In 1952 the Bright blue was an approximate 25% premium if special ordered. So your 1950 Military should have a large B following the serial # on the barrel which confirms the Bright blue option was specifically ordered on your gun.
The Model of 1950 .45 Target
- Thread starter DCWilson
- Start date
In 1952 the Bright blue was an approximate 25% premium if special ordered. So your 1950 Military should have a large B following the serial # on the barrel which confirms the Bright blue option was specifically ordered on your gun.
iskra
Member
Some beautiful and rare guns here & thanks for posting all! I have but one Pre Mod 26, SN 793xx, with the satin blue finish. I'm into the 44 Special Smiths and really not paying a lot of attention to the .45 offerings. But over a lot of years collecting, to affirm personally seening very few Model 26/'pre' Smiths. A pix of mine below. I'd say about 98-99%, w/o box. Also have a single Mod 25 with the "Model of 1950" nomenclature.
Nice handguns... Just not 44 Spl!
My take
Nice handguns... Just not 44 Spl!
My take
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Frank46
US Veteran
Regarding the shallow rifling in the 1950 Target. Maybe BS but have heard that some shooters cut and chopped the barrel of a thompson machine gun because the rifling was deeper. Just remember reading about it and have no source or documentation. Frank
CptCurl
Member
David,
I happened on a pre-26 back in August. Mine is # S78502, and Roy says it shipped in April 1951. You may have seen it go through the SWCA "Ship Date Request Forum" just before Labor Day.
So that's a new data point concerning these fine revolvers.
Mine is a standard M1950 Target: satin blue, standard hammer and trigger, magnas, 6-1/2" barrel. All numbers, including the magnas match. It has seen very little use. I have neither photographed it nor shot it, but I will. Sorry, no pic today.
It's been a couple of years since your statement quoted above. As you certainly know, the third edition of Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson brackets the serial number range S76212 - S211000.
I'm curious whether you or anyone else have encountered anything lower than my S78502 since your quoted post.
Curl
OP
Curl, I haven't been paying close attention, but I have not yet seen or heard of a Pre-26 with a number lower than yours. They undoubtedly exist, but I suspect there may not be many of them to find. I invite anyone with an S76xxx or S77xxx Pre-26 to mention its existence. Don't be shy about posting pics.
I was out shooting number S77409 yesterday. I will try and post pictures tomorrow. It is strange because the SN on the barrel matches the gun and is marked smith & wesson on the left side of the barrel but has no markings on the right side of the barrel. I guess it may have been polished off at some point but I wonder if any were shipped without markings on the right side of barrel? It is a 45acp.
David--
Mine is S 77421.
Tim
Mine is S 77421.
Tim
DWalt
Member
I shot Bullseye between the late 1960s and the late 1970s. I don't remember ever seeing anyone shoot the .45 stage with a revolver, and I went to lots of matches.
Johnny Mac--
Yes, mine is fully marked.
Tim
Yes, mine is fully marked.
Tim
StrawHat
Member
Dave,
I felt this thread should be revived for those who had not seen it. Lots of fun and interesting opinions here.
Of course having a Model 1950 helps me find this more interesting.
Kevin
A Timeless Thread - Model of 1950
A good ol thread, & you have a beauty!
A good ol thread, & you have a beauty!
Inland7-45
Member
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Scarce S&W models
When I became interested in handgun shooting in the late 60s I thought of the S&Ws and Colts the 50s and 60s as something to be bought for a purpose and did not think of future collectibility.
When I saw an S&W catalog that showed a K-32 or Model 46 I just imagined that these were in demand guns that sold in much higher numbers than they actually did. I thought the same of the model 26, HD and Outdoorsman, updated 1917s and .44 Specials the same way. It was not until I really began collecting and bought my first copy of SCSW about 15 years ago that I finally realized how scarce some of these guns are.
Congratulations on finding a good 1950 Target. I always have an eye out for decent older S&Ws. In 2006 I found a very nice first year production 38-44 HD with a 5" barrel. I paid under $400 from an LGS. Even at a total production number of around 20,000 pieces this is not a gun you see everyday so I feel fortunate to have found a good one at a reasonable price.
