Origin of a 44 Russian Revolver

[glowe]

I have been working with a European Forum member, Vedran Caktas, on any clues as to who manufactured his 44 Russian. He was able to provide clear photos of the barrel stampings which I forwarded on to Ed Cornett and Charles Pate.

Consensus is that it was likely made in a Russian factory, but not Tula. Ed stated the stamping is in the old form Russian language and guessed that it was made in same obscure Russian armory (not Tula) as a brevette. He noted that the stamping on the rear of the rib roughly read: "Caliber S&W 44 Russian". He also mentioned that the side plate is from another gun as the fit is poor, but probably functional. Charles stated that he had not seen that marking before and had no idea of what its translation might be – or even what language it was?

I thought the revolver might be interesting to 44 Russian collectors and that someone might have the answer as to where it was made?

 

[1780inn]

The Russian on top of barrel translates as "Ludwig Loewe & CO Berlin Germany No. 247. Caliber S&W .44 Russ." It's a Smith and Wesson Russian contract revolver in .44 Russian serial number 247 produced by Ludwig Loewe in Berlin. Side plate looks like it might read (Russian abbreviation?) FBR 1874. In 1870/71 General Alexander Gorloff of the Imperial Russian Embassy visited Smith & Wesson, and placed an order for 41,000 units. In 1872 Grand Duke Alexandrovich also visited the factory to great accolades, resulting over the following years the Imperial Russian Army ordering over 130,000 of this Model Revolver in total. However, the Russian government was across the globe from Smith & Wesson, which meant additional cost and time waiting for revolvers. Shipments could also be disrupted by weather, war, or other issues. This also meant that it was unlikely S&W would be able to enforce litigation, so Russia started contracting European companies to produce the design. In addition, S&W had also angered the Russians by selling arms to Turkey and Japan, enemies of Imperial Russia. So, in 1876 the Russians decided to move No. 3 Russian revolver production from S&W in America to Ludwig Loewe in Berlin (IMA). Loewe was born as Louis Levy in Heiligenstadt, Germany into a Jewish family. He set up Ludwig Loewe Commanditgesellschaft auf Aktien für Fabrikation von Nähmaschinen A.G. in 1869 to produce sewing machines. In 1872 an agreement was reached with the German army to produce rifles for them. Loewe's armaments company was famous in that it held a controlling interest in Waffenfabrik Mauser and so was able to reap financial success from the C96 pistol when Loewe's own Borchardt semi-automatic pistol, designed by employee Hugo Borchardt, was not selling well.
Ludwig Loewe & Company also employed Georg Luger, the inventor of the Luger pistol (as well as the associated gun cartridges) (Wikipedia).

 

[rct269]

Well, the first thing that popped into my head was "Ask, and you shall receive.", and you did, and you did.

It's been noted before, but it bears repeating: The knowledge extant in this forum fair boggles the mind.(!!)

Ralph Tremaine

 

[glowe]

The Russian on top of barrel translates as "Ludwig Loewe & CO Berlin Germany No. 247. Caliber S&W .44 Russ." It's a Smith and Wesson Russian contract revolver in .44 Russian serial number 247 produced by Ludwig Loewe in Berlin . . .

Thank you for the information. I searched Wiki sources, but must have used the wrong terms. I have found several photos of L&L guns, but all of their barrel stamps found were quite different than this revolver. The most common one was done in standard English letters as shown below. A Cyrillic stamping is found on page 178 of the Neal & Jinks book, which is different than this model. One thing that confuses me is the use of number characters within a text format? It seems that all Cyrillic lettering I can find do not insert numbers in the body of their text? Perhaps this means that the English lettering were not Russian contract guns, but rather commercial guns made after their contract was completed with Russia.

One clarification to what you found is that I am sure there was never a contract between S&W and L&L, but the way it was written, one could read that the revolver was a Smith & Wesson. L&L was not associated with S&W. When the S&W contract with Russia ended, it was Russia who contracted with L&L to continue to manufacture this model, almost certainly in violation of S&Ws US patents. Of course, international enforcement of patents in the 1800s was a very difficult thing to do.

 

[NewDeparture]

Both the font type and well-preserved (compared to the rest of the gun) condition of those barrel markings lead me to believe that they might have been added long after the revolver was manufactured. JMHO.

 

[opoefc]

I sort of agree with "New Departure" A fake Tula ? (But for what purpose?) ) Ed

 

[gwpercle]

Well, the first thing that popped into my head was "Ask, and you shall receive.", and you did, and you did.

It's been noted before, but it bears repeating: The knowledge extant in this forum fair boggles the mind.(!!)

Ralph Tremaine

Don't forget Wikipedia !

 

[BMur]

War Relic?

European history is rich with WAR,

Desperation of any country to "fight back" at an invading enemy would stimulate the putting together of such firearms. History is full of them. Last ditch?, the liberator?, old war relic's from the 1870's used during WWI and WWII...all having strange markings on them that nobody alive can translate.....Lost to history is desperation during WAR. Even the Confederates would remove markings on captured Colt's during the Civil War. So who knows? Germans invading Russia? Talk about a desperate fight that was... It's better than a stick or club! Cranking out a bunch of put togethers in a basement to defend your town from invaders!!! How many times did that happen in Europe??? Countless!!!

Murph

 

[oxi81]

Both the font type and well-preserved (compared to the rest of the gun) condition of those barrel markings lead me to believe that they might have been added long after the revolver was manufactured. JMHO.

+1. Font type is too much modern