In 1908, Smith & Wesson made history by
offering its new "Hand
Ejector" revolver in an even-newer caliber: the 44
Special. To create the 44 Special, one of the greatest
cartridges ever invented, the 44 Russian case was simply
lengthened from 0.970" to 1.160" (the 44 Special case
would again be lengthened to 1.285" in 1955, and become the
44 Magnum). To handle the additional power of the 44 Special,
S&W beefed-up the frame, creating what would come to be
known as the N-frame.
This new sixgun was called the 44 Hand
Ejector First Model, or the "New Century". The
New Century was more than just a larger Military & Police,
however, by virtue of two innovations that cemented its status
as the finest double-action revolver ever created, before or
since. First, the ejector rod was fully enclosed by a shroud
under the barrel, which protected the ejector rod from blows
that could cause damage. Secondly, and most elegantly, the
cylinder locked-up in three places: in addition to the familiar
lock-up points at the back of the cylinder and the front of the
ejector rod, the New Century featured a beautifully machined
third lock at the rear of the barrel / front of the yoke. This
signature third cylinder locking mechanism resulted in the
nickname for which the 44 Hand Ejector First Model, or New
Century, is best known: the Triple Lock.
Taken as a whole (new cartridge, new frame
size, new protected ejector rod, and third cylinder locking
mechanism), the Triple Lock was far ahead of its time.
Unfortunately, the ammunition makers of the early twentieth
century were just beginning to find their footing with the
newfangled "smokeless" powders, and as a result, the
early loadings of the 44 Special did not significantly improve
upon the ballistics of its predecessor, the 44 Russian. In fact,
the new 44 Special did not even achieve the power then available
from the 45 Colt cartridge, which had been around since 1873. It
was not until a young cowboy turned gun writer named Elmer Keith
began experimenting with the cartridge in the 1920s that the 44
Special started to come into its own as one of the finest sixgun
cartridges ever designed.
Alas, all this was too late for the Triple
Lock. Smith & Wesson determined that the Triple Lock, at a
selling price of $21, was just too expensive to be a consistent
seller. The Triple Lock never really had a chance to catch on;
it was discontinued in 1915, after fewer than 16,000 were
produced. The New Century was replaced by the 44 hand Ejector
Second Model, which did not include the enclosed ejector and
third lock of the beautiful New Century. The selling price of
the Second Model was $19; the savings resulting from the design
changes were not insignificant during an era in which an extra
dollar could put some real food on the table, but the thought of
doing away with those wonderful design features in order to save
a mere $2 is hard to imagine now.
But enough of history. I'll tell you what I
know first-hand: my experience with Triple Locks was entirely
through the works of such great writers as Skeeter Skelton
and John Taffin, who could go places I couldn't go, do things I
couldn't do, and take me with them through their ability to
weave mere words into a tapestry of shared experiences. I'd
never handled a Triple Lock, and I never imagined that I would.
The only Triple Locks I had ever seen in the ferrous flesh had
been under glass or on tables at places like the Tulsa
Arms Show, right next to signs reading DO NOT TOUCH!
Triple Locks are so rare, and change hands so infrequently and
at such astronomical prices, that the chances of a country boy
such as myself ever being able to call one his own...well, it
just never occurred to me to even hope to own one someday.
Fast forward to March 2010.
The Confederate Sixgunners Association (CSA)
is a loose group of friends and Internet acquaintances who get
together a couple of times a year to shoot, visit, play music,
and eat (not necessarily in that order). My brother Jeff and I
have been to several CSA gatherings, and it was through CSA that
I first made friends with several Shootists,
in time being asked to join the brotherhood of Shootists myself.
I have made many wonderful friends through my association with
these guys, and over the years Jeff and I find ourselves doing
far less shooting than visiting at the CSA gatherings.
The CSA Spring 2010 shoot was hosted by my good friend and
brother Shootist, Tom Richardson. Tom always puts on a great
event, the local hoteliers and restaurateurs are friendly, the
local gun and pawn shops are well stocked and reasonably priced,
and the local Church ladies always lay in a fine feed for us. We
spend several days shooting stuff and blowing stuff up, but the
times I enjoy the most are those times when I'm relaxing with
friends, chewing the fat with not too many folks shooting and
making racket.
