S&W Model 24 questions

[MolonLabe416]

I see a lot of 6" guns, but no 4" for sale. Was it produced in a 4" model?

Are the 3.5" Lew Horton 24-3 guns good to go?

Thanks.

[KevH]

Yes, they did make a 4" 24-3 and I have one. They are rare and it will take you a minute or two to find one.

I also have owned a 3" and have experience with a the 6" model. The 4" is just right.

[Pit]

There's one on GB but for $1700. A bit high!

[HCM]

Yes, they did make a 4" 24-3 and I have one. They are rare and it will take you a minute or two to find one.

I also have owned a 3" and have experience with a the 6" model. The 4" is just right.

Actually the 5” is just right but AFAIK it has always been a custom proposition.

I also had one of the 3” Lew Horton Guns as well as a pre 24 6 1/2” 1950 Target. Both are in the book of woe aka guns I should have never sold.

For the OP if you want a shooter the 624s are usually a bit more common and reasonably priced.

[Malamute]

I see a lot of 6" guns, but no 4" for sale. Was it produced in a 4" model?

Are the 3.5" Lew Horton 24-3 guns good to go?

Thanks.

The 3" guns always seem to run at premium prices. Not a thing wrong with them, but the 4s will be a nicer all around gun if its not primarily a concealed gun.

The 4" guns turn up, I think they may have more demand and more were used than ended up safe queens or just range guns. Do you have a gunbroker account? If not, open one and start adding all within semi-sane price levels to your watch list (even some not in the semi-sane price range) and see what happens for a few weeks. If you keep checking often, youll start to see some at less than top prices, and youll see where they stall out in bid price and the ones that get no bids.

[KevH]

Actually the 5” is just right but AFAIK it has always been a custom proposition.

I also had one of the 3” Lew Horton Guns as well as a pre 24 6 1/2” 1950 Target. Both are in the book of woe aka guns I should have never sold.

For the OP if you want a shooter the 624s are usually a bit more common and reasonably priced.

S&W only made a handful of 5" 24-3's (I've never actually seen one). You would probably have an easier time finding a 1950 Target with a 5" barrel and that would be a rare (and expensive) bird indeed.

I agree with you and Skeeter the 5" is a nice barrel length for uniform/open carry. For concealment I find the 4" barrel as a sweet spot. I think I paid around $800 for mine, but that was a few years back.

According to the Standard Catalog of S&W, with regards to the 24-3's produced in the early to mid 1980's, they made 2,625 4" guns, 4,875 6.5" guns, and 5,000 of the 3" guns.

I have owned two separate 3" guns and while they look good and feel good in the hand, they always left me wanting an extra inch of barrel It took me a couple years to find a 4" barrel gun, but once I did I knew it was the one for me.

A gun I REALLY WANT, but is ultra-rare, is a pre-Model 26 or 1950 Target in 45 ACP with a 4" barrel. There are only a handful running around out there.