I commented a few threads back that I did not think any of my 38/44's were converted to 357 magnum but I was not sure.

Today I am now sure.

Having tested, relubed and wiped down my full collection of 38/44's I can tell you that not one of them will chamber a 357 piece of brass. It took a while to do also!

Mine are all defective that way.

Weird how I could end up with some of the few 38/44's that were not "upgraded" to 357 magnum. Maybe it is because I am trying to save them all from conversion to other calibers and nice 38/44's seek me out?

In the other thread it was commented that as much as a third are presumed converted. Odd because of the roughly 70 or so that I have handled, I have only seen 1 that was "upgraded" so would have put the odds much lower.

I will comment that as I handled each one, it was surprised how easy it was to think about where and when I bought them and why I picked that one over others. I admit that I have passed a few 38/44's by in my day. Usually they just looked odd, did not feel right, serial numbers did not match, bulged barrels, odd looking chambers etc. But not many.

I was pleasantly surprised that even my "ugly" ones looked pretty nice when I was handling them today. I have some shooters but none are really trashed out. Today I realized that I will shoot other calibers, play with other guns, but I will probably collect 38/44's the rest of my life. Just one of those epiphanies I guess.

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SWCA 1646

Peter:

I still just cannot understand why you are so attracted to such heavy big N-frame revolvers just to shoot .38 Specials ! !

Hope you can break away for Boise this Summer!

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

What, no pics ?

BTW, you made me nervous about my recently acquired Arkansas State Police marked 38/44 HD being altered so I checked, and she's all 38!!

I need to reshoot the pictures. I have my eye on 2 more 38/44's before I reshoot and I even picked up one from Bill just this week. Thanks Bill again!

I am not sure why I like the 38/44's really. I had no exposure to them growing up and never handled one that I can think of prior to about 2002.

I can say that I like the history, the styling, the heft, the quality, the affordability, the unique history, the variability and the looks of them. That is why I really love them I think. Just the unique collection of things.

I will give you credit Jerry, you focused better than I did. I retrospect I should have just stayed with OD's and not branched to HD's. I actually enjoy shooting the OD's better. Particularly the pre-war skinny barrel ones. But the HD's are the bulk of my collection now. It is running almost 4 to 1 HD's to OD's.

I remember my S&W sponsor Ben commenting to me. Focus. S&W is so broad that you cannot collect them all. Focus and do it right. I focused on 38/44's. I should have picked HD or OD and sticked with it like you Jerry.

Take care and I hope you guys don't have defective 38/44's also!

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SWCA 1646

Neither of the two that I have owned were reamed. I know some were but I don't think the practice was all that widespread. I can't imagine ANY smith doing such a job for liability reasons.

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No life story has happy end.

Pete,
Do you want an HD that is 357?
Bill

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38-44heavyduty.com

I have a transition Outdoorsman with a Registered Magnum ribbed barrel (Thanks for the info on that, Jerry) and a Heavy Duty 5" from 1952. I carry the HD occasionally, just because I can. Even used it to re-qualify for my carry permit.
The only people who don't understand how special they are are the people who don't have one. (Yet).
Jim

When you can post some pics!

Funny you should mention this thread.
I just took a half dozen of my Pre War Outdoorsman's and a couple Heavy Dutys to my gunsmith to get them reamed out so I can shoot 357 in them.
I was lucky enough to run across a case of the old Super Vel 357 Mag loading a couple of months ago.

Ok, pictures. This is at least a third out of date so take this as where I was early last year.

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SWCA 1646

WOW.. what a collection!

I have 6 or 7 HD's and 1 OD, this one is reamed out.

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Sure you did

Peter:

GREAT photo !
I wish every member here could just hold and shoot a Pre-War Outdoorsman or Heavy Duty !

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

Noooooooooooooooooo!

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Sure you did

I agree with you completely and your mention of affordability is a good point. Just a few years ago you could find very nice pre-war ODs in the $600-900. When Roy first sponsored me into the SWCA I indicated I was interested in 3rd Model (1926) .44HEs. I quickly realized I would be bankrupt almost immediately when I saw my first 6.5" 3rd Model .44 Target ! . He commented that the more reasonably priced old Outdoorsman were the same frame in .38 Special so my emphasis changed right away. I now own a few more! Some are cosmetically challenged but they are great shooters !

These Pre-War ODs are still priced such that you can buy a nice one and still not be afraid to take it to the range on weekends !
Pleased keep me(us) updated when you acquire any new Outdoorsman!



Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

QUOTE=ladder13;136438473]Noooooooooooooooooo! [/QUOTE]

Mike:



As you know S&W made several thousands of the Pre-War HDs and ODs. Unfortunately we only know the location of a few hundred ! I wish more members owned a few more so we had the historical information ! I think Bill would agree ! In the mean time I could provide one of my old "shooters" and some 1050ft/sec .38Special ammo so members had a chance to shoot one !

People who have never held these guns need to know just how beautiful they really are. The Pre-War HDs & ODs along with the 3rd Model .44HEs are some of best S&W ever made. I have never held an RM but these have to be up there close !

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

I hope everyone who owns an HD or OD shoots a few real 38/44s out of them to know what these working revolvers were really all about. 38 Specials and even today's puny +P loads are not the real deal. You need to load about 12g of 2400 behind a 158g bullet, or alternately buy a box of Buffalo Bore's Heavy 38 Special +P 158g SWCHP-GCs. The hand load and the BBs will give you about 1150 fps from a 4" to 5" barrel. That's the ticket!

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Just so you guys know, it's my April Folls joke that i'm getting my HDs and Outdoorsmans reamed out.
I'll bet a few of you were thinking something bad about me.

moosedog:

Damn ! NOW what are we all going to do with all of this tar and the big bag of feathers?

Jerry

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.38/44 Outdoorsman Accumulator

So far I haven't had a pistol I like to shoot as much as this '55 model Outdoorsman. I hope mine will not chamber a .357 round, I like the uniqueness off it being only able to fire .38 special. In the same manner as the old Triple-Locks and .44 special. .44 special used to be my favorite cartridge, ever since owning my first 38/44 is .38 special all over again, back to the beginning for me. I like my little K-22's as much as the next guy but I just love that big ole N-framed .38 special. I'm on the hunt for another or maybe a HD, I first have to get my 32-20 HE model of 1905 re-plated.

I have to agree. The Outdoorsman's are sure fun to shoot and sure fun to own. They used to be a lot cheaper but now all of us 38/44 collectors are talking them up so they are getting harder to come buy (bad pun, but true).

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SWCA 1646

Figured I may as well post a few pics of my Arkansas State Police HD 4". It shipped in July of 1957 (Thanks Roy!).