38/44 question

[llano52]

What is the purpose of the small hole below the cylinder release on this revolver? Serial number is 52155, 5 inch barrel. Thanks for any help.

 

[Art Doc]

I believe that's where the hammer strut is mounted. With the introduction of the "short action" in 1949-50 the hole is no longer visible.

 

[KAC]

I believe what you are thinking is a hole is the end of the hammer stud. On the older models of S&W's, like yours, it was screwed in.

 

[llano52]

Thank you both for the clarification.

 

[Hondo44]

Welcome to the forum.

That's an extremely nice 38/44 Heavy Duty. I'd place it at shipping in 1938.

Those pre war Magna grips are beautiful and worth at least $500 and some have gone a lot higher by themselves. Are they numbered to the gun on the backside of the right grip?

 

[wheelgun610]

.... Those pre war Magna grips are beautiful and worth at least $500 and some have gone a lot higher by themselves. Are they numbered to the gun on the backside of the right grip?

And let's not overlook the value of box. I've seen those boxes sell for over $500 on more than one occasion. Of course, if it and the stocks are numbered to the gun, it greatly increases the market value of the whole package.

And we welcome llano52 to our not so humble group.

Mark

 

[JP@AK]

I believe that's where the hammer strut is mounted. With the introduction of the "short action" in 1949-50 the hole is no longer visible.

This is basically correct.

The full name for the part is hammer pivot stud. on prewar guns and the earliest postwar models, the stud was threaded into the frame on the gun's left side. What you are seeing is the end of the stud. This was replaced with a pressed-in stud, and on those, the stud end was polished flush with the frame. You can usually see it on close inspection, but it is largely invisible.

I'm not an N frame collector, so '49-'50 may well be correct on those. On the K frames it happened a bit earlier. The change order was issued on January 18, 1946, and was implemented very quickly. K frame guns shipped as early as April, 1946, had the pressed stud. The "High Speed" hammer wasn't used on fixed sight K frames until 1948. It showed up a bit earlier on the target sight K frame revolvers.

 

[ABPOS]

This is basically correct.

The full name for the part is hammer pivot stud. on prewar guns and the earliest postwar models, the stud was threaded into the frame on the gun's left side. What you are seeing is the end of the stud. This was replaced with a pressed-in stud, and on those, the stud end was polished flush with the frame. You can usually see it on close inspection, but it is largely invisible.

I'm not an N frame collector, so '49-'50 may well be correct on those. On the K frames it happened a bit earlier. The change order was issued on January 18, 1946, and was implemented very quickly. K frame guns shipped as early as April, 1946, had the pressed stud. The "High Speed" hammer wasn't used on fixed sight K frames until 1948. It showed up a bit earlier on the target sight K frame revolvers.

Thank you for this explanation.