I have decided that my goal in life is to save 38/44's from the converter desire to kill them and modify them into something they were never meant to be. I have seen too many nice 38/44's both Heavy Duty's and Outdoorsman's converted or changed into 44/40's, 45 colts, 357 mags or some oddball thing like 10mm monoclipped guns.
Yes they are others guns, and they can do what they want with them but I can have an impact on the problem. If I start buying every 38/44 in good shape that I see, I will effectively reduce the supply and make it cheaper to convert Pre-28's and Pre-27's into some modified thing.
I know this will be difficult and painful but it is a cross I will try to bear.
So, with that said, I rescued 2 more today from the converters torch and drill press.
The first is a nice bright blued (refinished?) 38/44 outdoorsman target that has lost its magnas. I will have to find a nice set that fits, but the first step is to document the as is state.
This brings me to 4 postwar Outdoorsman's, 1 of which has never been fired and one has seen only light use.
As a comparison of the blueing look at these two OD's.
The second is a very nice 4" postwar 38/44 that has seen very little use at all. There is only minimal marks on the gun.
This brings me to 3 postwar 3844Heavy Duties.
Very nice gun all in all. It was better than my other 4" postwar so it will go into the unshootable grouping.
So 3 saved from conversion in 2 days. I think I know of a 5" postwar that needs to be saved and i will continue to hunt for them. I know I won't get them all seeing as there are over 40,000 of them out there, but I can get some protected.
This will go down as a good week for 38/44's.
Long live the 38/44!
