N Frame in 38 Special?

[44-henry]

A friend brought over a couple of S&W's yesterday that had belonged to his father, one in particular seemed a bit unusual. At first glance I figured it was a 38-44 as it is on an N frame, but the barrel is clearly marked as a 38 special. The serial number seems to indicate 1952 production. Its a nice looking revolver with the early target grips and a 6" barrel and adjustable sights, but I was not aware that S&W ever produced an N frame 38 special. The numbers do match on the frame and barrel. I will try to post some pictures later when I have a chance to examine it more carefully.

 

[Bullseye]

Outdoorsman or Heavy Duty ?
Link To youtube

 

[Jim Watson]

You have an Outdoorsman.
The caliber is .38 Special.
The LOAD is .38-44 which was just an extra high velocity version of .38 Special. Might be a .38 Special +P+ these days.
Naturally it will shoot anything less just fine.

 

[44-henry]

Thank you for the response, for some reason I had it in my head that 38-44's were so marked. He offered it to me today for $500 which I jumped at and will be picking it up later tonight. I suspect the barrel on it probably is a 6 1/2", but I didn't measure it the other night and just assumed it was 6". Also, what distinguishes this model as a Target? It is wearing the early target grips with the diamonds, but I didn't get a close enough look at the rear sight to see what style it is.

I was fairly active with bullseye shooting up till the late 1990's and I can remember his father shooting matches at our club before that, but the only revolvers I remember him shooting at the time were a K38 and a 45 acp 1955.

 

[Jim Watson]

You said it has adjustable sights which makes it an Outdoorsman. Fixed sight N frame .38s are Heavy Duty.
There is no "target" in the model designation, excepting as it may have target stocks, target hammer, or target trigger.

There WAS a .38-44 Target which is an entirely different gun and cartridge.

 

[44-henry]

Here are some pictures of it, it does have the 6.5" barrel and is in very nice condition. Should be fun to play with.

 

[Jim K]

In reading about the ".38-44", be aware that there was an earlier cartridge with that designation, used in the New Model No. 3 breaktop. It was a target load, with the bullet fully down in the case, like a modern wadcutter, a case length of 1.48", and the same case diameter as the .38 S&W.

The ".38-44" of the 1930's was a "hot loaded" .38 Special, bought mainly by highway police (often with a metal penetrating bullet) to shoot into car bodies.

Jim

 

[Walkalong]

Super nice gun, and a great deal.

 

[44-henry]

Thank you for the info. Ironically I found out this revolver was once my fathers which he sold to my friends dad back in the 70's. jnteresting how things work out.

 

[stoky]

beautiful revolver
thanks for the pix

 

[1KPerDay]

that's a beauty. thanks for the pics.

 

[Edarnold]

This was catalogued as the model1950 Outdoorsman, I had the pleasure of owning the mate to your gun back in the day. Before WW2, the earlier production 38-44 N frame gun was the test bed for the development of the .357 Magnum by Phil Sharpe and Doug Wesson. Sharpes 'Handloading Guide' has a section on loads for this gun, the combination of the Sharpe 146gr. LSWC bullet and 2400 powder yielded ballistics that made today's factory .357 look puny by comparison. My experience with these hot loads was that they were entirely practical, and accurate to 100 yards and beyond.
You have recovered a great, classic gun: don't let it get away from you.

 

[JimPGov]

Pic #4 looks as though there is no hammer nose (firing pin). Does it have one?

Great deal! Your friend took care of you.

 

[44-henry]

Everything is there, shot it the other day and it works perfectly.