Smith & Wesson 44 Double Action, .44 Russian Revolver, 6-Inch Barrel. Antique $3200
- Category
- Firearms Handguns
- Classification
- No PAL Required
- Action
- Revolver
- Condition
- Very Good
- Manufacturer
- Smith & Wesson
- Caliber
- 44 Russian
- Model
- 44 Russian
- Sight
- open
- Capacity
- 6
- Hand
- Right Handed or Ambidextrous
Please text anytime 6476871484. Fully functional antique revolver in good condition. No license required.
RCMP FRT papers available.
Smith & Wesson 44 Double Action only, .44 Russian Revolver, 6-Inch Barrel.
The gun has been modified for close range fast action with shorter hammer stroke and lighter trigger pull, single action was disabled making it not suitable as target revolver but making it faster and more efficient as close range self defense weapon and side arm. This .44 Double Action is in fine condition. It retains original blue. The action is good and the bore of the 6 inch barrel has distinct and complete rifling . The rare wooden grips are undamaged. The case colors on the hammer and trigger are still vibrant. The extractor works as it should.
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.