Only recently did it dawn on me how unusual the design of the Model of 1950 .45 target was in the context of what had preceded it. While Smith & Wesson had been making .45 caliber revolvers in significant numbers since the mid-'teens, with rare exceptions these were fixed-sight guns built for military service. The .455 Hand Ejector, built mostly for Commonwealth countries but sold in small numbers in the United States, along with the Model of 1917 that chambered .45 ACP and .45 Auto Rim, were the most-produced N-frame models before WWII. About 75,000 .455s were produced and nearly 200,000 1917s. All other N-frames produced commercially before WWII totaled barely 60,000 guns.
What is significant about the Model of 1950 is that it introduced to the regular catalog a .45 caliber model with adjustable sights. It was S&W's first production .45 revolver designed for serious precision shooters. It is probably no accident that the model was introduced on the new 1950 short-action design, which featured a reduced lock time that could only have been an attraction to the professional target shooters of the day.
Within five years, experience had shown that the Model of 1950 might benefit in competition from the presence of a heavier untapered barrel. S&W then introduced the Model of 1955, which was simply a 1950 with more steel wrapped around the rifling. Both guns continued in simultaneous production for a while, but the 1955 (which in 1957 became known as Model 25) showed greater commercial potential than the Model of 1950 (which after 1957 was called the Model 26 and continued in production only until 1961). In the decades since, the descendants of the Model 25 have become highly regarded specimens within the company's large-bore revolver line-up.
The Model of 1950 .45 Target can be considered a modified 1917, produced in a configuration that added one inch to the 1917 barrel length, topped it with a barrel rib, and installed adjustable sights on a frame that housed the new short-throw hammer design. The gun also has the standard N-frame ejector rod shroud in place of the exposed ejector rod on the 1917.
Fewer than 2800 Pre-26 and Model 26 revolvers were assembled in the course of the 11 years they were in production. Almost all are non-model-marked. Five screw specimens predominate; four screw or model marked specimens are hard to find.
This is S96906, a five-screw Pre-26 that shipped in July 1953. Condition is about 98% on a standard (not high polish) finish. Target hammer, narrow trigger. The box numbers to the gun. On the gun, all numbers match. I haven't shot it yet, but plan to. Maybe a lot.
The Model 1950 should not be considered a truly rare gun, but you won't see one too often. For comparison, the total number of Pre-26 and Model 26 revolvers is about 800 fewer than the number of K-32 Masterpieces, a common benchmark for scarcity among postwar models. If you come across a Pre-26 and can afford it, you should consider buying it.
When I became interested in handgun shooting in the late 60s I thought of the S&Ws and Colts the 50s and 60s as something to be bought for a purpose and did not think of future collectibility.
When I saw an S&W catalog that showed a K-32 or Model 46 I just imagined that these were in demand guns that sold in much higher numbers than they actually did. I thought the same of the model 26, HD and Outdoorsman, updated 1917s and .44 Specials the same way. It was not until I really began collecting and bought my first copy of SCSW about 15 years ago that I finally realized how scarce some of these guns are.
Congratulations on finding a good 1950 Target. I always have an eye out for decent older S&Ws. In 2006 I found a very nice first year production 38-44 HD with a 5" barrel. I paid under $400 from an LGS. Even at a total production number of around 20,000 pieces this is not a gun you see everyday so I feel fortunate to have found a good one at a reasonable price.
A nice 5-screw one sold on Gunbroker recently, for $1,499. s/n S123004.
Just a moment...
With some nice target grips, too...
Just a moment...
With some nice target grips, too...
I'm a huge fan of 45acp revolvers. The models of 1950 and 1955 are two terrific guns. Here is a photo (which I've posted previously) of the two showing the significant difference in their barrel profiles. The results are very different shooting characteristics. The pre-26 is my favorite shooter.
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StrawHat
Member
I like how that image captures the difference in the barrel profile.
I agree, the tapered barrel is the preferred type for me.
Kevin
StrawHat
Member
I looked again at this image and noted the frames are also finished differently alongside the rear sights. I looked at my Model 1950 and my Model 25-2s. The Model 1950 is polished in that area. The Model 25-2 has a pronounced matte finish along the rear sight, actually from the rear of the frame to the muzzle.
Kevin
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