I recently located these 3 pre war N frames. While none are in great shape, they all have character 
and they were all pretty affordable too.
The first one is one I wanted for some time: a pre war 38 Outdoorsman. I was fortunate enough to find a post war trans 38 OD about 2 years ago, and since then, I have wanted a pre war 38 OD. The model of 1950 examples are available, so I always think I can buy one of those "tomorrow". There were less than 5k pre war 38 Outdoorsmans made from 1931 to 1940. Honest and original pre war 38 ODs are far from rare, but they are not overly abundant either. This OD came to me with rubbers, so I added these large medallion service grips I had. SN 50XXX.
I also wanted a pre war 38 OD to go with my pre war HD. The pre war HD pictured below is a factory 4 in which was ordered by the Duluth MN PD. You can read more about it here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/319559-policemans-best-friend-1939-duluth-mn.html
Next is one of the most significant (and sought after) S&W revolvers ever made: the New Century aka 1st model 44 aka "triple lock". I never had one of these before so I was happy to find this one. It's all matching sans the grips, and despite the wear, I see no signs of a refinish. Factory nickel examples are uncommon. Only 15376 TLs were made from 1908 to 1915. These were the big "man stopper" hand ejectors offered by S&W before the RM debuted. Since these were the "high power" S&Ws of the time, many were carried by police departments and other agencies giving them a higher attrition rate than many other S&Ws, IMO. I had these grips on hand which are likely the correct type for this TL. SN - 13XXX.
Before I found this TL, I attempted to find photos of the 3rd lock from different angles, just because I was curious. I actually had not even looked over one in person until I bought my own. I did manage to find a few photos of the 3rd lock online, but not from all of the angles I wanted. For those of you who don't yet own one of these, here are some photos of the 3rd lock.
In this photo we see how it looks from the right side. Note that the flange for the 3rd lock was case hardened and thus should never be blued or nickel finished.
Here is how the flange looks from the front.
Here is a shot of the flange, and a shot of the spring loaded rod which protrudes into the flange when the revolver is closed.
Here we see that the flange is a separate piece from the yolk itself which is why it is never blued or nickeled. The flange is held to the yolk by a screw.
This 6.5 TL kind of reminds me of another pre war 44 in my collection: a factory nickel 44 2nd model.
If finding one original nickel TL wasn't lucky enough, I did manage to find *2* of them within about a week
This particular gun is earlier than the above 6.5 example I posted. SN - 69XX. On top of being factory nickel, this example has the uncommon 5in barrel. It came with these pearl grips. Its all matching.
Now that I have a 5in TL, I have one each of the first 3 44 hand ejectors in a 5in barrel. The model of 1926 (bottom) is actually a post war transitional version.
I wanted a TL for a while now because of how important of a model it was for S&W. It was the first N frame, which paved the way for the later 357 and 44 magnums. On top of that, the N frame served admirably in both world wars. The TL also gave some stiff competition to the Colt New Service which arrived about 10 years before the TL did. With the TL, people who wanted a large frame hand ejector could buy a S&W rather than having to buy a Colt. IMO, the TL, the RM and the 5 screw pre 29s are the "big 3" of S&W N frames. When it comes to S&W N frames, we all have our own favorites but these 3 models were very significant and ground breaking designs. Pictured below is my 5in TL, my RM with SN 58824 REG 4952 and my first year 44 magnum (pre 29) SN - S130937.
You can read more about the RM here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/390264-well-preserved-registered-magnum-some-interesting-provenance.html
You can read more about the first year pre 29 here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/291799-first-year-44-magnum-s130937-letter-has-arrived.html
So there it is...my recently acquired, pre war, N frame trifecta...
and they were all pretty affordable too. The first one is one I wanted for some time: a pre war 38 Outdoorsman. I was fortunate enough to find a post war trans 38 OD about 2 years ago, and since then, I have wanted a pre war 38 OD. The model of 1950 examples are available, so I always think I can buy one of those "tomorrow". There were less than 5k pre war 38 Outdoorsmans made from 1931 to 1940. Honest and original pre war 38 ODs are far from rare, but they are not overly abundant either. This OD came to me with rubbers, so I added these large medallion service grips I had. SN 50XXX.
I also wanted a pre war 38 OD to go with my pre war HD. The pre war HD pictured below is a factory 4 in which was ordered by the Duluth MN PD. You can read more about it here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/319559-policemans-best-friend-1939-duluth-mn.html
Next is one of the most significant (and sought after) S&W revolvers ever made: the New Century aka 1st model 44 aka "triple lock". I never had one of these before so I was happy to find this one. It's all matching sans the grips, and despite the wear, I see no signs of a refinish. Factory nickel examples are uncommon. Only 15376 TLs were made from 1908 to 1915. These were the big "man stopper" hand ejectors offered by S&W before the RM debuted. Since these were the "high power" S&Ws of the time, many were carried by police departments and other agencies giving them a higher attrition rate than many other S&Ws, IMO. I had these grips on hand which are likely the correct type for this TL. SN - 13XXX.
Before I found this TL, I attempted to find photos of the 3rd lock from different angles, just because I was curious. I actually had not even looked over one in person until I bought my own. I did manage to find a few photos of the 3rd lock online, but not from all of the angles I wanted. For those of you who don't yet own one of these, here are some photos of the 3rd lock.
In this photo we see how it looks from the right side. Note that the flange for the 3rd lock was case hardened and thus should never be blued or nickel finished.
Here is how the flange looks from the front.
Here is a shot of the flange, and a shot of the spring loaded rod which protrudes into the flange when the revolver is closed.
Here we see that the flange is a separate piece from the yolk itself which is why it is never blued or nickeled. The flange is held to the yolk by a screw.
This 6.5 TL kind of reminds me of another pre war 44 in my collection: a factory nickel 44 2nd model.
If finding one original nickel TL wasn't lucky enough, I did manage to find *2* of them within about a week
This particular gun is earlier than the above 6.5 example I posted. SN - 69XX. On top of being factory nickel, this example has the uncommon 5in barrel. It came with these pearl grips. Its all matching.
Now that I have a 5in TL, I have one each of the first 3 44 hand ejectors in a 5in barrel. The model of 1926 (bottom) is actually a post war transitional version.
I wanted a TL for a while now because of how important of a model it was for S&W. It was the first N frame, which paved the way for the later 357 and 44 magnums. On top of that, the N frame served admirably in both world wars. The TL also gave some stiff competition to the Colt New Service which arrived about 10 years before the TL did. With the TL, people who wanted a large frame hand ejector could buy a S&W rather than having to buy a Colt. IMO, the TL, the RM and the 5 screw pre 29s are the "big 3" of S&W N frames. When it comes to S&W N frames, we all have our own favorites but these 3 models were very significant and ground breaking designs. Pictured below is my 5in TL, my RM with SN 58824 REG 4952 and my first year 44 magnum (pre 29) SN - S130937.
You can read more about the RM here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/390264-well-preserved-registered-magnum-some-interesting-provenance.html
You can read more about the first year pre 29 here:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/291799-first-year-44-magnum-s130937-letter-has-arrived.html
So there it is...my recently acquired, pre war, N frame trifecta...
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I ended up getting it for a little less than the bid due to an error in the listing.
