.38/.44?

J

Jffal

New member
Am reading film critic/thriller novelist Stephen Hunter's Hot Springs, about a hardened ex-FBI and a veteran Marine officer leading a team of recruited cops against corruption in an Arkansas town in 1946. The Leatherneck is Earl Swagger, father of Hunter's better known sniper hero, Bob Lee.

Anyhow, a few .38/.44 revolvers pop up. I was curious about the caliber, its specs and its history.
Jeff
 
IN THE 30's THE POLICE WERE BEING OUT GUNNED. THEY NEEDED A HEAVIER/HOTTER LOAD. S&W MADE A .38 SPECIAL ON THE LARGE "N" FRAME COMMONLY USED FOR THE .44. HENCE THE 38/44 IS A .38 SPECIAL CALIBER ON A .44 FRAME.

THE HEAVY DUTY WAS FIXED SIGHTS WHILE THE OUTDOORSMAN WAS ADJUSTABLE SIGHTS. THESE HOT .38 SPECIAL LOADS WERE THE PRECURSOR TO THE .357 MAGNUM.
 
S&W Model 20...38/44 Heavy Duty....38special caliber...N large frame...introduced in 1930...discontinued in 1966.

S&W Model 23...38/44 Outdoorsman....38special caliber...N large T target frame....introduced in 1931...discontinued in 1966

Plus all of the preceeding.

Sam...my favorite 9mm is the 9X32R
 
Essentially, the .38/44 was the first .38 Special +P, and predated the .357 Magnum by about 15 years.

In reality, though, the .38/44 of years past was more like many of today's .357 Magnum loadings.

If you ever come across any .38/44 ammo (you'll still find it), it's always a wise idea NOT to run it through a .38 Spl. K frame.

Really beats it up.
 
Sam,

You're right, I didn't check my books.

I thought the first .38/44s came out around 1921/22, but thinking about it, that doesn't make much sense, as the crime problems that brought the .38/44 around in the first place didn't really start until the middle to late 1920s.
 
Mike, I will treasure that one....you are a hard one to catch.

Sam....gotsta git me one o them book thingys.
 
Many past TFL threads regarding what was called "the FBI load". My father was a Special Agent in the '40s and '50s, when this 38/44 was the issue handgun. As Sam, Mike and others have explained, the it fundamentally was a heavy "N" frame S&W revolver firing hot (now +P) 158 grain .38 Special rounds (usually lead nose). This was -- and is -- a highly effective combination, not unlike contemporary +P .38 Special Nyclads, JHPs or LRNSWCs fired from a first-quality .357 magnum such as a Ruger GP-100/SP-101 or a Smith 686/627.
 
38/44

The 38/44 Outdoorsman Smith and Wesson is a great old N frame gun. I bought a really nice used one back in the late 60's and my favorite Uncle who gave me my first .22 rifle an shotgun when I was a kid, expressed a liking for my Outdoorsman. I gave him the gun because he liked it and at the time he didn't own a heavy framed .38. I will always remember his saying that every man needs a good pickup truck, a good pocket knife and a good heavy framed .38. It gave me great pleasure, to give that pistol to the man who had introduced me to the pleasures of gun ownership. If I could find another one I would buy it and just put it away in my vault for old times sake.


7th
 
Interesting (musing) the .32 Regulation Police was born thirteen years before the 38/44s, and outlived them by twenty five years and some. Yeah, the .357mag may have finally killed the 38/44 but a lot of overlap there. Guess some LE like em small and some like em big. I am glad I never had to carry the .32 S&W long when it's bigger brothers were available.

Still like my .32 hand ejector tho, it's a purty little feller.

Sam.........my favorite 9mm is the 9X32R
 
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