Watching an auction today and I saw a 3rd model Russian go for quite a bit. I drug out my example to compare and I noticed that the trigger guard on the auction gun had no spur and looked like an American. Then I realized that my revolver had a hammer that looked like a 2nd American or a !st Russian. I looked a bunch of images and found no other 3rd models with that type of hammer.
Any thoughts on this anomaly?
Mike.
P.S. I haven't learned how to post pics.
Can't help with your question but posting photos is fairly simple. There are probably somewhere between 100 and a million threads on how to do it.
If the photo is stored on your computer then it is not hard. Unlike Photosucket, there are no fees and you will never have the image disappear from your post because Photosucket lost it or the site went down.
Scroll down below any message reply area and there is a heading marked MANAGE ATTACHMENTS. Click on it and a window will open and in the upper left corner it says CHOOSE FILE. Click on that and it should take you to the photos stored on your computer. Find the photo that you wish to post and OPEN it. You will be brought back to the first window where you chose the file and there is a box marked UPLOAD. Click on that and the photo will be uploaded to your post. Do that as many times as you have photos to post. May limit you to 5 per post.
Hit SUBMIT REPLY below your post and with any luck the photos will appear in your post.
They will appear as thumbnails and can be enlarged two times by clicking on the photo.
I understood that the 2nd American/1st Russian were the same gun but for chambering. Maybe the hammer in your gun was a contemporary replacement, but I really know nothing of interchangeability among the various #3s. Anybody ?
Mike.
The gun is in very fine condition and the hammer is also very fine however, the hammer is not the same design as all the others I have looked at. It is the earlier design of the American models.
I removed the side plate to inspect but I saw no evidence of adaptation. I am baffled
OK, I had to put mine side by side to see the difference. I now agree that you have what appears to be a 2nd Model hammer in a 3rd Model revolver. This is probably another example of S&W not wasting any parts.
The First Model American has a hammer without the notch for the latch and has a hammer activated cylinder stop.
ALL 1st Contract Imperial Russian revolvers have the notch and a hammer activated cylinder stop. The hammer with the notch was introduced into the commercial production some where between serials 6466 and 6744. This hammer also featured the hammer activated stop.
The trigger activated cylinder stop was introduced with the 2nd Russian Contract and the Second Model Russian revolver.
The trigger activated stop was introduced into commercial production revolvers at about serial range 18634-19175. This new hammer was shaped like the earlier commercials with constant thickness, but without the lug for the hammer activated stop.
In any case the hammer found in the late 1st model (3rd model American?) production would likely interchange into a Second or Third Model Russian.
I cannot see Smith & Wesson producing Third Model revolvers with the old hammer style unless it was a special order. My suspicion is that the early hammer in a Third Model would be a replacement part and not original.
Hammer details from a 1st Contract Russian (First Model Russian) and a 2nd Contract Russian (Second Model Russian)
Joe
