Quote:
Originally Posted by DWalt
"In 1930, Colt scored a marketing coup when they publicized that their Official Police model could easily handle the firing of heavily loaded .38 rounds intended for competitor Smith & Wesson's new large N-frame revolver, the .38-44, none of the comparable S&W revolvers could manage this feat."
That part is untrue. The .38-44 cartridge was considered safe to use in any .38 Special revolver, but its recoil was difficult to handle in lighter frame revolvers. That was the only warning shown in Remington ammunition catalogs of the 1930s. The principal advantage of the S&W N-frame .38/44 revolver was its greater mass which provided better control of recoil when using heavier .38-44 loads.
On a similar topic, the S&W historical letters for some reason often state that the .38/44 revolver was designed to shoot the ".38 Special Super Police" cartridge. Of course it would do that, but the .38 Special Super Police cartridge was nothing more than the standard velocity loading of the .38 Special cartridge but using a 200 grain RN lead bullet, which did not approach the power of the .38-44 factory loaded cartridge.
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This is not how I understand it. I thought they made a hotter round so it would defeat car doors better and such. And I thought it was like 1200 fps, 158 grain. Now I gotta find out where I read all that. You could be right, but my memory tells me something different.
According to PALADIN85020:
Smith & Wesson already had .44 and .45 caliber revolvers that were large and robust, so it was a simple matter to chamber and barrel a similar large-frame revolver for a more powerful .38 special. The first order for what Harold Wesson called the .38/44 Military Revolver was issued in late 1929 for 500 guns. On April 1, 1930, the new gun was announced, and shipments began the following day. It was now called the .38/44 Heavy Duty. The “.38/44” designation was to indicate that this was a .38 built on a .44 frame. The “Heavy Duty” name signified that the gun was heavily built for powerful ammunition and severe police use. Remington loaded a new round for these revolvers called the .38/44 S&W Special. It had been designed in collaboration with gun writer Elmer Keith, and launched a 158-grain bullet at 1175 feet per second, producing 460 foot-pounds of energy. The bullet could go through car metal into the engine area, and also defeat most “bullet proof” glass and vests of that era. The round was demonstrably able to penetrate eleven 7/8” thick pine boards. It was understood and publicized that this more powerful ammunition should not be used in standard .38 special revolvers.
In this thread:
Examining the .38/44 Heavy Duty (Model 20) revolver...
Maybe I'm agreeing with what you said but not completely understanding what you said. So I apologize if I'm coming off as argumentative or not respectful.