Looking for any information & possible value of this Smith & Wesson gun. It's pat date is January 3, 1880 Springfield, Mass. It also has a April & May date on it (don't have that info on hand at the moment). It's serial # is 343512. Thanks in advance!

Attached Images

	photo.jpg (107.7 KB, 27 views)
	photo1.jpg (120.3 KB, 24 views)

Welcome to the forum. That's called a .38 Double Action, Fourth Model. It was probably shipped from the factory in the late 1890s. If the gun is tight and in good mechanical condition, you could shoot it. You want cartridges called .38 Smith & Wesson -- not .38 Special.

It's probably a good idea to get someone knowledgeable at a gun store or a range to give it a quick going over to make sure it functions properly.

I'd like to tell you this is a rare gun worth big bucks to collectors, but the fact is that S&W made many tens of thousands of this gun in both exposed-hammer and concealed-hammer versions. In almost new condition they can be worth several hundred dollars, but with fairly rough and worn exteriors (like this one), they rarely sell above $200 and can sometimes be found in out of the way places for $100 or even less.

__________________
David Wilson