I recently picked up a nice New Model No. 3. It seems to be a common variation with nickel finish, 6 1/2 in. barrel, walnut grips and .44 russian chambering. However, It has a lanyard ring and what appears to be a "rack number" stamped on the butt of the grip frame. The s/n 179xx falls in the range of revolvers purchased by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1890. The revolver was shipped from the factory in June of 1884 to the distributor M. W. Robinson in N.Y. City. Any way I can verify whether or not this is a "Revenue Cutter Service" piece. Any additional info would be appreciated.
J.Fitzpatrick

Welcome to the Forum. Is the serial number on the butt intact? If so, that would mean the revolver left the factory with the lanyard ring. Your serial number falls into the range of the Revenue Cutter service guns, but your number is not listed in the known lot. These revolvers were not marked, other than the standard S&W stampings, so I do not know the significance of the rack number.

There were various shipments made to Europe with lanyard rings. Also, a large number were shipped to Cuba, but serial numbers known were lower than yours. I would guess that a US Government sale would not have gone through a distributor, but there are more knowledgeable members that will comment on the Revenue Cutter S&Ws.

Since the gun does not letter as a Revenue Cutter shipped gun, tracing it's past will be very difficult, if not impossible, as there are no known MWR records available that could provide clues to where MWR shipped the gun. Ed.

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering if there were records available from MWR that could clear things up. Too bad. John.