Farmer Frank's Forty-Four

A little over three years ago, I blogged a little about wanting a 5-shot .44 Special revolver. Frank W. James responded to the second posting, as you can see (2nd link).

He did indeed have a Smith & Wesson 696 that he was willing to sell. It was an early "no dash" model that S&W had sent to him for evaluation; Frank liked the gun enough to buy it. In the last few years of Frank's ownership, he used it as a farm-truck gun.

So we e-mailed back and forth about the price. I did a little research and told Frank that his asking price was too low, that he could get much more if he sold it on Gunbroker. He said he didn't care about that, he had stated his ask and did I want the gun or not?

I did.

Over time, I stopped carrying it. The value of 696s isn't anywhere near Python ranges, but they're very pricey nowadays. So the gun has been in the safe, mainly, for the last two years. This weekend, I took it out and carried it in Frank's memory. I'll put some rounds through it soon.

Frank's favorite caliber was the .41 Magnum. He carried .41s for over 40 years. So that .44 must have impressed him a little.