Hawes Western Marshal Revolvers

[sgmdcw]

I see there are several older threads about these guns, but rather than add to an old thread I figured I would start a new one.

I took a chance on a very nice Hawes Western Marshal in .45 Colt this weekend at a gun show. It is a single action revolver made in Germany by J.P. Sauer & Sohn for Hawes Firearms. I wasn't sure what I had so I started researching the Hawes Marshal line. The general consensus seems to be that they are decent quality guns. As far as I can tell, they were made in .22LR, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt (some with 45ACP cylinder). Hawes was in business from about 1967 to 1980. The serial numbers used in these guns can't be dated very well, it seems. The serial numbers use a format of either XXXXX/# or #/XXXXX, where the # is a single digit, 2 through 8, that denotes the caliber. So a serial number of 12345/3 would be a .357 Magnum. I looked online to examples of these guns and made note of their calibers and serial numbers. In all I looked at 40 guns. It became clear that 2 was for a .22LR, 3 was for a .357 Magnum, 4 was for a .44 Magnum, and 5 was for a .45 Colt.

The gun I bought had a serial number of XXXX/8. More searching resulted in learning that my gun, with adjustable sights, was initially called a Western Marshal Target Model and later called a Chief Marshal. I found only 9 examples of Target Model/Chief Marshal's online and found their serial numbers indicated chambering by a 6 for .357 Magnum, a 7 for .44 Magnum, and an 8 for .45 Colt. It appears that the Chief Marshal was introduced in 1969 and there seems to be far fewer of them than the other fixed sight models. I found only 4 in .357, 3 in .44, and 2 in .45 (including mine).

 

[sgmdcw]

 

[Tallball]

I owned one in 44 magnum. I gave it as a gift to my ex FiL, who doubtless still has it. He refinished the grips and replaced the springs.

It seemed to be a well-made revolver. It was really good-looking after he was done with it. We fired a bunch of 44 special through it, but just a little bit of 44 magnum, since it was already worn and had obviously been shot a lot before we got it.

It never gave either one of us a lick of trouble.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

I had my brother's .44 Magnum for a time -- it was fixed sighted and had the traditional grip shape and a nice-looking color-cased receiver. I sold it about four years back to the owner of a LGS for his dad and replaced it with a Super Blackhawk.

Seemed like a good gun (made by Sauer in W. Germany as I recall), but I'm one of those weirdos who prefer the transfer bar safety and coil springs on the current Ruger SAAs.

 

[Hookeye]

I thought Hawes also made the Herter's .401 Powermags.

 

[sgmdcw]

I thought Hawes also made the Herter's .401 Powermags.

Yes, pretty sure they did.

 

[jar]

IIRC Hawes was simply the importer and didn't make anything. The Hawes Western Marshals I own were made by JP Sauer and by Schmidt.

My 44Mag, 45 Colt and 38Spl/357 with a 9mm cylinder.

 

[OLDE RETIRED COASTIE]

I remember those pistols as being very well thought of and very well made.
At the time they were priced competitively with the Ruger single action revolvers. Some had the transfer bar safety, and some did not. I almost bought a couple of them, and now I wish had!!

 

[BobWright]

There is a long and involved story concerning the Great Western (American made), the Hy Hunter (German made), and Hawes line of revolvers.

Bob Wright

 

[captain awesome]

There is a long and involved story concerning the Great Western (American made), the Hy Hunter (German made), and Hawes line of revolvers.

Bob Wright

I'd love to read it.

 

[GBExpat]

I have a .357mag Hawes Western Marshal s/n 0XXX/6 that my dad bought in ~1968.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Neato! Ive seen quite a few over the years, but never an adjustable sights example.

 

[sgmdcw]

I have a .357mag Hawes Western Marshal s/n 0XXX/6 that my dad bought in ~1968.

Since it has the /6 I am assuming it has adjustable sights. Is that correct?

 

[GBExpat]

Yes. It looks like your pics in post#2, but not in as good condition.

 

[Monac]

The final iteration in this line of revolvers was the Herter's Double Action model: http://www.ponyexpressfirearms.com/...er-mag-double-action-revolver-mfg-1960s-used/

Note the resemblence of the rear and front sights to the gun in sgmdcw's (the OP) post. Unfortunately, Herters does not seem to have introduced this gun until about 1967 or 1968, and the Gun Control Act of 1968 pretty much ended their mail-order gun business. There are not a lot of them around. Some of them seem to use a flat spring for the mainspring, while others have a odd arrangement with a short, strong coil spring and a long L-shaped lever. I have only seen them in 357 Magnum, but they seem even bulkier than an S&W N-frame.

 

[BobWright]

I'd love to read it.

Google "Great Western Revolvers" and "Hy Hunter" for the story. Also "Great WesternArms Collectors Forum." I know of no full story, so you sort of have to piece it together.

Of interest is that Hy Hunter abandoned firerms and took up worms (yes, worms) for his next venture. Wierd.

Bob Wright

 

[CraigC]

Good guns. Nothing flashy. One of those things where I always wanted one or two but they were so cheap, I just always assumed they'd be available when I was ready.

 

[GBExpat]

Found 3 pics that I took in 2014. One or more may be of interest to some here.

 

[sgmdcw]

They made the adjustable sight versions for 1969 release, so I'm guessing my gun and yours were made in 68 or 69. Mine has a 2 digit sn and yours is 3. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[Jim Watson]

Unfortunately, Herters does not seem to have introduced this gun until about 1967 or 1968, and the Gun Control Act of 1968 pretty much ended their mail-order gun business. There are not a lot of them around.

I didn't know there were ANY of them around. I recall the advertisement in a late Herter's catalog.
It is not only ugly with a capital Ugh, it looks crudely made. Wonder where they were made, I think Sauer would have done a neater job of it.

 

[Monac]

I didn't know there were ANY of them around. I recall the advertisement in a late Herter's catalog.
It is not only ugly with a capital Ugh, it looks crudely made. Wonder where they were made, I think Sauer would have done a neater job of it.

I have one, which is the only reason I know about them. They are decently made, but I have no clue who made them. Judging by the much nicer "Trophy" and "Medallion" revolvers Sauer put on the market a few years later ( https://gunvalues.gundigest.com/sauer-sohn-j-p/16472/medallion/ ) I agree with you - it's not a Sauer product. It's a massive thing and although the grips are big, they have an oddly narrow backstrap. The gun is big enough to handle 44 Magnum, I think, but I would not like to shoot it in 44 with that grip. Mines a 357, and it's OK. It's like the SAA copies in that it's OK, and big enough for high power loads, but not what you could call elegant.

 

[GBExpat]

... It is not only ugly with a capital Ugh, it looks crudely made. ...

<chuckle> Yeah, it is certainly no SAA and the grip is, um, interesting. Even as a 16 year-old I thought it uncomely & uncomfortable.

When I found out years later that this revolver was also offered in .44mag, I realized why the cylinder was so beefy.

 

[Doug444]

I have two in .44 Mag. that I purchased for Cowboy Action Shooting (not the adjustable sight versions). I shoot .44 Spl. loads in Mag brass (eliminates the power ring from the shorter brass), so I've never had an issue with them, and they shoot well enough for that game. I know I put over a thousand rounds through them while I played that game (not a real torture test I admit). I'd originally bought a Ruger Vaquero, but just couldn't justify the cost of buying the second I needed when I got both Western Marshalls for the price of one Vaquero. No question about the quality difference, and I've never shot .44 Mag. through the WM's, but I don't need to, as I have the Vaquero and a BH and a RH for that work.

 

[Hookeye]

Used to see em back in the day, but pops liked Rugers so thats what he bought (for him and me).
He was in the RCA for a spell.

 

[chickasaw_hunter]

I've got a friend who lives in Cody, Wy. He lives out of town on the Yellowstone Highway. Not unusual for him to find grizzly tracks in his driveway. He's a horsey guy, in his working life he rode patrols in the wilderness there to enforce regulations in griz country. When he saddled up to go out, he would have a Hawes/Sauer .44 mag on his belt. He held it high esteem.