Some might not know it, but the stainless steel Call Bead sight was very popular 'back in the day'.

Way back.

In the first place, the stainless bead itself was favored by many for outdoor shooting, so it was a natural on S&W's Outdoorsmans, both in .22 and .38. (I've also seen them on Colt revolvers, including one special-order, 5-inch Shooting Master in .357... )

The other reason was, you could safely 'smoke' a stainless Call Bead sight using a Carbide Lamp, which in turn was a popular thing to do whenever shooting paper targets, as the now more blackened blade stood in better contrast against them.

Moreover, 'target shooting' was at least as popular as hunting, and there were tons of places to do it, many right within 'city limits'. For example, as 'recently' as the 1970s, the indoor range at the University Of Colorado in Boulder was open to the public at least one night a week. (I think it was Fridays, but that *was* a long time ago, after all.)
Sadly, those days have gone the way of The Horse & Buggy.

Not to mention The Carbide Lamp.

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