During one of those relaxed moments, I was
visiting with my friend Marc Murphy. Murphy, as we call him, is a great guy with a heart as big as all
outdoors, and he plays guitar and sings with a gusto I can only
dream of matching. Best of all, he always has some fine shootin'
irons with him. On this rainy day at the outdoor range, I was
drawn to a cool-looking old N-frame Smith that he had on his
table. I picked it up, turned it over, and immediately forgot
what we were talking about when I saw that third lock. It had a
shortened barrel and it was refinished, but I was sure it was a
real Triple Lock!
I played it cool and chatted with Murphy
about anything and everything else, while I continued to fondle
that big Smith. I kept it in my hands for over an hour, mostly
to keep it away from others who would surely ruin my plans if I
gave them a chance. Finally, I took a deep breath and asked
Murphy if the sixgun was for sale; he didn't seem eager to get
rid of it, but told me he'd be willing to sell it. When I asked
the next logical question, he gave me a couple of boxes of ammo
and told me to go shoot it and see if I liked it first. While I
had it, I walked over to where Jeff was visiting with some other
Shootists, and showed it to them. They all said I'd better buy
it if I could, so I went back over to Murphy and told him I was
interested. He shot me a price that was more than fair (in fact,
it was a steal), but he assured me that he was making a little
on it, as he'd bought it from a dealer who didn't know what it
was. Plus, the sixgun had been refinished, the barrel had been
shortened, and the front sight had been filed way too low, so it
was far from "collector grade"...but still, it was a TRIPLE
LOCK. I had my cash out before Murphy's big, booming voice
stopped reverberating with his price, and at long last I owned
the Holy Grail of DA sixguns. As I showed my prize around,
several CSAers told me if they'd had any idea the Triple Lock
was for sale, I'd have never gotten a chance. It was meant to
be, and Murphy was glad that I would appreciate the sixgun more
than he did.
Once I got the Triple Lock home, I did some
digging. Made in 1909, my Triple Lock was originally a
nickel-plated sixgun with a 6-1/2" barrel. Sometime in the
dear, dim past, the barrel had been shortened to 3-1/2" and
the entire gun had been refinished a beautiful high-polish blue.
For the most part, the polishing was not too extensive; barrel
markings are still crisp and sharp, but the S&W logo on the
sideplate is now only faintly visible. Sure, the shortened
barrel and refinishing had harmed the value of the sixgun
greatly, but to me the modifications only did two things: they
greatly improved the appearance and handiness of the gun
overall, and they made the gun affordable enough for me to be
able to buy it. No problem here, I'm not looking to re-sell
anyway!
The original grips were long gone, and had
been replaced by Murphy with an old set of fake stags he had
robbed off of another old N-frame; the fake stags had a neat
"retro" look about them that appealed to my fiancée,
but I had a plan. More on that later.
Mechanically, the gun still locked-up tightly
and functioned well, with no readily-discernable problems of any
kind observed at CSA or after I got it home. The original front
sight had been reattached to the barrel, and the sight had been
filed down to the point where it would not "dial-in"
with any proper 44 Special load. The checkering on the hammer
had been worn to the point where the sixgun could not be
consistently cocked without the hammer slipping out from under
the thumb, which is of course unacceptable from a safety
standpoint. I needed to have the front sight welded-up, and the
hammer checkering chased to safely allow manual cocking; I also
thought it a good idea to have the 101-year-old revolver gone
over completely by a qualified professional. So, very
shortly after I got the Triple Lock home, I sent it off to Alan
Harton for a good going-over, figuring to have it back in
all its glory for the Shootist Holiday in June.
