Digging through our Guns.com Vault, we found this amazing S&W New Model No. 3 revolver, which prompted us to visit the Smith & Wesson headquarters to get the background on this historic gun.

This unique break-action revolver made its way into our Vault Auctions and boasts serial #1 of just 74 revolvers made with the .38-40 Win chambering in this unique design.

Even if you're new to firearms auctions, Guns.com makes it easy to get started, with bids starting at just 1 cent. Bidding starts Aug. 3 and wraps up Aug. 9, so don't miss your chance to add this rare S&W wheel gun to your collection.

Here are detailed photographs and the key auction details for this unique find in the Guns.com Vault.
 

Table of Contents

Video Overview
Brief History
Detailed Images
Key Auction Details

Video Overview

Brief History

Smith & Wesson is well known for its revolvers, and it made the first commercially successful metallic-cartridge wheel gun back in the 1800s.

But guns like this S&W New Model No. 3 are so rare that it is something even collectors might only see once in their lifetime. Only 74 of these guns were ever made, and the gun is actually a progression of different revolvers. It is one of the most technologically sophisticated guns of the late 19th century, and the top-break action was a state-of-the-art design at the time.
 

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Opening the barrel also pushed the cylinder extractor forward, which cleared empty casings from the cylinder. For the time, that was a massive improvement over manually extracting spent casings. 

This significantly improved reloading. Still, the design itself is not that unusual today, but this particular variant of the New Model No. 3 chambered in .38-40 Win was a rarity that mirrored similar rifle chamberings of the time. 
 

Only 74 of these guns rolled off Smith & Wesson’s assembly line, and that makes it one of the rarest S&W firearms out there for collectors.

Beyond all that, this special revolver was part of a very short serial-number family, and it was the first as Serial #1. It shipped from the factory in 1901. That makes it a Western gun in every sense of the word, and now it can be part of your collection. 
 

Detailed Images

Here are some detailed images that showcase this Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 revolver.

 

Key Auction Details

Bidding starts Aug. 3 and wraps up Aug. 9 on this historic New Model 3 revolver, with bids starting at just 1 cent. Don't miss your chance to add this one-of-a-kind New Model 3 to your collection. 

Here are some of the key details that make this a particularly special find.
 

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