When I was a teenager, you could pick up very good Colt New Service revolvers for $40-50 per. I had three or four at one time. They all went by-by over the years and in my pre-retirement gun trading/buying binge. I picked us these two. One if a good clean 1917 and the other a 1921 commercial New Service in 45 Colt (circa 1921). Lotso blue wear on the 45 LA, but it is tight and bright inside the barrel. Shoots good as well.

... but I Will tell you that is one of the finest batch of DA revolvers, under one roof, that I have ever seen. You have fine taste in sixguns.

I hang out way too much at the only local gunshop. About ten or twelve years ago a lady came in with a Ruger box and wanted to give it to the shop owner to throw away. We looked inside and there sat a nickel 38-40 Colt New Service, stripped and disassembled, and some Ruger single action parts including a couple of grip frames. The owner suggested she sell it as it might be worth something. She turned to me and asked how much I had in my wallet. I never carry much cash and only had a twenty on board. She asked if I wanted it and I said sure, but twenty was way too low for all that. She insisted. There are a few small parts missing and its one of those projects I'm saving for when I have some time (retirement?).

Funny thing was, turned out it was the lady's father's revolver and he'd been a deputy in a neighboring county. It was his duty piece. A bank robbery in my town occurred in the early thirties and the bank they hit was the one my grandfather had his law office in. One of the robbers was killed at the scene and the remaining two ran past grandpa's office, pistol whipping a couple of folks in the process. This was pre-Kansas Highway Patrol. The only local Kansas State Police officer, who was a close friend of grandpa, and the neighboring county sheriff, set up an ambush and shot the robbers to ribbons as they tried to get away. My old New Service was used in the ambush. A close friend bought the gun used by the Kansas State Police officer's family recently. Its a Smith .44 Hand Ejector, 2nd Model, Target. Immaculate condition. Keep this going. Love your collection.

and it is my time to quit posting pics of my sixguns. I have about 20 more fine Smith and Colt DA sixguns from 1900 to 1975, plus a slew of SA and autopistols. But enough is enough, for now at least.

Rifles always have been my favorite firearm and I have quit a number as well, but these darn sixguns just seem to accumulate over the years. It is lifetime of haunting pawnshops and gunshops looking for fine vintage firearms at a bargain price and then paying them out.

When I was a teen and young man, these kinds of firearms were just old cheap guns we kids could afford. Today they seem to be vintage and collecters items. Time marches on!

I have acquired very few firarms in the past few years and now concentrate on enjoying what I have and reloading for the the old fashion way. I just got through depriming and repriming a bunch of 38 Special brass on a Belding and Mull Model 28 Improved reloading tool. Fun little gizmo that does a bang up job. I also load 38 Special, 45 ACP, 45 Colt, 30-06 and 30-40 Krag with Lyman and Ideal tong tools. I am sooooo old school these days.

Some very fine old sixguns, thank you for sharing and hope you continue.

Hey Charles. Maybe you could keep posting your pics on your facebook page. I like pictures of guns that have been used and not collected to be set aside. That's one thing that used to set Mike Venturino apart. The guns in his articles were his guns, and not beauty queens designed to sell other guns.