Smith and Wesson #3. Commonly known as the Russian.
Nice handgun, but I prefer my Colt Pythons.
“Smith and Wesson #3. Commonly known as the Russian.” [Georgia Girl 2, post 10]
“...In my opinion, they were a good revolver for their time, but they have a reputation for getting dirty and refusing to work. They have a number of precisely fitted parts...” [marktwain, post 9]
“...I can’t get them {44 Russian} to cycle through my 44 Mag lever guns...” [karbine, post 14]
Smith & Wesson’s No. 3 was the first large frame revolver made in America designed from the start to chamber centerfire metallic cartridges. Available a couple year’s before Colt’s Single Action Army, it never attained a similar domestic sales volume. Most were sold on contract to the Imperial Russian government, but not all production was termed the “Russian Model;” to judge by the photo, this Presidential handgun is a New Model 3. Production ceased about 1912.
A modified version designed by George Schofield (brother of John M Schofield, Secretary of War, CG US Army) was adopted as a substitute standard revolver. The War Dept purchased several thousand. Chambered in a 45 cal cartridge slightly shorter than that for Colt’s SAA, the “Schofield Model” earned a reputation for better accuracy but (as marktwain noted) was a bit more delicate and somewhat trickier to work on. And as a hinged frame gun, it was weaker than the solid-frame Colt. Schofields were sold as surplus to Wells Fargo.
The 44 Russian cartridge - the first big-bore round loaded with an inside-lubricated projectile - was developed specifically for the guns sold to the Russian government but soon gained a reputation Stateside for superior accuracy. It became the choice of many handgun competitors in the late 19th century; 200-yd matches were said to be be common. The 44 Special, introduced by S&W in 1907, was its direct descendant. The 44 Magnum round became its grandchild. And the 444 Marlin was a still later offshoot.
Lever actions are notoriously fussy when it comes to feeding cartridges of non-standard length.
Winchester 73 is impossible if fed shorter-than-standard rounds; some Winchester 92s chambered for 44 Magnum feed 44 Russian and Special OK, and some won’t. Same goes for the Marlin 94; my own feeds great but groups abysmally when firing unjacketed bullets (Micro-Groove rifling). I once owned a Rossi 92 in 357 but gave up after 20 years - it never would feed 38 Special. Trying to duplicate the title sequence of “The Rifleman” TV series was a non-starter.
Before this RIA sale, I was not aware that Theodore Roosevelt had ever owned a No. 3. The price is assuredly impressive, but still has a ways to go to equal the RIA auction of a few years ago, where the highest condition Walker Colt initially sold into the civilian trade fetched some $2,600,000.00 if memory serves. Provenance of that was unimpeachable: bought by a Danish ship’s captain. The original bill of sale accompanied it, signed by Sam Colt himself.