When the Model #3 came forth was the caliber .44 Rim Fire ?
How long was these offered in .44 Rim Fire ?

According to Pate's book, S&W American Model, the first sales of the 44RF were made on August 16, 1870 and last sales was December, 1875. Between 3800 to 4200 were made according to Pate.

__________________
Gary
SWCA 2515

A twist on this is that when the Colt revolvers that came out shortly after the Rollin White patent ,owned by S&W ran out in 1869 , the Colt 1871-2 Open Top Breech Loaders, chambered in .42Stetson and the .42S&W, were called .42S&W caliber in the Colt records, as .42 was the bore measure of the distance between the lands. Winchester also occasionally referred to the caliber of the Model 1866 as .42 for the same reason. Further history of the .42S&W is described in my SWCA Jounal article " The Mystery of the .42 Smith & Wesson Center Fire Cartridge' , circa 1999. Ed

From what I understand the original .44 Rimfire was the .44 Henry. Introduced in 1860 for the Henry Rifle. Then continued in use with the introduction of the 1866 Winchester (Yellow Boy). Used at the battle of Little Big horn.

Besides the Smith & Wesson Model 3 the Colt Open top and Conversions also chambered this cartridge. Early 1873 Colt Single Action Army revolvers also chambered this cartridge. Many of those are converted to chamber the 44 WCF with significant value loss. In fact I've seen Smith & Wesson's converted to fire the centerfire .44 also.


Murph