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.44 Smith & Wesson
[Text discription below]
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90012
AN ENGRAVED SMITH & WESSON NO. 3, 2nd MODEL RUSSIAN, SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER OF EXHIBITION QUALITY:
USA 1874. SN 32964. Cal. 44 Russian. An exceptional Smith & Wesson No. 3, 2nd model Russian with silver finish. The pistol has a 7" keyhole barrel, and a pinned half-moon front sight. The rear sight is fixed in the barrel latch. The barrel address ends with "RUSSIAN MODEL" (1,2). The revolver is beautifully engraved by renowned 19th century master engraver L.D. Nimschke with extensive coverage of foliate arabesque patterns on the rear half of the frame. Border patterns are below the cylinder opening and a large spider web rosette around each side of the hinge pins. The engraving extends up each side of the barrel with Mr. Nimschke's feather border patterns, and on each side of the ejector housing. The top strap is engraved with a spider web pattern around the latch opening and with sunbursts on each end of the address. The top of the back strap is engraved to match with geometric patterns down the back strap. Cylinder has matching engraving on the lands between the flutes. Trigger guard has the distinctive finger rest hook and revolver is mounted with smooth 2-pc pearl grips. Right side of the heel, under the grip, is marked with assembly number "86." The same number is also found on the rear face of the cylinder, on barrel & barrel latch. Butt strap has a factory lanyard loop, serial number and diamond with initials: SH; i.e. “Schuyler, Hartley & Graham”, who were Smith & Wesson’s primary distributors. Research by Smith & Wesson historian Roy G. Jinks at the Smith & Wesson archives in Springfield, Massachusetts was performed on this revolver. A Smith & Wesson factory letter of authenticity, signed by Mr. Jinks identifies this revolver as having been shipped Nov. 5, 1874 to M.W. Robinson, New York, NY in a shipment of 60 units. It is apparent that M.W. Robinson commissioned the engraving & plating and supplied the MOP grips. This revolver was from a series of commercial arms numbered in the 32,801-39,000 range. Overall length is 12.75 in. Weight is 1,304 g.
Condition: Extremely fine plus. All original condition throughout. All matching serial numbers, except the grips, which are unnumbered. Retains all of its original, strong silver plating, darkening in the recessed areas, and light toning overall. Screw slots are extra fine showing no use or disassembly. Grips have a few natural lines and are very fine showing beautiful iridescence & color. Mechanics are crisp. Brilliant, shiny bore and cylinder. The revolver was obviously intended as a gift, so it may have been fired, but if so, very little. Any firing was perhaps limited to test firing at the Smith & Wesson test bench after production. An exceptional pistol of exhibition quality. Discussion:
L.D. Nimschke refers to: Louis Daniel Nimschke (July 4, 1832- April 29, 1904) the famous master firearms engraver of the later half of the 19th century. He engraved over 5,000 firearms between 1850 and 1904 for Colt's Patent Fire Arms Co., Winchester, Remington, Sharps, Smith & Wesson, Henry, Manhattan Arms, Marlin Firearms and Stevens Arms. Unlike most engravers of the 19th century who worked directly for firearms manufacturers, Nimschke maintained his own shop in New York City and took work on a contractual basis. His main client was New York outfitter Schuyler, Hartley and Graham. When a special custom order that required the utmost detail needed to be filled the firearms companies would commission Nimschke for the work.
