Smith & Wesson Pistols

Contemporary PR and marketing genius may have put the Smith & Wesson logo on everything from Nascar racers to a namesake fragrance for men, but in the minds of many, Smith & Wesson's name means only one thing: firearms. With gunmaking origins stretching back to its 1852 founding by Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, Smith & Wesson is America's oldest and largest manufacturer of handguns.

The legendary arms maker easily dominated law enforcement, military, and civilian handgun markets for nearly a century, equipping soldiers from the Civil War to Vietnam and 98 percent of all American police forces. Smith & Wesson pistols have also been used in the Olympic Games for decades. In 2005, Smith & Wesson found their way into the arsenals of the Afghan police, soldiers, and border patrol, who ordered 22,500 Model SW9VE 9 mm double-action semi-automatic pistols through a U.S. Army contract.

Smith & Wesson has kept in step with other technologically advanced firearms manufacturers, introducing its own series of polymer pistols including the M&P (Military and Police) Model 9, which has a threaded barrel to accept screw-on suppressors. Smith & Wesson pistols from old first-generation Model 39 9 mms to 2nd and 3rd generation handguns such as the Model 645 and 4500 series .45 ACP handguns are highly coveted at auction.

Quick Facts

• Since its introduction in 2005, the Smith & Wesson M&P semi-auto pistol has become one of the most widely used polymer-frame pistols in law enforcement around the world
• Gun collector Elmer Keith's Smith & Wesson Model 41 semi-auto pistol sold at a 2015 James D. Julia auction for $4,680, while his S&W Pre-Model 39 pistol went for $2,398.50
• In a 2013 Rock Island Auction, a Smith & Wesson lever-action magazine-fed pistol topped its $6,000 to $8,000 estimate, selling for $9,775