High-Dollar Wheelguns: Meet The Most Expensive Revolvers

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We’re here to talk about the rich and famous, but not Robin Leach’s TV show from the 1980s and ‘90s or even the Good Charlotte song from 2002. Instead, we’re here to talk about revolvers owned by some rich and famous people. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last half-century, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the people on this list. Heck, many of them have been covered right here at Hook & Barrel! 

There’s probably no musician, living or dead, who is more associated with firearms than Ted Nugent. As a result, it makes perfect sense to cover him first on this list with a Smith & Wesson Model 66. When Nugent held a huge auction in 2021 to thin the herd of guns and guitars, of the 170 guns he sold, 17 of them (or 10%) were Smith & Wesson revolvers. 

Smith & Wesson’s Model 66 revolver is essentially just a stainless steel version of their Model 19 revolver, which has a blued finish. The Model 66 is built on a K-frame revolver frame. The size of the K-frame was created in 1899 to specifically handle .38 Special cartridges. Over time, that frame size has been adapted to also handle .357 Magnum cartridges. 

Nugent’s Model 66 has a 6” barrel and Pachmayr rubber grips. A bone stock Model 66 has a single-action trigger break of 3-4 pounds. However, Ted had a custom trigger job done on this gun, and it breaks at less than a pound. 

This gun was part of his 2021 auction. I bought it and took it on a ram hunt at Nugent's Michigan property. 

As was mentioned above, the Smith & Wesson Model 19 and the Model 66 are essentially the same .357 Magnum revolver, but with different finishes. While Nugent’s stainless Model 66 is plain and utilitarian, Elvis Presley’s Model 19 is the exact opposite. 

When the King of Rock & Roll died in 1977, he owned 37 guns—including one machine gun. Over the years, he gifted many more to friends and influential figures. Such is the case with this Model 19. 

Elvis had the revolver engraved and inlaid with gold and silver accents by the Friedrich Wilhelm Heym Company in Germany with the intent of giving it to Vice President Spiro Agnew. Since the vice president was at that time embroiled in a federal investigation for bribery and corruption, Agnew returned the gun to Presley to curtail any optics of bribery in the transaction. With the Model 19 back in his possession, Elvis then gave it to Shelby County Sheriff Gene Barksdale. 

This revolver sold in 2017 for $195,500—more than 130x what I paid for Nugent’s gun. 

It should come as no surprise that a man who has made his living writing and performing music known as “outlaw country” is also a big fan of guns. If you’ve ever seen his phoenix logo, you’ve probably noticed how similar it is to the Ruger logo. Hank is a big fan of Ruger, and it has been said that he got permission from Bill Ruger himself to style his logo after Ruger’s. 

The entertainment industry has always had gun collectors in it, and Bocephus got these two Ruger Single Six revolvers from Mel Tormé, a singer and songwriter known as the “Velvet Fog.” Bearing serial numbers 11 and 12, these single-action, six-shot revolvers would be collectible in their own right simply because of the low consecutive serial numbers. Add in Bocephus and the Velvet Fog, and now you’ve got a pair of seriously collectible guns. 

If you’ve seen Hook & Barrel’s new video series 'Safe Space,' then you already know that country star Tyler Farr has an affinity for guns. 

In the video, we see Farr’s Colt Single Action Army revolver chambered for .44-40 Winchester. With its wood grips, case color frame, and blued cylinder and barrel, the gun looks just as good as it did the day it left the factory in 1972. That’s because Tyler bought the gun used, but still brand new in the box and unfired since it was tested at the factory. 

It didn’t stay that way long. “I shoot every gun that I buy, because that’s what they’re made for,” says Farr. “I got western one night and started going after the armadillos,” he mused. 

Actor Tom Selleck has made a career out of portraying characters who carry guns. From ‘Magnum, PI’ to ‘Quigley Down Under’ to ‘Blue Bloods’ that just ended in 2024, Selleck knows his way around guns. 

He’s been known to have guns made or embellished for special occasions, and that’s exactly what he did with this Colt Model 1878 when it came time to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ‘Quigley Down Under.’ He took a well-loved gun from his collection that was showing its age and sent it to Doug Turnbull for a complete overhaul. 

The result was a beautifully reblued revolver with fire blue accents, antique ivory grips, and ‘M. QUIGLEY’ engraved on the backstrap. The gun was then given its own fitted wood case with a 30th anniversary plaque on top. 

A special gun, for sure, but Tom didn’t hold onto it. He sold it to a very happy collector in 2024 for $29,375.