I have been given by an elderly friend a broken down and rusted S&W 44 Russian and am considering restoring it. I have been restoring old firearms for years and this would be my most challenging to date if I proceed. On the top of the barrel is stamped beginning and ending with what looks to be four opposing diamonds with the tips attached in the center, Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass. U.S.A. Pat. July 10.60. Jan.17. Feb.17. July 11.65 & Aug.24.69. Russian Model The only numbers on this piece are on the cylinder and under right grip at bottom toward the rear 1382 and other stampings on the bottom of the butt of a diamond with the letters SH inside and number S6449 below that. No other numbers or stampings anywhere I can find. The grips are missing and two of the side plate screws are missing and the trigger is broken off. It was explained by the giver that when his father died, his mother broke off the trigger so none of the boys could ever fire it.

Anyway, long story short, I need parts and info so any help would be greatly appreciated. Also any opinions as to whether or not it would be worth restoring.

Attached Images

	44 Russian 3.jpg (149.5 KB, 70 views)
	44 Russian 1.jpg (190.3 KB, 89 views)
	44 Russian 2.jpg (121.5 KB, 67 views)
	44 Russian 4.jpg (144.1 KB, 68 views)

I believe you have a second model russian
It is in relic condition
If you are looking for a project, I hope you have the time and patience that will be required to find the parts you will need.
There were only about 6500 sold domestically, however there were 10's of thousands produced for foreign contracts
Best of luck

Thanks for your note. I am always looking for a project restoring old firearms and I do have the patience and time. Should I be looking overseas for parts or would a Model 3 or Schofield parts possibly fit?

iby,
There does not appear to be any shoulders in the cylinder chambers. Isn't this an American cylinder? I realize the prawl and diamond SH were primarily found on Russians. Would be even harder to find parts for that although the Russian trigger might work...if you can find one.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Thanks for looking. I can not tell you anything about this revolver since S&W's are not in my wheelhouse. Other than the fact an elderly older friend simply gave it to me since he knew I do restorations of antique guns and no longer had any use for it. The revolver supposedly has been in his family since he was a VERY young boy and is now 96. I have done a lot of older Remington's, Savage's, Marlin's, Colts, Iver Johnson's, and Meriden's but only one modern S&W Model 10. So if you tell me anything about this old gun, I will take your word for it.

Maybe I should de-rust and clean up this old thing and at least get the metal in better condition to look at and maybe someone will more easily recognize it. Or maybe I should turn it into a parts gun and sell all the bits and pieces once they are cleaned up? Any thoughts anyone?

Find the parts and fix it . You won't get one any cheaper . If it were given to me that's what I would do .

Eddie

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Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

I agree that the cylinder does not have shoulders typical of 44 russian chambers but it is very rusty.
Cleaning it up sounds like a good idea.
if it is a 2nd model russian then parts from foreign contracts or domestic should be interchangeable. (S&W manufacture)

P.S.
Hang around until some of the experts reply
Mike

Welcome to the Forum. That gun is quite rusty and I am not sure how many parts you need. Most people that restore these old revolvers start out with one in much better condition, buy one like yours and scavenge parts from it. Perhaps that is what happened to your 44 Russian a long time ago. The Model 3 Russian 2nd Model was made from 1873 to 1878, with about 70,000 Russian contract guns, <7000 commercial guns, 5,000 Japanese guns, and 1,000 Turkish guns made.

The 2nd Model is most easily recognized by the very long ejector rod housing under the barrel and the 7" barrel. It would be helpful if you could decypher the barrel address and patent date stampings on the top of the barrel rib. Some are Russian Cyrillic and others have a "REISSUE" or "RUSSIAN MODEL". It is likely the rust that is preventing one from clearly seeing the slight step in the chambers, but since both the number on the cylinder and butt-frame match, it almost has to be a 44 Russian caliber.

As for parts, it is obvious that no parts have been made by S&W for 150 years, so you will need to contact many suppliers that might, but probably will not have parts you need. Do a search for Jack First gun parts online and you might find something and check with Gun Parts Corp. There are also reproduction Model 3s out there and it is reported that a few reproduction parts will fit an original S&W Russian.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Your serial number "S6449" is not correct. The 'S' might be a 3, 6, 8 or 9. The serial number is the number on the butt. "S" prefixes weren't used by S&W until the mid 1900's. The 1382 numbers are assembly numbers that appear on the left frame under the grips (stocks in S&W lingo), on the rear of the cylinder and on the barrel. Depending upon the Model of the revolver; there were two types of triggers, hammers and cylinder stops. The diamond SH stamp indicates that this revolver was sent to Shyler Hartley in NY; one of S&W's largest distributor at this time.

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Mike Maher #283