1950 44 Target and a Box Study

[Doc44]

This 1950 44 Target, S118114, was shipped to Evaluators, Ltd., Triangle, VA on November 14, 1955. It has an uncatalogued 4-inch barrel, bright blue finish, TT, TH, red ramp, white outline, and rosewood Magna stocks. The revolver remains in near new condition with only the faintest turn line. The box is fully shown in the photos below as is the invoice which was obtained from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation.

Bill

 

[Gun Relics]

That box is in great shape too. I have seen a couple of blue boxes for them and the .45 version, but not often. I don't think they had a printed "4 inch" box because I've only seen them in 6" with the handwriting change.

Does the box bottom have the printing inside with a 1955 date and a large S&W logo at the top??

 

[bubbajoe45]

Beautiful revolver! Assuming smooth Magnas were special order? Not very common.

 

[Doc44]

Inside the bottom part of the box is the Statement of Liability and the Warranty dated April 15, 1955. No S&W logo.

Bill

 

[Doc44]

Rosewood target or Magna stocks would have been a special order, as would any target stock (checkered Magna stocks were standard on this model).

Bill

 

[Tom S.]

$81.42? Heck I'll give twice that amount, no questions asked!

 

[Engine49guy]

Beautiful and super rare package!
Do you know if it was a special order for a customer or perhaps they were testing the interest for that particular configuration?
For some reason seems the factory focus was to prioritize the 6.5" length 44's and 44 Magnums for the commercial market over four inchers.
Btw, Had to chuckle just a bit thinking it would have been just my luck to scrimp and save then plop my hard earned $81.42
( btw thats $980.00 today) on this custom four inch .44 Special in bright blue, then it arrives in my hands in November 55 making my range buddy envious , FF a few months later he shows up at the range with a pebble grain SW case with brass latches , opens it up and inside is a brand new bright blue .44 "Magnum", with the new fancy "Coke bottle" target stocks which he just picked up for $83.00, ( thats an extra $1.58 or $19.02 today) and says to me...
"its the new .44 MAGNUM".
Lets just say Id be a tiny bit unhappy.

Of course today Id easily trade my first year five screw .44 Magnum for that .44 Special ... in 1956 probably not.

Very nice thanks for sharing it !

Ps update,
been studying Bill Cross's 44 Magnum book lately and just realized the first expiremental four inch 4" 44 Magnum actually shipped two months prior to the OP's 44 Special ,
That first four inch 44 Magnum shipped in Sept 1955 but with a slightly higher serial, an interesting side note is that first 4" was reportedly stolen in 1972 and unaccounted for according to the book.

 

[mojave30cal]

I'm surprised it didn't go to H. H. Harris. They got the cool 4" pre-27's back in the day. Super rare.

 

[BillyMagg]

This 1950 44 Target, S118114, was shipped to Evaluators, Ltd., Triangle, VA on November 14, 1955. It has an uncatalogued 4-inch barrel, bright blue finish, TT, TH, red ramp, white outline, and rosewood Magna stocks. The revolver remains in near new condition with only the faintest turn line. The box is fully shown in the photos below as is the invoice which was obtained from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation.

BillView attachment 776580View attachment 776581View attachment 776582View attachment 776583View attachment 776584View attachment 776585

that is a gorgeous Smith and Wesson, I love that 4" barrel, with the proud front sight pins... the first triple lock that sang my song was a 4", but I missed that one due to the 6500 dollar price tag... not many 4" TL's, not many early 4" 44 specials in general.. I missed a gun similar to your's recently on GB,, another forum member ended up with it, which makes me happy, LOL

I'll just have to shoot my 4" 29-2 more???

 

[BillyMagg]

Beautiful and super rare package!
Do you know if it was a special order for a customer or perhaps they were testing the interest for that particular configuration?
For some reason seems the factory focus was to prioritize the 6.5" length 44's and 44 Magnums for the commercial market over four inchers.
Btw, Had to chuckle just a bit thinking it would have been just my luck to scrimp and save then plop my hard earned $81.42
( btw thats $980.00 today) on this custom four inch .44 Special in bright blue, then it arrives in my hands in November 55 making my range buddy envious , FF a few months later he shows up at the range with a pebble grain SW case with brass latches , opens it up and inside is a brand new bright blue .44 "Magnum", with the new fancy "Coke bottle" target stocks which he just picked up for $83.00, ( thats an extra $1.58 or $19.02 today) and says to me...
"its the new .44 MAGNUM".
Lets just say Id be a tiny bit unhappy.

Of course today Id easily trade my first year five screw .44 Magnum for that .44 Special ... in 1956 probably not.

Very nice thanks for sharing it !

Ps update,
been studying Bill Cross's 44 Magnum book lately and just realized the first expiremental four inch 4" 44 Magnum actually shipped two months prior to the OP's 44 Special ,
That first four inch 44 Magnum shipped in Sept 1955 but with a slightly higher serial, an interesting side note is that first 4" was reportedly stolen in 1972 and unaccounted for according to the book.

Yeah, I can only imagine, LOL, would be about my luck for sure. I recently was within a couple of bucks of picking up this one's 1954 sister,, but thankfully another forum member outbid me... (my wife would have killed me), billy

 

[nvcdl]

May be an FBI gun.

AI response to search on the vendor.

"Evaluators, Ltd. is a business that has been associated with providing firearms and related equipment, particularly for law enforcement agencies. According to a discussion on a gun forum, it is believed to have been established in the 1950s and was used as an FFL (Federal Firearms License) dealer for the FBI agents at Quantico, VA.2 The business was reportedly set up for the sole purpose of firearms transfers and getting the cop price on gear for the FBI agents."

 

[Doc44]

The 44 has not been carried that I can tell and shot little if at all. Excise tax of ten percent was charged so no affidavit was filed verifying the order was for law enforcement thus eliminating charging the tax. The 44 looks like it spent the last sixty-nine plus years in a sock drawer .

Bill

 

[handejector]

May be an FBI gun.

AI response to search on the vendor.

"Evaluators, Ltd. is a business that has been associated with providing firearms and related equipment, particularly for law enforcement agencies. According to a discussion on a gun forum, it is believed to have been established in the 1950s and was used as an FFL (Federal Firearms License) dealer for the FBI agents at Quantico, VA.2 The business was reportedly set up for the sole purpose of firearms transfers and getting the cop price on gear for the FBI agents."

Not correct.