The Heavy-Duty Revolver was introduced on April 1, 1930 and was designed on the .44 Hand Ejector Third Model frame. The revolver was initially manufactured with a 5” barrel length and had a weight of 40 ounces and was chambered in .38/44. As time and manufacturing progressed, Smith and Wesson produced the revolver in 4” and 6” lengths. The Heavy Duty was manufactured continuously throughout the 1930’s on the N-frame. The total production of the Pre-World War II .38/44 Heavy Duty was 11,111 revolvers and production of the revolver ceased in order to focus upon the war effort from 1940-1946. At the end of World War II, on June 18th, 1946, this model was reintroduced to the public. In 1948, the factory incorporated the new style short action and the gun remained unchanged from that date until it was discontinued in 1966. During its lifetime, the revolver was eventually designated the Model 20 in 1957, when Smith and Wesson began assigning numeric model designations to their firearms. Even though the .38/44 chamber was designed to fire the .38 Special Super police loads, this revolver prompted the idea of producing the popular .357 Magnum, which was designed in 1934 and introduced as its own production model in 1935. The first .357 Magnum was received by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover on April 8th, 1935. This revolver eventually became the Model 27 in 1957. This newly imagined II-frame revolver in 2023 is unique in that it embodies the features of the original Heavy Duty/ Model 20 features, while being chambered in the .357 Magnum. The team at Smith and Wesson have resurrected the 20th century legacy of the N-frame revolver in the classic blued configuration of the Heavy Duty in tandem with the .357 Magnum for the modern revolver owner. These are very hard to find so grab yours here today before it is gone!
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