I bought these two recently and must admit, these older models are quite intriguing and surely there are more to follow if some more should make it over to my side of the Atlantic.

From what I could gather (not sure when they were made):
.32 Safety Hammerless 1st Model, S/N 85466
Model No. 3 Russian 2nd Model, S/N 6330

The Safety Hammerless must have been reblued recently imho. Plus the extractor star looks like it has just left the factory.
The front sight doesn't look original either.
I think it needs repairing since when I pull the trigger the firing pin doesn't protrude out of the firing pin bushing / hole.

The Russian was made in the US, shipped to Russia and later converted to .22lr. I hope I can shoot it this week.


Antique S&W by swaficionado, on Flickr

Lovely to look at delightful to hold! All a man could ask for, good show!

Well let's see, your 32 is actually a 38 Safety so that makes it a 3rd Model. On the plus side, it sure looks original finish to me, but the front sight has likely been changed out. The company did sell target sights and is it possible it could have been ordered with that sight, but normal front sights were half-round and pinned. The hammer on the Safety revolvers had a spring inside that kept them retracted and the internal hammer was rebounding. Best way to check is to take a piece of soft wood and hold it against the recoil shield and pull the trigger. If there, the pin will leave a dent in the wood. The firing pin on these revolver did break from time to time and can be purchased here in the US at gunpartscorp.com

As for the 44 Russian, the front of the barrel rib has either been ground off, or the gun is a European copy of a 44 Russian. Could you take a picture of the top rib to see the stamping? If a S&W, things have been done with it to change the finish, as the sideplate is a totally different color, and the barrel rib has been altered.

The 38 Safety would have shipped from the factory 1893-1894 and the 44 Russian is a little more problematic. It likely would have left the factory around 1874 if it has Russian stamping on the barrel rib, but maybe later if commercial?? Let us know what the rib stamping says?

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Gary
SWCA 2515

You will find these older S&Ws to be very addictive, however their availability in the European market can be very frustrating due to various laws as well as pricing. You are correct that the front sight on the Safety Hammerless has been altered. The .22 conversion depends a lot on the skill of the gunsmith that did the work but does make the gun a fun shooter at affordable ammo. prices. Enjoy your purchases ! Ed

Hello helmsp, a resident of my favorite city, Wein.
Nice pair of S&Ws. best

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Garry, thank you so much for those great informations.

So odd that its in fact a .38 and not .32. My friend bought it at a quite reputable auction house here and sold it to me yesterday. They auctioned it as a .32 and our state police HQ registered it as a .32 as well. This will be tough to re-register...
Usually there are roll marks on the barrel which informs about the caliber but in this case the barrel is clean on both sides.

Here are the pictures you requested, hope it helps.

Russian:





Hammerless:

The easiest way to tell the difference between the 32 and 38 in pictures is to look at where the front of the cylinder stops. All 32s stop just behind the front of the trigger guard and all 38s stop just in front of the guard. Sorry for the news, but if you buy ammo, best to know what caliber. The barrel stamping did not start until the 1890s up to the very early 1900s depending on model. The 38 looks very much like original finish.

Your 44 Russian was indeed a Russia contract model showing the Cyrillic script barrel stamping, and seldom seen here in the US. Even in Europe I would expect them to be quite rare. 70,000 were shipped to Russia but most think that very few survived.

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Gary
SWCA 2515