One minor detail in the note------that circa 1918-1919. It may very well not have shipped until then, but it was made in 1915 at the latest.

The Triple Lock is a great gun---tough to find fault with---with one not so minor fault in S&W's eyes---it didn't sell up to their expectations---and selling guns is what they were (and are) all about. As far as they were concerned, it was a total, rolling disaster from a commercial point of view. They figured the price ($21) was too high for the marketplace. The fix was to dump the third lock, and the ejector rod shroud. Problem solved!! New price: $19.

The Triple Lock lasted 7 years. Its successor was around for 22 years-----including the years following the 3rd Model.

An interesting tale about the 2nd Model: The last bunch (39 Targets) went out the door on May 14, 1940----all to a NYC distributor. They were billed at $17 each.(!!) Now the Registered Magnums cost S&W $17 each to build, so figure the .44 2nds cost them maybe $16 each----not a very profitable sale at $17---but when you gotta go, you gotta go!!

Ralph Tremaine