The .44 Special Sixgun Era
Over the next three decades Colt sixshooters evolved through several stages: the Dragoons, the 1851 Navy, the 1860 Army, the Cartridge Conversions, the 1871-72 Open-Top and the 1873 Colt SA Army. Meanwhile, over at S&W, we had the .44 American in 1869 followed by the Model #3 Russian and the New Model #3. In 1907, the first .44 Special arrived with the S&W New Century, or Triple-Lock — the first of what we now call N-Frames. This First Model Hand Ejector was followed by three more Hand Ejectors: the Second Model, Model 1926 and the 1950 Model Target.
Meanwhile Colt chambered both their SA Army and the double action New Service in .44 Special. We reached the epitome of Colt SA .44 Specials with the New Frontier in the early 1960s.
These were true sixguns and in the early 1960s, .44 Special shooters had a choice of the S&W 1950 Military or 1950 Target or the Colt SA Army and New Frontier. Then disaster struck! Both Colt and S&W dropped the .44 Special from production.