Is this a S&W?

[K.R._Rabbit]

Hello Forum,
I have put some money down on a revolver that I thought was a S&W model 3 in .44 Russian. I realized this revolver was not collectable but my plan was to pick it up and load some original style ammo and shoot this revolver. It would be the oldest S&W in my collection, not a real collectable gun but one that would be fun to play with and own.
Now I am not sure it is a S&W. The store owner thought the gun had been refinished in the past and the original marking had been removed. There are a few very faint markings on this revolver and I would like your take on this piece.

 

[jleiper]

It was made at Tula in Russia around 1890. It was later part of a shipment of No.3s sent by Russia to Montenegro some time around the turn of the century. I have the details but need to look them up. It definitely has historical value if you understand the history.
Joe

 

[K.R._Rabbit]

Hello Joe,
Thank you for the information. Can you please tell me anymore, I am disappointed this gun is not an original S&W but your information is intriguing. Since this gun has a few issues and I am not paying much for it, I will still pick it up. The bore is pretty good and I plan on shooting it with the original style black powder loads.
Mark

 

[jleiper]

From my notes:

The Montenegro Contract Mark

During production of the Russian Military contracts at Smith & Wesson the Russians purchased a set of inspection gauges for the third model No. 3. As early as 1876 Ludwig Loewe in Berlin was tooling up to produce the No.3. The reasons for the Russians to move production from Springfield to Berlin are undocumented but there were 2 likely reasons; First, the possibilities of shipments being cut off as happened in the Crimean War with Colt 1851 Navies being stopped in Prussia, Second Smith and Wesson was doing business with both Turkey and Japan. Russia would fight Turkey in 1877-78 and Japan in 1905. They simply didn’t like S&W doing business with the enemy.
The tooling to produce the revolvers at Ludwig Loewe was probably purchased from Greenwood and Bately in England. (Question: who paid for that tooling? The Russians had already done business with Greenwood and Bately when they purchased tooling for the Berdan II in 1870).
The Russians placed 2 contracts with Ludwig Loewe for a total of 105,000 third model No. 3 revolvers. These contracts were delivered by 1884. The Russians also purchased an unknown quantity of commercially marked No. 3s. There is no record of Ludwig Loewe or the Russians ever buying a license to produce the No.3 from Smith & Wesson.
In 1884(?) the Russians bought the tooling to manufacture the third model Smith & Wesson revolver from Ludwig Loewe and installed it at the Tula Arms Factory. Production began in 1886 and continued until at least 1893 and there are some reports that production continued as late as 1903 (Ezell). Serial numbers on the Tula manufactured S&Ws are sequential and run throughout the production and do not start over each year like the later M1895 Nagant revolvers. Given this, the latest barrel dates and highest serial numbers indicate that production was pretty well done by 1893. There is a “floater” with a date of 1897 and a serial of 31XXX but the highest serial observed is 35XX9 and this gun is dated 1889. One source says that there were a total of 31,435 total S&W revolvers produced at Tula but serials into the 35XXX range have been observed. Other sources claim over 100,000 produced at Tula (some sources as much as 300,000!) but surviving examples do not bear this out. It would make sense that revolvers were made in at least limited quantity at the Tula Weapons Factory (TOZ) until 1896 or 1897 because manufacture of the M1895 Nagant began in 1898.
Since the Ludwig Loewe and Tula production were made to the original Smith & Wesson inspection gauges they are all parts interchangeable. An example is known of a commercial frame made at Smith & Wesson with a Tula 1890 dated barrel.


Markings
Revolvers manufactured at Tula are marked with the factory name roll stamped on the top of the barrel rib, followed by the year of manufacture, the serial number and then, usually, an acceptance mark. The normal acceptance mark at a Russian arsenal by this period of time was still a small double headed eagle, but instead of the inspector’s initials there is an Accepting Commission or ПК mark (ПК stands for Приемная Комиссия).


Address line example:
ИМПЕРАТОРСКІЙ тулскскій оружейный заводъ 1886г. № 37
IMPERIAL tula weapons factory 1886 № 37


An interesting mark found on the right front of revolvers over about serial 12000 from 1889 is an ‘M’ on its side with a crown. This is seen on most, if not all, revolvers produced at Tula till the end of production. It is reputed to indicate a contract produced for Montenegro.

Your revolver is marked with the crown 'M' and what is left of the acceptance mark. There would have originally been a mark on the left side above the grip plate with another acceptance eagle.

This revolver is about 100 serials away 21126
Joe

 

[K.R._Rabbit]

Hello Joe,
All I can say is, Thank you sir!
Great research, this website continues to answer all of my collecting questions.
I picked up the revolver today, the bore was dirty but not bad at all. The cylinder has been scratched from removing the cylinder and scratching the cylinder sides with the cylinder catch. The revolver has been refinished and that is why most of the markings have been removed. The safety catch on the hammer will need to be fixed, at the half cock, any pressure on the rear of the hammer will cause the hammer to fall. I will turn the revolver over to a local man and have the hammer fixed. Because of all of these issues, the cost of this revolver was within my budget. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase, I plan on loading up some black powder loads and bringing this revolver back to life. By the way, I slugged the bore, it was .429, and I just happen to have a .429 sizing die!
Mark