Smith & Wesson NRA and NSSF over the issue of smart guns, thousands of retailers and tens of thousands of firearms consumers boycotted Smith & Wesson. CEO Ed Shultz, who negotiated the deal, was forced out in September of that year. By December 2000, the company's stock price was 19 cents per share. Smith & Wesson dropped its smart gun plans after nearly being driven out of business. On May 11, 2001, Saf-T-Hammer Corporation acquired Smith & Wesson Corp. from Tomkins plc for US$15 million, a fraction of the US$112 million originally paid by Tomkins. Saf-T-Hammer assumed US$30 million in debt, bringing the
Smith & Wesson .38/44 either blue or nickel finish. Production was interrupted by the second world war. Postwar production serial numbers are prefixed with the letter S. After the war these N-frame revolvers were popular with veterans experimentally handloading the .38 Special at pressures up to fifty percent higher than the recommended for conventional .38 Special revolvers. In 1957, the "Heavy Duty" fixed sight version was marketed as the Smith & Wesson Model 20 and the "Outdoorsman" with adjustable sights became the Smith & Wesson Model 23 Smith & Wesson .38/44 Smith & Wesson .38/44 identifies a series of 6 shot, double-action, Smith &