First seen in 1870, Smith & Wesson’s No. 3 revolver beat the arrival of the Colt Single Action Army revolver by three years. The No. 3 was a large single action revolver with a cylinder holding six cartridges, and its hammer could be cocked by the thumb of either hand.
A Unique Design
Different from the Colt SAA in several ways, the No. 3’s hammer only had two cocking steps, instead of three, for the Colt. The No. 3’s cylinder also rotated to the left, instead of to the right, as on the Colt. Instead of the No. 3’s barrel being fixed to the frame like that of the Colt, its barrel, top strap, and cylinder axle worked as one, with the three rotating up or down on a steel pin at the front of the receiver.
At the rear of the top strap was a spring-loaded locking piece that engaged lugs on the top rear of the frame, to keep the whole barrel group locked when closed. With the thumb and forefinger pulling the locking piece up and clear of the frame studs, the barrel group would be released to swing down and open the gun. When that occurred, the six-piece ejector was forced out the back of the cylinder to eject any loaded ammunition or empty cases out of the gun.
This ability to quickly empty and reload the No. 3 (and many other S&W revolvers) was a feature not shared by the Single Action Army or similar Colt single action revolvers. Another interesting thing about the No.3, is when the top piece is locked closed and the hammer is pulled back just enough to lock it into the SAFE position, the cylinder will rotate freely. When the hammer is fully cocked, the cylinder will lock into place for firing.
Variants
The cartridge calibers made for the No.3 revolver included the .44 S&W American, .44 Russian, .38 S&W, .44-40 Winchester, .45 Schofield and .32 S&W, all centerfire. Early on, Smith & Wesson offered custom and special versions of the No. 3 and some became famous. Russia bought thousands of No.3’s with an extension “spur” on the bottom of the trigger guard and a bump or “knuckle” at the upper back of the frame. Both of these things helped control the recoil of larger cartridges like the .44 Russian cartridge. The Japanese Navy also adopted a version with engraved wave lines that resembled the ocean.
In 1871, Major George Schofield designed a new version of the No. 3 for use with the U.S. Cavalry. The Schofield revolver could be reloaded much faster and easier while riding a horse, due to its redesigned latch, which could be operated with just the shooting hand thumb.
The gun was designed to use a new, shorter .45 caliber cartridge that would fit into the No. 3’s cylinder, which was shorter than that of the Colt Single Action Army revolver’s cylinder. Called the .45 Schofield, the cartridge and its bullet were lighter than the .45 Colt cartridge, which was important while traveling across the desert on horseback. While the .45 Schofield bullet was lighter, it was also faster.
It is reported that the Schofield cartridge was used in the Colt SAA by the U.S. Cavalry from 1871 to 1873, but that is not accurate. The government had purchased so much .45 Schofield ammunition that it continued to use it in the Colts well beyond that, into the late-1800’s. It is also reported that this round was carried in an 8-inch S&W No. 3 by Wyatt Earp during the OK Corral fight, in 1881.
A Very Special No.3
The No.3 revolver seen here is quite special because, according to Smith & Wesson, it was specially made for the Spanish military, prior to the Spanish-American War. This gun was obviously not made for just any soldier, but for Hierarchy.
While most of the military No. 3’s were plainly finished, and shipped with smooth wooden grips without swivels on the butt, this gun has a swivel and many other special features, like target sights, beautiful checkered grips and a deep blue. Careful examination by Smith & Wesson revealed that only a few of these special guns went to high-ranking Spanish officers, and that the swivels had to be put on by their best metal workers in Cuba! The only notable blemish on this gun is a small knife cut on the upper left grip.
However, what really proves just how special this No. 3 is, are the markings. The serial number on these guns was normally stamped in three places, and on this gun the serial number is “43.” Just how Number 43 made it back to the U.S., following the Spanish-American War, is unknown, but it was likely brought home by a U.S. Army soldier–possibly from the 6th Cavalry, which played a big part in the San Juan Hill battle, with Lt. Guy G. Palmer being the first up the hill, carrying the American Flag.
Smith & Wesson’s records of No.3 shipments were incomplete when I went through them, years ago. They showed various shipments of No.3’s to Cuba, but the quantities were not always specified in detail, and there was no mention of “special” pieces delivered. In this era, Smith & Wesson started their large special runs with Serial #1 (the Russian and Japanese No. 3’s each begin with Number One, for example), so there should be another forty-two special No. 3’s that came before this one, but we’ll never know for sure, unless other No.3’s marked like this surface. There might still be a Spanish No. 3, Serial #1 lurking out there somewhere!
