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rct269
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Almost certainly---and I'm having trouble figuring out why I said "Almost".
Ralph Tremaine
And just for the heck of it, what is it you find unusual----the caliber---in concert with the frame size?
Ralph Tremaine
And just for the heck of it, what is it you find unusual----the caliber---in concert with the frame size?
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What Ralph said^^^^
Pre war probably from the mid to late 1930s
Pre war probably from the mid to late 1930s
Sure would like to see a pic. That S/N is seems a little early for pre-war magnas. Are the stocks numbered to the gun?
Mark
Mark
rct269
Member
Mark makes a good point---early serial number for Magna's. I have an RM, #47121---shipped 12/19/35---with Magna's. It was ordered just before the Magna's became available, and the buyer sent a letter changing the order to include Magna's.
Now, it has been beaten into out heads that S&W didn't necessarily do this, that, and the other thing in serial number order; so what you've just read doesn't prove squat---------but Mark still makes a good point. (If your Magna's are numnbered to your gun---or if you letter it, and it letters with Magna's---then that's the ballgame----and all this somewhat wild guessing is all for naught.
And when push comes to shove it's nice to have the original grips---but the world is not going to stop spinning if you don't.
Ralph Tremaine
Now, it has been beaten into out heads that S&W didn't necessarily do this, that, and the other thing in serial number order; so what you've just read doesn't prove squat---------but Mark still makes a good point. (If your Magna's are numnbered to your gun---or if you letter it, and it letters with Magna's---then that's the ballgame----and all this somewhat wild guessing is all for naught.
And when push comes to shove it's nice to have the original grips---but the world is not going to stop spinning if you don't.
Ralph Tremaine
DWalt
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442xx shipped in 8/34. Are your diamond Magna grips numbered to the gun? If so, you have perhaps one of the earliest N-frames with Magna stocks. Pre-WWII Magnas are quite valuable. Posting a picture is in order.
rct269
Member
"The first production revolver fitted with the Magna stock was serial #46978, and bears the registration #466. This revolver was finished on September 17, 1935, and sent to the Argentine government for testing." (Roy Jinks)
Accordingly----you Magna's are other than original to your gun. If they are pre-war Magna's (easily identified by the 1/2" medallion, and machined white metal stock circles), and are in GOOD shape, then take heart---you can sell them for enough to buy pretty much whatever sort of grips you wish---and likely have enough left over for some ammunition for your new toy-----and/or some good grub at your favorite restaurant.
Ralph Tremaine
Accordingly----you Magna's are other than original to your gun. If they are pre-war Magna's (easily identified by the 1/2" medallion, and machined white metal stock circles), and are in GOOD shape, then take heart---you can sell them for enough to buy pretty much whatever sort of grips you wish---and likely have enough left over for some ammunition for your new toy-----and/or some good grub at your favorite restaurant.
Ralph Tremaine
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Yes, that is what caught my attention.
Unfortunately, no.
rct269
Member
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW!!
Good-----that's what should have caught your attention---because the combination makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!! Why in the world would anybody in their right mind pack around a great big heavy klunky gun for a cartridge that can be had in a more "user friendly" package?!! That's just plain DUMB!!!
And now we know that great big heavy klunky gun wasn't made for the regular, everyday cartridge it says it's made for---but for a special variation thereof. You can certainly use the regular, everyday cartridge if you want to; but that's not what they had in mind---back in the day.
So what's the point of all this diatribe? BOOKS!! I dare say each and every one of us, especially the really old creaky ones of us, started off reading books---all except for the folks who wrote the books. While most of us who populate this lunatic fringe started off wondering about all these weird guns, those other folks were digging through piles of stuff looking for answers---and they found them---and they wrote about them---and we read them---and we done got edumacated!!
Nowadays folks can get educated without reading the books----but it's hard row. Take this hive, for instance: There are a bunch of very smart, very well educated, and very well informed folks here----and you can pick their brains free for nothing. The problem with that is sometimes you don't know who you're listening to---don't know what they know---and have no way of finding out----unless you have THE BOOKS. And trust me when I tell you these very smart, very well educated and very well informed folks have their nose in some of those books every day----oft times more than once.
The Solution: Get some books. There are three for openers. Smith & Wesson 1857-1945. It's about just what it says it's about. History of Smith & Wesson. It's about what it says it's about too. Some of it is about the same stuff as the first one---same only different. Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson. It's not about what it says it's about---it's about any and everything. One could think of it as a compilation of the first two------plus-----plus-----plus----plus. If you just want one book, that's the book.
Try them----you'll like them!! They give you the WHOLE story---about any and everything. Pick and chose, or read it all.
Ralph Tremaine
Good-----that's what should have caught your attention---because the combination makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!! Why in the world would anybody in their right mind pack around a great big heavy klunky gun for a cartridge that can be had in a more "user friendly" package?!! That's just plain DUMB!!!
And now we know that great big heavy klunky gun wasn't made for the regular, everyday cartridge it says it's made for---but for a special variation thereof. You can certainly use the regular, everyday cartridge if you want to; but that's not what they had in mind---back in the day.
So what's the point of all this diatribe? BOOKS!! I dare say each and every one of us, especially the really old creaky ones of us, started off reading books---all except for the folks who wrote the books. While most of us who populate this lunatic fringe started off wondering about all these weird guns, those other folks were digging through piles of stuff looking for answers---and they found them---and they wrote about them---and we read them---and we done got edumacated!!
Nowadays folks can get educated without reading the books----but it's hard row. Take this hive, for instance: There are a bunch of very smart, very well educated, and very well informed folks here----and you can pick their brains free for nothing. The problem with that is sometimes you don't know who you're listening to---don't know what they know---and have no way of finding out----unless you have THE BOOKS. And trust me when I tell you these very smart, very well educated and very well informed folks have their nose in some of those books every day----oft times more than once.
The Solution: Get some books. There are three for openers. Smith & Wesson 1857-1945. It's about just what it says it's about. History of Smith & Wesson. It's about what it says it's about too. Some of it is about the same stuff as the first one---same only different. Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson. It's not about what it says it's about---it's about any and everything. One could think of it as a compilation of the first two------plus-----plus-----plus----plus. If you just want one book, that's the book.
Try them----you'll like them!! They give you the WHOLE story---about any and everything. Pick and chose, or read it all.
Ralph Tremaine
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You mean you want me to like read, like in school? Wink.
DWalt
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No one has yet mentioned what the .38-44 cartridge is. It is simply a more heavily loaded version of the .38 S&W Special, having a MV about 40% greater than the standard .38 Special load, and with correspondingly greater recoil. That is why the heavier N-frame is best suited for heavy .38 Special loads. Its greater mass helps to control recoil. The .38-44 cartridge is in many ways the parent of the .357 Magnum cartridge. It is not unusual to find .38/44 revolvers having elongated chambers so that .357 Magnum ammunition could be used. S&W did not perform those conversions, but many private gunsmiths did.
rct269
Member
Well, now that DWalt has spilled the beans, nobody has to, like read, like in school.
Ralph Tremaine
Ralph Tremaine
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