Hello
A gun show Buddy called me the Other Day, & asked me to help him set up at a very
small gun show about two Hours from my home. I left on Friday about Noon and took
with me a couple of S&W revolver's I had, just in case I saw something I could not
live without. I finished up Helping him set up his Tables and walked the small 100
Table lay out of the show to see what was Out there. I came across a very clean
model 19-5 with a Nickel finish 6" Barrel, Target grips, along with it's orignal Box &
paperwork at a Price of $450.00 and all though it was tempting at the Offered price to
me of $350.00 , it was a Little newer than what I collect and did not have a Pinned
barrel or recessed cylinder,so I passed on it and continued to check out all the other
tables. I was down to the last few Tables and not really Impressed with anything
saw, when I came across a Special model 25 S&W revolver. It was a Comemmerative
Tennessee State Highway Patrol Troopers revolver chambered In .45 Colt. Now, I am
by No means a Fan of any special Issued Comemmerative weapons, but I am a fan of
the model 25 in .45 Colt Caliber and know from the past Locating this Caliber with a 4"
Barrel is no easy feat. The seller was an older guy that shared with me he had Been
a prior FFL Licensed dealer but about Six months ago, he suffered a stroke and
according to the Federal Law's he would now not qualify to be a Licensed dealer any
more, so they would not let him apply for his renewal of his FFL License. I could see
this Glitch in the system of Laws and Rules really had taken it's toll on him as he went
on to explain he worked all his Life as a Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper and had
started this Gun Business as aside line well over 35 years ago, Planning on retiring
from The Highway patrol and making his Gun Business a Full time effort,and now the
Federal laws set , is what took this all away from him that he had worked so hard to
build over the Years. I could tell he was a Little Lonely as he told me his Wife had
died and this was all he hadto do, so I sat down with him to cast a Little sunshine on
his day and stories he apparently wanted to share with me, because to me, This is
what makes a gun show an enjoyable one to hear others stories and past
experiences in life. After a Nice Long Friendly conversation, I asked to see this Model
25-9 Department of Safety revolver, as he handed it to me he asked that I Would
Please not Cycle the action or spin the cylinder. I assured him I would handle it
much like a Rolex as S&W's are Fine Jewelery to me, and always have been. He
added that to get one of these you had to be a sworn in Tennessee State Trooper
and that is how he aquired this one back in 1989 and it was Unfired with it's original
factory grease still in Place on it. I carefully laid it back into the custom presentation
case made for it, then handed him the two revolver's I had Brought for trading
Fodder and asked him how he would trade with me ? He checked them out and
Offered me a sizeable amount of Boot along with his Comemmerative revolver in
Trade. I was Very Pleased to come across this revolver, and had actually Located
one just Like it about Six Months ago in a gun shop locally in my Home Town, but
the gunshop would not trade on it and had it marked at $1100.00 which to me was a
bit stiff for me buying it, so it hurt, but I Passed on the Offered Price of it. I also had
done some research on this model after seeing that first one and Know they only
made 350 of them to symbolize their Low Production existence and keep them as a
Sworn Tennessee State Trooper Purchase only. This one was Number THP0346
so there was Only 4 more made after it and this would be all there ever will be of this
model. Upon reaching an agreement of swapping with this guy he had was some
stead fast rules established that he stressed would determine just who would be the
new owner of it. He wanted the gun to be Kept in the state of Tennessee and if I
should ever consider getting rid of it, that I would have to first Offer it back to him
before considering selling it to anyone else or swapping it off. I assured him I was
very fond of this caliber and Given the fact that S&W did not offer this caliber in any
other models it would be quickly Placed in the deep confines of my gun safe at home
and would Not be sold Nor Traded off. He seemed real Happy that this revolver was
his Personal Pick of his collection he was selling and he was Glad it was going to a
guy that adored S&W revolver's and that it would get a good home as he said
me, "I really do not need the money, So this makes it My Way of selling any of my
Personal Hand guns to the Person I feel is worthy of Owning Them, and Only after
they Meet my requirements" He then stuck out his hand out and thanked me
for sharing my time with him and he said out of all the guns he brought with him to
the show which was about 50, he felt this one would be the Hardest one to part with
due to him Buying it while he was still a Tennessee State Highway Patrolman. He
shared with me on the Purchase of it new, there was a card he had to fill out to
send into S&W letting them know what his Rank was and Badge number as a
Tennessee State trooper, which I found kind of Neat and S&W's way of Guaranteeing
that only actual Tennessee State Troopers ended up with these guns. Once home, I
took it all Apart and cleaned it making it free of all the Older factory Oil that was
sticky. I Then waxed it to keep any rust from forming on it and took the Pictures of
it shown. The Presentaion case is Molded to fit this revolver. It has a Lanyard, so
they Notched the case out to allow the clearance. The Top of The Case is shown
with an actual Tennessee State Trooper's Badge in The Right Corner it is Marked as
1929 and the Number 1 appears on the badge as it's number. The left side Badge is
alike but it has a Number of 350 on it to symbolize only a total of 350 of them were
made. I have no idea why they only offered 350 of these perhaps when they made
this Model back in 1989 Tennessee may have only had 350 State Highway Patrolman
in their Ranks, I really Don't know for sure but would Like to find out about this.
There is Virtually nothing about this model 25-9 in any of my Gun Reference books as
I suspect with only being 350 of them, they do not come up often for sale or resale,
and Perhaps that is the Main reason for this ? In the Standard Catalog of Smith
Wesson's III Edition, they do list this modeland it was said that all of these revolver's
were only sold to Sworn in Tennessee State Troopers when they were issued back in
1989.I almost did not go to this show knowing it would be small I figured there would
not be much of Interest to meat it, But I am Glad I took a chance and drove down
to it or I would not have been so lucky to have come across such a Low Production
revolver like this. I thought about it on the way home with the two hour ride, as I
had ample time to think about this, and right now I am undecided as to whether or
not I want to fire this revolver. ? just Being Curious here,What would you all do if it
was Yours ? Regards, Hammerdown
