Old Smith&wesson Revolver

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

dbrees

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
3
Location
Georgia
Hello everyone. I just came across this site the other day and it is a great site with a lot of very knowledgeable people! I need some identifying an old Smith&Wesson Revolver.

It’s a .38 break action
It has on top of the barrel Smith&Wesson Springfield Mass. USA Pat’d AUG.4 .96, DEC. 22.96, OCT.8.01, FEB.6.06, SEPT.14.09.
It has a 3 ¼ barrel
has a nickel finish
has pearl grips
Serial number 57655 with matching number on the cylinder.

Any information on this Revolver would be greatly appreciated:)
 
Sounds like a Perfected Model, the last version of the topbreak S&Ws, 59,400 made 1909 til 1920. (Which is not a lot or a long time by S&W standards of the day, the topbreaks were just phasing out in favor of the Hand Ejectors (swing out) except for the hammerless guns that held on til 1940.)

The high serial number makes yours a late one, in or near 1920.
Dollar value depends on condition. Factory nickel in good shape and factory pearls would be a de$irable little gun.
 
Perfected Model will have the top lock and a cylinder thumb latch on the side.
 
Last edited:
And a trigger guard integral with the frame. Somebody on one of the boards posted a history of the gun, how Joe Wesson used the topbreak hinge and barrel on the "I" frame ordinarily used for Hand Ejectors. Last gasp of the topbreak as a new model, although as I said before, the hammerless guns hung on for a good while.
 
The patent dates and serial number combine to indicate that it is the Perfected Model. In good shape, they are very desirable collectibles.

There is an interesting story that Joseph Wesson heard of a case in which a bad guy grabbed the latch of a police officer's top break revolver and opened it, throwing out the cartridges and rendering the gun useless, after which he brutally beat the officer.

So, the story goes, Wesson resolved to design a revolver that could not be opened by simply grabbing the latch. The Perfected Model was the answer.

The story is amusing, and may even have some truth behind it, but the gun is still puzzling, being introduced not as an interim model between the top break and the hand ejector, but in 1909, a full decade after introduction of the .38 Hand Ejector (the M&P model). Apparently S&W felt there was still a market for a top break revolver and the Perfected was an upgrade from the old type, as well as being stronger.

Jim
 
There is an interesting story that Daniel Wesson heard of a case in which a bad guy grabbed the latch of a police officer's top break revolver and opened it, throwing out the cartridges and rendering the gun useless, after which he brutally beat the officer. So, the story goes, Wesson resolved to design a revolver that could not be opened by simply grabbing the latch. The Perfected Model was the answer.
Click to expand...

D.B. Wesson's real problem was that his rival with a gun company in Hartford, CT. pushed this story in their advertising, pointing out that such a thing couldn't happen to someone armed with a solid-frame Colt revolver... :uhoh:

The story is amusing, and may even have some truth behind it, but the gun is still puzzling, being introduced not as an interim model between the top break and the hand ejector, but in 1909, a full decade after introduction of the .38 Hand Ejector (the M&P model). Apparently S&W felt there was still a market for a top break revolver and the Perfected was an upgrade from the old type, as well as being stronger.
Click to expand...

So The elder Wesson told his son Joseph to design a better mousetrap, but not spend too much money doing it. Joe was a very bright revolver designer in his own right, so he took the basic frame of the .32 1903 Hand Ejector (with obvious modifications) and matched it to the barrel/cylinder assembly of the .38 Safety Hammerless top-break. The model 1903's cylinder latch assembly was changed so that it would lock the Safety Hammerless cylinder, and combined with the regular barrel latch put the story Colt was pushing to rest once and for all. By using tooling already on hand to make the 1903 Hand Ejector and .38 Safety Hammerless the usual design and tooling costs to produce the Perfected Model were very modest. :cool:
 
I am unaccountably attracted to that little gun. I have some less shootable guns I have thought about trading to a collector for one instead of going for cash. Silly me.
 
Thanks guys for all the info! My grandmother just past this down to me it was my Grandfathers. It holds to much sentimental value to me to ever get rid of. I would like to know an approximant value of the revolver. I have a gun cabinet but not a safe ( hopefully later this year I can get one) so I wound like to know if this is something I should have in a safety deposit box until I can get a safe. The finish is all there no heavy scratches but lots of little ones kind of like on the bottom of a wedding ring. There is no rust on it. Grips are perfect no chips or flaking. Everything works as it should.

Thanks again, David
 
Current book value would be in the $400 to $600 range if it is as you describe it.

Given this gun's history within your family, I suggest that you get it "lettered." To do so you will need a snapshot of the gun, a full description including the serial number on the butt, and a check in the amount of $50.00 made out to Smith & Wesson. In exchange the company's historian, Roy G. Jinks, will research the original records (which are not computerized by the way) and send you a letter containing the details of what he finds.

This comprehensive document will contain an overview of the model’s history, followed by the details of your particular gun. This usually includes the caliber, barrel length, finish, and the exact date it was shipped from the factory, and to what distributor or dealer. If there are any special features they will be listed too. This information is often invaluable to both you and future generations.

Additional information on a historical letter will be found at the Smith & Wesson company website at:

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...catalogId=11101&content=25301&sectionId=10504
 
Hi, Fuff,

I seem to recall that that infamous "latch snatcher" had turned up earlier. Wasn't that supposedly the reason Gen. Schofield redesigned the latch on "his" revolver to open by pulling back rather than up?

Those old stories are fascinating. Some I recall originating in the 1950's magazines like True and Argosy. Another fable is that Borchardt designed a revolver for Winchester to compete with Colt. Not true; the story apparently originated in the November 1959 Gun Report.

Jim
 
I seem to recall that that infamous "latch snatcher" had turned up earlier. Wasn't that supposedly the reason Gen. Schofield redesigned the latch on "his" revolver to open by pulling back rather than up?
Click to expand...

No, Col. Schofield (Gen. Schofield was his brother) designed several (in his mind) improvements to the earlier American Model, the most important being a barrel latch that you could open one-handed by pulling on it. This was much easier for a cavalryman on horseback to do. General Schofield had enough influence to insure that S&W was awarded a contract. :uhoh:

According to one reference, copyrighted in 1966, 75 and 80; Hugo Borchardt designed two prototype revolvers for Winchester in 1876, one being a hand-ejector with a cylinder that opened to the left. Both were chambered in .44 WCF, and neither reached production. That said, I have nothing to confirm the story.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

W
  • Locked
I would like some info on a Smith& Wesson
Replies
8
Views
715
Iggy
Iggy
H
  • Locked
smith and wesson winchester
Replies
4
Views
1K
bannockburn
bannockburn
X
  • Locked
identifying a smith and wesson 38 special
Replies
2
Views
726
Radagast
R
U
  • Locked
ID a S&W .32 revolver
Replies
23
Views
9K
deanodog
D
J
  • Locked
how old is my Smith&wesson revolver
Replies
5
Views
579
Old Fuff
O
Back
Top