I'm looking at a 1955 pre 24. It is in pretty good shape 90% or so. Target stocks (small football) and numbered box. The box is actually a model of 1926 box, I figured they found one and of course used up inventory. The gun has a factory letter. Sorry no pics but it has a little muzzle wear and high edge cylinder wear, no pitting or scratches. Stocks are pretty darn good with sharp checkering, probably the nicest set I've seen. My questions are how rare are these, and approximate value?

Stocks are not rare but worth ~$250.

If you mean the package, also not rare but desirable. Model stamped 24s are scarce/rare.

Hard to guess value w/o seeing it or knowing the barrel length, but $1200 to $2000 for 6 1/2", and certainly more for any other barrel length if factory.

How much is being asked for it?

Are the tools and paper with it?

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I have one I had cut down to 5".

picture uploader

It was a target model but I have other 44's for target shooting.
S/N S14745X Shipped December, 1955

Paid $850 a few years ago on GB.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Pictures when you can.
I have a 6.5 inch one at about 95% but don't have a pic on this iPad.
Mine is S147xxx

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

It's a 6.5". No tools or helpful hints

S146567 July 1956 with the scarce stocks, no relief. 95 - 99%, Bright blue. Paid $1250.



What are they asking?

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Asking 1200 firm.

Here is a pic

I have two high condition Pre Model 24s with 6 1/2" barrels and bought them within three or four months of each other in 2014. One is matte finish, at $1400 and the other is gloss finish at $950. The book says there is a premium for gloss finish - go figure.

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Living a dream - S&WCA #2364

For $1200, I'd buy it. Looks nice, and with the box is a bonus.
How many more do you think you'll run into?

I agree completely.

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Paul
SWCA #2864

Me too!......

S&W made 5,050 .44 1950 Targets and Model 24s between 1950 and 1966. They sure aren't growing on trees.

Mine was cut to 4-1/2", and has a little more wear than you are describing, but on the other hand it came with a pretty decent set of Cokes....

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What about the model of 1926 box? Did they make gold model of 1950 box? I've seen early blue boxes with an end label printed "model of 1950" but haven't seen a gold box. This one doesn't have a label, but is numbered to the gun.

test post sorry

Some of the Model of 1926 boxes had a sticker indicating the 1950 Model. See photo below. I don't focus my collection on 44 Specials, but I don't remember seeing a gold box for a 1950 44 Target.

Bill

thanks. ive concluded in my research that a printed label was used. No label is present on this one, but that's not saying much as the box is rougher than a night in jail.

S144281, all matching. Shipped April 1955. Approx. 98%. Paid $1400.00 in 2010.

I would be all over that one, they ain't getting any cheaper. If your just looking at it as a speculation I still don't think you would get hurt at that price, if you like S&W revolvers JUMP! I keep waiting for the so called market to flood with all the old guys unloading their collections similar to what your experiencing, you'll kick yourself if you pass that one up...I guarantee it.

I inherited my dad's 1950 Target (6.5", Coke bottle grips, gold box with tools and vapor barrier paper). Stickers saying 1950 Target covered the places on the gold box saying 1926 Target. One has fallen off, and after looking at the back of it, I'm guessing they were glued on with a water base glue, which gradually "fossilizes" and come loose. BTW, below the front sight on the rub are several pin prick spots of rust. I'd always assumed Dad got some blood on it from a blacktail deer, until I noticed the same type of rust spots on two other 6.5" 1950 targets; one was for sale at Capital Sports in Helena four or five years ago, and the other was advertised on one of the Internet gun auction sites a couple of years ago. I'm speculating that rust is the result of a factory sight installation problem (soldering flux? Who knows?).

DB404,

You're exactly right. In that period it's well known that S&W had a problem of not leaving the guns in the neutralizing solution long enough after bluing. The barrel was blued with sight installed. Eventually bluing salts leached out and caused the rusting spots. Smith replaced many barrels at the time. That's the bad news.

The good news is, it won't get any worse after all these years. Soak in Kroil to remove rust spots. Assist with OOOO brass wool, (not steel wool).

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Jim
S&WCA #819

Welcome to the Forum, DB404.

You have a great revolver as the subject of your first post.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thanks, gentlemen. It is a great handgun. Dad used it and a Colt Officers Model Match .22 LR for NRA Bullseye competition; he also used it in the woods when working remotely as a timber cruiser and logging engineer. Carried it in a full flap holster to protect it from inclement weather and from getting bumped into trees, boulders and such. It still looks darn near like new. His every day woods load was made up of home cast Elmer Keith's 250 grain semi-wadcutter (that Elmer had designed for Lyman back in the 1920s, mold 429421 with the square lube groove) over 7.5 grains Unique with a standard large pistol primer. The bullets were cast from lead salvaged from discarded logging truck batteries, with tin added. It is quite accurate, even to long range; I witnessed him keeping most of a cylinder full (after figuring out the hold-over with a couple of shots) on a roughly 6' diameter granite boulder at a paced 400+ yards one time in Oregon's Blue Mountains. His paces were pretty accurate, as he was running section lines and timber sale boundaries all of the time on his job. He commented that his grandfather, who'd lead wagon trains from St Louis out to the west coast, told him that the old time cavalry troopers could shoot the horse from under adversaries at similar ranges with their .45 Colt 1873s.

