FINALLY, I found a Heavy Duty!!! (picture heavy duty)

[calmex]

Thank you for the interesting bit of information. I am very well read, and I thought guns were almost impossible to own in Mexico. I'm glad, for your sake you can have at least those you mention. And let me state again, that's a FINE Heavy Duty you have there. You'll really enjoy shooting it, as will several generations after you. Those puppies are brute strong, and just plain COOL.
Now we want range reports.
Stay safe.
Jim

Interestingly enough, millions of Mexicans believe they cannot own a firearm. The Government, the Army, and the Police do everything -- including lie -- to discourage the civilian ownership of firearms. The fact is, however, that you are allowed to have firearms although there are rather draconian restrictions. Still, a .358 diameter 170 grain Semi-wadcutter style projectile smashing it's way into the party at 1,150 fps+ is a great party-crasher and the launcher for that sort of thing can be legally owned here if one gets lucky enough to find one and become the owner.

Right now, Lazcool and I and some of our group (we have about 30+ shooters, so we're doing pretty well actually) are planning to meet before the end of the week to hopefully test out:

1. My Heavy Duty.
2. Lazcool's Heavy Duty.
3. Lazcool's Pre-War Outdoorsman
4. A friend's 27-2 that has been reverse engineered into a 23. That one we won't discuss much but there are more than a few around. The "Real Thing" is highly coveted but where it cannot be obtained, a reasonable facsimile is often constructed. Model 20's, on the other hand, tend pretty much to be originals when encountered down here.

I think Lazcool always has a camera so we should be able to get some photos if we can actually get out to shoot.

 

[GLL]

lazcool:

Thank you very much for the photos and serial number !

Jerry

 

[calmex]

Range report

Well, I got the Heavy Duty registered this morning, then we drove over to the range (after a quick stop at Italian Coffee for something to eat as we left early without eating). The revolver is a real marvel.

With the standard loading of 3.5 grains of Bullseye and a Lee 158 grain Tumble lube bullet (which weighs 162 grains with our mix) the point of impact was dead on center from a six-o'clock hold at 25 yards using an NRA D-3 target. Very nice.

Using our standard .38 Heavy Duty reload of the same bullet as above and 9.0 grains of Blue Dot (for 1,160 fps from the 4 inch barrel) point-of-impact was still center but strangely about 3 inches left. Tried several different strings with the same result, cannot explain it. One thumb easy extraction.

Using the Elmer Keith loading of 13.5 grains of 2400 and the 358429 Lyman bullet (which weighs 166 grains with our mix out of either of two 4-cavity moulds we have here) the impact was DEAD CENTER at 25 (from a six-0'clock hold). Velocity was 1,305 fps. One thumb easy extraction. Much recoil and rubbed skin off the inside of my thumb knuckle. Really snorts and bellers.

I could not be more pleased with a working Star Trek Phaser.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I have seen that behavior of flipping shots right and left before with certain loads in my 38/44's. I came to conclude it was really a grip question of how you were holding the gun during firing. If you shoot "interleaved" blue dot and 2400 loads, I bet you will feel a difference in the firing characteristics. Try it sometime and you will see what I think I feel which is why you are seeing the shots flip right and left.

Most of the time it is a right/left deal and not up and down for some reason.

Like the 4". I have several but I am still partial to the 5" ones myself.

 

[calmex]

I have seen that behavior of flipping shots right and left before with certain loads in my 38/44's. I came to conclude it was really a grip question of how you were holding the gun during firing. If you shoot "interleaved" blue dot and 2400 loads, I bet you will feel a difference in the firing characteristics. Try it sometime and you will see what I think I feel which is why you are seeing the shots flip right and left.

Most of the time it is a right/left deal and not up and down for some reason.

Like the 4". I have several but I am still partial to the 5" ones myself.

Thank you, Peter. I believe you are almost certainly correct. I did not have what I would consider a really comfortable set of stocks and because of where I live my hand isn't built up to shooting powerful loads. I assume we all agree that when you add power to the equation, the difficulty in shooting well increases if one cannot practice sufficiently to maintain proficiency.

Until I got this little jewel, the only firearm I had in my possession that was capable of anything above 9 m.m. power was Phil Roettinger's Magnum and it's not something I would want to risk losing in a roadblock due to it's barrel markings, so I shot it only "now-and-then" with much less "now" than "then".

The other day, I shot 150+ rounds in the 1,165 - 1,180 fps range (162 grain Lee SWC) and about 2 dozen of the Elmer Keith loads with the 166 grain Lyman 358429 bullet. Most of the shooting other than testing P.O.I. was double-action, in fact I shot the entire 42 round N.R.A. Los Alamitos course (posting a decent 388 out of 420 with the little monster). The magna stocks ripped away the skin on the inside of my thumb knuckle.

A good friend and forum member wrote me an email lamenting the fact that my new revolver had "hurt my little hand". I cannot be sure, but I think I detected a note of friendly sarcasm there perhaps?

I have a nice set of proper Diamond Magnas on the way, as well as a T-grip. Now that I have registered the Heavy Duty, it will take two weeks or so for my permit to transport it to and from the range is ready. (On the day you register, you are permitted 24 hours to transport your newly registered firearm back to you house -- so everyone hits the range on the way home. That's the way it works here. Then you wait for your proper transport permit. This may sound draconian, but remember: most people simply assume you CANNOT shoot down here. Compared to "cannot do it", the reality of having a lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through is preferable, at least to me.)

It will take about a month for the new Magnas to get here I imagine. The T-grip is anyone's guess, but as soon as I can I shall retest and we'll see. I have a nice set of Post-War Diamond Targets I bought sometime ago with the PC magnas I have on the gun now. Perhaps a test using those will allow me to hold on a little better and see if the results change or not. (And perhaps, my "little hand" won't get so beat up.)

Cheers!

 

[chasr]

Newbie to the forum. Bought my third HD today. SN 35044, 5", matching magnas. Pictures to follow.

 

[chasr]

pic's

 

[DCWilson]

Chaser, welcome to the forum. Lots of HD fans here.

That's a great shooter. The stocks look to be in amazing shape for 80 years old.

 

[chasr]

Thank you! If I am correct that the first 38/44HD was
SN 35037(?), then one was in the first 7 (SN 35044).

 

[Peter M. Eick]

That is a low serial number alright. I have 35078 which I thought was pretty low but you got me.

Actually, that appears to be the lowest know serial number I have ever heard of. Yours is in great shape.

 

[1Aspenhill]

Actually, ship date is what the factory goes by and it was most likely shipped in April 1930, however I have seen where these were shipped in later months. It just depended on where they were in the pile and how they pulled them to fill orders. Great find! Let us know where it was shipped if you letter it.
Bill

 

[Art Doc]

Based on other N frame shipping dates I have that S148000 serial would be Sept. or Oct. of 1955.