My luck has been good lately and I now have an Outdoorsman from around 1952. It is in very good condition, but has unnumbered grips.
.38/44 Outdoorsman
- Thread starter bgrafsr
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WOW, nice gun Bill. In the PM I just sent you I mentioned it would be nice to see the outdoorsman and half hour later here it is. Very nice catch, Larry
Pisgah
Member
Now, that is a beauty. Congratulations!
Another nice catch! Congratulations. Any N-frame OD of any era is a wonderful gun.
But I'm still cringing at the sight of water in the background. If I had been taking those photos, either the subject or the camera would have ended up in the drink.
But I'm still cringing at the sight of water in the background. If I had been taking those photos, either the subject or the camera would have ended up in the drink.
OP
I took the photos in our backyard on the bridge that goes over our two ponds spillway. My wife always wanted a water feature so she had them put in several years ago, had the yard landscaped, and then over time re-did it all herself, including re-building the waterfall on the upper pond. We used to have some rather large Koi, but the cranes came in and ate them all. We still have frogs though. The backyard is our little sanctuary.
Bill,
Your luck has been better than good lately, ... keep it up! Beautiful Outdoorsman, and thanks for the pictures.
Jery
Your luck has been better than good lately, ... keep it up! Beautiful Outdoorsman, and thanks for the pictures.
Jery
OP
Thank all of you for the kind remarks.
Bill
Bill
gunlovingirl
Member
A beauty! And David beat me to it about the water. Gave me the eebie jeebies looking at it! I could almost hear the "splash"!
Bill:
Thank you for the photos of your nice looking Outdoorsman ! Thank you also for including the serial number !
Jerry
Thank you for the photos of your nice looking Outdoorsman ! Thank you also for including the serial number !
Jerry
aquagear
Member
Great find, I have one from 1953 they are truly a joy to shoot congratulations and enjoy
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If you look closely at the photos, you will see fine fishing line attached to the trigger guard for security. An absolutely beautiful and desireable piece....congrats!
My neighbor had Koi also, but lost them to cranes.....he believes....here in SW Colorado. I told him, chicken wire over the pond, but he didn't listen!
Going out shooting his brand new Savage long range rifle in 338 Lapua tomorrow morning. Looking forward to the event (sorry, off subject).
My neighbor had Koi also, but lost them to cranes.....he believes....here in SW Colorado. I told him, chicken wire over the pond, but he didn't listen!
Going out shooting his brand new Savage long range rifle in 338 Lapua tomorrow morning. Looking forward to the event (sorry, off subject).
OP
Jimmymac:
My wife tried all sorts of things to keep the cranes away, but nothing worked. She put netting over the pond, but all they did was walk on it and sink it below the water and they speared the fish. Some of them looked like mini submarines.
OP
Bill, how are you doing? Bill told me you were in the hospital when I sold him the K-22. Larry
OP
rburg
Member
Interesting serial. I have S99357 (I really think that if someone at S&W was awake they would have issued that serial to a magnum.) Of course mine has been refinished. They did that after they engraved it.... 
Its one of those interesting stories how I came to own it. I was sitting at my desk at work, minding my own business, or more accurately the company business. My phone rang and it was my long time gun showing pardner John Walters. We kept in touch pretty regularly, and I knew he was traveling to eastern KY for the weekend. One of his mandatory stops was Antique & Modern Firearms in Lexington.
One of his habits was to put guns on lay-away for me, without my knowledge. The phone call that day was to tell me I had a gun put back and I needed to fill my pockets with money and head south. OK. Trying to be polite (after all, John was a really good friend), I asked him what I'd just bought. So his reply was "just a ratty old refinished .38/44". OK. Of course I thought it best to ask how much I'd spent. So he replied "$2,000". Pretty steep for a refinished postwar gun, but if nothing else, I trusted his judgment on guns and prices.
So I took off early, stopped at the house and scrounged all my gun show money into my pockets and drove away. When I got there, I saw my 'new to me' gun. Yes, it was refinished. But well done. John knew my weakness for engraved guns, and my particular liking for inlaid pieces. This one was covered with badly tarnished silver inlay. No idea when or by who, but one thing I'm good at is polishing silver. So I paid my toll and took my gun home. Much to the amusement of the shop employees who'd never seen a situation where someone else just tells them to put away a high dollar piece, and some other fool will gladly come pay for it.
Anyway, the gun has a bunch of vine scroll silver inlay. At the next big show, National Gun Day in Louisville, I carried the gun along. This time cleaned up so you really could see the silver work. My purpose was both show and tell and I was seeking information. Jeff Flannery has the table/booth in the front corner of the huge hall. I took it to him hoping he could tell me who or when it was done.
Engravers are fun to watch as they go over someone else's work. They spin the gun on an axis of the barrel tip and the heal of the grip frame. They go over every square inch multiple times, and they don't hurry the process. At the end, Jeff just said "Wow." So I asked him "who done it", like it was a movie mystery. He said he hadn't a clue. But just then a guy was walking up the aisle toward us and he said "if anyone knows, it'll be this guy. He's the President of the Engravers Guild." OK. So we repeated the spinning, turning and inspection process.
At the end I again asked if they had a clue as to who the engraver was. Again, the answer was no. But the President guy added in "if he's not a member of the Guild, he sure as hell should be." Again, OK. I took it as an approval of the workmanship. But being a dummy, I said I was impressed by the fact that it probably had 6' of silver wire hammered into it. Both of them laughed and said "there's 6' in the cylinder alone." Then "add in the barrel and frame and you can triple that guess."
So for good measure I tossed on a set of Don Collins ivories and its now hidden away where it will never see the light of day. What a waste.
