It has given me great pleasure to receive your kind comments on this interesting revolver. Thanks to everybody.
I had an exciting time acquiring this gun back in the spring.
Yes, you do spot a unicorn on rare occasions.
Here's the story:
Back in February I was browsing a relatively obscure auction house online when my eye caught the profile of this gun. A light immediately went off in my mind as I thought to myself, "Wow, there's a 5" Outdoorsman. That's got to be a bit rare."
Here's a verbatim quote of the item description in the auction listing (not much info):
Pre-War Smith & Wesson .38/44 Heavy Duty Double Action Revolver, #35644, .38/44 cal., 5'' pinned barrel, blue finish, factory checkered square butt diamond center walnut grips with inlaid silver medallions numbered to the gun, Patridge front sight, notched rear sight, case hardened hammer and serrated trigger. Mfg'd 1930. Condition is very good retaining approx. 90% factory blue, with areas of finish loss to both sides of frame and index line to cylinder. Grips with moderate wear and bright medallions. Hammer and trigger with vivid case colors. Action is good, bore is bright.
Here are some of the thoughts and observations then going through my head and some of the research I did:
* s/n is 35644 - too low for an Outdoorsman (if you believe SCSW);
* no serrations on front and back straps;
* early "one-screw" target rear sight (but I didn't at that time know the date that separates the one-screw and the two-screw sights.)
So I go to the SCSW 4th to rummage for information. For a number of reasons it doesn't classify as an Outdoorsman, so I figure it must be a .38/44 HD.
In the listing for the .38/44 HD under "Variations" it mentions the reported existence of the ".38/44 Police Target Model" made by special order in 1930. "The one reported was in the 351xx s/n range." This variation is described as having a Call gold bead front sight. The front sight on this specific revolver looks Bubba'd and certainly could have started life as a Call gold bead.
Information I had at that time indicated the engineering order for serrated tangs on N frame Target Models dated to 10/17/27. Thus, that engineering order pre-dates the .38/44 HD. If S&W had cataloged a .38/44 HD Target, I would assume it would have had serrated tangs. However, it seems conceivable that a batch of special order ".38/44 Police Target Models" might start life as ordinary .38/44 HDs with smooth tangs.
The HBH didn't look right. My info indicated the HBH was introduced in 1938, much later.
It could be a later factory conversion to Target configuration, but that raises the question of dating the one-screw target rear sight.
The auction listing said nothing about matching numbers or re-work stamps, except that it did say that the grips match. I could see from the photos there is no star on the butt.
At this point I had gone about as far as I could go in researching the revolver. I decided to reach out for some help. That's where the wonderful resources of this forum come into play. I contacted Lee Jarrett (our very own gorilla). I told him everything I've mentioned above and asked what he thought it might be. Lee told me to contact our member, 1Aspenhill (Bill), who is an expert on the .38/44 HD revolvers.
Bill was completely generous with his knowledge and time. We had a great time plotting and scheming ahead of the auction. He gave me the confidence I needed to bid on the revolver with the intention of getting it. See Bill's post (#13 above).
The day of the auction came. I took a deep breath and typed in a bid. The HD became mine! (Bill said I stole it.)
In due course I gathered up a factory letter and the research from the SWHF. Then came the task of deciding how to handle the thing.
The front sight obviously had been altered. The factory letter said it originally had a Paine front sight, and now it has a Bubba'd patridge. Should I find a Paine sight and restore the revolver back to "factory" configuration? Heck no!
When I got the research from SWHF and saw Deputy Grear's letter of June 11, 1930 I knew for sure I wasn't going to mess with that front sight.
Grear was entirely dissatisfied with the factory front sight.
"This sight is absolutely no good to me and I am sending it in to you."
He planned to fit the patridge sight himself, and that's what he did.
"I would certainly appreciate it if you would send me, in place of it, a thin patridge sight. This may be a little high but send one to fit the 44 frame and I will take care of cutting it down."
The man knew what he wanted when he sent for this special order pistol. He didn't like what he got, and he was determined to have it the way he wanted it. How in the world could I consider changing that?
The HBH came years later. Though there is no evidence of it, I would lay a bet it was the same Mr. Grear, who learning of this new improved hammer, had to have one and ordered it up.
We often say how wonderful it would be if these old guns could talk, so we could know their stories. Well, this one has done some talking. It's a piece of history with a soul of its own.
I'm proud to share this with the members here. I hope each of you feels as satisfied as I, having heard this HD speak to us from the year 1930.
Curl