Nimschke engraved firearms for Theodore Roosevelt, George Armstrong Custer, Maria Christina of Austria, Buffalo Bill, Ben Thompson, and Napoleon III, Emperor of France. Nimschke's work is on display at many museums throughout the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Records show L. D. Nimschke was born in Germany on July 4, 1832. He immigrated to America in about 1850. He died at the age of 71 on April 29, 1904. He engraved until 1902, and of all engravers, his work was the most popular in his lifetime and continues to be the most sought after among collectors. Nimschke’s patterns, scrolls, borders, backgrounds and shading were so well done he is called "The Engravers Engraver". Among engravers today, his work is still the most highly regarded of the old masters. Nimschke used waving line borders, some of which have dot punching and others, which have additional waving line cuts. This was an excellent pattern to use on some of the areas, which were too narrow for any other pattern. Backgrounds seen on engraving are often of "dot punched" style, and of the thousands of dots, none are out of place. Shading seen on engraved guns by this master is often cut with a single-point graver as well as with liners. Liners have a series of very fine lines on the face and can be used for shading and cutting a very uniform series of lines to shade scrolls, animals and backgrounds. Nimschke’s scrolls are of his own unique design, and are a refined German-English-American design. While Nimschke was not the originator of "American Scrolls", he perfected them. A number of guns are seen which have engraving of Nimschke style, actually a copy of his scrolls, but which were not engraved by Nimschke. This style of copy work is known as the "Nimschke School" today. As mentioned earlier, his work was so outstanding that even in his own time he was widely copied. Provenance:
David L. Carroll Collection; Clay, Alabama, (2005-2013).
Richard S. Capps Collection (1977-2005).
W. Tom Lewis Collection (1967-1977).
S. Lewis Hutcheson Collection (195?-1967). Curator's Footnotes: • This pistol is firearms exempt in the US. (US Gun Control Act of 1968.) • The .44 cal Russian cartridge, a popular target round of the period, offered inherent accuracy. It set many records, eventually becoming known as an established target round enabling skilled shooters to achieve 3-inch (76 mm) groups at 50 yards (46 m); notable for the time and still impressive today. Ballistic performance: Nominally, the .44 cal Russian cartridge carried a 246 gr (16 g) lead nose, and a heavy charge of 23 gr of black powder. This produced a muzzle velocity of 750 ft/s (230 m/s) and an energy of 310 ft. lbs. (420 J).
Bibliography:
1. Neal, Robert J., Jinks, Roy G. (1996) Smith & Wesson 1857-1945. Revised Ed.
2. Heer, Eugene (1978). Der Neue Stockel; Vol 2, p.1187; Journal Verlag Schwend GmbH; Schwabisch Hall.
USA 1874. SN 32964. Cal. 44 Russian. An exceptional Smith & Wesson No. 3, 2nd model Russian with silver finish. The pistol has a 7" keyhole barrel, and a pinned half-moon front sight. The rear sight is fixed in the barrel latch. The barrel address ends with "RUSSIAN MODEL" (1,2). The revolver is beautifully engraved by renowned 19th century master engraver L.D. Nimschke with extensive coverage of foliate arabesque patterns on the rear half of the frame. Border patterns are below the cylinder opening and a large spider web rosette around each side of the hinge pins. The engraving extends up each side of the barrel with Mr. Nimschke's feather border patterns, and on each side of the ejector housing. The top strap is engraved with a spider web pattern around the latch opening and with sunbursts on each end of the address. The top of the back strap is engraved to match with geometric patterns down the back strap. Cylinder has matching engraving on the lands between the flutes. Trigger guard has the distinctive finger rest hook and revolver is mounted with smooth 2-pc pearl grips. Right side of the heel, under the grip, is marked with assembly number "86." The same number is also found on the rear face of the cylinder, on barrel & barrel latch. Butt strap has a factory lanyard loop, serial number and diamond with initials: SH; i.e. “Schuyler, Hartley & Graham”, who were Smith & Wesson’s primary distributors. Research by Smith & Wesson historian Roy G. Jinks at the Smith & Wesson archives in Springfield, Massachusetts was performed on this revolver. A Smith & Wesson factory letter of authenticity, signed by Mr. Jinks identifies this revolver as having been shipped Nov. 5, 1874 to M.W. Robinson, New York, NY in a shipment of 60 units. It is apparent that M.W. Robinson commissioned the engraving & plating and supplied the MOP grips. This revolver was from a series of commercial arms numbered in the 32,801-39,000 range. Overall length is 12.75 in. Weight is 1,304 g.
