Help ID'ing this Model No. 3

[EmTea]

Hello, my name is Matt. I recently come into possession of my great grandfathers old revolver. I'm sure it's a No.3 revolver, what I'm not sure of is the caliber. I took it to a local gun smith and we ruled out it being .41-40 but that's about it. There's no physical markings on the rest of the gun, other than the serial number which is 5880. This same number i printed on the backside of one of the grips. The last patent date is 1880 on the gun. The barrel length is 6". Hopefully this gives you experts enough to go on.

Any help/more information on this gun would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions please let me know. I'll do my best to answer them. I'd like to be able to shoot this thing at least once.

 

[Thuer]

If it is realy in 44-40 it is an .44 double action Frontier model. made between 1886 and 1913.

The standard caliber of a double action model is .44 russian.

But. The best thing is buy the standard catalogus of Smit and Wesson.
There you could find all your answers.

 

[deadin]

What's the length of the cylinder? With that serial number, if it's 1 7/16" it's a .44 Russian (aka .44 DA). If it's 1 9/16", it's a 44/40. (aka Frontier)

 

[EmTea]

If it is realy in 44-40 it is an .44 double action Frontier model. made between 1886 and 1913.

The standard caliber of a double action model is .44 russian.

But. The best thing is buy the standard catalogs of Smith and Wesson.
There you could find all your answers.

Yeah that's my next plan, is to get a book about them. I just kinda hate getting a book for one gun ya know?

What's the length of the cylinder? With that serial number, if it's 1 7/16" it's a .44 Russian (aka .44 DA). If it's 1 9/16", it's a 44/40. (aka Frontier)

I'll have to check that this weekend. I knew I should of measured that.

Thanks for the help. I'll be sure to get this info ASAP.

 

[twaits]

Em Tea, Get the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson. Whether you have one S&W or 100 its worth having because it is so well done and interesting. The newest printing is the 3rd edition and is the best with many full color photos. It may just encourage you to collect more S&Ws!

 

[Texas Star]

Why would you want to own just one S&W? You'll surely buy more?

Reference books are well worth the money. Some people spend more than several good reference books cost just to attend one or two sports or music events. Misplaced priorities, of course.

Money is just money. But a good book is, well, useful!

T-Star

 

[EmTea]

I did the measurement and the cylinder length is somewhere around 1 7/16", or 36mm. So it's my best guess that it is in .44 Russian. Any suggestions on cowboy action ammo?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[twaits]

I did the measurement and the cylinder length is somewhere around 1 7/16", or 36mm. So it's my best guess that it is in .44 Russian. Any suggestions on cowboy action ammo?

Thanks again for the help.

I'd go with Goex black powder ammo or another black powder substitute. Don't fire it with any smokeless no matter how light the load.
I've fired a few rounds of black powder ammo through mine but probably won't fire it again.
If anything breaks its extremely hard to find parts for these.

 

[EmTea]

I'd go with Goex black powder ammo or another black powder substitute. Don't fire it with any smokeless no matter how light the load.
I've fired a few rounds of black powder ammo through mine but probably won't fire it again.
If anything breaks its extremely hard to find parts for these.

Are they really that unsafe to shoot? I'm not about to take this thing out to the range every day but I'd like to be able to put a few rounds through it once and a while.

What if I loaded my own ammo?

 

[twaits]

Are they really that unsafe to shoot? I'm not about to take this thing out to the range every day but I'd like to be able to put a few rounds through it once and a while.

What if I loaded my own ammo?

Not unsafe as long as everything seems tight and you only fire black powder or black powder substiture ammo through it. Don't risk firing any smokeless ammo through it. The steel wasn't designed to handle it. It would be a shame to ruin that nice old revolver.
If you want a revolver that can handle smokeless .44 russian ammo there are modern made single action topbreaks on the market. They are copies of the old S&Ws. You could sell that one and easily afford a newly made gun that you could fire smokeless ammo all day long in.

 

[EmTea]

Not unsafe as long as everything seems tight and you only fire black powder or black powder substiture ammo through it. Don't risk firing any smokeless ammo through it. The steel wasn't designed to handle it. It would be a shame to ruin that nice old revolver.
If you want a revolver that can handle smokeless .44 russian ammo there are modern made single action topbreaks on the market. They are copies of the old S&Ws. You could sell that one and easily afford a newly made gun that you could fire smokeless ammo all day long in.

This gun seems pretty solid. My only concern is that sometimes the cylinder can be loose, while other times there's no play in it's movement at all. I'm not sure if this is just the way it operates or something more serious.

I deferentially don't want to ruin this old gun, but I'm also not one to just display guns. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not what I do.

While selling it is a good idea, I've got enough guns on my wish list that if I did sell it, I would not get anything in .44 Russian. Between this revolver and my SMLE I need a gun I can AFFORD to shoot.