Here are a nice pair of old ads, one for the Outdoorsman and the other for the .357 Magnum. I believe they are right after WWII or a short time later.

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Vaya con Dios

Dave,
You are correct. As the ads state, production is slated early for the outdoorsman and the.357 is not slated for production.
Bill

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38-44heavyduty.com

Neat ads! I'd love to find a copy of the Outdoorsman ad - suitable for framing. Thanks for posting,

Jerry

Love the pix of the guy coming out of the tent with his .357 to seriously pi$$ off a large bear heading for his deer. Better shoot
good buddy......

I think it is interesting that the velocity for the .38 Spl High Speeds is listed at 1300 fps and the .357 at 1510. Try to find anything close to that in the modern reloading tables or boxed ammo for a 158 gr bullet (which it would have to be for 800 ft/lbs).
Larry

However, it must be said (from the 357 ad) that 1,500 fps out of a 8-3/8" barrel are not significantly far from the current SAAMI standard velocity for the 357 Mag /158 grainers (1,220 fps out of a 4" vented barrel - or 1,545/1,600 fps out of a 10" non vented barrel).

On the other hand, 1,300 fps for a 38 Special, even if out of a 8"-plus barrel (the 38/44 ad does not state that) is definitely faster than the current SAAMI 38 Sp +P velocity standard (880 fps out of a 4" vented barrel, 1,050 fps out of a 7-6/8" non vented barrel). In practice, it's a half-way load between a +P 38 Sp and a 357 mag.

Cheers

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Kilroy

In the 357 ad, next to last paragraph-

"Smith & Wesson's famous satin-blue finish"

Interesting hype to sell the NEW finish no one had yet seen! I wonder how it got famous????

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

AFAIK the 38/44 load was a 158 @ 1140. Where did that 1300 FPS load come from?

The Magnum is clearly a pre-war gun but I guess since they weren't building any post-war models yet they used the image they had on hand.

Still don't know why S&W insisted on making the Outdoorsman and the 1950 44 Special in 6.5" barrel length when the 5" and 4" would have made much more sense.

Also, I noticed they referred to it as "post war" which, of course it is. But I just thought us collectors used that term. I know I'm knitpicking. Just never saw it in print in a major ad.

Roger

Ahh, yes...Who at dawn hasn't had a inquisitive bear just outside his tent looking for a venison hors d'oeuvre, before the implied main course of the hunter himself? What a great ad!

Thanks for sharing both of them.

Regards,

Dyson

"....38 Spl High Speeds is listed at 1300 fps ..."

This would be a good thread to post when the +P question comes up again.

GF