Pawn Shop Circuit: Tacticality Through Recent History

I stopped by Neil's shop today. He still had the old S&W .455 HE that was destroyed with a polishing and refinishing, along with some tactical tupperware. Neil tried hard to sell me on the buggered up Smith, claiming the grips alone were worth what he was asking. I told him I had a set of grips that I picked up at the last gun show to bring in to sell. He moved on to a Glock 19 that was an attractive package for $375, but it just was not my meat.

Dave had the same old same old, with a Glock or two. He had sold the stainless Ruger MKII.

Amber, by contrast, had a revolver she was certain I would be interested in. It was tactical during it's day, and it had an interesting history. Being a collector of vintage concealed carry pieces, it held a bit of fascination for me. It was a Smith & Wesson .38/200 British Service revolver, also known as a Model K-200, S&W pistol #2 or Pre-Model 11. These revolvers were originally in the .38S&W caliber, and were exported to Great Britain. Prior to re-importation into the US, many were badly rechambered to .38 Special, with the chambers slightly oversized, to make them more attractive. This, of course leads to case ruptures. This poor revolver obviously had the barrel cut down, as it is missing the barrel lug to secure the ejector rod. The ramped sight is also glaringly non-standard. In a last ditch attempt to make the revolver attractive, some Bubba had dunked it, lockwork and all, into a bumper chrome vat. Fake stag grips round out the job. Unfortunately, Amber was wanting to damned much for it. Her asking price was way out of line at $350. I might go $100 just for the interesting history, but that is my limit. At one time, this was an excellent poor man's protector on dark spooky jaunts into the night. Today, at $350, it is a sterling example of a boogered up revolver in search of a sucker to purchase it.