I have a childhood friend whom I have associated with for years that receintly cleaned out a closet that had been pack ratted in by his father for many years. At the bottom he found two handguns. A .357 Ruger Blackhawk, and a Hy Hunter (Hawes) Western Marshall .44 Mag. Dad said he no longer wanted them so he is keeping the .357 and I have the .44. I have to say that it was the dirtiest, gunkiest, rustyest handgun I have ever handled that still functioned. It really looked like it had laid on a shelf in an old barn for 30 years. It took me over two hours to dissasemble it, normally a 10 minute job when done slowly. I finally got it all apart and let the parts soak in WD40 in a baggie for 24 hours. Then I cleaned it up and had to find a couple of screws from my parts box that were missing. Well, it's together and functions well and suprisingly, the bore is bright. I may get a chance to shoot it tomorrow. The grips are off a .22 EAA Bounty Hunter and they went right on. I knew that Bounty Hunter looked familier when I bought it! The shine you see in the pic is not shiney finish, it is where there is no longer any finish! I do like the looks of the wear on the finish, barrel, top strap, cylinder and sides of the frame. It shows that this was an honest, hard working gun. Or at least it got carried a lot in the holster! Fun, fun! 44 Man
