Guide · Value

Police trade-in guns.

When a department changes sidearms it sells the old ones, usually by the crate, and they end up in private hands looking exactly like what they are: carried hard, fired little, and stamped with somebody's name. Families price them as worn-out used guns. Collectors price several of them as something else entirely.

Holster wear on a gun an armorer maintained is not the same thing as neglect, and the market knows the difference even when the seller does not.

How to tell you have one

Agency markings. A department name, a city, a state police designation, sometimes just initials, usually on the frame, backstrap or sideplate.
Rack or inventory numbers. Small stamped or electro-penciled numbers that have nothing to do with the serial number.
Import marks. A stamped importer name and city on the frame or barrel, normal on foreign police guns that came back into the country.
The wear pattern. Finish worn at the muzzle and cylinder edges from a holster, with a bore and action in far better shape than the outside suggests.

What tends to be worth identifying

Smith & Wesson service revolvers. The Model 10 and its relatives were the American police revolver for decades. Most are ordinary; department-marked and earlier production examples are not. More on Smith & Wesson.
Beretta 92 variants. Italian police trade-ins arrive in quantity, and the earlier variants interest collectors far more than a standard late gun. More on the 92 series.
Glock service pistols. Agencies moved to .40 and then away from it again, so those guns were traded in by the pallet. Common, and worth checking the generation anyway. More on Glocks.
Anything from a small or unusual agency. Scarcity of the marking is what drives the collector premium, not the size of the department.

What hurts the value

Polishing the markings. Permanent, and it removes the only thing that made the gun interesting.
Refinishing. A reblued trade-in is worth less than an honest worn one, every time.
Replaced parts. Aftermarket grips, sights and triggers are common on these and rarely add anything.
Missing the original magazines, which on the service pistols are worth real money separately.

Common questions

Does a department marking lower the value?

It cuts both ways, which is why it is worth identifying rather than assuming. A stamped agency name puts off a buyer who wants a clean gun and is exactly what a collector of that department's firearms is looking for. On a scarce or historically interesting agency it adds real money.

It has holster wear all over it. Is it junk?

Almost certainly not. These guns were carried daily and fired rarely, and they were maintained by armorers. Worn bluing on the muzzle and cylinder edges with a tight, clean action is the normal condition, and it is a very different thing from a neglected gun with a pitted bore.

Should I clean the markings up before selling?

No. Polishing or buffing markings is the fastest way to destroy the value of one of these, because the markings are what separates it from an ordinary used service gun. Do not touch it.

What about the import stamps?

Normal on foreign police guns that came back into the country, and not a defect. They are expected on Italian, German and South American trade-ins, and their absence on a gun that should have them is more interesting than their presence.