What to look for when purchasing?

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Gurkha

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Hi Everyone,

I am new when it comes to looking into purchasing antique firearms and was hoping I could get some advice.

I am most interested in getting my hands on a Smith and Wesson Model 3. I am not picky about caliber but I do want it to function. I am not looking for an impeccable pistol which I will never want to shoot and will just sit in my safe. Instead I am looking for one which will function and shoot very well so I can take it to the range and have some fun.

I would appreciate if you could please tell me what I should look for when purchasing an antique S&W Model 3 to avoid a bad purchase.

Any other information about the Smith and Wesson Model 3, such as information about the various calibers or anything else would also be appreciated.
 
Dont know much about them but from my experience check how the bore and rifling quality is. Make sure all the screws work and dont have busted heads. Overall working quality same as when buying any gun.

If I were to get one it would be in .45 schofield or .44 russian as the ammunition is more easily avaliable. There are a couple of them on the ee right now.

McLean
 
I favor 44 russian, but that's mainly because I ended up with it and never have dealt with 45 schofield... could be just as good.

In general, looseness is to be avoided. If there's wobble, play or any other wiggle or movement in the gun, especially with the trigger pulled and hammer down, it's getting old. Excess cylinder gap and not indexing correctly are also common problems. Pretty much 99% of shooter grade antiques need work, or will need work within a couple of years... they're 113 years old at their youngest, and any that aren't safe queens have experienced wear. Even safe queens can suffer from age.
 
Thanks mrclean89 and H Wally for the responses. Sounds pretty straight forward. I guess checking for all of this would be pretty easy when you can actually handle the firearm but would be difficult if you were ordering online, possibly from the states.

H Wally, what kind of work did you have done on yours if any? Can you recommend any good gunsmiths for these pistols or should most capable gunsmiths be able to do a good job?
 
One thing that I would look for is to confirm that the hand works and advances the cylinder every time. Second thing is to make sure that notches that index or lock the cylinder in place when a chamber is lined up with the barrel. Many of the copies of Smith and Wesson have only a tapered groove which allows some play side to side when the gun is cocked and the chamber theoretically lined up with the bore

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
One thing that I would look for is to confirm that the hand works and advances the cylinder every time. Second thing is to make sure that notches that index or lock the cylinder in place when a chamber is lined up with the barrel. Many of the copies of Smith and Wesson have only a tapered groove which allows some play side to side when the gun is cocked and the chamber theoretically lined up with the bore

cheers mooncoon
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Thank mooncoon, I'm going to add these to my list.
 
I'd say most gunsmiths that can do custom work on pistols can deal with antiques... just depends on what you want to pay.

Personally I find Barry at Bits of Pieces in Vancouver to be very, very, very good at his work and reasonably priced. Of course, his wait times for finishing guns reflects that, but I'm happy to just leave something with him and go do other things, the quality is always worth the wait!
 
A good gun smith?. Talk to Peter at Rusty Wood Trading Company out of B.C. Excellent guy to deal with, does fantastic work from what I'v seen in person.

Make sure there isnt much excess cylinder to barrel gap, stretched frames are a given in guns that have seen alot of rounds over their life.

Check the hand is in good working order, as well as the cylinder ratchets, guns fired when loose can wreck havok on the ratchets as the hand is slamed into them and cuts a gouge or grove out of them.

Timing and Lockup are important obviously if your looking for a shooting iron, hard to find guns that lock up like vaults but they are still out there.


Never owned a S&W anything but have my fair share of other antique revolvers.

Hope some of this helps.
 
H Wally said:
I'd say most gunsmiths that can do custom work on pistols can deal with antiques... just depends on what you want to pay.

Personally I find Barry at Bits of Pieces in Vancouver to be very, very, very good at his work and reasonably priced. Of course, his wait times for finishing guns reflects that, but I'm happy to just leave something with him and go do other things, the quality is always worth the wait!
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Okay, thanks H Wally, I will look him up when it comes time.
 
Tyockell18 said:
A good gun smith?. Talk to Peter at Rusty Wood Trading Company out of B.C. Excellent guy to deal with, does fantastic work from what I'v seen in person.

