I am like a kid in a candy shop. I just picked up a S&W 44 HE 4th change in 44 special. As far as I can tell the gun has been carried a lot (the wear in the vintage Lawrence Holster fits the gun perfectly) and shot very little.
Birth date is around 1950 give or take a bit.
I just did a deep cleaning and it actually came out rather nice.
The gun is not pristine....not even close. I'd give it a 90% bluing with the cylinder thinning. Not even the original grips are on it. The barrel has holster wear and the bluing in the high places is worn. It has been carried a ton but no way abused. The screws are perfect.
IT IS A SHOOTER.....and shoot it I will. H&G #503 w/ 5.5 gr WW231. I may bump them up a bit and see how zippy I can make 44 specials. But once I get that experiment out of the way, I will go back to my 5.5 gr loads.
I am tickled to say the least.
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