The S&W 38-44 Outdoorsman Transitional Target Revolver
- Thread starter Hammer It
- Start date
Nice, those are among the best looking of N-frames! I had to pass on one a couple years back. It had obviously been refinished by a ham-handed cretin but the price did not reflect that. I had a really nice early `50's vintage 6½" Heavy Duty a few years ago that had the unbelievable sticker price of $289 when I traded a Redhawk for it. Had my heart set on a 4" so I traded it for a brand new, Mundenized 629 Mountain Gun out of the last series of hammer-mounted firing pins. The new owner sent that 6½" to Bowen to become a .45Colt. Now all I've got in a .38-44 is a beater-grade 4" HD that has a pitted chrome finish and enough slop to measure with a ruler.
Hello 20 Nickels
To answer your Question quit simply, Fire the .357 magnum round. A Model of 1950 Outdoorsman is a .38 Special revolver that is capible of handeling a Load as close to a .357 Magnum as one would want to load. They were designed to take The Hottest .38 Special loads one could Muster, and you do not have to be careful loading for this as it is Rugged and durable. They discontinued them in 1965 as many Opted to buy the .357 Magnum in a Model 27 or 28.
Regards, Hammer ItPeter M. Eick
New member
Interesting. Does the serial number start with an "S"?
I have not seen any transitions with a flared target hammer like that. Most I have seen have more of a traditional pre-war long action hammer.
Sort of like these:
The pre-war 38/44 HD's by the way.
If you look at my paltry few 38/44 OD's, you can see the difference between the pre-war (bottom) and model of 1950's (post transitional) on the top:
Your hammer looks more like my top ones which are short action then the bottom one which is long action.
I have not seen any transitions with a flared target hammer like that. Most I have seen have more of a traditional pre-war long action hammer.
Sort of like these:
The pre-war 38/44 HD's by the way.
If you look at my paltry few 38/44 OD's, you can see the difference between the pre-war (bottom) and model of 1950's (post transitional) on the top:
Your hammer looks more like my top ones which are short action then the bottom one which is long action.
Hello Peter
I was told that the Transitional Model is The Model of 1950. It has the short action, Micro sights, Improver wider new designed Hammer and Target trigger was also available. The magna grips are also Transitional and the 38-44 was The very first revolver to recieve these magnas when the factory released them. I think Transition means the revolver model between the Pre-War series and the model number series which came after 1957 when they made them a model number 23. We have to kep in mind that S&W did not come back on board with this model until 1950 from Ceasing Production on it just before the War. After 1957 they were refered to as the Model 23's from what I have read in Roy Jinks Book, and been told by others.. Regards, Hammer It
I was told that the Transitional Model is The Model of 1950. It has the short action, Micro sights, Improver wider new designed Hammer and Target trigger was also available. The magna grips are also Transitional and the 38-44 was The very first revolver to recieve these magnas when the factory released them. I think Transition means the revolver model between the Pre-War series and the model number series which came after 1957 when they made them a model number 23. We have to kep in mind that S&W did not come back on board with this model until 1950 from Ceasing Production on it just before the War. After 1957 they were refered to as the Model 23's from what I have read in Roy Jinks Book, and been told by others..
Regards, Hammer ItPeter M. Eick
New member
As a 38/44 collector (I showed just a few of my collection here) I would have normally considered the "transition" guns to be from the end of WW-II to the short action guns of the 1950 series. Thus they were the "transition" from using up the older long action parts to the new safer (hence the S in the serial number) revolvers of the 1950 series.
My current ref is page 156 of the standard catalog Rev 3, 3rd paragraph. The serial number ranges from s62940 to s75000 and page 155 where they talk about the 38/44 HD transitionals.
In my mind the identifying marks of a transition gun are the long action, lack of a locking ball/plunger and S serial number below 75,000.
I admit it though that I only have one transitional which has all of these features. I have tried to collect more pre-war guns then post war's.
How does yours fit this description?
My current ref is page 156 of the standard catalog Rev 3, 3rd paragraph. The serial number ranges from s62940 to s75000 and page 155 where they talk about the 38/44 HD transitionals.
In my mind the identifying marks of a transition gun are the long action, lack of a locking ball/plunger and S serial number below 75,000.
