Hmmmmmm... Dunno why it would come with *just* a barrel and no shroud. However the price isn't all that bad and you can still easily get other barrels for it fairly cheaply from DW. As for the colour difference in the bluing, and just may be why you've got a barrel and no shroud... I'd suspect that it was one of the `original' DWs and the barrel is a newer one bought as a replacment. (You *can* check with DW to find out *some* of it's `ancestory?', BTW.) Maybe the original owner somehow managed to `mung up' the original shroud and just went ahead and ordered a barrel shroud combination from DW?
Personally, *if* I were masochistic enough to shoot .44mag, which I am *not* (I'd rather shoot .357mag as I happen to like my hands. {BSE GRIN!}), I'd snap that up in an instant. I happen to love my DW .357mag and *if* I *had* to give up all my other handguns and *only* have *one* my DW would be the one I'd keep. The DWs are the best and most versatile revolvers around. DA is `silky smooth' and SA is incredibly `sweet'. (Shooting SA all one has to do is just `think' the shot off! {CHORTLE!})
Yep! I'll take a DW above and beyond a "Smith & Wussie" *any* day! {CHORTLE!}