The .38/44 Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman were actually quite popular when they were introduced and remained so until the 1950s when the options for .357 magnum revolvers increased and included more moderately priced guns like the Combat Magnum/Model 19 and Highway Patrolman/Model 28.

If anyone wants to enjoy a pre-WW II target N frame the .38/44 Outdoorsman has usually been the most moderately priced and easily found option available. There were made in larger numbers than the Registered Magnums or .44 Special targets. Like all N frames of their era, they are made from excellent quality steel, were assembled by fantastically skilled craftsman and tend to have spectacularly smooth actions and superb accuracy. They were also popular with bullseye shooters and some received cutting edge modifications from places like King's gun shop that influenced the features of factory "combat" revolvers from the 1950's to the 1980's. Those period of use modifications have become an area of specialty interest in their own right to some collectors.