just got a 44mag 28-2, Must be a mis stamp?

[BioHazard2222]

I just got this Nickel 44 Mag yesterday on a trade, it is stamped as a 28-2 Highway Patrol, serial # N1098XX.
From what I can find this must have been created around '72-'74 but should be a model 29? is that correct? So is it still a Highway Patrol?
I'm contemplating selling it, not sure the exact value...
Any help to identify and or value would be AWESOME!!!!
Thanks in advance.

 

[kwselke]

It sure appears to be marked M-28 and chambered for .44 Mag. My guess, it has been re-barreled and chambered. Folks that know more than I will be along shortly.

 

[824tsv]

Hello,
It's interesting that the ejector star is blued (as it should be on a nickel revolver) and the rest of the revolver is nickel plated. To the best of my knowledge S&W didn't nickel plate hammers/triggers/sights, so it's an oddball for sure. .44 magnum nickel cylinder mated to a Model 28 frame, but what about the barrel??

 

[k22fan]

You bought a model 28 that was converted to .44 magnum, not a model 29. Here are a few obvious things that reveal that it's a conversion:
1) 1950s style tapered barrel. 29s all had heavy non tapered barrels
2) the Highway Patrol roll mark wasn't removed
3) it has the shorter .357 length cylinder
4) the hammer, sights and trigger were nickel plated when it was refinished which S&W never did

I'd bet a dollar the top of the barrel rib is not serrated. 28s were the only revolvers S&W made that way.

In the mid 1970s nice 29s sold for $450 in the local want ads. I waited 2 years and 9 months on a waiting list before I could pay MSR plus tax ($253) for my first 29-2 in 1975. An older gentleman looking over my shoulder presented me 5 one hundred dollar bills to buy it as soon as the paper work was done. I declined. In leu of 29s inexpensive and plentiful 28s were converted to .44 mag. 29 frames were heat treated differently than .357 N frames and displayed a stamp to identify that. S&W disapproved of the conversions so they refused to sell 29 barrels and cylinders to gunsmiths.

IMO your 28's value is limited to its utility value which is rather subjective, but certainly below the value of a .44 magnum Mountain Gun which it would substitute for and below the value of an actual 29-2. Since the market has gone crazy I don't know what anything is worth. I'm just hanging on to all my stuff and waiting it out. Before the buying panic no less an expert than the forum's own AlleNframe proclaimed any decent N frame is worth $400. To speculate using a nice round number I'll say before the panic it might have sold for $500 OTD. Now you should expect the real collectors to come along and say it's worth less than well used kitty litter. The value of refinished and converted S&Ws stirs up quite a controversy here.

 

[mkk41]

Sure looks like a 28-2 that was rechambered , rebored , re-rifled , re-stamped and re-nickeled..

The 44's didn't use that contour barrel till they came out with the Mountain Gun.

 

[dewey]

Yes, during the Dirty Harry craze .44MAGs were selling for big mark-ups.
Someone went through a lot of trouble and $ to convert your gun, perhaps a 'smith for himself. The nickel rear sight is a dead give away.

I always have loved the tappered barrel on a 4 inch N frame. I'n not sure how well the sights will line up as they were for a .357, not a .44.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I just got this Nickel 44 Mag yesterday on a trade, it is stamped as a 28-2 Highway Patrol, serial # N1098XX.
From what I can find this must have been created around '72-'74 but should be a model 29? is that correct? So is it still a Highway Patrol?
I'm contemplating selling it, not sure the exact value...
Any help to identify and or value would be AWESOME!!!!
Thanks in advance.

Note the barrel marking. I vote for new cylinder and altered barrel to turn a .357 Magnum into a .44.

 

[jaymoore]

Boring out and rerifling the barrel is the hard part. Running the cylinder bores to .44 mag is easy in comparison. As k22fan notes above, the cylinder is shorter than the usual 29's. Seems fairly straightforward, if not logical all these years later. Back then? Someone just HAD to have the big magnum of the day.

(BTW, many years ago, I reamed out a Super Blackhawk's .44 cylinder to .45 Winchester Mag for a friend. It then became the third cylinder for his .45 ACP/.45 Colt/.45 WM Blackhawk convertible. No particular reason to do the work- he didn't hunt with it. It just seemed like a good idea at the time...)

