1946/47 maybe...38/44 Heavy Duty

C

CajunBass

New member
I stop at the LGS (AKA "Ali-Babba's House O Guns") way to often. I'm sure they have a stash of stuff in the back they save for days when they think I'm coming and casually put it out, knowing I'll fall for the "We just got that in" line.

It works.

Last week it was a Smith & Wesson 38/44 Heavy duty that appears to be unfired (I know...since leaving the factory) or no worse than lightly fired, in it's original box, with diamond magna grips. Box and grips number to the gun. The S/N puts it at 1946 or 47...right after S&W resumed civilian sales after the war. It has the post-war flat finish...which I really like.

For those who don't know the 38/44 was a 38 Special on the big, heavy frame 44 "N-Frame." It was an answer to police officers in the 30's call for a more powerful gun to deal with bank robbers and bootleggers in automobiles. It used a souped up version of the 38 Special, sort of a 357 lite.








I looked at the tag...GULP...I won't say the price other than to say it was not cheap. I had them put it back. I got them to get it out again. I showed it to my wife. She yawned..."If you want it, get it." Yea...but..."Seen another one like it for less?" she asked, throwing my own words back at me. "Well, no, I've never actually seen one before." Another yawn..."Then shut up and at least put it on layaway and think about it."

I did. Sold a couple of more mundane guns and picked it up a couple of days later.

I'm not going to say I won't shoot it, but I'm in no hurry to. It's just a big, heavy, 38 Special...right?

I need some better pictures, but those will have to do for now.
 
Yeah, no need to duplicate the loads the gun was actually designed for.
That would be overkill for enjoying the gun.
Unless you're chasing Dillinger clones.
But there's not much of that these days.
Most bank robberies are done at the executive level now.
Or by senior citizens trying to get by on social security.
 
Nice! Is that a 4" barrel?

I wish I had the box and papers for my 1937 5" 38/44 HD, but for the $270 I paid for it I am not complaining.:D
 
-but for the $270 I paid for it
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Oh feel the burn!!!

That's okay, Joe_Pike. Very good you were able to hang onto that one. Hope your financials come back so you can give it some other N frame cousins to keep it company. I had a chance to get a Model 27 NIB in the late '70's for $300 and I passed on it one day, went back to get it the next day and of course it was gone. I have no S&W N frame. (sniff sniff)

CajunBass--nice gun and nicer wife. You've definitely got two keepers there! Thanks for posting the pictures. P.S. I'm envious, I wish we had a store named 'House O Guns' here in the Twin Cities.
 
Why on earth wouldn't you load 38/44s for that old warrior! It deserves the ammo it was intended for. Somewhere around 11.5g of 2400 behind a 158g SWC will give you between 1100 fps and 1150 fps, which was the original performance and intent of the 38/44.

Speaking from my own, personal experience they are a joy to shoot in S&W N-frames. Not punishing at all but just very satisfying. And if you have any metal plate targets you can shoot at be sure to compare the impact between regular 38 Specials (158g @ 800) and 38/44s. Guaranteed to put a big smile on your face.

Magnums will make you tired after a while, at least that's what the muzzle blast does to me. But these 38/44s are a joy all day long. (smile)

Dave
 
I only shoot handloaded ammo, but I'm not going to try to duplicate the old 38/44 "high speed" loads.
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Use a 158Gr. LSWC ahead of 11.5 - 12.0 Grs. 2400 with a standard primer, will get ya very close. This is a fun load to shoot in the 38/44 H.D. revolvers.
 
Kind of sounds like the first step toward the pre-27...
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Howdy

That is exactly what it is. But to be more precise, it was the first step toward the Registered Magnum.

The 38/44 Heavy Duty was introduced in 1930. This revolver was an answer to law enforcement's request for a more powerful 38 caliber revolver. Built on the heavy 'N' frame, but chambered for 38 Special, this revolver could safely handle higher pressure loads than a conventional 38 Special built on the K frame. The N frame cylinder was larger, so by chambering it for 38 Special that left a lot of steel surrounding the chambers to take the higher pressure of the heavier loads. The ammunition for this revolver went under various names, one name was 38 Super Police. The revolver was available in two versions, the fixed sighted version pictured in this thread was called the 38/44 Heavy Duty, the version with adjustable sights was called the 38/44 Outdoorsman.

