My Dad found this little beauty at a local gun show today. From what I can tell I believe it's a Single Action New Model No.3 with target sights and a 6 1/2" barrel. It's chambered in .32-44. I think the serial number puts it's born on date around 1880. The gun itself is really in great shape. Most of the blueing has worn away to a dull grey look but rust, pitting and other similar issues don't seem to be significantly present.

Did I get the details right on this one? What do you think it's value would be?

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~

SWEET !!!!!!

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millbilly

What a gun that is. Sorry I know very little about these.

Now that I have seen this, I think I want one.

I believe your identification is correct: New Model No. 3 Target model in .32-44 caliber, a special target cartridge designed at the behest of C.I. Paine and introduced in this model in 1887. According to Roy Jinks' History of Smith & Wesson, this model was terminated with serial number 4333, so your gun is one of the last ones made. If I am reading the book correctly, the factory was still selling this gun from available stock as late as 1910.

If I owned this gun, I would letter it. It is a beauty. I take it the holster came with it? Are there any markings on the leather that would help identify the manufacturer?

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David Wilson

And note that the front sight is a Paine bead sight. If the .32-44 and .38-44 versions of this gun came into being at Paine's urging, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the standard sight on those calibers was the one Paine developed. (But of course other front blades were available and could be ordered.)

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David Wilson

Great gun! Love the serial number too.

Any idea as to it's value?

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~

To clarify, my Dad has not purchased this gun yet. He asked me to post the images he took to this forum to get you guys's opinion of what I thought the gun was and to see what would be a reasonable price for the gun. The seller hasn't set a price and want's my Dad to make an offer. My Dad doesn't want to insult him with a lowball and he doesn't want to overpay massively either. Any advice on what a reasonable offer would be is greatly apprecaited.

PS. The gun was shipped in 1905 according to RJ.

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~

I know you want to know value & I honestly have no idea. If your Dad purchases the gun, the worn patina is a feature of it's history as an antique & you don't want to clean it off. I don't know how it would respond to wax sealer, so I'll leave that to others. I'd just rub down everything with a soft patch & gun oil to leave a film.
Russ

I think value is going to be subject to the supply and demand picture. There weren't many of this model made (and probably fewer in this caliber), but if there are more guns than there are collectors of NM3's in .32-44, the price will stay low.

I would offer $300, maybe $350, to get the ball rolling. If the seller wants over $500, I would thank him for his time and walk away. But that's just me. Others may value it either more or less highly than I do.

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David Wilson

It's a beauty. Clearly out of my league. I PM'ed some search results. Hope this helps,
Russ

Thanks guys, I'll pass the info along. I keep trying to get Dad to sign up on the forums and I may have convinced him tonight. So maybe in a few days he'll be able to tell you about the gun himself.

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~ S&WCA No.2159 ~

Man, for $500 I'd but that right now. I think that's a very desirable pistol in a pretty rare caliber.
I'd honestly value it higher that that.

I know nothing about these and some very wise people have alrady given their opinions here but the standard catalog has these valued a lot higher than what's been mentioned. Exc $5000, Fine $2000, VG $1100, Good $750 and doesn't this fall in there somewhere? And doesn't get rated with a little less leniency because of it's age? And the catalog lists some guns with serial numbers in the 5000's as being shipped in 1879 so this could be older than that. And it also mentioned 9 new model number 3's being shipped to Ira Paine as he was mentioned earlier in this thread.

I agree that I would make this one mine for $500 easily, but I am not always very smart with my money.