I didn’t want to hijack USMC0802’s thread on his fine looking .44DA, but it reminded me of something that has bugged me for years…..
S&W started making the big top-break DA in 1881 as the .44 DA 1st Model and chambered it in .44 Russian. The serial numbering started at #1 and continued to #54668 ending in 1913 Total 1st models produced is listed as 53,590 units. That means there were 1,078 numbers skipped. As there were app. 1,000 .44 DA Wesson Favorites made, that’s probably where these numbers went.
OK. In 1886 S&W started making the .44 DA Frontier in 44/40 Win.. The serial numbering started at #1 and continued to 15,340 in 1913.
I have to assume, (which is a dangerous thing to do when talking about S&W serial numbers) that there were a large number of “duplicate” serials shared between these three models. 15,340 to be exact.
Now, the Frontier required that the cylinder be lengthened to 1 9/16” to accommodate the longer 44/40 cartridge. The accepted way to identify a Frontier is a 1 9/16” cylinder and a serial under 15,341. The accepted way to identify a 44 Russian model is any .44 DA with a 1 7/16” cylinder OR any serial greater than 15,340.
Did they “stretch” the frame or did they shorten the gas ring and take a little off of the forcing cone?
If they “stretched” the frame it leads me to assume (there’s that word again) that S&W either stopped the production of 1st Model 1 7/16’ cylinders/frames in 1886 and didn’t assemble any more 44 Russians until the run of Frontier frames was completed. (SCSW3 states that all .44 DA frames, both kinds, were made prior to 1899.) OR, they continued both frame/cylinder size production concurrently until the Frontier run was completed and then just assembled 44 Russians on the longer cylinder.
If they shortened the gas ring and forcing cone (which makes more sense) the old frame size could be used. (However, I don’t have at hand a .44 Russian to compare to my Frontier.) Wouldn't this also mean that an old .44 Russian cylinder should fit in the Frontier frame but there would be an unacceptable cylinder/barrel gap? When they went back to 44 Russian production, it would just be a case of not trimming back the forcing cone.
Now my head hurts…….
Anyway, here are some rough measurements from my Frontier:
Over all cylinder plus gas ring projection (Does not include ratchet) = 1.727”
Recoil shield to forcing cone = 1.638”
Bottom of cylinder window to flat just before the hinge = 1.759”
Could someone with a .44 Russian (both short and long cylinder) provide the same measurements?
Now to cap it off in true S&W fashion (Never say never with S&W), a few years ago there was a 44 Russian reported with a serial greater than 15,340 which should have a 1 9/16” cylinder but it has the short cylinder (which is matching the frame). This probably is just a case of S&W using up stock in hand, but it does beggar the question of duplicate serials and was there concurrent production of these two models? If there wasn’t concurrent production it would appear to say that they produced 15,340 1st Models between 1881 and 1886, then produced the same number of Frontiers from 1886 until enough before 1899 to allow themselves time to produce another 39,328 frames by 1899. They continued to assemble both Models until 1913. All on the same frame size? (My head is hurting again…)
.44 Russian vs. .44/40
Linear Mode
