For Forty-Four Friday, I thought that I’d mention the rare Armament Systems & Procedures (ASP) .44 Special conversions of Ruger Service Six and Speed Six revolvers. Given that they lost one round in cylinder capacity after the conversion, one wag dubbed them the “Fast Five.”

Supposedly, only 96 of these conversions were completed, with the work farmed out to gunsmith Lin “Trapper” Alexiou. One glance at the new cylinder’s outer wall thickness might explain this low number, along with the barrel’s warning script to use only standard factory .44 Special ammunition.