Make sure there isnt much excess cylinder to barrel gap, stretched frames are a given in guns that have seen alot of rounds over their life.

Check the hand is in good working order, as well as the cylinder ratchets, guns fired when loose can wreck havok on the ratchets as the hand is slamed into them and cuts a gouge or grove out of them.

Timing and Lockup are important obviously if your looking for a shooting iron, hard to find guns that lock up like vaults but they are still out there.


Never owned a S&W anything but have my fair share of other antique revolvers.

Hope some of this helps.
Click to expand...


Hi Tyockell18,

Thanks for your response. You points about the ratchets makes a lot of sense, I did not think about that.

I have zero antique firearm experience and very little revolver experience. All my pistol experience is with semi-autos. So even your more "obvious" points as you say, are a big help.

Out of curiosity, what are your favorite shooters when it comes to the antique revolvers you own, make and caliber?

Seeing as how I am new to all of this I am not going to get completely stuck on the S&W and the two calibers I mentioned. I know it may be hard to find what I want, so I should stay open minded.
 
Internals of those are often in need of repair. You basically have to remove the side plate and check function. Anything described as minor or "easy to repair" might be a trap. Any play or little problem might be much bigger than you imagine.

Most newbies are looking for something which doesn't exist. Bad outer appearance often follows through on the inside, hence "not safe to shoot".

I bought my fair share of guns here on the EE and returned my fair share to the sellers, many guns sold here are polished (mix of plating and bare metal), many don't work properly (which a newbie can often not recognize) and/or are described wrong.

Last gun I bought on here had a worn sear, returned the gun and even told the seller where he can get a new one, saw it selling the other day for much more than I bought it initially - and the sear will only cover up the fact that the gun is internally worn overall.

The fact that the gun shoots and what the seller tells you doesn't mean all that much.

Buyers beware.

Overall, antique bought in the US are better than the stuff offered here - and cheaper too.
 
Most of the guns in Canada orginated in the US at some point so to say there is a difference in condition seems off to me. There may be a greater selection in the US but likely you will find the same thing available here eventually. Pick a model that your budget will allow for a quality example and don't think a cheap price is always a deal. I have seen deals on both sides of the border and often collector grade antiques cost more in the US than the EE! Just look at the S&W model 3 american that just sold in the EE. You would be hard pressed to find that condition for that price in the US.

Dont let polished steel scare you if your looking for a shooter or dont have the budget for a quality finish. An antiques price is largely determined by how much original finish remains regardless of operation. They often lose their finish or have pitting after a 113+ years and it is common to polish off the remaining finish to make it look nicer. If it functions correctly a polished gun can make an excellent shooter for less money. It doesnt mean the internals are bad either, the tightest S&W I have ever handled was polished and worked like a Swiss watch.

Just ask lots of questions, do lots of research! Bad experiences are not limited to either country.
 
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scianna54 said:
Internals of those are often in need of repair. You basically have to remove the side plate and check function. Anything described as minor or "easy to repair" might be a trap. Any play or little problem might be much bigger than you imagine.

Most newbies are looking for something which doesn't exist. Bad outer appearance often follows through on the inside, hence "not safe to shoot".

I bought my fair share of guns here on the EE and returned my fair share to the sellers, many guns sold here are polished (mix of plating and bare metal), many don't work properly (which a newbie can often not recognize) and/or are described wrong.

Last gun I bought on here had a worn sear, returned the gun and even told the seller where he can get a new one, saw it selling the other day for much more than I bought it initially - and the sear will only cover up the fact that the gun is internally worn overall.

The fact that the gun shoots and what the seller tells you doesn't mean all that much.

Buyers beware.

Overall, antique bought in the US are better than the stuff offered here - and cheaper too.
Click to expand...

X's 2 on Buyer Beware! I keep an on some EE items that have upper end prices.
A very usual tactic here (not everyone now) is for someone to buy an item, and they get bored of it within a year and suddenly the same item is being sold here again. Then somehow it's suddenly worth $800-$1000 more than last year.

hhhmmm.......
 
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