The Very Special Specials, .38 and .44, both arrived in the first decade of the 20th century before WWI. The S&W revolver was originally designed to fire the .38 United States Service cartridge (.38 Long Colt). D. B. Wesson suggested the cartridge case be lengthened to allow the powder charge to be increased from 18 grains of black powder to 21.5 grains. The bullet weight was changed from 150 to 158 grains. This new cartridge was called the .38 S&W Special, and with the development of the new cartridge, the factory introduced the .38 Military and Police Model. No one could have foreseen this would be S&W’s most popular revolver, and now, 125 years later, it is still being produced. The same cartridge became the .38-44 Heavy Duty in the early 1930s and was then lengthened to become the .357 Magnum in 1935. A natural progression.
I first met Hamilton in the mid-1980s when he was just getting started. At a Shootist Holiday I experienced two of his first custom sixguns. They were not only a first for me, I would bet they were the first examples built by anyone.
If I had to pick the one bestest, most favoritist handgun ever, it would be that big bore sixgun I have had the longest, the one that has been with me seemingly forever.
Hodgdon’s Pyrodex powder goes back to the mid-1970’s when R.E. Hodgdon was informed by Warren Center of Thompson/Center of a fellow who had come up with a synthetic black powder. One of the primary reasons that was a good idea can be seen on the shelves in today’s large sporting goods stores.