Please help me I.D my .38 top break

[Jugdish]

I have what I believe is a .38 sw top break. I appears to be in nice tight shape with bluing missing where handled. The Serial # is 3441xx* ( the last digit is a star) The top of the barrel is stamped Smith & Wesson springfield mass, USA pat'd may 11 1880' jan 3 1882 april 9 1889. Could i get a date of manufacture and approx value?? Thanks!!

 

[sw44russ]

.38 Double Action 4th Model. Made 1895-1909. Your SN is well within the Pre 1899 Cut Off Point so it is an Antique; the * means the Gun was returned to the Factory at some stage for work and was likely also Refinished. Barrels came in 3 1/2'' 4'' 5'' and 6'' yours looks to be a 5 or 6'' Measure from front face of Cylinder to the Muzzle to confirm.

Nice little Gun, the longer Barrel and Stocks make it a bit nicer than the average.
Value has two levels Wholesale (Gun Show or Private sale) and Full Retail.
Ive seen similar guns go for around $400 full retail
Others here will a better idea of Private sale figures

But then, that Barrel Length could add a lot to its value......6'' is scarce and could double it.

 

[opoefc]

Several close serial numbers were shipped in mid 1897, so the gun is an antique. There will be a date code stamped on the left grip frame to confirm when the gun was repaired/refinished by S&W, such as 7.23 meaning July 1923. The star stamp only indicates the gun was repaired by the factory, and does not guarantee it was refinished, however a refinish was usually included with the repair, usually at no extra charge. The bluing appears somewhat dull in your photo so the gun may had a refinish later in life that was not factory. Do all the numbers match on the latch, barrel, cylinder & frame? If the grips are original to the gun, the serial number will be stamped on the back side of the right panel. Ed.

 

[glowe]

Gold medallion pearl stocks were introduced at the 1893 Chicago Exposition and became standard after the show, so those stocks were either pre-1893 or were added by a distributor or owner after the gun left the factory. S&W put out literature back around the turn of the Twentieth Century that told the buyer to make sure their pearls had the medallion and were not cheap copies.

There were over a half-million 38 Double Action revolvers made, so value is not high. Lots are for sale and only those with very high original finish sell for over $500. Metal looks very sharp and the majority of what would be a suspected factory refinish and for me, a value range of $300 - $400 would be realistic.