32 tip up revolver. Says has been in his family for a while. Thinks it’s from the early 1880s. Not looking to sell it. Any information you all can provide would be appreciated.










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VCDL, GOA, NRA

3rd model New departure, or Safety Hammerless. Nice little gun, lots made. Has the dreaded broken left grip.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

That is not a tip up; it is a top break.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

Nice little revolver. I had one with very rough nickel plating a long time ago, 1961. They're fun to shoot.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Most likely 1915 -1916 time frame.

Just to keep our terminology straight, S&W refers to revolvers like these as"top breaks." Tip up referred to the very first S&W revolvers where the barrel pivoted up to remove the cylinder to load/unload.

Oops. Bob already covered it.

Thanks folks. I wasn't sure of the terminology. That's why I asked. Yeah I looked at my copy of SCSW and figured the serial # was later than what he said.

4th model instead of 3rd?

This is a .32 Safety Hammerless, 3rd Model. The 211xxx serial number puts it almost perfectly in the middle of the production of this model, which spanned from 1909 to 1937. I concur with the 1915-1916 shipping date estimate, but it's worth noting that guns did not always ship in order of serial number, so that estimate could be off by a few years. And as has already been explained, this is a "top break" gun.

The grip panels were often broken when people would try to pry them off. That said, this is a pretty standard variant of a commonly found model, so the value was never all that high to begin with (maybe two hundred dollars, give or take, in today's market).

Other than the broken grip panel, this gun appears to be unmolested; please encourage your neighbor to keep it that way, and to resist the urge to alter its appearance. It's nice to see survivors like this.

Your neighbor probably doesn't know this ... but when the action is open (as it is in the first and second shots), the cylinder can be removed by holding the latch up (which has a little retaining lip on it) and unscrewing the cylinder from the quill. Make sure the latch doesn't drag on the surface of the cylinder; it'll leave a telltale scrape line that makes collectors cringe.

Mike

Thank you for the information. I knew that this was the right place to come with this.

No problem. With some mild loads, these guns are a hoot to shoot.

Mike

Nice little gun thanks for posting ,first- model I always suspected you were a rapper the " hoot to shoot " statement confirms it .lol

Tell your friend that the revolver could use a good gentle cleaning to halt the rusting that has begun. Lots of oil and a fingernail or very gentle rub with a copper or brass wool pad will knock down the crud. Stocks should be removed as well to get to the grip frame were Mr. corrosion likes to live.

Once cleaned, apply a coat of Renaissance Wax to preserve the metal surface and prevent further rust.

As others have stated, these guns were produced in the hundreds of thousands so collector value is low unless in pristine condition with the original box. They can be shot with light loads and it is kind of cool shooting a gun that is 100 years old.

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James Redfield
LM #497

i just picked up one of these a few months ago, but it's a 2nd Model. Finish is about the same as the one pictured, but the grips on mine were perfect. Paid $250 for it, so as mentioned before, there's not a lot of value to them, but they are an interesting piece of history.

Top break....Tip Down ?