Why do people do some of the really weird things they do? I guess if I could answer that I would become world-famous. I wanted to cry as I looked at the sixgun before me. It was, or rather had been, a 6-1/2" pre-Model 23 Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman .38/44, one of the finest sixguns ever to leave the factory. It still had 99+percent bluing, a beautiful and very smooth long double action Smith & Wesson was known for until the shorter action arrived around 1950. Only one change had been made to this beautiful sixgun — someone had cut away the front of the triggerguard.

The .38/44 Heavy Duty was designed to give law enforcement more power. The companion sixgun seen as a true outdoorsman’s sixgun in 1930 was the adjustable sighted .38/44 Outdoorsman. These two large-framed sixguns built on the S&W .44 frame now known as the N-frame would become the basis for the .357 Magnum five years later.

Now here was a beautiful example before me which had basically been destroyed. I have no problem with cutaway triggerguards, which were advanced by John Henry Fitzgerald of Colt back in the 1920s as a desirable modification to a double-action pocket revolver. Fitz was known to have carried a pair of Colt New Service .45s with shortened barrels and butts along with the cutaway triggerguard in the front pants pockets of his trousers. Colonel Charles Askins made up an example for use during World War II starting with a Colt New Service .44-40, and I recently had Andy Horvath making up a true-to-the-original concept Fitz Special in .44 Special. But doing this to a .38/44 Outdoorsman with a 6-1/2" barrel makes absolutely no sense to me.

Today most will caution against cutting away the front of the triggerguard for obvious safety reasons. Border Patrol Inspector Bill Jordan was basically responsible for Smith & Wesson adding a bull barrel and enclosed ejector rod to their standard .38 Special Military & Police and chambering it in .357 Magnum as the Combat Magnum, now Model 19, in 1955. Jordan had enormous hands and long fingers, but instead of cutting away the triggerguard, he simply slimmed it to about half the normal width with metal being removed from the right side. This allowed him to get to the trigger a split-second faster without sacrificing safety and is a worthy modification for those with long fingers.

Custom Or Butcher Job?

I’ve certainly modified many sixguns over the past half-century plus, however there is a big difference between a sensible modification and plain gun butchery. Two I would love to have the opportunity to re-think we’re done to a pair of .44 Special Smith & Wessons. It’s not that the modifications were ill advised, but rather since that time back in the late 1960s the original models have become very pricey collector’s items. What did I do that gives me regrets now? Starting with a Bright Blue S&W Model 1950 Target .44 Special with a 6-1/2" barrel, I had my gunsmith cut it to the handier 4" length. It is still a beautiful sixgun, however, in original condition today it would be worth about $2,500. As it is, it is probably worth half that but I can take solace in the fact it has given me at least $2,500 worth of pleasure for an original price of $80.

The second S&W .44 Special cost me $65. It is the now very rare 5" pre-Model 21 1950 Military with fixed sights. Approximately 1,200 were manufactured from 1950 to the early 1960s. I had long been enamored with Elmer Keith’s original 1950 Target with a 5" barrel so decided to use this military version as a basis for mine. I acquired a 1950 Target barrel and had gunsmith George Hoenig cut it to 5" and install it on the Military Model. This installation required his welding up of the top of the frame to match the rib of the Target Model barrel. George did a superb job, re-blued the entire gun and I had my 5" “Target Model .44 Special.” In retrospect, I wish I had just left it alone, as the original is a very desirable collector’s item today.

Every regular reader to this magazine or our companion American Handgunner knows of my passion for converting Flattop and Old Model 3-Screw .357 Magnum Blackhawks to such chamberings as .41 Special, .44 Special, .44-40, and .45 Colt. I do believe these are very worthy modifications. More than 290,000 3-Screw .357 Magnum Blackhawks were produced from 1955 to 1972 so it is not likely modifications others and I do will put a dent in the total population. What we have managed to accomplish is to raise the prices on these old Blackhawks considerably.

Real Butchery

That brings us down a couple of examples of real gun butchery. 100-years ago Smith & Wesson brought forth their first large-framed modern double action revolver, the .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model which is also known as the New Century, .44 Military, Model of 1908, but usually just lovingly referred to as the Triple-Lock. Many will tell you this is the best sixgun to ever come from a factory. It gets its Triple-Lock name from the fact the cylinder locks at the rear, the front of the ejector rod and also with a beautifully machined affair at the front of the cylinder.

In 1915 this superbly crafted revolver was dropped never to be seen again. Total production stands at 15,375 with 13,753 being chambered in .44 Special. They were replaced by the 2nd Model with neither the third locking feature nor the enclosed ejector rod for a total savings of $2 per gun. For a measly two bucks we lost the Triple-Lock.

I have a beautiful first-year production standard model 6-1/2" .44 Special Triple-Lock which came to me from Hal Swiggett. It is all original and I wouldn’t think of doing any kind of a modification, plus I only shoot standard .44 Special loads in this century-old sixgun. In addition to the standard model, a very few adjustable-sighted Target Models were produced, which brings me to my tale of woe.

Currently an excellent condition Triple-Lock sells for around $2,500-$3,500 with the Target Model bringing about triple that amount. Earlier this year I picked up a Target Model and a second standard model for less than $400 each. No, I didn’t stumble into the bargain of the century, but rather came up with two perfect examples of gun butchery.

Both gun started life as 6-1/2" versions. The standard model is a prime example of how to mess up a perfectly good sixgun. Someone(s) over the past 100 years cut the barrel to 4", cobbled up a new front sight, installed a Wonder Sight using the top sideplate screw hole, which of course means the original screw is missing, and then they buffed the snot out of it losing much of the lettering before they nickel plated the whole thing. But this is not the worst thing done. Someone also hogged out the rear sight channel for the entire length of the top of the frame and it looks like they did it with a dull wood chisel. Whoever did this probably thought they were really doing something. Yes, they really did something — they ruined a perfectly good sixgun. Hopefully my gunsmith can bring it back at least to a presentable using gun by installing a S&W adjustable sight assembly matched up with a suitable front sight.
The altered Target Model is a good example of how to turn a $10,000 sixgun into a $400 mess. This one was also cut to 4" and buffed like crazy before being nickel plated. The crazy thing about this one is even with its tiny “U” notch adjustable rear sight matched it up with the rounded front sight, it shoots nice little groups right to point of aim.

There are plenty of sixguns available for suitable modifications and I guess every one of us has the right to do whatever we want to “improve” our everyday using guns. However, please, please Don’t Touch The Triple-Lock!