Winchester_73
New member
Interesting guns - N frame 38 specials
These guns seem to rarely come up for discussion. I sometimes wonder how many shooters actually don't know N frame 38 specials even exist. As others have said, these came along before the first 357 magnums, and they lead to the development of the 357 mag. One reason for the steady decline of this model is that the 357 revolver became cheaper as time went on. In the post war period, a 38/44 Outdoorsman and a model 357 magnum were probably nearly the same money, and so many didn't bother with the Outdoorsman. Add in the fact that the slick new post war K-38 target masterpiece arrived around 1947/48, and so who needed a larger frame target 38 when a medium frame target 38 already existed? As for the heavy duty, by the post war period, I think many people including LE were happy with the K frame 38 M&P, and if they wanted something more, they jumped the the 357 magnum. 38/44 were no longer needed, because the 357 magnum was here. Fixed sight Heavy Duties were uncommon by the 1950s, and 44 special and 45 acp fixed sight revolvers, brand new, were scarce to rare. They had lost the appeal they had in the pre war days.
One interesting variation for both the Outdoorsman 38 and the Heavy Duty is the post war transitional variation. They came about because S&W ceased civilian production in 1940 for the war effort. Due to this abrupt stop, S&W had a lot of left over parts for pre war revolvers after WWII had ended. When they began production after WWII, and started shipping guns in 1946 (a 1945 shipped civilian gun would be a rare bird today), they had a post war SN range (in this case, S prefix for both models) while having all of the pre war features, except for pre war grips. Although in a few cases, post war guns shipped with pre war magnas, since the magna grip type were standard for most models in the post war period. In the pre war period magnas were optional until about 1937 when they became standard for N frames. In some cases, even pre war boxes were sent out with the early post war guns. Post war transitional models are scarce in just about any model, rare in some others, and make up a small percentage of the post war production for each model. I have one each, a transitional OD and a transitional HD.
38/44 Outdoorsman - post war transitional - shipped in 1946 to OH - unrelieved target grips from a later gun (wrap around target grips were not around in 1946)
38/44 Heavy Duty - post war transitional - shipped in 1946 to CO
I recently acquired this pre war Heavy Duty. Pre war Heavy Duties are somewhat common, with a production of 11k. They were offered in 3 barrel lengths, 4, 5, and 6.5. Both the 4in and 6.5in are rare today. In the pre war period, over 95% of production was in the 5in barrel length. The production of pre war 4in Heavy Duties has been established to be approx 105 revolvers. I recently landed one of those, which was part of a shipment of the Duluth MN Police Department in 1939. 23 revolvers were ordered per the letter, but the letter does not say if all shipped in the same configuration. I was very happy to get this rare 4in pre war HD for my collection. The condition is pretty good considering its PD history.
If you look at the blue on these revolvers, you quickly can see that it wasn't only Colt, when doing a Python, who knew how to blue a revolver. Pre war S&W bluing was something to behold. Not everyone has pre war S&Ws, so for fit and finish, most people think the Python or perhaps some other Colt was the top dog, because its the best they have seen. In truth, many revolvers, esp in the pre war period had superb fit and finish. It was a different time in gun manufacturing, where people took pride in their work at S&W or Colt, or whomever, and profit was not the only consideration for those companies back then.
Here is the DPD marking, revolver #8, just like the letter mentioned.
The factory letter confirmed this revolver's configuration when shipped.
These guns seem to rarely come up for discussion. I sometimes wonder how many shooters actually don't know N frame 38 specials even exist. As others have said, these came along before the first 357 magnums, and they lead to the development of the 357 mag. One reason for the steady decline of this model is that the 357 revolver became cheaper as time went on. In the post war period, a 38/44 Outdoorsman and a model 357 magnum were probably nearly the same money, and so many didn't bother with the Outdoorsman. Add in the fact that the slick new post war K-38 target masterpiece arrived around 1947/48, and so who needed a larger frame target 38 when a medium frame target 38 already existed? As for the heavy duty, by the post war period, I think many people including LE were happy with the K frame 38 M&P, and if they wanted something more, they jumped the the 357 magnum. 38/44 were no longer needed, because the 357 magnum was here. Fixed sight Heavy Duties were uncommon by the 1950s, and 44 special and 45 acp fixed sight revolvers, brand new, were scarce to rare. They had lost the appeal they had in the pre war days.
One interesting variation for both the Outdoorsman 38 and the Heavy Duty is the post war transitional variation. They came about because S&W ceased civilian production in 1940 for the war effort. Due to this abrupt stop, S&W had a lot of left over parts for pre war revolvers after WWII had ended. When they began production after WWII, and started shipping guns in 1946 (a 1945 shipped civilian gun would be a rare bird today), they had a post war SN range (in this case, S prefix for both models) while having all of the pre war features, except for pre war grips. Although in a few cases, post war guns shipped with pre war magnas, since the magna grip type were standard for most models in the post war period. In the pre war period magnas were optional until about 1937 when they became standard for N frames. In some cases, even pre war boxes were sent out with the early post war guns. Post war transitional models are scarce in just about any model, rare in some others, and make up a small percentage of the post war production for each model. I have one each, a transitional OD and a transitional HD.
38/44 Outdoorsman - post war transitional - shipped in 1946 to OH - unrelieved target grips from a later gun (wrap around target grips were not around in 1946)
38/44 Heavy Duty - post war transitional - shipped in 1946 to CO
I recently acquired this pre war Heavy Duty. Pre war Heavy Duties are somewhat common, with a production of 11k. They were offered in 3 barrel lengths, 4, 5, and 6.5. Both the 4in and 6.5in are rare today. In the pre war period, over 95% of production was in the 5in barrel length. The production of pre war 4in Heavy Duties has been established to be approx 105 revolvers. I recently landed one of those, which was part of a shipment of the Duluth MN Police Department in 1939. 23 revolvers were ordered per the letter, but the letter does not say if all shipped in the same configuration. I was very happy to get this rare 4in pre war HD for my collection. The condition is pretty good considering its PD history.
If you look at the blue on these revolvers, you quickly can see that it wasn't only Colt, when doing a Python, who knew how to blue a revolver. Pre war S&W bluing was something to behold. Not everyone has pre war S&Ws, so for fit and finish, most people think the Python or perhaps some other Colt was the top dog, because its the best they have seen. In truth, many revolvers, esp in the pre war period had superb fit and finish. It was a different time in gun manufacturing, where people took pride in their work at S&W or Colt, or whomever, and profit was not the only consideration for those companies back then.
Here is the DPD marking, revolver #8, just like the letter mentioned.
The factory letter confirmed this revolver's configuration when shipped.
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