Condition: Extremely fine plus. All original condition throughout. All matching serial numbers, except the grips, which are unnumbered. Retains all of its original, strong silver plating, darkening in the recessed areas, and light toning overall. Screw slots are extra fine showing no use or disassembly. Grips have a few natural lines and are very fine showing beautiful iridescence & color. Mechanics are crisp. Brilliant, shiny bore and cylinder. The revolver was obviously intended as a gift, so it may have been fired, but if so, very little. Any firing was perhaps limited to test firing at the Smith & Wesson test bench after production. An exceptional pistol of exhibition quality. Discussion:
L.D. Nimschke refers to: Louis Daniel Nimschke (July 4, 1832- April 29, 1904) the famous master firearms engraver of the later half of the 19th century. He engraved over 5,000 firearms between 1850 and 1904 for Colt's Patent Fire Arms Co., Winchester, Remington, Sharps, Smith & Wesson, Henry, Manhattan Arms, Marlin Firearms and Stevens Arms. Unlike most engravers of the 19th century who worked directly for firearms manufacturers, Nimschke maintained his own shop in New York City and took work on a contractual basis. His main client was New York outfitter Schuyler, Hartley and Graham. When a special custom order that required the utmost detail needed to be filled the firearms companies would commission Nimschke for the work.
Nimschke engraved firearms for Theodore Roosevelt, George Armstrong Custer, Maria Christina of Austria, Buffalo Bill, Ben Thompson, and Napoleon III, Emperor of France. Nimschke's work is on display at many museums throughout the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Records show L. D. Nimschke was born in Germany on July 4, 1832. He immigrated to America in about 1850. He died at the age of 71 on April 29, 1904. He engraved until 1902, and of all engravers, his work was the most popular in his lifetime and continues to be the most sought after among collectors. Nimschke’s patterns, scrolls, borders, backgrounds and shading were so well done he is called "The Engravers Engraver". Among engravers today, his work is still the most highly regarded of the old masters. Nimschke used waving line borders, some of which have dot punching and others, which have additional waving line cuts. This was an excellent pattern to use on some of the areas, which were too narrow for any other pattern. Backgrounds seen on engraving are often of "dot punched" style, and of the thousands of dots, none are out of place. Shading seen on engraved guns by this master is often cut with a single-point graver as well as with liners. Liners have a series of very fine lines on the face and can be used for shading and cutting a very uniform series of lines to shade scrolls, animals and backgrounds. Nimschke’s scrolls are of his own unique design, and are a refined German-English-American design. While Nimschke was not the originator of "American Scrolls", he perfected them. A number of guns are seen which have engraving of Nimschke style, actually a copy of his scrolls, but which were not engraved by Nimschke. This style of copy work is known as the "Nimschke School" today. As mentioned earlier, his work was so outstanding that even in his own time he was widely copied. Provenance:
David L. Carroll Collection; Clay, Alabama, (2005-2013).
Richard S. Capps Collection (1977-2005).
W. Tom Lewis Collection (1967-1977).
S. Lewis Hutcheson Collection (195?-1967). Curator's Footnotes: • This pistol is firearms exempt in the US. (US Gun Control Act of 1968.) • The .44 cal Russian cartridge, a popular target round of the period, offered inherent accuracy. It set many records, eventually becoming known as an established target round enabling skilled shooters to achieve 3-inch (76 mm) groups at 50 yards (46 m); notable for the time and still impressive today. Ballistic performance: Nominally, the .44 cal Russian cartridge carried a 246 gr (16 g) lead nose, and a heavy charge of 23 gr of black powder. This produced a muzzle velocity of 750 ft/s (230 m/s) and an energy of 310 ft. lbs. (420 J).
Bibliography:
1. Neal, Robert J., Jinks, Roy G. (1996) Smith & Wesson 1857-1945. Revised Ed.
2. Heer, Eugene (1978). Der Neue Stockel; Vol 2, p.1187; Journal Verlag Schwend GmbH; Schwabisch Hall.
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