Hi
I posted this Triple lock about 4 years ago but we have a lot of new members since then.
This is the only 7 1/2 inch Target in 44/40 that I have seen in my 40 years of Collecting.
Now the story.
Jim



104 year Old Triple Lock Target 7 1/2 in 44-40 Cal.

5 years ago a fellow member of the SWCA perused my display at a Washington Arms Collector show in Puyallup, and took note of my interest in rare variations in S&W revolvers. Sometime later, an elderly gentleman approached him about selling an heirloom revolver. After meeting the gentleman and inspecting his revolver, he contacted me about adding it to my collection.
The revolver is an original parts matching Triple Lock Target in .44-40 Winchester with 7 ½” barrel. The package included a period correct shoulder holster and a box of ammunition. It was ordered by the 83 year old gentleman’s father, and shipped on February 28, 1910 to a hardware store in western Washington. It has been in the family until now.
His father was an avid hunter, and after taking delivery, carried the revolver throughout a lifetime of adventures, including taking mountain lions. He wanted a handgun in the same Caliber as the rifle he used while hunting, something more powerful than a .44 Special loading.
The revolver shows carry wear, and is definitely not a safe queen, but it is one of the rarest S&W revolvers ever made. In my long experience as a collector, this is the first revolver of this type and caliber that I’ve seen. I am very happy I was able to acquire it. I have other .44-40s-- Triple Locks and 2nd models, but this one stands alone.
I f anyone has factory documented information on similar guns that I can provide when I display it, please let me know.

Enjoy the information and the picture, this could be the only 7 1/2 Target made in this Caliber.
Jim Fisher

Heres the picture of the gun.

Simply outstanding. There is no collection that wouldn't grace. Congrats. I'm a newer member and had not seen it before.

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Randy
Provenance nerd

This is why I hang out in this neighborhood. You never know what marvels will appear. Thanks Jim. I had no idea such a thing existed!

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Why, I aughta.....

OK, I'll admit it's a neat gun, but most importantly... how does it shoot...I know you did it!

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PTLAPTA!

Ruggedly beautiful revolver and holster.
Highly interesting history.
Thanks for sharing.

John
Scoundrel and Ne'er-Do-Well in Training

Thanks for the chance to see what must have been top of the line 104 years ago! Doesn't look like those fellows were under gunned.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

That's a great revolver.

Jim, do you make it to the WAC Puyallup show very often?

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Mark

I am planning a trip for the display show this year.
My son lives in Marysville WA.
Jim

Wow... very nice.
What else can be said.

What particularly intrigues me here is why the gun was ordered and how it was used.

Elmer Keith noted that an early gun/outdoor writer (Ashley Haines??) liked the .44-40. Anyone know what his guns in that caliber were?

I've previously posted that I THINK Sasha Siemel MAY also have carried a .44-40 in either or both the Triple Lock or 2nd Model Hand Ejector. In his books, he just wrote that it/they were S &W's in .44 caliber. I keep thinking about him also using a .44 Winchester M-92 carbine and think he may have wanted the same ammo for his handgun and also the added power of the .44-40 over the factory-loaded .44 Special. And have we ever established how available the .44 Special ammo was then in Brazil? That might be a MAJOR factor in cartridge selection! We know that .44-40 was common, because of the popularity of the Winchesters. Rossi still copies the M-92 in that nation.

Additionally, someone posted a Roy Jinks letter here this week, saying that most of the .44-40 S&W's were exported to South America.

This is a remarkable gun, whether unique or not. It is certainly very rare in that caliber and in target configuration.

Mr. Fisher, thank you for sharing this item with us.