on these have gone up substantially in the last 10 years, but I feel a lot of those buyers have been newly retired or near retirement age shoppers who have the funds to buy the guns that were most desirable when they were younger. That market may be on the downhill side now, and the younger generations don't see these guns with the same nostalgia. Most of those who do covet these guns have probably built up their collections by now. I don't think the values on them will drop, but I suspect they won't continue to go up the way they have in the last decade or so. So as investments, they probably aren't great. But if you want one, these look like good examples of the models, from what I can tell in the photos.

One of the "22's" is actually a 32. It's hard to tell from the pitting and low quality picture, but look closely.



Also the polished nickel 38spc is loaded and I count a least 4 guns.

Oh, I just realized there is a Colt Police Positive in there too, looks like a 32? I would guess value on that would be somewhere around the same as the S&W, but I'm less sure on that. That is more for a die hard collector, as the ammo for it is more scarce. But there is a market for any old Colt pistol, so even the ones with older calibers are worth something.

Well damn im just as suprised as I'm sure he'll be..he seems like the type to be happy with whatever he can get for them but once he hears $1000 for just one of then he'll be happy..im going to try and convince him to join on here and put them for sale..im sure he'll be extremely flexible on the price because he keeps going on about not wanting to have firearms in his house around his kids

Yes there is a colt postive in there I just noticed that too

Damn sorry guys I just also noticed I posted some of the pics in the wrong order..i dont have time to edit them and im sure yall get the point..when i meet up with him ill bring my nikon camera with me to take some really nice pictures and repost it up here..thanks for all the help and any more input besides Rg43 super helpful post is appreciated

The S&W is a model 10 which was an old police gun and a dime a dozen. It all looks like it has been refinished, not original. That is an older gun being that it has the humpback hammer. The hammer and trigger look nickel to me when they should be case hardened. Being that it has been refinished greatly depreciates the gun. That gun was made immediately after WW2, anywhere from 1945-48. Take the grips off and look on the butt of the frame, if it was originally nickel finished, there will be an "N" stamped on the frame. Maybe worth $300 on a good day. Hope this helps

I'm less familiar with the S&W models, and since this one is a model 10, probably the most common S&W DA revolver, it likely isn't worth quite as much as I thought. It looks real nice in the photo, but if it's been refinished that hurts the value. It's kind of funny, but an old S&W or Colt revolver that looks like crap is worth more than the same old model that's been refinished and looks like brand new. All original is key, anything that isn't original hurts the value. Seems contrary to logic, but it's the way it is, at least on old revolvers. As far as getting the full or even near value on these, it's really a matter of finding the right buyer. The Cold Officer Target 22lr will for sure be the easiest to sell. That is the model (in 38 special) that the Python was based on, I believe. And the fact it's 22 makes it even more desirable. The Detective Special is probably the next most desirable model. The Police Positive is like the Colt equal to the S&W model 10, very common Colt back in the day.

Look them up on gunbroker, gunauction, or gunsamerica and see what they have been sold at. Take in account overall condition as it will greatly affect value.
If there is a lot of rust, pitting, or corrosion and/or refinished, it will greatly decrease the value. If there are any original boxes that came with them, it will enhance the value.
The Colt 32 is the 32 Colt New Police caliber which is the same as the 32 S&W Long.

Here is a Gunbroker ad for Colt Officer Model Match 6" 22 with starting bid of $1k (buy it now $1,005) that is in very good condition. Of course, nobody has bid on it, so like I said, it's a matter of finding a buyer:

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/593309562

Here are the Detective Specials, you can see they are all over the map price wise, depending on specific model, year, and condition or whether they are all original or not.

http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx?Keywords=colt+detective+special

The Smith and Wesson is a five screw model Hand Ejector. Probably made around the turn of the last century.

The Colt DS is an early model, without the shroud for the ejector that was added on later models.

The Colt Police Positive, in .32 Colt, is a nice old gun, but appears to have some condition issues. Even so, it'll find a buyer quickly at the right price.

The Colt Officer Target is the prize, as others have mentioned.