Gun S&W .38/44 Heavy Duty Revolver Handgun .38 Spl

This revolver is believed to be a Smith & Wesson .38/44 Heavy Duty, though this identification cannot be stated with absolute certainty. The configuration and serial number 40950 place it well before the well-known Registered Magnum revolvers, which began at serial number 99501 in 1935, situating this firearm squarely in the pre-Magnum developmental period. Introduced in 1930, the .38/44 Heavy Duty was Smith & Wesson’s solution to law-enforcement demand for greater power and durability, achieved by chambering the .38 Special cartridge in the large N-frame originally designed for the .44 Special. These heavy-frame .38 revolvers were engineered to withstand the high-velocity .38/44 loadings of the era and directly influenced the design and standardization of the .357 Magnum in 1935, making t...