I admit it though that I only have one transitional which has all of these features. I have tried to collect more pre-war guns then post war's.
How does yours fit this description?
Hello Pete
My revolver has The slightly larger extractor knob. It is not The Pre-War or The later style. The cylinder release on mine is The smaller Peanut style, and The sights are evident to be the Post-War Micro click style. My Information came from Roy Jinks Book written in 1976 Called The History of S&W. In Jink's book mentioned above, He states they made The first Ourdoorsmans from 1931-1941 then ceased for The World War II Effort and the Very Last Pre-War Outdoorsman serial number was # 62483. They started Production again on the 38-44 Outdoorsmans in August 10 1946 These Outdoorsmans were Identical to the Pre-War models except they had The new style hammer blocks and this change added The "S" Serial prefix to the Serial numbers. They Produced 2326 of these revolvers all of which had The Pre-War Characteristics. By 1949 they had used all the Pre-War Parts up and then began production of the new parts. As soon as all the new Parts were complete they released The Model of 1950 which I have shown. It had The new ribbed Barrel, Micro click sights,and short throw Hammer. This is The model called The trasition model as it contained all The newer designed parts and was Prior to it being called The model 23 which came Five years later in 1957. The factory records show that they built 8,365 38-44's of which 6,039 were of The transition model shown. I have all Three Volumes of The Standard Catalog of S&W's and although they are helpful I have found several Gray areas or Mistakes in all three. All I can tell you is what was told to me about this being a transitional gun and if you check the Blue book value Guide it too will show this range of revolver to be in the trasition Period which is 1950 as well. I hope this answers your questions as I have been told The model of 1950 is the hardest model to locate due to a Much Lower production. Regards, Hammer It
The picture of that four incher is really working on me! Anybody wanna see an abomination???
Here's one I bought a couple years ago for $200. Poorly refinished in flaking, rusting away chrome. I showed it to a S&W factory gunsmith and talked to Bowen about it, unfortunately it will cost more than it would ever be worth to resurrect it.
Here's one I bought a couple years ago for $200. Poorly refinished in flaking, rusting away chrome. I showed it to a S&W factory gunsmith and talked to Bowen about it, unfortunately it will cost more than it would ever be worth to resurrect it.
Hello Craig
If I were you, I would ship that Bad boy to Ford's in Florida and let them refinish it right. It would be worth the cost of a couple of Hundred bucks to have that done in Master blue or Nickel finish.Regards, Hammer It
http://www.fordsguns.com/
If I were you, I would ship that Bad boy to Ford's in Florida and let them refinish it right. It would be worth the cost of a couple of Hundred bucks to have that done in Master blue or Nickel finish.
Regards, Hammer Ithttp://www.fordsguns.com/
I found my Outdoorsman (mfd 08/1953) three years ago. It needed some work and it was sold to me for $50.00. I invested approximately $250.00 into it and it now shoots like a champ. The yoke had to be replaced and the timing was off, but the foundation was still good. It's a parts gun now and will never be a collectible, but I finally got an Outdoorsman (and I had looked) that I'm not afraid to shoot. It's enough.
Incidentally Hammer It you did very well. Congrats.
Incidentally Hammer It you did very well. Congrats.
I was always told the transitional models were the ones with parts of the older long action and the newer short action. Thus the gun transitioned from one design to another. By the time they were named the Model of 1950 they had fully changed over to the short action. The barrel rib and sights were just options that could be added to either model.
Hello
That isn't True. The ribbed Barrel never was placed until 1950 according to Jinks Book. The short action, was also a new design for The Model of 1950 as any prior to this had the Long Pre-War style actions, and they simply used up the Older Pre-War Parts on Post war revolvers until they ran out, then it was completely redesigned in Laste 1949 and called The Model of 1950 when they introduced The new modern model of 1950. I fail to see how Parts can be interchanged from The Older Long action with the Newer short action as they are totaly different Hammers and The rebound slides are not the same as The Pre-War ones did not have a hammer block in them either.
The Transition was to have the new More Modern Parts used in the Model of 1950 acording to Roy Jinks Book entitled The History of S&W copy righted second edition 1976. Hammer It