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Make: Smith & Wesson
Model: Tool Room 2nd Model Russian (New Model Russian or Model No. 3 Russian, 2nd Model)
Serial Number: NSNV
Year of Manufacture: 1869
Caliber: .44 S&W Russian
Action Type: Single Action Revolver with Top Break Barrel
Markings: none
Barrel Length: The barrel has a full-length top rib and 7” in length.
Sights / Optics: The front sight is not installed as one might expect with a tool room example. It is, however, machined and drilled to accept the blade we would expect to see. The rear sight is a “U” in a rise in the barrel latch.
Stock Configuration & Condition: There are no grips on this model and it was never completed outside of the tool room.
Type of Finish: In the White ( Un-Finished)
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is bright and the rifling is well defined. There is no erosin or pitting in the bore. This bore rates 10/10 in this writer’s opinion.
Overall Condition: This handgun retains about 99% of its original “in the white” metal finish. There are scattered spots that have oxidized. There is heavy oxidation on the sides of the grip frame. There are some little surface scratches from handling. There is a patina on the trigger guard. The screw heads are tool marked with serviceable slots. Overall, this handgun rates in about excellent condition.
Mechanics: The action works correctly. The cylinder lockup produces some side to side play. We did not fire this handgun. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: A large folio of biographical and historical documents accompanies the revolver including a notarized 2008 dated affidavit by the previous owner (a retired FBI Special Agent) attesting to the fact that Charles Alonzo King was his great-grandfather and that this was a tool room and property of King who retained it in his possession when he left Smith & Wesson in1874 to assume the duties of superintendent at Parker Bros. in Meridian, CT.
Our Assessment: This mechanically complete, soft steel, 2nd Model Russian revolver is in the white with visible milling and polishing marks and crisp edges and borders. The revolver has never had any roll markings applied and possesses the distinctive ”Knuckle” trigger guard spur so recognizable on the later Russian Model revolvers. This may indeed be the very first example to exhibit those features. The hammer and trigger guard are similar to the rest of the revolver and fashioned from soft un-hardened steel with an identical dull grey patina throughout, only intercepted by a few light specks of freckling here and there. The revolver has been milled to accept a front sight, grip pins, and a lanyard swivel. These attributes have never been fitted or added to the revolver.
A large folio of biographical and historical documents accompanies the revolver including a notarized 2008 dated affidavit by the previous owner (a retired FBI Special Agent) attesting to the fact that Charles Alonzo King was his great-grandfather and that this was a tool room and property of King who retained it in his possession when he left Smith & Wesson in1874 to assume the duties of superintendent ta Parker Bros. in Meridian, CT. The revolver was given to him by his grandfather (King’s Son-in-Law).
Charles King was born in Franklin, CT in 1837 and began a lifelong journey of work with machinery at a shop in Norwich before moving to Tracy & Brand who manufactured guns, harpoons, and darts for the whaling industry. At the start of the American Civil War, he entered into a partnership with Otis A. Smith to manufacture musket components on government contract. At the end of the hostilities of the nation he went into private business before being hired in 1867 to be the superintendent of Smith & Wesson in Springfield.
King was an applaudable administrator and even more talented designer. He held numerous patents and worked very closely with Daniel Wesson on the design of the large frame Smith and Wesson No.3 revolvers. The ratchet ejector system still used today was indeed designed and patented by King who sold the rights to Smith & Wesson (picture of the design are included in the plethora of knowledge printed in the folio).
The 2nd Model Russian revolver, incorporating all the design changes mandated by the Russian Government and embodied in this example, were barely a year into production when Parker Bros. managed to hire him away to manage and improve shotgun production for them.
When Smith & Wesson began making centerfire top break revolvers in 1870, they named the large framed .44 Model “No. 3”. This was followed by the .38 Model No. 2 in 1876 and the .32 Model No. 1 ½ 1878, based on frame sizes, not date of manufacture. All were made first in single action, and later double action models were added. The single action versions of the Model 3 were made in four distinct groups: Americans, Russians, Schofields and New Models. The Russian models are distinguished by having a round butt grip frame with extreme knuckle, a barrel latch mounted on the top strap vs. on the frame, and were in .44 caliber with 6 ½ or 7” barrels. This is a S&W No. 3 Russian 2nd Model, with a 7” barrel chambered in .44 S&W Russian.
It is a well documented tool-room prototype of a model that would go on to change the face of the planet. The S&W top break revolvers were made in so many models, sub-models and variants, it is almost impossible for a collector to acquire one of each, making all of the models collectable, but this one is truely a one off. S&W top break collectors already having one of these revolvers in their collection will want to bid on this one.