S&W .44 Single action revolver ID

[NormH3]

Hi Folks,

I have a co-worker that owns this gun and will most likely be parting with it. He believes his grandfather may have owned it but knows for a fact that his father did. The pictures here are not of his gun, but of an identical one I found on a French Website. Any clues as to when this might have been manufactured would be appreciated. It is not stamped with any model number other than "S & W 44 OTO" . It has a 6.5 inch barrel and the serial number is 34040. Thanks in advance.

[Jim Watson]

What you show is a New Model No 3. We can hope his is IDENTICAL. Does it have a lanyard ring, too?

The barrel marking is CTG for cartridge, not OTO. Sounds like a lot of wear or a heavy hand on the buffer when refinished.

They were sold from 1878 until 1912 but for the last 14 or so years they were building guns out of parts on hand. All the frames were made in or before 1898 so they are all "antiques" by US government definition.

I don't have the necessary reference book but since they made 35,796 of the type, his is apparently a late gun in that period.

[NormH3]

Thanks for the quick response Jim. The "OTO" is in part due to my poor eyesight. Even with a magnifier I was having a hard time reading it. I'm fairly new to firearms myself..of course CTG makes sense. Actually the gun he has does not have the lanyard ring. I had taken my own photo with a cell phone camera, but it didnt come out very well. I'm guessing that for him to get a proper appraisal for selling he would need to find a local that has that expertise. I'm not sure that just any gunshop could do that acurately. Wouldn't mind owning it myself, but I suspect it might be out of my price range.