dabney
Member
My last day on duty (retirement) was July 29th this year. For the retirement get-together, there were many friends, former partners, and maybe one or two present glad to see the "last" revolver-carrier put to pasture. For that special day I dressed my .38/44 in some Jay Scott stag grips you see in the photos. I'm hoping to get some real stag grips as this big .38 was my on-duty carry along with a Model 10 and Colt Official Police. The holster present is an old black leather Bucheimer Holster that fit my 5-inch Heavy Duty perfect. For duty use, I always had black rubber Pachmayr Presentation Grips for duty carry and in recent times
Hogue Grips. This 1939-era .38/44 was first used in the Nogales Police Department in Nogales Arizona from 1939 up unto it was sold off as surplus in early 1986. This info courtesy of Mr. Jinks, the S&W Historian. Later in 86, the J&G Company in Prescott Arizona, advertised several .38/44's for sale in Shotgun News. That is where I spotted the ad and quickly reacted to it. I had always desired a .38/44, even one in "fair condition". After it arrived the tell-tale look of hard cop wear and tear was all about it. Carried much the 40+years it served with the PD in Nogales. The trigger-action was an absolute "work-of-art" in smoothness. The long double-action trigger-pull of pre-war S&W's are about as good as it gets in man-made stuff. Something better requires the services of our Almighty! You can see from the photos the big frame six-gun has seen much, maybe too much, from its years serving as my duty arm when I was in patrol. It was a big frame .38 that served in the west and east ends of the country. I can only imagine the Nogales history but I'm quite sure that it is a gun that some wished could talk! I can share this with my friends here and that when I carried my .38/44 I always felt an extra burst of confidence in its ability to get me home safely after my shift ended. Damn, that gun felt good on my side when I reported for duty!
My last day, after 44+years of serving, I polished that Lt badge and bars the last time, spit-shined my black leather boots last time, and my better half ironed and pressed my BDU pants and white uniform shirt last time and reported for duty last time. I choked up, out of eye-sight, a couple of times during the course of that day. I share things with you fellas that I never would on the job. Made a little short speech at the Friday afternoon gathering and you should have seen my .38/44 with those Jay Scott Stag Grips on. She really looked pretty for that last day! I'm sorry for my absence in recent times. This retirement stuff is really starting to agree with me. I have traveled some and still continue to shoot at the PD Range, where many battles, in recent years were fought and won by an old guy still carrying a revolver! Thank you my friends! I hope the pictures are found worthy of your time.
David
