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A brief primer on the five separate large Smith and Wesson Top Break revolvers built on the #3 sized frame. They were all built on the large #3 sized frame, but they were all different in shape.
First came the American Model. This was the first Top Break revolver Smith and Wesson made, once the Rollin White patent for revolvers with chambers bored through for cartridges expired in 1869. The design was revolutionary, when the revolver was broken open and the barrel rotated down to load, the extractor automatically rose and lifted the fired cartridges up. As the barrel was rotated all the way the extractor snapped back down and the fired cartridges fell free, allowing the revolver to be reloaded quickly. Chambered for 44 Henry Rimfire and 44 S&W American, which used a heeled bullet. Made from 1870 until 1872. Identification features: The grip is almost straight up and down, and the American Model had the longest extractor housing under the barrel of all the #3 Top Breaks.
Note: This is not actually an American Model, it is a First Model Russian, which looked exactly like the American Model, the only difference being the American Model was chambered for the 44 S&W American cartridge with its heeled bullet, the 1st Model Russian was chambered for the 44 Russian cartridge. This one left the factory in 1873. The barrel has been cut down and a coin has been substituted for the front sight.
A replica of the American Model is currently being manufactured by Uberti and sold by Cimarron.
Next came the Russian Model. Built for export to Russia as well as Turkey and Japan. This is the model the 44 Russian cartridge was created for. Unlike the earlier S&W 44 American cartridge, which used a heeled bullet the same outside diameter as the cartridge case, the 44 Russian cartridge used a bullet the same diameter as the
inside of the cartridge case. This meant the bullet could have its grease grooves completely encased inside the brass, unlike heeled bullets which carried their bullet lube on the outside, just like modern 22 Rimfire ammunition. The 44 Russian cartridge was the first 'modern' cartridge to have a bullet the same diameter as the inside of the case. Which also created the precedent of a '44' caliber revolver having a groove diameter or .429, just like the later 44 Special and 44 Magnum cartridges. This is a Second Model Russian. Identification features are the large hump, or 'knuckle' on the grip, and the spur on the trigger guard. The Third Model Russian had the addition of a knurled wheel on the top strap to help make removing the cylinder easier. The modern replicas of the Russian revolver are 3rd Models. All told, over 150,000 Russian models were made in the three versions, between 1871 and 1878.
This one left the factory in 1875.
The Schofield Model had a redesigned latch for the barrel. The previous models had the latch mounted on the top strap. Colonel George Schofield modified the latch on an American Model to make it easier for a mounted trooper to open the revolver and reload with one hand. His latch was mounted to the frame, rather than the top strap. Schofield patented his latch design. As mentioned earlier, the shorter 45 Schofield cartridge was approved by the Army for this revolver. Smith and Wesson had to pay Schofield a royalty for every revolver they produced with his latch. Daniel Wesson directed his engineers to come up with a new barrel latch that could get around Schofield's patent, but the Schofield Model was only produced from 1875 until 1878 in two different models with a total of just under 9,000 made in both models. The model was not in production long enough for the S&W engineers to come up with a work around for Schofield's latch. Identification features are the serpentine shaped barrel latch mounted to the frame, and the curved grip.
This 1st Model Schofield shipped in 1875.
The best of all the S&W #3 Top Breaks was the New Model Number Three. Chambered for a total of 17 different cartridges, but the most popular chambering was the 44 Russian. Cataloged from 1878 until 1908, but all frames were manufactured before 1899, so they all qualify as antiques. The barrel latch returned to the earlier style mounted to the top strap. The grip was reshaped with just a small 'knuckle' on it. This model had a rebounding hammer that automatically pulled the hammer and firing pin back slightly when the trigger was released. Several different models were made, including two models with longer cylinders to chamber the 44-40 and 38-40 cartridge, although there were only about 2,000 made chambered for 44-40 and only 74 made chambered for 38-40. A total of over 47,000 New Model Number Threes were made. A spur on the trigger guard was an option with this model, which can make it easy to confuse with the Russian model, but the frames were shaped very differently.
This one is chambered for 44 Russian and left the factory in 1896.
The 44 Double Action was the only double action revolver S&W built on the large #3 sized frame. Over 53,000 were made between 1881 and 1913, but again all frames were made prior to 1899, so they are all classified as antiques. Again, 44 Russian was the most common chambering, but 15,000 were chambered for 44-40 and 276 were chambered for 38-40. Identification features are the large double action trigger guard and the distinctive vertical grooves on the cylinder.
In this photo, the 44 Double Action at the top is a target model, with a drift adjustable rear sight and a target front sight with a bead on top of the blade, the one at the bottom is a standard model with an old coin substituted for the front sight. Both are chambered for 44 Russian, the target model shipped in 1895, the standard model shipped in 1881.
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