.38/44 Heavy Duty Help

[rancheroguy]

I just Bought a Nickel 4" Barrel .38/44 HD at an auction and picked it up last night the serial #is 58XXX and i was hoping someone could help me with dating the pistol please

 

[lowhog]

Hi,around 1940.If its an original finish Its on the scarce side with the 4 inch barrel.Mike

 

[rancheroguy]

from what i can see it is the original finish but it is coming off is there any way i can get a value on it?

 

[lowhog]

Can you post pictures?

 

[rancheroguy]

here are 2 sorry they arent any good i took them with my black berry

 

[1Aspenhill]

58000 range spaned 1939 and 1940. Are there any markings on the top of the barrel? Pictures would help also. IF you email pics to me I can post them for you. Also, would you send the full serial number for my database?
Thanks,
Bill

 

[lowhog]

hi,Your pictures will not enlarge.Looks like the correct pre-war magna grips and a humpback hammer from what I can see.

 

[DCWilson]

I'll wait for better photos before passing judgment on the whole package, but as parts the pre-war Magnas and Humpback hammer could together be worth $500 or even more. (I agree with lowhog's interpretation of the current photos.)

Looks like a nice score.

 

[dacoontz]

Looks pretty cool to me with those grips and hammer. Great grab. I'd be curious to know what it set you back. Sometimes you can get some outstanding deals at auctions. I am guessing they listed it as a simple 38 special S&W and almost know one knew what was being offered up.

 

[rancheroguy]

Yea it was actually called a .38/44 Heavy Duty and I paid 235 for it with transfer and tax the original price was 180 for the pistol alone. It also came with the original blue picture box does that add to the value at all? And if so what's the best way to preserve the box

 

[GLL]

$180 plus a box and magna grips ! Bill just had a stroke !

Congratulations on a great find ! Now we need to see some more detailed photos !

Jerry

 

[rancheroguy]

Like I said early on I'm new to the .38/44 game what exactly are magnagrips and what makes them so popular

 

[rancheroguy]

also I was wondering how many nickel 4 inch barrels were made if anyone can help with that number I would appreciate it

 

[lowhog]

The box alone is worth what you paid for the package if its in good shape.I have seen pre-war hd boxes auction off in the 250.00 300.00 range.I just paid 450.00 for a super nice pair of pre-war n frame magna grips.To give you a value on the revolver itself we need some good pictures.The first picture I,m posting is a picture of pre-war magnas with large silver madallions.The second picture is a picture of pre-war service grips with large madallions.Are you measuring the barrel from the face of the cylinder? Are you sure its not a more common 5 inch?Mike

 

[lowhog]

Looking at your micro picture again,it is a 4 inch for sure.Here is a picture of postwar target grips

 

[rancheroguy]

Does anyone know how many of the 4" nickel with magna grips and humpback hammer were made so I can know how hard to find they are?

 

[DCWilson]

Does anyone know how many of the 4" nickel with magna grips and humpback hammer were made so I can know how hard to find they are?

With complete access to factory records that question is probably answerable, but it would take a lot of time.

At the level of approximation, we can observe:

About 11,000 HDs total were manufactured before WWII.

Maybe half of these were produced during the time when magna stocks were an available option.

Let's say nickel guns were half of all production, though I have no idea if that is true or not.

Maybe a quarter of all HDs were produced with 4" barrels.

The humpback hammer was an available option for the last couple of years of production, but I doubt it went on more than 10 percent of the HDs sold in that period.

You can't just multiply the fractions together to get a number, because those are not independent variables. But on a "feels-like" basis, I'd have to say it feels like there are probably not more than a couple of hundred guns at most that were shipped from the factory in the configuration you describe, if even that many. There might not be more than a couple of dozen. A complicating issue is that both magna stocks and humpback hammers could be separately purchased, so anybody who owned a Heavy Duty with service stocks and a standard hammer could dress his gun up after the fact. You couldn't tell a gun with later additions from a factory original without a factory letter.

In any case, the answer to your question is, "Not too many."

 

[dacoontz]

Yea it was actually called a .38/44 Heavy Duty and I paid 235 for it with transfer and tax the original price was 180 for the pistol alone. It also came with the original blue picture box does that add to the value at all? And if so what's the best way to preserve the box

WHAT? Are you kidding us? That is an amazing price. Nice grab for sure. I love awesome deals.

 

[dacoontz]

Was this a major gun auction or just a spattering of guns thrown in with other random junk? I'd love to hear more about the details of the auction like where was it, were there other bidders, was there a bidding war (doesn't look like it with the price), or other details. This seems like a cool story. And we need to get some more pics.

 

[rancheroguy]

no it was a legitimate auction from a company here in texas they had a few more S&W i was looking at but they werent very nice i was just looking at them to have but then this one caught my eye because of the box i went to 180 on it and got it thats all there is to say abouth that,

if i were to sell it in its condition what would be a fair price for it?

 

[1Aspenhill]

Well, he certainly hit the jackpot and should buy a lottery ticket! I still would like to see pics and know about any writing on the top of the barrel. As for David's observations, S&W made 100 4" barrels for the HD in the mid 30s. Some people say they didn't make all of those and some say they did. The 4" barrel was not cataloged until 1940. I think they did sell the original 100 and more before the war. IF you look at the guns put together after the war, the 4" was the most popular which tells me they made a lot of them before the war and kept the stock until after the war. I would say that 98% of HDs were 5" guns and the rest 4 and 6.5. The percent of nickel varied but was anywhere between 11-13%. The info you seek on how many 4" HDs are out there is not known in any written media and would take counting each one to see how many of what barrel length and finish were manufacturered. More of the HDs in the 60000 serial number range tend to have humpback hammers.
I hope this helps,
Bill

 

[rancheroguy]

i did buy a lotto scratch off for 10Bucks and won a cool 100

 

[rancheroguy]

here are a few pics

 

[1Aspenhill]

To help you, you will need to take the grips off and tell us is stamped on both the left and right grip frame. Also what is stamped in the ejector lug of the barrel. Any markings on the top of the barrel? Thanks,
Bill

 

[rancheroguy]

the grips have the serial on the gun and the only thing i see on the grip frame looks like an N on the right side and an Hon the left side

 

[rancheroguy]

I may be looking to sell or trade to get a 1911 thats what i have my heart set on what should i ask for a fair price to get a decent 1911?

 

[dacoontz]

Value would be tough for me to say because you have some nice parts to the gun but the overall finish looks real bad from those new pictures. You'd hate to see those grips and that hammer seperated from the gun since the grips look to be numbered to the gun and the hammer might be original to it as well. I think you could probably find someone here that might be interested in it as it sits.

 

[rancheroguy]

Would it ruin the value to send it off to S&W to be nickled or keep it as it is and ask around 800 is that a fair price?

 

[dacoontz]

S&W won't work on guns this old anymore. I think we all have older guns that are shooter grade pistols that we would love to have a factory refinish on. There are a few guys that believe in not messing with original finishes on guns but opinions cary. Like I said, price can be very dependent on finding someone that is interested in buying it and it's tough to pin down a number.

 

[rancheroguy]

I heard of a company called robar firearms coatings they make a nickle type finish would that ruin the collector value?