Smith & Wesson Forum

Go Back   Smith & Wesson Forum > Smith & Wesson Revolvers > S&W Antiques
o

Notices

S&W Antiques S&W Lever Action Pistols, Tip-Up Revolvers, ALL Top-Break Revolvers, and ALL Single Shots


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-17-2011, 08:13 PM
mm6mm6's Avatar
mm6mm6 mm6mm6 is offline
Member
Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected  
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 780
Likes: 56
Liked 516 Times in 64 Posts
Default Perfected

When I was a young man, my dad collected breaktops. S&W, H&R, and Iver Johnson. .32 & .38, blue and nickel, hammer and hammerless. One breaktop he never found was a S&W Perfected.

I always thought the Perfected breaktop was really neat because it had a hand ejector cylinder release as well as the normal top latch to break open the action. Perfected breaktops from Smith & Wesson featured their logo on the left side of the frame because the right side featured a screw attached side plate. The Perfected looked different from all the previous breaktops because its trigger guard was integral with the frame.



I was at a gun show on Sunday and there was a slightly odd looking breaktop on the table, right side up. I looked at it and realized the trigger guard was part of the frame. I knew it had to be a Perfected. I asked to see it and sure enough, when I turned it over, there was the cylinder release latch.



The action was tight and it functioned perfectly in double and single action trigger modes. The bore looked very good with just a few little dark spots. The lands and grooves were very sharp. The ejector snapped easily and the action broke open smoothly.



The left side of the gun was pretty dark where the nickel really faded for some reason. The left side was better, but the gun was far from mint.



The price tag said, "$200 O.B.O."

I got it for $175 out the door. No FFL transfer fee, no tax. I cleaned it up a bit and worked on the bore and it's better than I thought. I'm going to shoot it and I bet it shoots great!



There is just something about the Perfected that I really like. There seems to be some question about how long these were made. Three books have three different answers. It seems pretty much decided that they first came out in 1909. But one book says they only were made until 1911, another says 1910, and still a third says 1924.

Regardless, I like this one a whole lot!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-17-2011, 08:34 PM
Rigmover's Avatar
Rigmover Rigmover is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Alberta,Canada
Posts: 603
Likes: 114
Liked 150 Times in 55 Posts
Default

Nice score i have one also blue with the 4" barrel with mother of pearl/medallion grips i paid $275 for mine. Of all the top breaks i have the Perfected Model shoots the best. Yours looks like it has a 5" barrel on it seems longer then mine but i could be wrong...
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-17-2011, 08:34 PM
Crabtree Crabtree is offline
SWCA Member
Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected  
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: East TN
Posts: 460
Likes: 55
Liked 198 Times in 32 Posts
Default

Awesome pictures and narrative....thank you for posting.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-18-2011, 01:37 AM
opoefc opoefc is offline
Absent Comrade
US Veteran
SWCA Founding Member
Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected  
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: San Diego, CA. USA
Posts: 10,536
Likes: 3,529
Liked 6,881 Times in 2,796 Posts
Default

Nice pictures. Is the serial number really 199 ? The cylinder release thumb button is a later replacement, I believe, as it looks like a K frame button, which will work OK on a Perfected frame. Ed.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-18-2011, 07:12 AM
twaits's Avatar
twaits twaits is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Windham, Maine
Posts: 1,390
Likes: 47
Liked 615 Times in 140 Posts
Default

Great score! I would have gotten my wallet out pretty quickly as well. Congratulations!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-18-2011, 08:54 AM
mm6mm6's Avatar
mm6mm6 mm6mm6 is offline
Member
Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected  
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 780
Likes: 56
Liked 516 Times in 64 Posts
Default

There is a 4 before the 199, it's just hard to see in the photo of the cylinder. I did a google image search and it would seem just about every other Perfected out there has the same cylinder release latch as this one.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-18-2011, 11:00 AM
H Richard's Avatar
H Richard H Richard is offline
US Veteran
Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected Perfected  
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: West Central IL
Posts: 22,758
Likes: 18,437
Liked 22,311 Times in 8,245 Posts
Default

With over 59,000 produced, it seems strange you seldom get the opportunity to obtain one. I have never seen one at a gun show. Those I have seen on line for sale were priced outrageously.
__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-18-2011, 11:19 AM
twaits's Avatar
twaits twaits is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Windham, Maine
Posts: 1,390
Likes: 47
Liked 615 Times in 140 Posts
Default

Here's a nice one that sold at Poulin for under $600 last weekend:

LOT #1430 - Smith &Wesson 38DA Perfected Revolver.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
1911, ejector, hammerless, hand ejector, k frame

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Perfected bigl1911 S&W Antiques 5 02-22-2016 02:00 PM
New to Me Perfected striking S&W Antiques 5 07-09-2015 10:08 AM
Need help on this .38 S W perfected 6" .38 S W S&W Antiques 5 03-20-2010 10:18 AM
WTB: .38 DA Perfected RayGT3 WANTED to Buy 2 04-11-2009 12:26 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
smith-wessonforum.com tested by Norton Internet Security smith-wessonforum.com tested by McAfee Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:29 AM.


Smith-WessonForum.com is not affiliated with Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC)