Welcome to the Forum. Your revolver is called a 44 Double Action, 1st Model, manufactured from 1881 to 1913 in serial number range 1 to 54,668. It has the early short cylinder, 1 7/16". In 1886, the 44 DA Frontier was manufactured in 44 Winchester (44-40), requiring a longer cylinder to accept the longer cartridge. That cylinder was 1 9/16" long. After the short cylinders/frames in inventory were used up, the 44 Russian also went to the longer cylinder. Ship dates for this model are guesses at best since they did not ship in serial number order and were not in high demand. The single-action shooters were slow to change and by the early 1900s, these large caliber guns were replaced by solid frame revolvers. Since it is a family heirloom, get the historical letter so when passed on, the letter can go with the gun.
These are beautifully designed and crafted as were their main competitors, Colt Lightning and Thunderer DA revolvers, but none of these models gained much success and ended up as transition revolvers from the single-action days to the introduction of the solid frame revolvers.
I am curious if you know what the implement is below the barrel of the revolver?