I'm stumped, Schofields' PAT revolver?

[Tbu61]

As promised earlier, I got a photo of this .32 S&W Revolver.
The only markings are "Schofield's PAT OCT 17 1876"
on the Barrel Rib and a Ser # 7XX beneath the hard rubber Grip.

Can anyone shed any light on the origins of this Break top?
Dad picked it up years ago, a hand-me-down from a cop...

tbu61

 

[deadin]

Interesting. Schofield had quite a few patents filed. His most famous was the one covering the top-break latch being attached to the frame instead of the topstrap. (S&W Schofield Model). He had a number of other firearm "improvement" patents and your little topbreak probably has one of these in it. I would think that the gun should have collector interest just because of the name associated with it. I wouldn't let it get away without further research.

Dean

 

[Tbu61]

Deadin,
Agreed, Dad has no interest in parting with this piece, actually it sat in his garage for quite a while till he showed it to me last February...
now it's in the Safe.

I'm perplexed... it looks very similar to the S&W #3, was wondering if there was any "Cross Pollination" at the design table when Mr Schofield joined forces with S&W. They made over 700 of these things so it isn't a prototype.

 

[deadin]

There were thousands upon thousands of similar little revolvers of this style made under hundreds of different names. All were more or less based on the S&W Double Action Top Break that was first made in in 1880. What I would find interesting is exactly what part of the design of yours can be attributed to a Schofield patent. It could be a different way the extractor is actuated or something in the lockwork. Be hard to say without taking the gun apart and being familiar with S&W internals.

BTW, serial number series don't always start at 1.

Dean

 

[Tbu61]

Dean
Agreed on both counts...

I have been playing in the Firearms field for almost 40 years, it isn't often that I encounter something that I can't sniff out some history about. The real kicker is that it was something that has been in the family for a while and I didn't know about it

Just hoping that Someone here has a piece of the puzzle. Mr Schofield made some notable contributions to the industry.


Todd