S&W No. 3 Schofield chambered in 22lr

J

johnwilliamson062

Moderator
Does anyone know if any were ever produced from factory? How many, what is the value?
My guess is I am dealing with one of the surplussed US military revolvers that a smith then modified. 22LR was a young round when production stopped in 1889. There were probably guys sitting around a barrel at a trading post talking about how the 22LR was a solution in search of a problem as the last one left the factory.
Were any of the "2000" S&W reproductions chambered in 22lr? Any of the imports? This appears to be a genuine S&W, but maybe it is not.
 
I have not seen any sign of a modern Schofield replica, S&W or Italian, in .22 LR. Nor an original for that matter.
I think you are seeing a gunsmith project.
But a fascinating one, even though it would make a collector cry.
 
You should be able to tell the difference between a factory job and gunsmith work. AFAIK, no such gun was made by the factory.

Years ago, several gunsmiths would convert just about any gun from anything to anything (within reason) and a favorite was converting revolvers made for obsolete cartridges to .22 LR.

While some kind of special order cannot be ruled out, I would want to see solid documentation on any such gun claimed to be from the factory.

Jim
 
Is it an S&W No. 3, or is it an actual Schofield with the appropriate latch designed by Schofield?

S&W only ever produced the Schofield model in .45 Smith & Wesson.

After S&W and the Government parted ways and no more of the guns would be delivered to the military S&W stopped using Schofield's modifications so they wouldn't have to keep paying him royalties.

After the military surplused the Smith & Wessons, resellers like Bannerman and Hartley, Schuyler & Graham nabbed them and in some cases modified them by shortening the barrels. American Express Co. purchased quite a few surplus Schofields.

Any conversion to another caliber/cartridge would have been done after the gun left government hands. Although I've never heard of such conversions, it wouldn't have been beyond a company like Bannerman's to do so.
 
I bet Alonzo Crull could have done it... if a paying customer asked for it.

(Mr Crull is best known for starting with a Colt Lightning, converting it to .22, changing lockwork to SAO, and reshaping the grip straps to SAA "plowhandle." Kind of an ancestor to the Single Six. But think of the work. Gunsmiths worked cheap in those days.)
 
There is a word to describe any gun like that converted to .22: heavy. Not at all practical; there was a very good reason Bill Ruger scaled down the Single Six.

Jim
 
Impractical for a range trip? Non-sense. It isn't as though I will be taking a 100+ year old revolver squirrel hunting.
The guy won't budge off of $1000 for it. I thought $650 was pretty high when I laid the bid. I believe everyone else stopped at about $500. I guess he gets to keep it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top