Ok I seen a new to me s&w revolver today a 38/44 short barrel a heavy duty? It was heavy.

Now what are the other pre war sought after ones?
Registered Magnum?

Now I'm blinded by the post war N Frames. But there's more dots to connect from the late 1800's / 1910 connect the dots to ww I to ww II. ???? Is there a book on these early ones?

The standard catalog has them all, it's an excellent book.

The big pre-war N frames in my mind would be: Triple Lock, Model of 1926, 38/44 Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman, .357 Magnum, and of course a 1917 to fill both a neat military slot in a collection and that 2nd model.

Of course the variations on all of these is where it really gets fun.

Any of these in a target model and/or shorter than the common long barrel lengths:

Triple Lock, 44 2nd model, and Model of 1926.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I felt stupid today when the salesman handed me a 38/44 heavy duty revolver and I knew nothing about it. Then I read here registered magnum, tripple lock, I don't have a clue.

The books Smith & Wesson 1857-1945 and History of Smith & Wesson are must-reads, along with the SCSW.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Thanks, I'll buy the book. When I go browsing I like to be armed with knowledge just incase something rare or I never seen before. There is no time to pass up a rare find. I'm into N Frames but the history of the pre war stuff looks interesting too. I didn't know the history of the s&w n frames went all the way back to pre war revolvers. The 38/44 heavy duty revolver seemed heavy I should of looked closer at it.

Everything here locally s&w older or used modern guns from pre war to used today the prices range from $750 to $1,200. That's used K frames too
I have no clue where the prices will level off "if" they ever do.

There are a lot of pre-war N frame models in 38 Special, 357 Magnum, 44 Special, 45 ACP and even the 455 British caliber. Here's a quick summary.

The two 38 Special N frames are the Heavy Duty (fixed siight service revolver) and the Outdoorsman (deluxe target grade revolver with adjustable siights).

The "357 Magnum" made 1935-39 is now called the Registered Magnum and is the grandpa to the Model 27. You may hear reference to the "Non-registered Magnum" and these were made 1940-41 and were essentially the same as the RMs but were made with more standardized features and fewer options.

The 44 Specials go 1st Model (Triple Lock), 2nd Model (eliminates third locking point and shrouded ejector rod), 3rd Model also called the Model of 1926 (reinstates shroud).

The 45 ACP gun was the Model of 1917 made for the Army when Colt couldn't make enough 1911s to meet wartime demand. Looks like a 2nd Model 44 but in 45 caliber.

The 455s were 1st and 2nd Model 44s made in 455 caliber for Britain in WW I.

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No life story has happy end.

Thanks for the education. Now we tied this gray area together for me.
This era seems to be a big time for development for s&w with lots of changes in laying the foundation for what we have today. They really didn't cover this era on the history channel. They told more about the beginning of Horace Smith and Dan Wesson. Plus the Russian Zar and the 44 Russian, the schofield and volcanic. The history of s&w is awesome.

FYI: Tzar (means king in Russian). Tzar Nickolas was the last of the Russian royalty deposed and murdered in 1917 when the Bolsheviks (Commies) took over. Prior to that the Russian government was a customer for American gun companies including S&W.

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No life story has happy end.

If it's not already, this should be a Sticky

I agree. ^^^^^

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Living a dream - S&WCA #2364

Be careful with pre-war smiths. It doesn't take long before you have too many to cram into one photograph.

Wow that many in one pic, wow.....