Another S&W 44 Double Action

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

There is just something about the S&W 44 Double Actions that I love. Probably it is the crazy, funky, 19th Century shape of the trigger and trigger guard.

Anyway, last Saturday I was at a show and this one was in the first row of dealers I came to. Needless to say, it came home with me.

A Nickel plated Target Model, 44 Russian caliber, 6 1/2" barrel. SN 283XX. The dealer had lettered it and he gave me the letter. Roy says it left the factory on August 16, 1895. It shipped to M. W. Robinson of NYC, S&W's oldest distributor.







I must admit, I was so excited about finding a nice 44DA like this that at first I did not even notice it is a target model until the dealer pointed that out to me. He was very friendly, he was another S&W collector, and he recognized a kindred spirit. He told me he had bought it from a retired S&W employee. When I asked if he could do better on the price, which was quite reasonable to begin with, he took a bunch of money off it and the deal was sealed.

The grips are pristine. And yes, they bear the same SN as the gun.






There were some minor rust colored stains on it when I got it, but that all came off with a little bit of elbow grease, without damaging the finish. What you can't see in these photos is the bore and chambers are spectacular, they look brand new. The latch locks up tight as a drum, as good as the day it left the factory

There is some pitting, but there is no flaking at all of the nickel. I was a bit concerned that it might be refinished, but a couple of very knowledgeable guys on the S&W forum assure me it has not been refinished. There is absolutely no rounding over or blurring of any of the sharp features.



Here are a couple of photos of the target sights. When I bought it, the rear sight was adjusted pretty far to the right. I loosened the two screws and pushed the sight back to the center.






And here is the marking on the barrel rib.




The next day, Sunday, there was a local cowboy match. These guys are pretty lenient and they have let me shoot my other DA 44 at their matches. So of course I wanted to bring this new one along. I did not have a holster for it, so I found an old Hunter holster at the show that the gun fit into. I was low on 44 Russian ammo, so I loaded some up that night, Black Powder of course. I also took the side plate off the gun and pulled out the hammer so I could flush out all the old oil and lube it up inside with Ballistol. A pretty busy night.

Next day I brought the 'new' nickleled target gun and my other 44DA, the blued one with the dime front sight. It was a six stage match, so I put 30 rounds through each gun. What a ball! I had not even shot the new gun at paper yet, but I hit almost all the targets anyway. I will probably put it on paper at some time to see where it actually is shooting.


Just for the fun of it, here is a photo of my almost matched pair of 44 Double Actions.

[Four Eyes Henry]

That is a really nice looking gun...

I might just envy you a little...

[Long Knife Rich]

 Beautiful pistols you have there!   

[Abominable Bill]

Driftwood,
You have great guns!
Now.... I am available for adoption... and...
LOL 

[Colt Fanning]

Howdy,
When did the funky trigger guard appear on the S&W Mod. 3.
Regards
Colt

[Pancho Peacemaker]

Howdy,
When did the funky trigger guard appear on the S&W Mod. 3.
Regards
Colt

Its specific to the DA models.


Driftwood:  i share your delight for the DA No. 3 frame.  I can rarely find one that does not wind up in my collection some how.

[JohnsonBarr]

Hey Pancho, I picked up a 5" .44-40 DA Frontier shooter. Nicely refinished. I'll bring her to Evansville with a box of shells.
See you and the Biscut Wedesday evening.  -JB