My additional $0.04 (inflation you know...)
Thanks. I will post more as I find out exactly what it is. Maybe it has been worked on. But how likely is it that it has not been?
ACK:
I really like the looks of your gun. I do not consider myself an expert, but I own a bunch of pre and post war N-Frame and K-Frame 357 Magnums. I have read all of the articles, books, histories and other information that I can find about N-Frame 357 Magnums. I also own a handful of transitional 38/44's (both Outdoorsman's and Heavy Duties). I have several other early post war transitional guns, and I have never seen one in the post war transitional era that did not have roll marks on the barrel. That in and of itself is a 98% to 99% dead give away to me that your gun has been altered. The fact that all of the numbers match is NOT surprising to me. I'd be willing to bet all $1.00 of my betting money ($1.00 is my max betting limit) that if you spent the $50 to get your gun lettered, you would find that it left the factory as a 38/44 Outdoorsman (see page 156 of
SCSW 3rd for a description of the Transitional Outdoorsman). It probably shipped sometime in early 1947. At that time, the 357's were in high demand, but S&W was not producing any, or at least not very many (142 or so). Shooters wanted the 357's very badly and many of the early post war 38/44's had their cylinders bored to accept the 357 Magnum round. I have an early transitional 38/44 Heavy Duty that was bored for 357 and "gunsmith" stamped "357" on the right side of the barrel to reflect the same.
Also, the 38/44 Outdoorsman were primarily configured for hunting and target work so there were very few shipped with barrels shorter than 6.5". So...if a shooter wanted a short barreled adjustable rear sight, ramped front sight 357, but he could not beg, buy or steal one (because there were not any available), he
could get an Outdoorsman, take it to his gunsmith, have him shorten the barrel; remove, modify, and replace the Patridge front sight; ream the cylinder charging holes to accept 357 Magnum ammunition; and remove the roll marks from the sides of the barrel. The roll marks were probably removed, as the standard Outdoorsman roll marks would not be centered, and may have been partially cut off, on the shortened 3.5" barrel and would not reflect that the gun had been "converted" to a 357. I am not sure why the ejector rod was changed, but if there was something wrong with it, it is most likely that the "gunsmith" would not have been able to obtain a replacement large knob rod from the factory, as those rods were phased out shortly after the end of the war.
With all of the above, I think that your gun has some cool, period appropriate customizations that appear to be well done and make your gun a great example of what many hand gunners wanted in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Unfortunatly, in general the above modifications (if in fact they are modifications - I know that you continue to hold out hope
) significantly decreases the collector value.
[EDITED: I see while I was typing you received a couple of indications of value in the $400 range. I think that that is in the ball park, but I may pay a little more for the cool factor. HOWEVER, I would only shoot 38 S&W Special's through that gun as the 38/44 cylinders were not hardened or certified for the power of the 357 magnum load.]
Like I said, I'm not an expert, but you asked for and have now received my candid, frank observations of your revolver.
