There were 309 .44 Magnums shipped in November, 1956. S156452,was one of those. It shipped 11/6/1956 to Wilson-Walz Sporting Goods Co., in El Paso, TX, with a 4 inch barrel, blue finish, and checkered Goncalo Alves target stocks. 1956 1st year 44 magnums in the 4 inch barrel length are scarce to rare and to date, only 7 have been documented. The first 4 inch was manufactured in the summer of 1956 according to factory production records but that gun has not surfaced. From the limited number of this variation that have been documented, it appears that the regular production run of the 4 inch version did not actually begin until early November,1956. The earliest of those revolvers are found in the same blue pebble grain case designed for the 6 1/2 inch models with the exception of the cut down box size to accomodate the 4 inch barrel length. The earlier push button slide latch was replaced with the rectangular pull down latch found thereafter on the smooth 'black' style box which had begun to appear in late September,1956. The 'black box' as many collectors refer to it, became the standard until the introduction of the mahogany presentation case in late 1959-1960. Enjoy.
Chuck

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

There were 309 .44 Magnums shipped in November, 1956. S156452,was one of those. It shipped 11/6/1956 to Wilson-Walz Sporting Goods Co., in El Paso, TX, with a 4 inch barrel, blue finish, and checkered Goncalo Alves target stocks. 1956 1st year 44 magnums in the 4 inch barrel length are scarce to rare and to date, only 7 have been documented. The first 4 inch was manufactured in the summer of 1956 according to factory production records but that gun has not surfaced. From the limited number of this variation that have been documented, it appears that the regular production run of the 4 inch version did not actually begin until early November,1956. The earliest of those revolvers are found in the same blue pebble grain case designed for the 6 1/2 inch models with the exception of the cut down box size to accomodate the 4 inch barrel length. The earlier push button slide latch was replaced with the rectangular pull down latch found thereafter on the smooth 'black' style box which had begun to appear in late September,1956. The 'black box' as many collectors refer to it, became the standard until the introduction of the mahogany presentation case in late 1959-1960. Enjoy.
Chuck

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

That is beautiful. Anyone would be proud to have that in their collection.

Chuck, Thanks - Another Beautiful .44 - You never cease to amaze me with your collection! I appreciate the history lesson as much...
Thanks again,

Absolutely gorgeous, Chuck!
It's always breathtaking to see a 50 year old treasure that looks like it just came out of the factory.

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John

Hi Chuck,

Very nice. Keep them coming.

T

Wow wee! That's a beauty. Whatcha going to do with it?

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

Thanks Chuck! What a beautiful .44 ...and the history lesson is appreciated also.

Jerry

Mickey, this one will be the Nov entry in my 12 months of 1956 pre-29 display. It is the only 4" in the display.
Chuck

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

Chuck, a fella that has put together an excellent representative .44 Magnum for each of the 12 months of '56 doesn't have a lot of room for future growth potential (unless he's attempting to do the same thing with the 29-1!)

You know that you're spread too thin and you also know that I'm out here in Wyoming picking up <span class="ev_code_RED">Colt's</span> because there are no S&W's!!!

I admire your <span class="ev_code_RED">tenacity!</span> I'll bet you made a great "Ranger" Chuck!

JC, I'll see what I can do in the near future to get you away from that 4 letter word beginning with C - - - Actually, the pre-29 is easier to locate than the 29-1 and is the reason I believe not very many collectors seriously look for it. They just don't show up that often enough to keep folks interested in trying to find one.
Chuck

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

That is one fine looking revolver.

That's what Smith & Wesson used to turn out when the bean counters were not in charge! Gorgeous.

Very nice indeed. Thank you for the pictures and the history.

Dhasso

My birth year holy grail.

Only seven known, eh? I guess that I won't be getting a 4" 1956 .44 anytime soon.

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Only a cold warrior

Don't give up looking for any S&W. While only 7 4 inch 1956 pre-29s have shown up to date, I am absolutely certain there are others still out there somewhere to be found. Keep looking as you never know what might turn up. The fun is in the hunt anyway.

__________________
SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!