Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 in .44 Russian Open top. Antique $4500

Please text anytime 6476871484. Fully functional antique revolver in mechanically perfect and ready to shoot condition ,very good action, no PAL needed. Reloadable ammo is available but sold separately Comes with FRT RCMP paperwork. Smith & Wesson 44New Model No. 3 Top Break, .44 Russian Revolver This one is in very good condition. The the serial numbers match . The action is strong and accurate, and the cylinder indexes and locks properly. The bore of the 6-inch barrel is quite good, with strong rifling. The black hard rubber grips are good and undamaged. Mechanically in excellent condition with proper timing and lockup. The latch is also solid with zero play. Extractor works as it should. SN 5819, very good overall. History & Background Smith and Wesson's first double action design dates back to at least 1872 - years before Colt ever attempted a double action cartridge revolver. It was mentioned in a letter to the Russian envoy General Orlof, and although the sale to Russia never materialized, it served to pave the way for the very popular and successful line of double action top break revolvers. The .44 Russian model was actually the first to be produced as a prototype, and the last to be released for sale to the public. For this reason there exists a degree of confusion over the proper terminology: the first one to be manufactured for sale was the .38 caliber model, followed by the .32. The .44 caliber model was not released until 1881, and is variably known as the No. 3 Double Action, the Double Action "Navy" (a name Daniel Wesson wanted to keep alive to differentiate this model from the No. 3 single action, and still holding out hope to sell it to the Russian navy), and the First Model Double Action. Originally, the .44 Double Action was made with a 1 7/16 inch cylinder, however an optional .44-40 version was available as of 1886. This required a 1 9/16 inch cylinder, and a longer frame. The firm soon realized that it was too expensive and cumbersome to manufacture two different sizes of frames for what was essentially the same gun, and the shorter cylinder and frame were dropped in favour of the longer one in the early 1890's. The No. 3 frame .44 double action top breaks were dropped from the Smith and Wesson catalogue in 1913.