...I received the sixgun from David, thanks for putting me onto it.

David called me before he mailed the sixgun to tell me that the consigner informed him (after I sent the money) that the barrel had been replaced, and David said it was fairly obvious that the barrel had been refinished in a slightly different shade of blue - not glaringly obvious, but you can tell it. I had him ship the sixgun anyway, but David felt pretty badly that the consigner's not disclosing it to him before the sale reflected poorly on David. David has been 100% up-front with me about the whole thing, and I certainly have no problem with him. He is going to see if the consigner will send me some cash back on it, and barring that, David has offered to take the sixgun back and issue a full refund to me, including shipping. Can't ask more of him than that. Anyway, the consigner is currently out-of-town, and David will get back to me after they have a talk.

Anyway, I looked at the grips, and there is no serial number on them. The sixgun's serial number is S97337.

I didn't notice any obvious difference in the finish, but I didn't really look that one over as I was more interested in the other 2.

I hope it all works out so that you can keep it.

Personally I'm not a big stickler for 100% originality, as long as any work was done right.

I'll be going back by that shop next week, probably Monday.

...and I bought it at a shooter price, but it was at the top-end of shooter's prices (to me, anyway). Ideally, the consigner will agree to send me some money back on it, and I'll keep it.

Do you have the grips that are numbered to this sixgun?

have a very faint S then
127319

S127319 is my guess, but the numbers are very hard to read.

full size pic
http://i.imgur.com/awqIKPz.jpg

I'm told they are post war grips on a 1938 gun

But he wanted more for the Outdoorsman than I paid for the other two combined.

Now that you mention it, I wonder if the barrel on my HD has been replaced. The blue on the barrel and the crane are better than the rest of the gun. Not a lot of difference, but it's there.

Doesn't matter a bit to me, because if I ever run across a 4 inch 44 Special barrel it's getting converted.