Its one of those interesting stories how I came to own it. I was sitting at my desk at work, minding my own business, or more accurately the company business. My phone rang and it was my long time gun showing pardner John Walters. We kept in touch pretty regularly, and I knew he was traveling to eastern KY for the weekend. One of his mandatory stops was Antique & Modern Firearms in Lexington.
One of his habits was to put guns on lay-away for me, without my knowledge. The phone call that day was to tell me I had a gun put back and I needed to fill my pockets with money and head south. OK. Trying to be polite (after all, John was a really good friend), I asked him what I'd just bought. So his reply was "just a ratty old refinished .38/44". OK. Of course I thought it best to ask how much I'd spent. So he replied "$2,000". Pretty steep for a refinished postwar gun, but if nothing else, I trusted his judgment on guns and prices.
So I took off early, stopped at the house and scrounged all my gun show money into my pockets and drove away. When I got there, I saw my 'new to me' gun. Yes, it was refinished. But well done. John knew my weakness for engraved guns, and my particular liking for inlaid pieces. This one was covered with badly tarnished silver inlay. No idea when or by who, but one thing I'm good at is polishing silver. So I paid my toll and took my gun home. Much to the amusement of the shop employees who'd never seen a situation where someone else just tells them to put away a high dollar piece, and some other fool will gladly come pay for it.
Anyway, the gun has a bunch of vine scroll silver inlay. At the next big show, National Gun Day in Louisville, I carried the gun along. This time cleaned up so you really could see the silver work. My purpose was both show and tell and I was seeking information. Jeff Flannery has the table/booth in the front corner of the huge hall. I took it to him hoping he could tell me who or when it was done.
Engravers are fun to watch as they go over someone else's work. They spin the gun on an axis of the barrel tip and the heal of the grip frame. They go over every square inch multiple times, and they don't hurry the process. At the end, Jeff just said "Wow." So I asked him "who done it", like it was a movie mystery. He said he hadn't a clue. But just then a guy was walking up the aisle toward us and he said "if anyone knows, it'll be this guy. He's the President of the Engravers Guild." OK. So we repeated the spinning, turning and inspection process.
At the end I again asked if they had a clue as to who the engraver was. Again, the answer was no. But the President guy added in "if he's not a member of the Guild, he sure as hell should be." Again, OK. I took it as an approval of the workmanship. But being a dummy, I said I was impressed by the fact that it probably had 6' of silver wire hammered into it. Both of them laughed and said "there's 6' in the cylinder alone." Then "add in the barrel and frame and you can triple that guess."
So for good measure I tossed on a set of Don Collins ivories and its now hidden away where it will never see the light of day. What a waste.
Interesting serial. I have S99357 (I really think that if someone at S&W was awake they would have issued that serial to a magnum.) Of course mine has been refinished. They did that after they engraved it....
Its one of those interesting stories how I came to own it. I was sitting at my desk at work, minding my own business, or more accurately the company business. My phone rang and it was my long time gun showing pardner John Walters. We kept in touch pretty regularly, and I knew he was traveling to eastern KY for the weekend. One of his mandatory stops was Antique & Modern Firearms in Lexington.
One of his habits was to put guns on lay-away for me, without my knowledge. The phone call that day was to tell me I had a gun put back and I needed to fill my pockets with money and head south. OK. Trying to be polite (after all, John was a really good friend), I asked him what I'd just bought. So his reply was "just a ratty old refinished .38/44". OK. Of course I thought it best to ask how much I'd spent. So he replied "$2,000". Pretty steep for a refinished postwar gun, but if nothing else, I trusted his judgment on guns and prices.
So I took off early, stopped at the house and scrounged all my gun show money into my pockets and drove away. When I got there, I saw my 'new to me' gun. Yes, it was refinished. But well done. John knew my weakness for engraved guns, and my particular liking for inlaid pieces. This one was covered with badly tarnished silver inlay. No idea when or by who, but one thing I'm good at is polishing silver. So I paid my toll and took my gun home. Much to the amusement of the shop employees who'd never seen a situation where someone else just tells them to put away a high dollar piece, and some other fool will gladly come pay for it.
Anyway, the gun has a bunch of vine scroll silver inlay. At the next big show, National Gun Day in Louisville, I carried the gun along. This time cleaned up so you really could see the silver work. My purpose was both show and tell and I was seeking information. Jeff Flannery has the table/booth in the front corner of the huge hall. I took it to him hoping he could tell me who or when it was done.
Engravers are fun to watch as they go over someone else's work. They spin the gun on an axis of the barrel tip and the heal of the grip frame. They go over every square inch multiple times, and they don't hurry the process. At the end, Jeff just said "Wow." So I asked him "who done it", like it was a movie mystery. He said he hadn't a clue. But just then a guy was walking up the aisle toward us and he said "if anyone knows, it'll be this guy. He's the President of the Engravers Guild." OK. So we repeated the spinning, turning and inspection process.
At the end I again asked if they had a clue as to who the engraver was. Again, the answer was no. But the President guy added in "if he's not a member of the Guild, he sure as hell should be." Again, OK. I took it as an approval of the workmanship. But being a dummy, I said I was impressed by the fact that it probably had 6' of silver wire hammered into it. Both of them laughed and said "there's 6' in the cylinder alone." Then "add in the barrel and frame and you can triple that guess."
So for good measure I tossed on a set of Don Collins ivories and its now hidden away where it will never see the light of day. What a waste.
Like the story but would love a few pictures. Show that baby the light.
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OP
rburg:
I agree, please show us some photos of your gun, PLEASE?
I agree, please show us some photos of your gun, PLEASE?
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