Third Model Russian Value

[HoundDog316]

aka Model Number 3 Russian Third Model, in .44 S&W Russian caliber. It has a 6 1/2 inch barrel, the Ludwig Loewe Cyrillic marking, double eagle, L stamp, circled II, and S/N 93xxx. It appears to be for a Russian Contract given to Germany, but lacks any Russian inspector marks (that I can find). But I think this was made in Germany and not by S&W.

I welcome feedback, and especially any estimate of value.

 

[oxi81]

Yes, made in Germany by Ludwig Loewe, intially for the russian army contract, but a part of the production has been sold on the commercial market. Yours is one of them.
An estimate of its value is useless as I'm in Europe, but here, such a revolver can reach 2000/2500 euros when in beautiful shape as yours.

 

[glowe]

A couple things should be cleared up with regards to this model. It is not a Smith & Wesson. It is not a Model 3, 3rd Model, and is actually a forgery. At best it should be called an unauthorized copy, along with the later Tula copies that followed. Ludwig Loewe was the company that almost put S&W out of business by the opinion of one of our departed long-time members, Sal Raimondi. He once reported that Ludwig Loewe made unauthorized copies for Russia, replacing Smith & Wesson as contractors to Russia. That did not last long, since Russia ultimately decided to produce the revolver at Tula. It seems that &W made a sale to Turkey, who was an enemy of Russia, so Russia contracted Ludwig Loewe to replace the US made revolvers and refused to pay for the last shipment sent from S&W to Russia, nearly bankrupting the company.

Sal further stated that the Ludwig Loewe 44 Russian was not a terrible copy but not near as sturdy as the genuine S&W manufactured guns whereas the Tula Arsenal copy was a outstanding quality gun. Some serious S&W Model 3 collectors feel the Tula Arsenal copy met and exceeded the quality of the genuine S&W.


There are quite a few recent sales of this model online and the range is between $1300 and $1900. One example on Gunbroker sold for $1875 recently, in spite of the fact that the seller valued the gun at $3,500-$4,500.

Attention Required! | Cloudflare

The highest priced example I have seen was at RIA, an almost flawless refinish that sold for $6900.

Loewe Ludwig & Co Russian Revolver 44 Russian | Rock Island Auction

You can best compare your gun in-hand by using examples of others that have sold to determine value.

 

[HoundDog316]

Thanks for the info. I suspected this was a patent infringement, although it is unclear from the books I have, including three authored/co-authored by Roy, if this contract was authorized by S&W. What you state makes sense, especially in light of the war. I've read that it was expensive and of limited success for S&W to sue for patent infringements/evasions, so maybe they just let this one go?

And thanks for the value estimates--maybe I should try to sell it in Europe! The auction info helps, too. As a collector I don't like to think about selling...

 

[John in AK]

I suspected this was a patent infringement, although it is unclear from the books I have, including three authored/co-authored by Roy, if this contract was authorized by S&W.

No, S&W did not allow Loewe to build replicas of their revolvers!

The Russian government, being Russian, did not want to pay S&W's prices, but were not yet able to produce enough reverse-engineered copies of their own at Tula Arsenal. As they needed revolvers NOW, they arranged for Loewe to do the same, and to start turning out Loewe copies of Tula copies of S&Ws. Both Tula and Loewe revolvers are very nearly, if not equally, as good as the original S&Ws.

The Russian government, by the way, was also quite miffed at S&W selling revolvers to the Turks, who were (and are) their hereditary enemies.

As a result, S&W was left with several thousand unsold and somewhat unpopular revolvers, which they remarked and marketed commercially. They barely staved off bankruptcy, going from THE major handgun-producing company in the US to something very much smaller.