Smith and Wesson were involved with early lever action Volcanic type pistols that were the precursors to the Henry and all the subsequent lever action Winchesters. The also got the jump on Colt in their second arms project, a revolver firing self-contained metallic cartridges. Their first endeavor was a small .22 caliber 7-shot revolver. This is a good example of their Model No. 1, Second Issue, produced from 1860 to 1868. The serial number is 80472 and the series ran up to about 128000 (starting at about 11672, the end of the First Issue.)

The grips are dark rosewood and the butt is square. The brass frame has flat sides, versus the rounded sides of their First Issue, and is silver-plated. The grips have some scattered handling marks, but no chips, pressure dents, or divots and just one two minor dings to the bottom of the butt. The grips fit tightly to the metal and have good color. The cylinder and barrel were blued. The cylinder retains about all of its blue, slightly muted in color, but with just a very light drag line between the stops. The cylinder patent markings are sharp. The barrel shows some thin, faded blue mixed with some spots and some gray, but with a sharp barrel address: “Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass.” and deeper blue on the rammer pin. Just forward of the cylinder there is gray mixed with brown and light pitting on the side flats. The screw heads on the frame show wear to the slots, but the frame preserves better than 98 percent of its bright silver, which is unusual. There are just a couple of pinpoint spots under the cylinder on the right, some pinpoint dings on the left sideplate, and a little discoloration near the hinge at top.

These pistols could be easily carried in a pocket and the self-contained rimfire cartridges were resistant to dampness, so they were popular for self-defense and for travelers, even if their effective range was limited. If one got into trouble, it was likely to be close-up.  [sr]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS,

CLICK ON ‘CONTACT US’ AT THE TOP OF ANY PAGE ON THE SITE,

THEN ON ‘LAYAWAY POLICY’.

THANK YOU!