 

[BioHazard2222]

Thank you all for the replies, I kinda want to call S&W and confirm what that serial number started out as but don't really want to spend the $50 for certificate.
Seems like if this was reamed out and re stamped, they did a great job.
Is there any other pictures that would be helpfull?
I have always been a 1911 auto guy so this is all new, not sure if I want to keep it or sell it or trade it for a 1911

 

[A10]

I am a big 28 fan, but any conversion I am not familiar with makes me nervous. If you wanted you could find a replacement barrel and cylinder and return it to what it once was. There are places to get the nickel removed, and you can find the proper hammer and trigger. Truth is, that would be more money than the gun is worth. I would probably stick with milder loads in that one......

 

[BioHazard2222]

Putting it up for sale

Ok, so I have decided to sell this gun, so now my question is, do I advertise it as a 28-2 that has been re-barreled or a 29 or a mis-stamped 28 or a Highway Patrolman .44Mag?
Any suggestions would be great... I just don't want to mislead someone but do want to have the correct search criteria.
I was thinking I would put it on gunbroker and armslist.
Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[cbvanb]

Ok, so I have decided to sell this gun, so now my question is, do I advertise it as a 28-2 that has been re-barreled or a 29 or a mis-stamped 28 or a Highway Patrolman .44Mag?
Any suggestions would be great... I just don't want to mislead someone but do want to have the correct search criteria.
I was thinking I would put it on gunbroker and armslist.
Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Personally I think you need to disclose all you know about the gun when you list it. I think the consensus is that a conversion of some sort was carried out on an original Model 28, and to claim otherwise will invite accusations of fraud. Be honest and you'll not only avoid problems with your reputation, you will avoid issues when the buyer finds out it's not what he thought it was. Somebody will want that gun just the way it is.

 

[feralmerril]

That barrel has to be resleeved. You should be able to see a fine line in the crown I would think. Since the clyinder is too short for long high weight bullets and for other saftey concerns I would consider the gun a .44 special if I shot it.

 

[A10]

If your ad reads "nickel 28-2 .44 magnum conversion" you remove all doubt. I would not be surprised if it sells quickly, depending of course on how it is priced!

Chances are feral is right. It wouldn't bother me to push 240 grain bullets at 900-1000fps out of it, but full magnums would make me a bit nervous.......

 

[Tom K]

That barrel has to be resleeved. You should be able to see a fine line in the crown I would think. Since the clyinder is too short for long high weight bullets and for other saftey concerns I would consider the gun a .44 special if I shot it.

Merril, why would it be sleeved? It started out as a .357 and was bored out and rifled to .44 caliber. You must be looking at it upside-down.

I also agree that it should be treated as a .44 Special. Putting full power .44 Mag ammo through a modified gun with nothing known about who did the work or how, seems like a bad idea. I will say that one clue to the quality of the conversion is that the trigger, hammer and rear sight are all nickel plated. That always seems to me like the signature of a lazy, careless hack.

 

[feralmerril]

Roger on that. I must of had a brain burp. I would stick to .44 specials though for reasons stated. I would bet a lot of 44 mag loads would be too long anyway, especialy with the heavy bullets. It could be, probley is a fine .44 special shooter. .44 special is my favorite, have seven of them and one is a HD conversion I had done. I was lucky though as I had found a model 21 .44 special barrel and only had to have the chambers carved out and the barrels swapped. About 40 years ago I also had a ruger 357 blackhawk converted to 44 special.

 

[Arisin Wind]

29 frames were heat treated differently than .357 N frames and displayed a stamp to identify that. S&W disapproved of the conversions so they refused to sell 29 barrels and cylinders to gunsmiths.

If this is true, it seems S&W would have a liability issue with mis-marked frames.

 

[sw282]

l think you would do well by advertising it for sale HERE.

 

[k22fan]

If this is true, it seems S&W would have a liability issue with mis-marked frames.

Since S&W has never sold revolver frames I don't understand where you think S&W's liability would arise.

A few years ago a member posted pictures of the stamp on a 29's grip frame that marked it as having been heat treated for 44 magnums. I'm sorry but I don't recall the details or when applying that stamp was discontinued.

 

[captainjohnsofd]

When I worked at Austin Behlert's shop many years ago this conversion is one he would NOT do, the problem being the cylinder was too short for most 240 grain factory loads and after reaming the cylinder walls were paper thin- he would do the .44 Special conversion on Model 28's and they came out very nice!