I see a couple of 44s in my log with (I now think) serial numbers from the 44-1/2 sequence.  These have set triggers of one flavor or another, and have the 6 o'clock extractor.  It would seem that Stevens was willing and able to build a custom 44 after 1903, using the lower tang and s/n from the 44-1/2.  The highest serial number of these is 9764, suggesting that this wasn't continued past the first few years after 1903.  But these are so rare that anything's possible