Smith & Wesson Model 544 Texas Wagon Train Commemorative Deluxe Edition

Smith & Wesson built the Model 544 for the Texas Sesquicentennial, marking 150 years of the Lone Star State with a revolver chambered in the old frontier round, .44-40 Winchester. This one is the Deluxe Edition, and it sits well above the standard commemorative run. The whole gun is dressed in hand-cut scrollwork with gold wire inlay tracing the barrel, frame, and the full circumference of the cylinder. Look at the left sideplate and you find the gold Texas Lone Star set against an engraved map of the state. The barrel carries TEXAS 1836-1986 in gold, and the frame wears the 44/40 mark beside a gold rose.

The small parts are all gold-plated. Hammer, trigger, cylinder release, and the knurled ejector rod tip all gleam against the deep polished blue. That contrast is the whole point of a deluxe commemorative, and it reads clean in person.

The build is N-frame, with the 4 inch barrel that gives the gun its frontier-era balance. Adjustable rear sight, red ramp front. Worth noting: this example ships with two grip options. There's a set of polished cream stocks with the gold S&W medallion for display, and a set of figured walnut target stocks if you prefer wood against all that engraving.

This was a tiny run, far smaller than the standard Wagon Train series. The cylinder face carries its place in the line, well under the deluxe count. And that matters because the Deluxe guns came with a matching signed bronze Texas Longhorn sculpture and a commemorative medallion, commissioned by the Sesquicentennial Commission to pair with each revolver.

For a Texas collector, or anyone who chases factory-engraved Smith & Wessons, this is a complete and uncommon set. The engraving rewards a slow look, and the package around it is hard to assemble piece by piece.