Alan did all that I asked, and did it quickly
enough so that I would have gotten the sixgun back in time to
take it to the Shootist Holiday...IF UPS had not
forgotten where I lived for a couple of days. Instead, the
sixgun showed up at my house the day after I arrived in Raton,
NM. Oh, well, I will have it with me at the 2011 Shootist
Holiday. Anyway, Alan beautifully welded-up the front sight so
that is perfectly regulated for the load that John Taffin
recommended to me of 6.0 grains of Unique under a 240-grain LSWC
bullet; as Taffin explained, S&W did not heat-treat the
cylinders in those days sufficiently to allow a steady diet of
Skeeter Skelton's classic 7.5-grain loading. Alan also chased
the checkering on the hammer very subtly; the difference cannot
really be seen, but it can definitely be FELT, and the hammer
can now be cocked and decocked without fear of the hammer
slipping from under the thumb. Alan told me that the
case-hardening on the S&W's hammer was so hard that his
diamond checkering files would barely scratch it. Finally, Alan
went over the internals and gave the Triple Lock a clean bill of
health. He told me it was the only Triple Lock he'd ever worked
on, and it was a pleasure to go over such a well-made sixgun.
After I got back from the Shootist Holiday, I
took a couple of weeks to bond with my Triple Lock, and then I
decided it was time to do something about the grips. The plastic
fake stags that were on the gun were cool-looking in their own
way and felt pretty good, but I had something a bit more special
in mind. Tedd Adamovich of Blu Magnum makes some of the finest
sixgun grips available anywhere; Tedd is an artist in wood, one
of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet, a member of the
Shootists' Board of Directors, and my friend. I've always considered his DA
grips the absolute finest, so I sent my prized Triple Lock off
to Tedd for a set of his Skeeter Skelton Style grips in his
finest Presentation-grade walnut. Tedd's Skeeter-style grips are
modeled after Skeeter's original design, featuring an open
backstrap, enclosed front strap and bottom strap, plain front,
slim sides, and a slight palm swell and flare with rounded edges
at the bottom strap. When I received the sixgun back from Tedd,
I was certainly not disappointed! The grips are beautiful, and
they fit and feel as fine as they look. A very special sixgun
deserves a very special set of grips, and the Blu Magnums are
perfect. I later sent the fake stags back to Murphy so he could
put them back on the gun from which he'd originally removed
them; this takes the grips full circle, and gives Murphy
something by which to remember me and his old Triple Lock.
Finally, I decided I needed a nice custom
holster. Like most sixgunners, I had several N-frame holsters
laying around, but again I needed something special for such a
special sixgun. I had recently seen some holsters made by Bill
Swehla of Alaska Leather Works, and had been in contact with him
via the Ruger Forum for
some time. I was impressed enough by his work to see if he'd be
willing to make up a holster for my Triple Lock. He was happy to
oblige, and sent me a custom holster of a new design; called the
"Lawman", the holster has a bit of a forward rake and
a semi-exposed trigger guard. It was inspired by the
"Patton Holster" with a more Western look, and can be
made with either a hammer loop or a safety strap, and in a
drop-loop style as well. Bill also included a nice matching
cartridge slide that snaps on and off the belt; very nicely
done. NOTE: ALASKA LEATHER WORKS IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING
ORDERS, AND HAS OFFICIALLY GONE OUT OF BUSINESS.
The odyssey of a sixgun that began in 1909 in
Massachusetts, and continued through a little country range in
2010, has started a new chapter, for the time being, in
Tennessee. As with only a rarified few material things that
transcend mere objects, this Triple Lock has come to rest with
me for a time. I am not really its owner, only a steward of this
sixgun for the rest of my time on Earth; it is my hope that when
I am no longer its possessor, it will come to rest with another
who appreciates its beauty and its mechanical wonder, and just
maybe it will have a few more stories to tell.
For any type of gunsmithing work, from simple
action tuning to full-house custom builds, I highly recommend Alan
Harton. His work is impeccable, his prices are reasonable, and
his turn-around schedule will be as quoted. You can email him at
aharton@mac.com, or call
him at (713) 907-6031.
Tedd Adamovich makes some of the finest grips
available anywhere, for both double-action and single-action
revolvers. For more info,
please click here.
Boge Quinn
NOTE: All load data posted on this
web site are for educational purposes only. Neither the author nor
GunBlast.com assume any responsibility for the use or misuse of this data.
The data indicated were arrived at using specialized equipment under
conditions not necessarily comparable to those encountered by the
potential user of this data. Always use data from respected loading
manuals and begin working up loads at least 10% below the loads indicated
in the source manual.
