hawes western marshall

[Illhunter]

i saw one of these today it was part of an estate that had come in it is a 44 mag i thought it looked good but will it be a useable, functional, and accurate gun i was thinking of trying to make a trade and get it as a back up for muzzleloader or a pistol to hunt with for deer any thoughts would be appreciated.


Terry   

[John Traveler]

Ref your Hawes Western Marshall .44 magnum revolver, see the thread on J. P. Sauer and Sohn revolvers a couple weeks ago.

Your revolver was manufactured by J.P. Sauer and Sohn in West Germany and imported by Los Angeles importer Hawes in the early thru late 1970's.  The Western Marshal model was blued, with polished brass grip frame and dark (rosewood?) wood grip panels.  It is a cosmetically similar copy, but not dimensionally identical, to the Colt SAA.  The cylinder is larger diameter, and a frame-mounted firing pin handles the high pressure .44 Magnum cartridge.  .22 rimfire models had diecast zinc alloy barrels and cylinders lined with steel tubing.  Your gun was one of a series of models designed to be moderately priced and have cosmetic appeal to the western/sixgun fan: Silver City Marshall (nickel plated with faux pearl grips), Western Marshall, etc.  They were called "the poor man's commemoratives" by gun magazine writers.

It should be an adequate six-gun for light or moderate duty use.   In my experience after shooting, owning, and repairing several of this model in .44 Mag, .45 Colt and .357 Mag calibers, it will not hold up to heavy duty use or extensive shooting.  Problems encountered include: cylinder endshake and excessive barrel/cylinder gap, trigger/hammer sear wears out, ratchet/pawl wear, peening of the frame mounted firing pin, front sight looseness, action and grip screws loosening, and ejector housing screw strips out.  Many of these "faults" are characteristic of the original Colt design, but in this model, many of the problems can be attributed to metallurgy and quality control issues.

If the price is right, and it is in good condition, it is a good buy as long as you understand it's limitations.

HTH
John

[44 Man]

These were built by J.P. Sauer and Shon in the 60's as a fixed sight alternative to the Ruger.  You may not have heard of that company but eventual they became SIG-Sauer, then just SIG.  They were deciently built guns but getting parts is difficult now although most any gunsmith competent with single actions can easily adapt parts to work.  I have one of the .22 versions built by them.  It had a broken bolt when I received it but it was only a few minutes to adapt a Uberti bolt to fit.  I would not invest over $250 in one.  Any more than that and you could buy a used Ruger.  If I owned one of them, I would work up a heavy 44 spl/light 44 mag load for it.  Something with a 240/250 gr cast bullet at around a 1000/1100 fps.  I would then file the sights to shoot with that load and enjoy it.  44 Man

[Illhunter]

ok i was looking and saw this pistol but the same place has uberti's in 357 and 45 colt which is a bit more than the 357 along with the hawes i want it to use for back up for muzzleloader and possible deer hunting with so which would be better there is about $11 dollars difference between the uberti in 357 and the hawes. Another factor to consider is i don't handload at this time so any thoughts would be appreciated the cost right now is $289 or $300 one is used the other is new.


Terry   

[John Traveler]

I would go with the Uberti in either .357 or .45 Colt.  The manufacturer is well established as a quality maker of SAA type revolvers as well as lever actions and single shots with the old western flavor.  Parts and support are easy to find.  Uberti is favored brand among Cowboy Action shooters.

I have a pair of 25 year old Uberti M1875 Remington "Outlaw" revolvers in .45 Colt that I've shot the hell out of.  They have literally digested several thousands of standard velocity rounds each, and are still as tight and in time as they were when new.

[Illhunter]

ok well i will look at the uberti's some more i like them but just looking for opinions i did hold the 45 colt will check out the 357 this week if i can.

Terry