Smith & Wesson "Model 3 American
Smith & Wesson “Model 3 American 2nd Model”, comprising as you can see it a stick “Square butt” and a notch in the head of the hemmer. This notch was an idea of the General Orloff for the Russian contract and was to increase safety by blocking the closing of the revolver at the time of the percussion, and was adopted by S&W.
It is the model called “3 screws” because of the 3 screws which maintains the plate of visit, and which will be nothing any more two on the following models.
Calibre .44 American.
The .44 Russian is characterized by the edge inside the rooms of the barrel and markings Cyrillic on the top from the barrel, and it is then about the “Model 3 Russian 1st Model”.
200 ex were manufactured with the annular gauge .44 Henry for the civil market.
The Russian army bought a little more than 41.000 into .44 Russian, and approximately 13.200 were sold on the civil market in the calibres American and Russian.
You can obviously see with neither splendid finished “glossy blue” that this one intended forever for the army, and does not have in my humble opinion be reblued nor iconoclast.
The sior Claudin was I think a arms manufacturer-retailer of the Paris area, even not an official agent.
S&W not having deposited any patent in France, the above mentioned nonentity could affix his corporate name on these weapons without risking legal proceedings; in Belgium also besides.
Marcel
