S&W Revolver question

[280plus]

Just looked at a couple of 6" .44 mags. One blue the other stainless. Mint condition on both. He says he bought them about 20 years ago and neither has more than 300 rounds through them. (The triggers are both amazing to pull, just beautiful) As such they have no locks and have the firing pin on the hammer. Are these the type you don't want to rest the hammer down on a loaded chamber because they could go off if dropped? He also claims the stainless to be one of only 18 in the US. The remainder of the 2500 lot manufactured having been shipped overseas. I have no serial #s but I could get them. He's my wife's cousin and is well trusted by us so he's not just some stranger trying to BS a lot of extra $ out of me. What we're really trying to do is establish a fair price on the two. He's older, doesn't shoot them anymore and wants them to go to someone he knows who'll love them properly, such as myself. 

The hammer on a loaded cylinder question is my main concern here.

[Standing Wolf]

Are these the type you don't want to rest the hammer down on a loaded chamber because they could go off if dropped?

Nope. Not true at all. There's a rising and falling hammer block inside all Smith & Wesson revolvers made after, I believe, 1929 or thereabouts. If the trigger isn't pulled, the hammer can't ignite the primer. It doesn't matter whether the hammer has a pin or the pin is internal to the frame: the hammer block means it's safe to carry the gun with all chambers loaded.

It's always worth your while to measure the barrel from the front face of the cylinder to the end of the barrel: I can't tell you how many purportedly six-inch Smith & Wessons I've seen that are actually 6.5-inch guns, and vice versa. Personally, I'd prefer a five-inch blued model 29; unfortunately, those really are collectors' items.

Best of success, eh?

[K Frame]

"Are these the type you don't want to rest the hammer down on a loaded chamber because they could go off if dropped?"

No. They're perfectly safe.

"He also claims the stainless to be one of only 18 in the US. The remainder of the 2500 lot manufactured having been shipped overseas."

Possible, but very unlikely. 629s are the stainless models. .44s aren't a big export item, though, not like the .357s and .38s.

Serial numbers and pictures of the supposedly rare stainless one are necessary.

Also, open the crane on the stainless one and see if it's marked 29 or 629. If it's marked 29, it's likely nickle plated, not stainless.

[K Frame]

"There's a rising and falling hammer block inside all Smith & Wesson revolvers made after, I believe, 1929 or thereabouts."

1944/1945, and designed not by Smith & Wesson but Springfield Arsenal.

The old S&W hammer block could be rendered inoperative by dirt, dried grease, etc., leaving the gun possibly prone to drop firing.

[280plus]

Thanks gentlemens. I'll check them out more closely when I see them again.