Registered Magnum vs .38/44 Heavy Duty blue picture boxes

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mrcvs

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This is a bit of a “What came first? The chicken or the egg?” thread.

On page 181 of SCSW4, it states that the .38/44 Heavy Duty revolver originally shipped in a maroon box, from 1930 to 1935, and then in the blue picture box from 1935 to 1940. The blue .38/44 Heavy Duty picture box is very similar to the blue picture box of the Registered Magnum. And the Registered Magnum was introduced in 1935. So, was the .38/44 Heavy Duty box redesigned simultaneously with all others, or at least simultaneously with the introduction of the Registered Magnum in 1935, or was the .38/44 Heavy Duty revolver issued in a redesigned box prior to the introduction of the Registered Magnum revolver in 1934, and the design proved popular enough to use for the Registered Magnum revolver?

I ask this question as I have a top notch .38/44 revolver that shipped in July 1934 and it now resides, and may always have resided, in the blue picture box. Or maybe not. I can’t prove if it’s just A box or THE box.

While I’m at it, the instructions on the inside lid are bilingual—English and Spanish. Presumably for sales to the Mexican or South American market. How strong were sales of this revolver south of the border if at all?

All photographs are of the .38/44 Heavy Duty revolver and box as I don’t have a Registered Magnum revolver in its original box at this time. And, unfortunately, any serial number on the underside of the box has worn away to the point where it is not legible, making proof of originality difficult.
 

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What I know about boxes, especially from those earlier than WWII fills a very small piece of paper. But, we know the timeframe of the box change and the service grips became, or could depending on one's druthers, magnas at about the same time.

If 1935 is when the first magnas shipped and the first Reg. Mag. style blue boxes too then it seems unlikely that a 1934 shipped gun would have 1935 features or box. Maybe someone will know when the last old style box shipped and the first new style went out the door but I doubt it. We're told that S&W never threw anything away and used up inventory even after change orders were in place.

The box looks good, the gun even better. I'd be happy with it as it is and if I never knew for sure I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Hopefully someone who actually knows will come along and tell us that the first new blue boxes shipped in 1934. The picture on the box shows a HD with service style grips doesn't it? I'd think S&W would have wanted to put the latest and greatest grips on the picture on the new box if introducing the box at the same time as a new style grip. So perhaps the new blue box for HDs was out before magna grips were available?

Jeff
SWCA #1457
 
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Quoting from SCSW 4th.

In early 1933 S&W introduced a blue box with a picture of the model printed on the lid and with model information printed on the sides of the lid. It is believed that these were initially issued for both the .38/44 Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman models.
 
mrcvs, notice the grips on the gun pictured on your box - they are the service style grips, same as your gun. So your box very likely pre-dates 1935 when the Magna grips came out.

The Type 1 RM box also pictures the RM with service style grips but also with the Wesson Grip Adapter attached. When the Magna grips came out in August/September of 1935 the picture on the boxes - both RM and HD/OD - also changed to show the Magna grips. In the RM world these are called the Type 2 boxes.

I would say there is a good possibility that the box with your HD is THE box, but at the very least it is the CORRECT box.
 
The concern here is not whether or not I have THE box or A box, but proving the historical record correct. I did not know that there was a Type I and Type II box, but I have the correct type for my revolver, which will never prove that I have THE box but it suggests I might not just have A box.

I did not realize that there was conflicting information in SWCA4 about the blue boxes, in the box section (which I did not reference) and in the .38/44 Heavy Duty section, the former correctly using a date of 1933 and the latter referencing 1935. I will post this inconsistency for Jim Supica in revisions for SCSW5.

Also, as boxes were likely preprinted and Smith & Wesson wasted nothing, I would doubt that ALL .38/44 Heavy Duty and Registered Magnum revolvers were 100% matched with the type of stock (service vs Magna) and that pictured on the blue picture box. As, without a doubt, the type of stocks and the number of boxes depicting each stock type were unlikely to be correlated.
 
mrcvs said:
Also, as boxes were likely preprinted and Smith & Wesson wasted nothing, I would doubt that ALL .38/44 Heavy Duty and Registered Magnum revolvers were 100% matched with the type of stock (service vs Magna) and that pictured on the blue picture box. As, without a doubt, the type of stocks and the number of boxes depicting each stock type were unlikely to be correlated.
Click to expand...

Of course not, but you wouldn’t want a Type 2 box with your gun that shipped in 1934.
 
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I have a RM type 2 box. in good overall shape but no gun. wonder what it mite be worth.
 
I am curious as to Pre-War Blue Heavy Duty Picture Boxes values. Do the ones with the service style grips cost more than the ones with the Magna grips? What are the current values for each style? I realize condition is KING, so let’s assume very good condition. Thanks.
Larry

In general, are the Blue Registered Magnum Picture Boxes more costly than the Heavy Duty ones?
 
boykinlp said:
I am curious as to Pre-War Blue Heavy Duty Picture Boxes values. Do the ones with the service style grips cost more than the ones with the Magna grips? What are the current values for each style? I realize condition is KING, so let’s assume very good condition. Thanks.
Larry

In general, are the Blue Registered Magnum Picture Boxes more costly than the Heavy Duty ones?
Click to expand...

My guess is even though the survival rate of the .38/44 Heavy Duty boxes is substantially less, as they turn up less frequently, based on my observations, than do the Registered Magnum revolver boxes, even though Registered Magnum revolvers are about half as common as the 11,111 .38/44 Heavy Duty revolvers manufactured—my guess is they are worth less than Registered Magnum picture boxes.
 
Sales south of the border?
If S&W had the instructions printed in spanish as well as english I would guess that sales south of the border were "Brisk".
 
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