S&W #3 Target 38/44

oldiron

oldiron

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My 38/44 Target arrived as an antique, thanks to those who said "just order it and see what happens". The gun is in great shape, not a mark in the cyl. or bore. (for a black powder load.)
The cartridge is a bit different than I'm used to. The case is full length of the cylinder, and the lead seated in flush with case mouth. Anyone got any info on this?? I hear the brass from 351 Win. auto works.
The 38/44 name comes from a .38 built on the .44 frame, allowing the heavy load. I only want to use original spec loads in the thing.




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Very nice Bill. I love those S & W in an SA but they don't seem right in a DA.
I never got a chance to drop those 41 LC rounds off for you and now I'm done on that project at Rimbey.
If you still want them I'm coming through on the 21 tomorrow. Anywhere I could leave them for you?
 
oldiron said:
My 38/44 Target arrived as an antique, thanks to those who said "just order it and see what happens". The gun is in great shape, not a mark in the cyl. or bore. (for a black powder load.)
The cartridge is a bit different than I'm used to. The case is full length of the cylinder, and the lead seated in flush with case mouth. Anyone got any info on this?? I hear the brass from 351 Win. auto works.
The 38/44 name comes from a .38 built on the .44 frame, allowing the heavy load. I only want to use original spec loads in the thing.




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STOP! You are in danger!

Your black powder ".38/44" is not the same as the hot loaded smokeless .38 Special(.38/44) of the 1930s.

If you attempt to load 38 special type loads in your gun you will damage it and possibly injure yourself.
 
Lee Enfield said:
STOP! You are in danger!

Your black powder ".38/44" is not the same as the hot loaded smokeless .38 Special(.38/44) of the 1930s.

If you attempt to load 38 special type loads in your gun you will damage it and possibly injure yourself.
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Yup, but how do you load the old BP hot load of the 1890's?
 
oldiron said:
Yup, but how do you load the old BP hot load of the 1890's?
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MY understanding of the blackpowder 38/44 (and 32/44) cartridge used in the S&W SA 3 SA revolvers was that they were primarily designed as light cartridges designed for target shooting, and not "hot loads".

I think maybe you are confusing the old blackpowder cartridge with the 38-44 which were hot loaded 38 special cartridges used in hand ejector DA S&W revolvers in the 1930s. This is a completely different cartridge and was the forerunner of the 357 mag.
 
jethunter said:
MY understanding of the blackpowder 38/44 (and 32/44) cartridge used in the S&W SA 3 SA revolvers was that they were primarily designed as light cartridges designed for target shooting, and not "hot loads".

I think maybe you are confusing the old blackpowder cartridge with the 38-44 which were hot loaded 38 special cartridges used in hand ejector DA S&W revolvers in the 1930s. This is a completely different cartridge and was the forerunner of the 357 mag.
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Hi Jet. I do understand the old vs. the new 38/44 cartridges, I'm hoping to find the best brass to load black into, and be close to orig. specs. The case length should be about 1.4in., 351 win. is 1.38 in., 357 mag at 1.29 in. The brass goes full length of the cylinder, 1.425 in.
The case would hold a fair charge at that length. The bullet sits flush inside the case.
There isn't that many of these guns around, so info is a bit scarce too.
Thanks, Bill.
 
Bill, I read an article about this cartridge some time ago somewhere on the interwebz. I just tried to find it again and didn't locate it. The author of that article had loaded 38 brass (38 spl IIRC) with light soft lead bullets in the conventional manner - that is with the bullet protruding out the front of the brass case and had some sort of success, but had better luck with light wadcutter bullets loaded flush in .357 mag brass. Sorry but that's all i can recall and even that is subject to error at this late stage of the game.
 
Bill, I have 100 new 357 maximum case in Red Deer. You can have 50 of them if you let me shoot your latest aquisition some time. I promise not to stael your spectacles again. LOL Trav............rigrat
 
So we got this thing to fire. Using the .357 Maximum brass, shortened about 1/8 of an inch. The lead bullets on hand were heavy, about 160 gr. We sized them down to .354 cal. to suit the bore. Using the long bullets, the case only holds 14 gr. black powder. Add a drop of crazy glue, and top up with wax. Next trial will be a shorter lighter bullet, allowing more powder.
And it shot quite good. Thanks to my machinest/reloading freind.
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