This is a gun I picked up from my granddads collection. Having a hard time figuring it out. SN 21382 Trying to find out when it was made and what it actually is.... I have a belgium clone as well. It seems to be in the .44 range of calibers. Any help is appreciated. Thanks....

A lot of our experts are at the Smith and Wesson Collectors Association symposium in North Carolina right now, and may not see this post for awhile. I'm sure that some one will be able to help you, not me, I'm not very familiar with the very old Smiths. It's great that you have this relic as a memento of your grandfather, though!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Welcome! This is likely a .44 (Russian) Double Action, as it was the only one of its type to reach that high of a serial number. Just under 55,000 of these were produced from 1881-1898 but sold until 1913.

The .44 Russian is the same diameter but shorter than a .44 Special. If a Special round chambers but stops 0.2" short of fully seating, you have the ID. If the Special fully seats, resist the temptation to shoot it - but if the gun is mechanically sound lightly loaded .44 Russian ammo is still available. Hope this is helpful.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

As stated above; most likely a .44 Double Action, 1st Model.

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Mike Maher #283

Thanks for the help! I'll have to run it to a shop that I know that has some .44 SPL. I will not be shooting this one. She still locks up "decently", but she an old hoss and I value my fingers. She'll be family heritage from here on out. I have 2 boys and 4 - 1890's revolvers. Two are good enough to shoot. A Colt .41 Navy in excellent condition and the S-W clone from Belgium, which I have shot 30 years ago. The other gun is a hammerless Iver Johnson in 32. It is in about the same condition as the S-W.

Thank you again!

The caliber is .44 Russian; a black powder round. .44 Special is a smokeless round and not the same.

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Mike Maher #283

.44 Russian black powder ammo can be ordered online. Whether your home state allows it to be imported varies from state to state.

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James Redfield
LM #497

Howdy

What you have there is usually known as the 44 Double Action. 59,590 of these were manufactured. The one at the top of this photo is a Target Model, with an adjustable rear sight and a bead front sight. The blued one has been refinished and I substituted an old dime for the front sight. I only did this because the original front sight was missing.

The nickel plated gun is SN 283XX. It shipped in 1895. The blued gun is SN 24XX. It shipped in 1881. They are both chambered for the 44 Russian cartridge.






I don't know why folks call these the First Model, because there was never a Second Model. They all had that vertical clearance cut on the cylinder, unlike the 38 Double Action models which had changes to the lockwork at the 3rd Model, eliminating that feature. 44 Double Actions were produced starting in 1881. All frames had been manufactured by 1899, so technically they are all antiques, even though they were cataloged until 1913.

There were however several variations. The most common cartridge they were chambered for was 44 Russian. All the early guns had cylinders 1 7/16" long. The 44 Double Action Wesson Favorite had several features which made it lighter. There were only about 1000 of these made. Yours is not one. The Favorite had a relief cut above the trigger guard.

The 44 Double Action Frontier was chambered for 44-40. It had a 1 9/16" long cylinder to accommodate the longer cartridge. There were only 15,340 of these made. The 38 Winchester Double Action is the rarest of all, chambered for 38-40. There were only 276 of these made.

Your appears to me to be a standard 44 Double Action, chambered for 44 Russian. The cylinder appears to be 1 7/16" long. Later versions of this model had 1 9/16" cylinders, but they were still chambered for 44 Russian.

Do not attempt to fire 44 Special ammunition in that revolver. It is the wrong caliber. 44 Russian is a shorter cartridge, the precursor of 44 Special.

The cartridges in this photo, left to right, are 44-40, 44 Henry Rimfire, 44 S&W American, 44 Russian, 44 Colt, 44 Special, and 45 Colt. You can see how the 44 Special cartridge is longer than the 44 Russian cartridge. If 44 Special happens to chamber in your revolver, do not attempt to fire it.




There are those on this forum who will disagree with me, but I only shoot antiques like this with ammunition loaded with Black Powder. I never shoot them with Smokeless powder. I load my own. The only online source I know of for 44 Russian loaded with Black Powder is Buffalo Arms.


44 Russian 200 Grain RNFP Black Powder Ammunition Box of 50 - Black Powder Ammo - Cowboy Ammo - Ammunition - Buffalo Arms

Fioche makes .44 Russian ammo. , but it is hard to find. Ed.

Welcome to the forum. Nice Russian.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

I read that one of the Russian Tzar's (Alexander III????) sons ordered about a dozen of the Russian models gold plated.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Well, my Russian history is a little rusty, but Alexander III was the Tsar from 1881 to 1894, when, in his passing, his oldest (of four) son, Nickolas II became Tsar. He ruled until he abdicated in, I think, 1917 aftrpter the Bolshevik Revolution. Not quite sure where the purchase of the Russian model Smiths fit into the timeline.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Welcome to the forum. What a neat family heirloom you have there sounds like you have a good grasp on how to preserve it ofr future family members.

Maybe it was one of Nicholas I's sons. Grand Duke Michael would have fit into the time line, I think. But I'm pretty weak on that period of Russian history, too. I do ok from Nicholas II and afterward. Not a big deal, but I thought having a dozen NIB gold plated S&Ws would be kinda cool.

PS I find Russian history challenging, but China.......?????

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"