I've been looking for a 38/44 for sometime. My grandfather carried one when he was a sheriff in Floyd County, VA from 1924-1940. He started with a .32 Colt and changed over to the .38/44 after the .32 proved to be inadequate. My 82 year old father said Grandpa's pistol was nickle plated and he carried it in a Kansas or Kansas City Quick Draw Holster.

Here's the pistol: 5' blue Heavy Duty serial number 49156*. I understand the * indicates a factory reblue. Lock up is very tight.

Bad news is the pistol appears to have been refinished a second time. There's pitting and scratches etc. under the current finish.

I got the pistol cheap (unless you include gas and time to get to the show) and bought it to shoot. The trigger is amazing so I expect to shoot it a lot.

Any guess to when it was made?

Anyone heard of a Kansas or Kansa City quick Draw holster?

Thanks,
Dave

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Guns with serial numbers near that one were shipping in the last few months of 1936.

Nice score. That will be a great shooter.

You probably know that the stocks are not period appropriate. But postwar magnas are more comfortable to shoot with than the small service stocks of the 1930s, so you are probably ahead of the game with that configuration.

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David Wilson

You might remove the stocks, and see what is stamped on the grip frame straps.
There might be something resembling a date; ie, 6.50 for June 1950. The * is a
service department mark . It doesn't necessarily mean a reblue. Something like
[B] or <B> would indicate a factory reblue.

Factory reblues did not remove surface defects. They were just blued over. What you
have could well be a factory reblue from the later 1950's or 1960's, and the factory
may have replaced the grips at that time.

Mike Priwer

Looks like a great shooter. Gas and travel time to the show go under the heading of "Entertainment", so they are not included in the cost of the gun.

"My grandfather carried one when he was a sheriff in Floyd County, VA from 1924-1940. He started with a .32 Colt and changed over to the .38/44 after the .32 proved to be inadequate."

Was your granddaddy a deputy or the high sheriff of Floyd County? Hylton is a good ole Southwest Virginia name.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Granpa was Cephas A. Hylton, High Sheriff of Floyd County. He was born and raised in Floyd County, drafted for WWI and owned a farm just South of town. I still have family there and some of the old timers still remember him. I ran into one a couple of visits ago.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

You certainly will enjoy shooting your HD! Thanks for sharing.
Bill

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38-44heavyduty.com

Reviving my zombie post. I finally broke down and lettered the HD. Apparently it was one of 19 HDs for the City of Shreveport and it was rebuilt immediately after WWII.

It's a great revolver with the best trigger that I have ever used on a revolver. I recently used it for a USPSA match and it was a blast.