The only problem was that somebody could accidentally load the higher pressure ammunition into a conventional K frame 38, with perhaps disastrous results. That is what lead to the development of the 357 Magnum cartridge in 1935, about 1/10" longer than a 38 Special. The new revolver developed for the 357 Magnum cartridge was simply called The 357 Magnum. The first 5,244 of the 357 Magnum Revolvers were custom revolvers, called the Registered Magnums. The Registered Magnum program ended in 1935, all 357 Magnum revolvers produced up until WWII were simply 357 Magnum revolvers. After WWII production of The 357 Magnum continued until 1957 when the revolver's name was changed to Model 27.

38/44 Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman production continued after the advent of the 357 Magnum, until WWII. From 1946 until 1950, the Postwar Transitional 38/44 Heavy Duty was produced. In 1957 the 38/44 Heavy Duty was renamed the Model 20. Production ceased in 1966.
 
Dave T said:
Why on earth wouldn't you load 38/44s for that old warrior!
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Well, for one thing, I've never said I was going to fire it. Didn't say I wouldn't either...but...

Why not you ask? Really, I just don't want to. I've got three or four other 38's to shoot. And if I do decide to shoot this one, I've got coffee cans full of 38 Special ammo that will punch a hole in the paper/cardboard targets I use just fine.

Joe Pike said:
Nice! Is that a 4" barrel?
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Yes, it is.
 
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Driftwood Johnson said:
38/44 Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman production continued after the advent of the 357 Magnum, until WWII. From 1946 until 1950, the Postwar Transitional 38/44 Heavy Duty was produced. In 1957 the 38/44 Heavy Duty was renamed the Model 20. Production ceased in 1966.
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It should be mentioned that after the .357 Magnum had stolen the thunder of the .38/44 aka .38 Special Hi-Speed cartridge, demand for the latter started to stall.

After S&W introduced the less-expensive .357 Highway Patrolman (pre-M28) and the less-expensive AND more-compact .357 Combat Magnum (pre-M19) in the 1950s, demand for the hot-rod .38 Specials went into an unrecoverable death spiral. :(

Postwar pre-number-model .38/44s are quite uncommon, and model-numbered examples are downright rare. IIRC total Model 20 production during the 1960s is estimated to be in the low hundreds, at a time when S&W was consistently cranking out ~100,000 Model 10s every year.

NICE find, CajunBass. :cool:
 
Driftwood Johnson: Thank you for the information, I love learning new tidbits like that. And you also Carguychris. :)

I have a m28-2 and it's easy to see how natural the decision to run "hot" 38spls in that fat ol' cylinder would be for S&W. I don't think I could ever wear out my m28 shooting 357mags. And it does it so smoothly!

Anyway, I don't want to jack Cajunbass's thread around too much... Very cool find indeed!
 
CajunBass said:
Well, for one thing, I've never said I was going to fire it. Didn't say I wouldn't either...but...

Why not you ask? Really, I just don't want to. I've got three or four other 38's to shoot. And if I do decide to shoot this one, I've got coffee cans full of 38 Special ammo that will punch a hole in the paper/cardboard targets I use just fine.



Yes, it is.
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But....what are you gonna do if bandits show up in one of those Oldsmobiles with the new-fangled V8's show up?

Great find!
 
Of course get it. It's a 5 screw N frame.

I got my S&W 520 a few weeks ago. Consider it an updated 38-44 HD. It IS a .357.

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And at $550, tax included, it was a deal. But mine had no box or papers.

Finding one like you got with box and papers is a real find.

Deaf
 
I thought it was a 520 when I first saw it in the case, DS.

I did take some slightly better pictures if anyone is interested.





 
ALWAYS interested Cajun!

That is some nice bluing.

Now when I was 19 or so I had a nickle plated 38-44 that some guy had rechambered to .357 Magnum.

Never ever had a problem with the gun, even with magnums.

Just in case you hot load .38s in your 30-33 HD, it will take any handload you can muster in .38. Buffalo Bore .38 Special 158 gr LSWHPs out of a 4 inch hit almost 1200 fps. And they are only +p rated.

Deaf
 
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