Welcome back, DB404. Thanks for the back story on your .44 Target. A whole bunch of us .44 Special lovers also use Elmer's semi-wadcutter over 7.5 grains of Unique. It is usually referred to the Skeeter (Skelton) load, as Old Skeet used it more often than Elmer's hunting load of his SWC over 17.5 grains of 2400 (new solid head cases as opposed to using 18.5 grains in the older balloon head cases).

Do have your Dad's Colt .22 as well?

You do know that you are allowed to post more often than every 18 months!!!!!

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thanks for your kind words. Life has a funny way of interfering with fun stuff, hence the break in posting. Yup, I have both revolvers, in their original boxes, with tools and papers. The Colt has the factory target as well. When Dad was in his early 60s I gave him a 6" 19-? with red ramp insert front sight for a birthday present which he carried in preference to the 1950 Target, as it was lighter and just as accurate (his words).

Muley you might want to double check that load, I think that was 17.5 grains of 2400 .

THANKS! I corrected it.

That was my second episode of mentally passing gas tonight. I don't think I'll post anymore this evening.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Bill, I thought that Roy said that 1950 .44 Target were in burgundy boxes...

I'm wondering if one of you all who has a copy of The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson could look up the manufacture date for S42822? I'm guessing 1952 or 3. Thanks!
Dave

I'm not near my book at the moment but that ser# would be earlier than 1952. My.45 Model 1950 serial S94109 dates to May 1952 according to Mr. Jinks.

You're either missing a digit or reading the SN wrong, which is easy to do. Post WW II N frame serial numbers started in the S75xxx range. It might be easier to read on the rear of the cylinder.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Are you sure you have that number copied correctly? The number is below the range of the S serial prefix.

Dave,

It appears you've left out the 1st numerical digit which would be a 1. That would indicate that it's from the 2nd half of 1956.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

MG,
Is that Unique load for balloon headcases as well? It sounds a bit stout to me... I’d be more likely to use that charge and bullet in a Mag case and drop back a grain in the Spl. Maybe I’m being a wuss, but I like Unique for mild target loads.

Froggie

A serial number of S142822 would most likely date the revolver to the second half of 1955 to sometime in 1956.

Bill

Thanks for the replies and yup, I was viewing it wrong. The serial # on back of cylinder is 134212.

Re 7.5 Unique with 250 gr Keith 429421 - its my understanding its gone out of favor with loading manual companies these days, but I will say I shot thousands of it through a Colt New Frontier with fine accuracy and no problems of any sort. The Lyman #45 from 1973 goes up to 8.0 grains of Unique with #429421. In solid head cases. IIRC, Elmer used to suggest 18.5 grains of 2400 in balloon head cases, and to drop that charge to 17.5 in solid head cases. The Lyman book cited above goes up to 17.7 grains of 2400 under the 429421. I shot a lot of the 17.5 load out of the New Frontier and it was powerful and accurate, chronographing about 1250 fps. Recoil was less with that load in the New Frontier than with the typical .44 magnum revolvers.

7.5 grains of Unique, topped by a 245 grain Keith semi wadcutter, in solid head cases, has been a recommended medium load for the .44 Special for well over 50 years.

6.5 grains of Unique with the same bullet is also a good milder load.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

S134212 would date to the first six months of 1955.

Bill

Older thread but I missed it until today. Apparently S&W made a lot of 1950 44s in the 1955 or so period numbered between S140000 and S146000.

I have two, S140775 and S143776. When you quickly glance at the serials they may appear consecutive but they are actually 3,000 apart. The earlier one shipped April 26, 1955 (exactly one week after I was born) to Shapleigh Hardware in St. Louis and the other shipped August 8, 1955 to Woodward & Wright in New Orleans. One is bright blue and the other matte (S143776 is matte).

I bought them in 2005. A dealer (member here) had them in his flier. I had long wanted a 1950 so I called. The cut one was $950 and the (apparently) replacement one was $1050. I think these prices were high at the time especially given their modified condition but I wanted one. So bought the cheaper of the two. When my wife came in I explained and she said "Why didn't you buy both of them?" I admit I couldn't come up with a really good reason so I called the dealer back and bought the second one. Story was the pair had been together with the same owner since 1970. They came with numbered Magnas. I picked up some period Targets.

Both left S&W with 6.5" barrels. One was cut to 5" at some point and the other appears to have a 5" replacement barrel installed (S140775 is obviously cut). The former has the serial on it and the latter has no serial making me think it was sold as a replacement part. Any other ideas? They both have RR/WO sights and I assume they were added at the time the guns were modified. They also have wide, smooth triggers.




They shoot pretty good.

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No life story has happy end.

Thanks, Bill. Greatly appreciated.

I doubt this thought would make SWAG category, but I wonder if the surge in production Art Doc speculated about had to do with the Model 29 knocking at the stable door, and Smith trying to move older parts inventory.

Mine (S141071) was shipped September 9, 1955 (bright blue, 3rd Model box w/sticker), target grips).

Ralph Tremaine