The below chart is sort of a spin-off of the chart that Dr. Jinks previously published on Pre-war .357 Magnum Registered and Non-Registered Production.

During July 2022 Dr. Bill Cross completed a review of early Postwar .357 Magnum invoices available in the S&W Historical Foundation digitized and indexed records. His review discovered invoices for 123 .357 Magnum Transitionals produced during the 1946 - 1949 period. The below chart depicts his findings:


Note: The last Postwar long action .357 Magnum Transitional was shipped from the Stockbridge Street factory on 3/8/49 (S71850, 3-1/2”, blue, shipped to the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Jackson, MS.) The first short action .357 Magnums were shipped from the Roosevelt Avenue factory on 11/18/49 (S75514, S75515, S75516, S75517, S75519, & S75520, all 3-1/2”, blue, shipped to Evaluators LTD, Quantico, VA, for various police departments.)

To summarize several key points from the above chart:

- only one (1) known .357 Magnum Transitional was completed during 1946 (serial# S71642 with HBH completed on 12/5/46 - pictured below).

- over 91% of all .357 Magnum Transitionals were completed during 1948.

- 3-1/2” & 5” barrel lengths were by far the most common (these were mostly police issues to the Kansas Highway Patrol - examples of both barrel lengths pictured below).

- although barrel lengths had been standardized at 3-1/2”, 5”, 6”, 6-1/2”, and 8-3/8” towards the end of the Pre-war era, several special order .357 Magnum Transitional barrel lengths were produced; one (1) each at 5-1/2”, 8-1/2”, and 8-3/4” (the 8-1/2” & 8-3/4” are known extant revolvers, and are both most likely the only Postwar .357 Magnums with that barrel length - both pictured below).

- although the most common barrel length during the Pre-war era, only one (1) each .357 Magnum Transitional was produced with a 6-1/2” barrel.

- 8-3/8” barrel length was the most common long tube of choice, if you can categorize 13 guns as common (several of these were presentations and/or inscribed such as S71893 presented to President Harry Truman, & S71972 inscribed to Major General Julian S. Hatcher - both pictured below)


S71642, a 6” with “Hump Back” Hammer, the first .357 Magnum Transitional…..


Photo credits - sw357nm

S71245, a 3-1/2” Kansas Highway Patrol .357 Magnum Transitional…..


Photo credits - handejector

S71485, a 5” Kansas Highway Patrol .357 Magnum Transitional…..


Photo credits - bmg60

S71486, the only known Postwar .357 Magnum Transitional with 8-3/4” barrel…..



S71964, the only known Postwar .357 Magnum Transitional with 8-1/2” barrel…..


Photo credits - RKmesa

S71893, an 8-3/8” .357 Magnum Transitional, presented to President Truman and inscribed “Colonel Harry S. Truman”…..


Photo credits - opoefc

S71972, an 8-3/8” .357 Magnum Transitional, inscribed “Julian S. Hatcher”…..


Photo credits - Rock Island Auction

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Terry Lester

Saved that chart. Not that I will ever find one, but I can dream.

Most excellent thread, Terry. Thanks to you and Dr. Cross!

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Thanks Terry , Most excellent info to have..
Randy.

Fantastic thread with great info for us 357 Magnum lovers!!! Thank you Terry for pulling it all together and Bill for combing the records.

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Richard
Engraved S&W fan

NICE work on the chart, Terry.
I have been privileged to own three of these.

S71116 - I lettered this one in 2010. The grips are obviously not the original Transition style.





The pics of S71245 are mine. I used to own it. I don't remember positively, but I think the grips are the originals.



S71721 It also wears Non-original grips.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Fabulous OP and thread. Likes are not enough!

What’s the highest (last) known serial number?

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SWHF #691

Highest known serial number currently documented is 72019. It was one of the twenty-five (25) 3-1/2” Magnums shipped on 12/15/48 to Blish, Mize & Silliman Co., Atchison, KS, for the Kansas Hwy Patrol.

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Terry Lester

This is my contribution to the thread. I am still searching for the correct rear sight.IMG_2634.jpg

transitional mag.jpg

That is a beautiful addition to this thread and deserves better than a thumbnail. Seems strange that a gun in that condition would have an incorrect rear sight assembly.

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Terry Lester

My thought is someone needed the sight and borrowed it while it was at the showroom. Really though no clue?

8-3/8” Transitional .357 Magnum, S71655 shipped to Remington Arms 6/30/48.

Attached Images

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This is a copy of a page from an Evaluators Ltd. stock book showing who purchased those 6 short action revolvers. Excellent thread, thanks for taking the time to post it.

Regards,

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turnerriver

Thanks for that update in post #14 John; I will add that information to the database.

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Terry Lester

A clarification to my post #14 for those that may be wondering why I am adding .357 Magnum short action data to the Transitional database.

The S&WCA database I am referring to is entitled “Postwar Transitional & Early Short Action .357 Magnums (1946 - 1949)”. In addition to the .357 Magnum Transitionals it also includes the very early short action .357 Magnums that were shipped or ordered during 1949. I was able to include 27 of these very early short action .357 Magnums in the database when Dr. Cross sent me the factory invoices. The serial numbers begin with S755XX, S756XX, S758XX, S759XX, and S760XX. I’m not positive about this, but to my knowledge none of them have yet surfaced in our collecting community.

The .357 Magnums on the Evaluators list provided by turnerriver were already in the database from the factory invoice data as being shipped to Evaluators for various police agencies. Now, as a result of the information provided by turnerriver, if any of these guns ever surface the collector will know exactly who the first owner was by name and police organization - if he/she is a member of the S&WCA and can access the database.

Also, a final comment…..I do not plan on including later production (after 1949) Pre-Model 27’s in this or a separate database. That curating task will require someone else to step up to the plate.

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Terry Lester