Discovered this old boy cleaning out my MIL's crawl space Sat. From what I can determine it's a S&W Model 2 type 4, 32 cal rimfire. SN 26017 from what I can tell. The barrel is either 5 or 6 inches depending on where the measurement is taken. There are a couple of problems with the gun. The cylinder will not index with the action of the gun (hammer-trigger) unless the barrel is pointed down which leads me to believe there's a broken spring in the index mechanism. In addition, I found the top strap laying loose in the box and the three top strap (frame) pins are missing. I'm assuming there is also supposed to be a spring or something underneath the top strap?

The gun appears to be all original....in decent but not in mint condition.

Is there any kind of market for these and / or any source for parts to put this back into some kind of complete / functioning condition?

Thx in advance for any feedback.

RA

Welcome to the Forum. The measurement of the barrel is taken from the front of the cylinder to the muzzle. From your description, it sounds like the handspring is broken or missing. In the top frame is a split spring that operates a hand or cylinder stop that is hinged with one of the pins and operated off a spur on the top of the hammer. The other 2 pins are for the spring.

You will have a tough time finding those parts. I am sure that none of the vintage gun parts companies will have anything for these revolvers. The handspring should be easy to make, but the split spring in the topstrap would be very tough to re-manufacture.

There is a good market for working examples. Yours is in the range that is attributed to the Civil War period and has a large collector following. Of course, yours is not working and may not have any finish left, so value is low. That revolver would have shipped around 1864.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Gary has pretty well covered your gun. Finding those parts will be a real project. Probably you will have to search gun shows for a donor junker gun, or find a gun smith that can make the parts. Such a gunsmith is rarer than the parts, however! Good Luck, Ed.

Thx for the replies. I don't think I will be pursuing fixing this gun. Technically it's still my mother-in-laws, so will probably pursue selling it for her "as-is". I have no idea what a reasonable value would be however, so will have to do some more research.

If you have a login ID on Gunbroker.com and do an Advanced Search you can search Completed Auctions to see what these tip-ups are selling for in similar condition.

I did a quick search of actual selling prices on GB and found a rough example of a 5" Model 2, in working condition for $300. Another heavily buffed and refinished example with a broken trigger spur and replaced walnut stocks sold for $225. Without seein the condition of yours, but not in working order, I would guess $200 for parts. Hope this helps.

You can try to sell the Model 2 on this site in the Guns for Sale section.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Just as FYI. The barrel, cylinder and frame are all coded "24" so I assume the gun is all original. I did not find any code on the grips themselves.....maybe there is none or it's very obscure and I don't know what I'm looking at.

RA

The "24" would be the assembly number/code, as you found on the three major parts. This means those parts are still together, as they left the factory. There is no assembly number/code on the grips. If they are original to the gun, then the backside of the right grip panel will have the gun's serial number ( same number as on the butt) stamped thereon. If the backside of the right grip panel has no number stamped there ( or a different number than the butt ) then the grips are replacements. Ed.