I.D. help sought for two-barreled top-break combo

[Arman4461]

Hello folks,
This is my second foray into the Top-Breaks. Today, I picked up an interesting combo pistol, and a Nickel .38 to boot. I need to ask for help on the Combo gun, since it is the first I have seen in the wild. Pics attached. Info found:
Serial #173472*
Blued, 10" .22 Long Rifle Single-Shot barrel with Windage Adjustable Rear and bead? Front sights. Excellent Bore. Exterior has blue missing everywhere, and several rusty areas, some kindly call Patina. It needs a polish and re-blue.
Windage screw on right side is MIA. Tiny thing. Where to find one?
Bore is very nice with strong rifling throughout. Shiny after I cleaned it.
Rear Sight is a "U" Notch.
Single-Line Address on barrel rib. No Patent Dates.
Left Side Grip Frame stamped 5.46 and 3.14 at bottom of frame.
Barrel Latch stamped with Number 1127 on Rt. Side of Latch.
Plastic Grips in Excellent condition. Inside Rt Grip numbers 44059 with a 6 above the 9.

This assembly is nice and tight, the latch functions well, and the trigger/action does as well.
If I won't harm it, I would like to shoot it with my SK+ SV ammo after I acquire a screw for the Windage blade on the rear sight?

The .38 S&W Barrel assembly is a 5" barrel, Blued and in much finer finish condition. Does not appear to have been used much. The .22LR barrel did the work.
Bright bore with strong rifling. Cylinder is stamped with frame's Serial #173472, as is the center post of the Latch. Cylinder appears to have holster wear, as does the fringe of the muzzle.
Star on the frame's serial number means?
I assume that the .22 barrel is an after-purchase add-on, since the number doesn't match the frame?
Is this gun worthy of a Letter?
Thanks for your advice!
Arman

 

[raljr1]

I am confused by the info in your post. I see a single shot 22, and a 38 barrel and cylinder. These two don't make a combo. Is there a single shot barrel in 38 that isn't shown?

 

[1891SingleShot]

It appears that you have a .38 Double Action revolver that someone put together with a single shot barrel from a 2nd Model Single Shot, as the barrel lacks the 'Model of 91' marking on the top and the barrel's serial number falls within the 2nd Model Single Shot range.

 

[raljr1]

It appears that you have a .38 Double Action revolver that someone put together with a single shot barrel from a 2nd Model Single Shot, as the barrel lacks the 'Model of 91' marking on the top and the barrel's serial number falls within the 2nd Model Single Shot range.

Will the revolving cylinder work with the single shot frame?? I would think that the single shot frame would not have a hand to rotate the cylinder.

Robert

 

[ol777gunnerz]

info

Will the revolving cylinder work with the single shot frame?? I would think that the single shot frame would not have a hand to rotate the cylinder.

Robert

The model of 1891 revolver frames all had hands, they were originally that way for the combo sets. All model 1891 revolver frames, barrels & parts were made in 1891. The single shot barrels were made a short time later.

 

[AlHunt]

It was back to the factory in 1914 and 1946. I wonder why ...

Also how does the firing pin line up with both rimfire and centerfire? Something must be offset.

 

[ol777gunnerz]

info

As shown are my single shots: 2nd Model 22lr beside my 1st Model 32 S&W, which shows the back of the 22 bore sits lower in the back of the barrel while centered at the front, the 32 at the right is centered at the chamber and thru the barrel. Also shown is the working hand on the 32 S&W, utilizing the gap between the back of the chamber & the frame for clearance for a cylinder as well.

 

[Arman4461]

AlHunt,
How do you know that it went back to the factory twice, and the dates it did so?
Do you determine the .22LR barrel's mfg date by the address and look of the barrel, or some other way?
I am basically ignorant about these pistols, other than the DA/SA 4th model that I shoot occasionally with hand-loaded black powder cartridges. I know how to load for them, and what is under the side-plate and how it works, but not how to figure out the mfg dates and re-blues and such.

 

[Arman4461]

I am confused by the info in your post. I see a single shot 22, and a 38 barrel and cylinder. These two don't make a combo. Is there a single shot barrel in 38 that isn't shown?

I probably misused the word "Combo". I didn't know for sure if these guns were made with CF and RF barrels as a unit, just assumed that the were. If they were made as .38 and .32 CF barreled combinations, I had no idea. This is the first of these guns that I have seen with two barrels that would work as a CF and RF, much less any that had two different caliber barrels of CF persuasion.
The responses so far make we wonder if I should letter the gun, and if I could possibly use the .22LR barrel on my DA/SA 4th Model .38?

 

[mmaher94087]

"Left Side Grip Frame stamped 5.46 and 3.14 at bottom of frame."

 

[Arman4461]

"Left Side Grip Frame stamped 5.46 and 3.14 at bottom of frame."

And here I thought these were merely assembler's marks. Thanks for the education!

 

[mmaher94087]

Apology to AlHunt for answering for him. The star after the serial number indicates a ride back to the factory for a repair or refinish. The left frame stamps indicate the month and year that 'something' was done. The star can be interpreted as an indication of the return to the factory which would keep an unscrupulous dealer from selling the gun as new especially with a factory reblue or replate.

 

[rct269]

As an aside, the SS sights are adjustable for both windage and elevation-----the elevation screw being underneath.

And as another aside, the windage setting is more like movable and less like adjustable----think of it as crude, but better than nothing.

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Arman4461]

I spent a few hours looking at the two .38 S&W Top Breaks and the .22 Rimfire barrel today. The .22 barrel has the caliber designation on the left side, and the S&W address on the top of the rib. The front sight appears in the company periodicals from that time, as does the rear adjustable, but they are listed under a section on centerfire pistols. My barrel is missing the tiny right-side set screw for the blade adjustment. My barrel did not extract nor eject, so I swapped the frame's original 5" barrel back onto its frame. This frame, which has been back for rework, has no S&W trademark logo. I assume this means it was polished off during a refinish at some time?
I found the joint of the .22 barrel to be missing the tiny spring and small sliding metal piece that retains the spring and motivates the extractor. When I installed the missing parts, using parts taken from another gun, the extractor worked fine. It did not eject a snap cap, but I don't know if it was designed to do so. If it is, I will have to find out why it does not eject.
The barrel is not an Olympic chamber model. If I can find a screw to replace the missing sight screw, I will need to see how well it shoots.
This is so interesting that I joined the Historical Society today. It appears a bug has bitten me����‍

 

[AlHunt]

Apology to AlHunt for answering for him.

No problem at all - it's the internet. OP got the info he needed, that's all that matters.

 

[AlHunt]

This is so interesting that I joined the Historical Society today. It appears a bug has bitten me����‍

Now if you letter the gun, then the Historical Society can look and see if they have any other documents (maybe related to those 2 trips back to the factory).

I'm living vicariously through you while I keep an eye out for my first antique S&W.