Texas Star
US Veteran
Although famed jaguar hunter Sasha Siemel had a .357 and later, a .44 Magnum, his books show hm using other S&W .44's. He didn't mention the models or the exact .44 cartridges.
Do any members of the collectors' assn. or anyone else know what they were?
Given the time frame, I suspect that they were Triple Locks or Second Model Hand Ejectors. A photo of him shows a holster likely made for a gun with 6.5-inch barrel. The holster had a flap, so we can't see the gun's butt.
They could well have been .44 Specials. But Siemel owned a short-barrelled Winchester .44-40 M-92 carbine, and may have ordered the S&W's in that caliber, which may have been better distributed in Brazil. The Winchester has been very popular there, and Rossi still makes a copy of it.
Siemel mentioned keeping his guns in good condition, and deplored the way in which many Brazilians maintained their firearms. He repaired many, as a living.
Some may wonder about his non-Portuguese name. He and his brother emigrated to Brazil about the time that Russia seized their native country of Latvia, circa WW I. The Triple Lock was discontinued just a couple of years before, and he may have found one or two for sale. I'm not sure how soon the Second Model in .44 Special became commercially available, as the war was on.
Nor can I say if he ever encountered the Third Model, which was not catalogued for years after being introduced. But he seems to have had contact with Wesson himself, and might have been told about the Third Model. In those days, he could have ordered one, without violating either US or Brazilian laws. But I'm quite sure that he was carrying S&W .44's before the Third Model arrived in 1926, if memory serves. He COULD have had a top-break gun, but I think he'd prefer the newer Hand Ejector. He was mechanically inclined, and would know the advantages of the newer guns.
Although his chief claim to fame was spearing big jaguars, this giant of adventure certainly carried and used at least several S&W revolvers, and became a friend of Col. Doug Wesson, who presented him with two long-barrelled Magnums.
We know that some Argentine fellow ordered a pair of Triple Lock guns in the 1930's, and they were assembled from old parts on hand. So South Americans presumably had access to .44 Special ammo.
T-Star
Do any members of the collectors' assn. or anyone else know what they were?
Given the time frame, I suspect that they were Triple Locks or Second Model Hand Ejectors. A photo of him shows a holster likely made for a gun with 6.5-inch barrel. The holster had a flap, so we can't see the gun's butt.
They could well have been .44 Specials. But Siemel owned a short-barrelled Winchester .44-40 M-92 carbine, and may have ordered the S&W's in that caliber, which may have been better distributed in Brazil. The Winchester has been very popular there, and Rossi still makes a copy of it.
Siemel mentioned keeping his guns in good condition, and deplored the way in which many Brazilians maintained their firearms. He repaired many, as a living.
Some may wonder about his non-Portuguese name. He and his brother emigrated to Brazil about the time that Russia seized their native country of Latvia, circa WW I. The Triple Lock was discontinued just a couple of years before, and he may have found one or two for sale. I'm not sure how soon the Second Model in .44 Special became commercially available, as the war was on.
Nor can I say if he ever encountered the Third Model, which was not catalogued for years after being introduced. But he seems to have had contact with Wesson himself, and might have been told about the Third Model. In those days, he could have ordered one, without violating either US or Brazilian laws. But I'm quite sure that he was carrying S&W .44's before the Third Model arrived in 1926, if memory serves. He COULD have had a top-break gun, but I think he'd prefer the newer Hand Ejector. He was mechanically inclined, and would know the advantages of the newer guns.
Although his chief claim to fame was spearing big jaguars, this giant of adventure certainly carried and used at least several S&W revolvers, and became a friend of Col. Doug Wesson, who presented him with two long-barrelled Magnums.
We know that some Argentine fellow ordered a pair of Triple Lock guns in the 1930's, and they were assembled from old parts on hand. So South Americans presumably had access to .44 Special ammo.
T-Star
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