This is from out in left field as far as W&K guns go, but it's been a while since I've seen a tribute to Ed Cornett.

I had a line on a .44 H.E. 3rd Target----more than a line---a firm commitment to sell it------if. The W&K connection is, as you may recall, they were the driving force for the production of the gun----telling S&W their customers (lots of Texas lawmen) were in the habit of whacking bad guys on the head with the barrels of their .44 2nds---and bending the ejector rods----and then brow-beating S&W into bringing back the ejector rod shroud---with an initial order of 3500 guns---near as I recall.

So far, so good!

Popular lore has it there were less than 200 .44 3rd Targets made---MADE! The emphasis here is to highlight the fact there are more than that out there, but many won't letter as target. That sorry state of affairs has me in a dither, because I don't know the why of it---and I'm not about to lay out a big pile of money for a mystery gun.

I ask around, and nobody knows diddly! I call Jinks. He says "That gun (54911) was made in 1938---you're good to go!"----end of conversation! Now that's comforting, but I still don't know the why of it!

I call Ed Cornett---and I get chapter and verse-----the whole story! The initial shipment received by W&K was 1,000 guns. All, or damn near all, were fixed sight guns. More than a few folks (including W&K retail dealers) were asking for more targets than W&K had. W&K packs up a bunch of fixed sight guns, and sends them back to S&W for conversion to targets.

"Aye, and that's the rub!" as the saying goes! All those fixed sight guns converted to target were initially shipped as fixed sight guns. That's what the factory records say---and that's what any letters on those guns is going to say. Most, if not all those guns went out in 1926; so when Jinks told me that which was going to be mine was made in 1938, and I was good to go, he knew there was no chance I was going to end up with a made up gun. He knew that---I didn't! When Ed told me what I've told you, I was an EXPERT-----I knew the what AND the why!!

Ralph Tremaine