Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum Revolver ~ History

By AmmoLand Editor Duncan Johnson

By David Tong,
In this article, David Tong reviews the famed Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum.

USA – -(Ammoland.com)- The Smith & Wesson Registered Magnum Revolver is possibly most revered revolver in Smith and Wesson’s long history, perhaps competing only with the Smith & Wesson Triple Lock .44 also featured here on these pages.

Douglas B. Wesson, on top of being one of the descendants of original founder Daniel Wesson, was also a handgun hunter. He, along with famous gunwriter and cartridge developer Elmer B. Keith, desired a much more powerful “.38 Special” cartridge that would allow much greater penetration and flatter shooting.

The sales experiment that directly preceded the Registered Magnum was the “.38-44” revolver, available in both fixed and adjustable sight trim. These were chambered in .38 Special but used a high-speed version that launched a 160gr. bullet at approximately 1,100fps out of an 8.5” barrel.

In order to achieve the goal of a similar weight bullet leaving at 1,400fps, Winchester designers came up with a lengthened .38 case …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand