Hello I am new to this site. I have an old S&W 44 special I am trying to see how old it is. I believe I have the answers to all the questions. I also have a couple of pictures. Any info will be great.
1. Hand Ejector
2. Serial # 37777
3. 44 Special
4. 4
5. Fixed Sites
6. Strain Screw
7. 5 Screws
It appears to be a .44 Hand Ejector 3rd Model (also known as a Model of 1926). As to its age, The first one was #28358 (in 1926)---mine is 54911. It was made in 1938. (It shipped in 1941--January 28.) Yours is somewhere in between. Some other folks will be along with similar guns numbered close by yours, which makes for better guessing. (A historical letter from the Historical Foundation will tell you exactly when it shipped.)
Ralph Tremaine
As an aside, having now looked at the pictures, barrel length is measured from the front of the cylinder; and I'll hazard a guess yours is 5".
As another aside, given your hammer and trigger are nickel plated, odds are the gun has been refinished. (If there's a small B next to the serial number inside the ejector rod housing, it started life blued.)
This one shipped July, 31 1931 Ser# 38402, your is just slightly newer. It's a little hard to tell from the photos but do to the S&W logo being very faint I would venture a guess that it has been refinished.
Thanks for all the information. This was my fathers police issue from HPD. Does any one have an ideal on the value. To me it is priceless.
Is the gun stamped on the back of the grip frame? Most of the HPD .44s I've seen have that stamp on them. The .44 was probably shipped to Wolf & Klar in late 1930 or early 31. Value has been diminished do to the refinish, but a good history and provenance will increase the value.
There was an HPD gun on GB within the last year but I don't think it was refinished. Could be wrong. I bid up to 9 bills. It went for a bit over 20 which was surprising to me but everything has gone up.
I'm going to ask this question and I don't want to seem to forward, considering the .44s age and your father carried it on the HPD what is your age? The .44 obviously has a long history if you can document your fathers time on the force it would increase the .44s value considerably. Pictures of him, HPD records ETC. these are the things that will make the .44 priceless to your family and to others.
I'm going to ask this question and I don't want to seem to forward, considering the .44s age and your father carried it on the HPD what is your age? The .44 obviously has a long history if you can document your fathers time on the force it would increase the .44s value considerably. Pictures of him, HPD records ETC. these are the things that will make the .44 priceless to your family and to others.
Not forward at all. I was a late in life addition. My father was born in 1913. He joined HPD in the early 30's I dont have the exact date handy right now. I was born in 1966 I am 51. I do have pictures of him carrying it in uniform.
I have an early special order 4" bbl .44 HE 3rd Model, s/n 29803, shipped to W&K in May 1927. I believe it was part of W&K's second order (80 guns, according to Mr. Jenks). Mine has been re-nickeled and modified, but it's still a great shooter. Have fun shooting that family heirloom!
Since you did not add the city, HPD could mean one of many in the country (I assume Houston), so I read through the posts again and might have missed it, but where was the revolver used? As stated, the gun has been refinished and the pearl stocks are a post-factory addition as well, and both negatively affect value.
Original walnut stocks for this gun sell for over $200 now by themselves. Replacement originals can be found on ebay and other sites if originality is of interest to you. As for the plating, the biggest question has been asked by Ralph about original finish. Can you look for a B inside the ejector rod housing or under the stocks on the butt-frame which would indicate Blue? The reason I ask is that if the gun was originally nickel, the value would be different in my mind. The biggest drawback of the plating is that the trigger and hammer were plated and would have been color case hardened at the factory. This could be done to bring the gun back to original factory condition if interested, but other than that, since you will most likely never sell it, just leave it as is.
As is condition would rate Very Good with the non-factory refinish. Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 4th Edition states $1400 for VG. One could argue that the stocks would drop the value even further, but not to a big degree. Some would pay a premium for documented history, but others would not. Insurance value is almost always set higher than expected selling price by maybe 30%, so if you are insuring it, $1800 to $2000 would be appropriate.
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