44 Mag. "THE ATTACK"

[Smith,Wesson and Me !]

Hello, I am new to the forum and was wondering if anyone was familiar with the SPECIAL edition 44Magnum "The Attack" Smith and Wesson ?

I just recently purchased one that came in the original box with stamped serial # matching the one on the gun. It also says special on the label.

The only thing is that the label states a barrel of 8 3/8 inch but the barrel on the gun is actually 7 1/2 inches.

Was wondering if anyone out there knows if all of these LIMITED SPECIAL EDITION (500 made) had 7 1/2 inch barrels and if they all came in boxes that stated a 8 3/8 inch barrel ?

Thanks in advance !

[kraynky]

Are you measuring from the end of the crown to the back edge of your chamber end opening? The complete barrel?

[muddocktor]

Welcome to the forums.

That revolver was one of the "12 Revolver" collection that came out in 1990 by the Ellett Brothers I believe. I have another one of that collection, "Outnumbered", which is a model 27 with a 6 1/2" barrel. The box for mine is correctly marked for the 6 1/2" barrel on the gun. So I imagine you are not measuring the barrel correctly as that is an easy mistake to make. On a revolver, you measure the barrel length from the end of the barrel to the front face of the cylinder, not to the front face of the frame as the barrel continues through the frame to within a few thousandths of an inch of the cylinder.

BTW, my Outnumbered gun has made an excellent shooter gun. Just don't get your hopes up that yours will be worth a whole lot of money down the road as those type guns don't seem to be much in great demand as collector pieces. With that said, your gun has some very desirable features and has the full Endurance Package too.

EDIT: BTW, since you have the box with the gun, if you post up the S-Spec number on the box I can tell you when your gun shipped.

mudd

[Smith,Wesson and Me !]

Yes, the barrel to the front edge of the cylinder is 7 1/2 inches. To the back end of the cylinder it measures 9 1/4 inches. And measuring the barrel from the crown, 8 3/8 of an inch puts it right in the middle of the cylinder !

The barrel lenght is 7 1/2 inches.

The Special order number is 3384.

[muddocktor]

OK, I just looked up "The Attack" in my SCSW and they list the barrel length as 7 1/2" in the book, so the box is mismarked. The number I am looking for to give you the shipping date should be marked specifically as "Spec. Ord.". The reason I am questioning what you provided above is that it shows a ship date years after mine. From what you posted, the number isn't valid. The last 3 digits should be less than 365. The first number in the Spec. Ord. number is the year your gun shipped and for your gun the decade it shipped should be in the 90s. The next three numbers indicate the day of the year it shipped. As an example, my Outnumbered gun has a Spec. Ord. number of 0298. That tells me that it was shipped in 1990 (the 0). The 298 part of the number tells me it was shipped on October 25, the 298th day of 1990. So my Outnumbered gun shipped 10-25-90.

BTW, that is a cool gun that I wouldn't mind owning either. And the odd 7 1/2" barrel is really cool and pretty rare.

EDIT: I just looked on GB and found another The Attack posted and looked at the labeling on the box. They show a Spec. ord. of 3364 on that box. And the printing looks a bit blurry, so is there a chance you are reading the 6 as an 8? If so, then the gun shipped December 30, 1993.

[824tsv]

Just as a side note, I've seen several SPEC.ORD codes with the last 3 digits higher than 365. Sometimes the Julian date code works and sometimes not.

[Smith,Wesson and Me !]

The label and markings are CRISP and CLEAR, the Special Order Number is definately 3384.

[muddocktor]

Originally Posted by Smith,Wesson and Me !

The label and markings are CRISP and CLEAR, the Special Order Number is definately 3384.

Well, then I don't know what to think about that, as I have been told many times over about the Spec. Ord. number reading as a Julian date. What stikes me as a bit funny is the big difference in shipping dates according to reading the Spec. Ord. number between yours and mine and when the sets were manufactured. According to my Spec. Ord. number it shipped towards the latter part of 1990 which correlates to when the set was produced for the Ellett Bros. And yours would have shipped shipped 3 years after according to your Spec. Ord. number.

On another note, what is the serial on your gun; the first 3 letters are all we actually need to try to get a general date for it if you want a guess as to when it shipped.

In any case, we like pictures of fine guns here and I am looking forward to seeing some pics of yours if you would be so kind as to post some up. From what I've seen, that gun is quite nice looking and that non fluted cylinder looks quite good with the long full lug barrel.

[Narragansett]

Welcome to the forum. Pictures please. Never seen one of these

[Narragansett]

Welcome to the forum. Pictures please. Never seen one of these

[Smith,Wesson and Me !]

Thanks Muddocktor,
Letters are BFS.
Will try to get pics up soon.

[muddocktor]

Those letters are close to my Outnumbered gun, which is BFM. Just taking a guess, I would guess it shipping some time between 1991-1993.