More Mysteries
There’s more to the story about Serial Number 43, though. Years ago, a police officer who was a close friend for many years was practicing shooting at an indoor range in Los Angeles one night, when a Catholic priest, wearing his black cloth, arrived with our Number 43 and a box of new .44 Russian ammunition. When my friend noticed this, he asked the priest if he was going to shoot, and the priest said he would like to learn how to shoot, but his gun was probably too large for what he needed.
My friend told the priest that he had the wrong ammunition for the gun, as the modern .44 Russian ammunition wasn’t correct for the .44 S&W chambers. My friend offered to trade a new .38 Special revolver and a couple of boxes of ammunition for the No. 3, and the priest was happy with the deal. When my friend asked the priest about the notch cut in the upper left grip, the priest said that he could not talk about that. Whatever it was, the inside of the gun was like new.
Years later, my friend asked if I could find a buyer for his No. 3, Serial Number “43.” It brought well over $3,000 dollars from a gun collector on GunBroker! I doubt if he’d take $5000 for it today.
*****
Excellent review of a revolver that doesn’t get a lot of attention, particularly in regard to its connection to the late 19th century Wild West. If I were around in those days, a large-bore S&W top-break revolver would be my first choice.
Very interesting write up Sir! Not only is the revolver interesting but I am intrigued as to how the priest aquired it! Thank you for bringing us this story.
That’s an exquisite firearm, with an air of mystery about it. Does the notched wood grip signify a blood gun? God only knows, and He ain’t tellin’ either.
Very insightful history on a revolver that gets lost in Ole West lore. Military handgun afficionados know the name Webley & Scott, but probably don’t realize that the Smith & Wesson design, particularly the Schofield, was licensed to P. Webley & Son (prior to the 1897 merger with W&C Scott), and that design became the ‘offocial’ choice of British military sidearms from @ 1887 through its various evolutions to 1963 when it was ‘officially’ replaced by Browning’s Hi-Power. My maternal grandparents had a short barrel .38 S&W Webley Mk IV that I thought was just too cute, and the massive (to a 10 year old) Webley Mk VI in .455.
The S&W Schofield top break concept lived on through the H&R top break .22 caliber revolvers that were produced up until around the turn of Century #21. Uberti (part of Benelli/Beretta) markets their replica 1875 Schofield #3 top break revolvers in .38 Special and .45 Colt. Now to find speed loaders.
HKS for model 25 Smith works in mine.
Beautiful weapon, that. I too would choose a top break over a Colt SAA.
Thank you, Mr. Johnston, for the interesting read about this cool old revolver. The #3 was a fascinating gun that deserves its place historically. This particular sample has a captivating history of its own!
What it was like to keep one of these running in the rough-and-tumble of the frontier? Or, for that matter, Cuba?
No Smith and Wesson armorer’s classes, no Kuhnhausen to crib from, and, likely, no available spare parts.
Gun this elegant, with these features, the extra trouble would be worth it.
One of my dream guns.
Of note, the Schofield latch was more secure than the S&W latches and, has S&W been willing to pay Maj. Schofield the additional royalties to use the improved latch on their other top-break revolvers, that system could have handled heavier loads such as the .38 Special.
(In his “Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers,” then-Major Julian Hatcher cautioned against using the .38 S&W Super Police load with the 200 gr. bullet in “hinged frame” revolvers as their actions might unlatch with the heavier recoil. The Brits reported no such problem in their Webley revolvers designed for that cartridge as they used a different latch from S&W’s.)
These old top-break, black-powder-cartridge Smiths were beautifully made and designed with close tolerances, which apparently led to jamming when the arms were not properly cleaned after extended firing. Supposedly Colt made their single-action Peacemakers with looser tolerances to minimize that problem.
The high-ranking Spanish officer who possessed the S&W Model 3 reviewed in this article obviously cleaned and took good care of the gun, and likely didn’t experience poor-maintenance malfunctions with it.
From my perspective, the quick unloading/reloading characteristics of the Model 3 (and similar models) revolvers gave them a big edge over the Colt Peacemakers way back when.
That’s my Dad!! Another wonderful historical piece!
I’ve never owned or shot an original, but I do own a Schofield replica by Uberti. I’ve owned several versions of SAA and none ever shot close to point of aim. My Schofield does. My only complaint is the cylinder gap is very small and it can get difficult to shoot during extended range sessions.