Description
Item Description
Bryant Ridge Auction Company is pleased to present this RARE set of single-action revolvers today, these are the Smith & Wesson Second Model Russians (Old Model Russian or Model No. Three Russian 2nd Model) Japanese Government Variation!
The Japanese military adopted the top-break .44 caliber “Russian” Model 3 Smith & Wesson revolvers as the “No. 1 Model Break Open Handgun” and would proceed to acquire several thousand of these over the next three decades. Due to the fact that these purchases took place over time, the guns technically belonged to four different model classes: Model 3 Russian 2nd Model, Model 3 Russian 3rd Model, and New Model No.
The first of the Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolvers to be acquired by the Japanese government were some 5,000 Smith & Wesson Model 3 Russian 2nd Model revolvers that were purchased from the London-based firm of H. Ahrens, who had offices and a warehouse in Yokohama for the purposes of engaging in the Asian trade. These guns were purchased circa 1878 and shipped during the following months in 1878-1879. Examples of these revolvers are known with both Japanese Naval and Army markings.
This example features the Japanese Army marking of a small circled kanji after the address on the top rib, forward of the cylinder retention screw. This character is “Hon,” which means “book” in literal translation. This is a well-known Tokyo Arsenal inspection mark, which implies to me that the after the gun passed inspection, it was added to the military’s inventory, which probably implied adding it to the “books” of inventory, as it were.
The Japanese military adopted the top-break .44 caliber “Russian” Model 3 Smith & Wesson revolvers as the “No. 1 Model Break Open Handgun” and would proceed to acquire several thousand of these over the next three decades. Due to the fact that these purchases took place over time, the guns technically belonged to four different model classes: Model 3 Russian 2nd Model, Model 3 Russian 3rd Model, and New Model No.
The first of the Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolvers to be acquired by the Japanese government were some 5,000 Smith & Wesson Model 3 Russian 2nd Model revolvers that were purchased from the London-based firm of H. Ahrens, who had offices and a warehouse in Yokohama for the purposes of engaging in the Asian trade. These guns were purchased circa 1878 and shipped during the following months in 1878-1879. Examples of these revolvers are known with both Japanese Naval and Army markings.
This example features the Japanese Army marking of a small circled kanji after the address on the top rib, forward of the cylinder retention screw. This character is “Hon,” which means “book” in literal translation. This is a well-known Tokyo Arsenal inspection mark, which implies to me that the after the gun passed inspection, it was added to the military’s inventory, which probably implied adding it to the “books” of inventory, as it were.
SPECIFICATIONS:
*Both examples have the same specifications*
*Both examples have the same specifications*
Manufacturer: Smith & Wesson
Model: Second Model Russians (Old Model Russian or Model No. Three Russian 2nd Model) Japanese Government Variation
Serial: 5476/7827
Caliber: .44 S&W Russian
Finish: Blue
Barrel Length: 7" Round
Optics/Sights: Pinned Round Blade Front with Notch Rear on Top of the Barrel Latch
Stock/Grips: Scroll Engraved Walnut
Action: Single
Markings: The top strap is marked with the standard barrel address but ends in the REISSUE patent date instead of the words "RUSSIAN MODEL." The MATCHING serial is marked on the bottom of the butt, on the rear face of the cylinder, and on the barrel catch. The only other external marking is a small 1874 date on the butt above the serial number. Features floral scroll engravings throughout.
Bryant Ridge's Analysis:
In 1867, the Tokugawa Shogunate that had ruled Japan since the county’s unification in 1603 came to an end, and the period that came to be known as the Meiji Restoration (circa 1868-1912) began. This period of “Enlightened Rule” dramatically shifted the governmental power of Japan from the Shogun, who was the supreme military dictator, and the Bakufu (“curtain government”) of Shogunate officials and feudal lords under the Shogun’s direct control, who had controlled the country for more than two-and-half centuries, by returning the ruling power to the Emperor. Under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a strict policy of isolationism had been enforced, with only a limited contract between Japan and the outside world. This contact was primarily in the form of trade through the port of Nagasaki, which was the only Japanese port open to foreign vessels. Shogunate policy not only restricted trade to this single port, but it prohibited Western visitors from entering the interior of the various Japanese islands. With the arrival of Admiral Mathew Perry in Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay) in 1853, the Shogunate was forced to communicate with the Western world on terms it was most certainly uncomfortable with.
The appearance of Perry’s small flotilla of powerful warships full of marines and sailors armed with modern breechloading and repeating weapons made it woefully obvious to even the most backward-thinking member of the Bakufu (the Shogunate’s ruling council) that a Japan with a clan-based military system of samurai armed with swords was woefully incapable of resisting any serious western military incursion into the Japanese islands. Over the next decade, due to internal pressures brought to bear by more contact with the outside world, the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate waned, and eventually, the Shogun abdicated his power to the Emperor. The Emperor, with the help of his council and advisors, initiated a policy of modernization that would transform the Japanese military from a nearly medieval status in terms of technology and organization to a world military power in about fifty years. One of the first tasks was to reorganize the military from clan-dominated professional soldiers to a unified national force organized along Prussian military lines and to introduce general conscription so that the former samurai class of “professional soldiers” served with other classes of citizens from Japanese society. The second major task was to arm and equip this new national army that pledged its allegiance to the Emperor and not some local Daimyo (a local feudal lord who had been a vassal of the Shogun) in a modern way. This meant that for the first time in centuries, firearms were now to play a part in Japanese warfare. It had not been since the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 1600s that firearms had played a major role in the Japanese military conflicts, and for the next 250 years, the possession and use of firearms were strongly controlled by the Shogunate.
The modernization of the military initially required the importation of firearms from Western powers, as no significant firearms manufacturing industry was established in Japan other than the production of the Tanegashima, a Japanese interpretation of the 16th-century Portuguese matchlock. Early long arm purchases included thousands of muzzleloading English Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-muskets as well as Pattern 1856 Enfield rifles, primarily acquired as American Civil War surplus from dealers like Schuyler, Hartley & Graham of New York. These arms were quickly replaced by more modern rifles like the Spencer from American as well English Snider breechloading rifles and European arms like Dreyse needle rifles, French Model1866 Chassepot rifles, and eventually French Model 1874 Gras rifles. The Gras, in fact, became the basis for the first modern and indigenous Japanese military rifle, the Type 13 Murata rifle, which went into production in 1880 at the Tokyo Arsenal, which had been established in 1871.
However, the Japanese military still relied upon foreign handguns to arm those soldiers to which they were issued. From the early days of Western influence in Japan, after the Perry expedition, the revolvers produced by Smith & Wesson had found a strong market in that country. The earliest Smith & Wesson revolvers, the Model 1 .22RF and Model 2 (Old Model Army) in .32RF, were both imported into Japan in some quantity. At least 1,550 of the No. 2 Old Army revolvers can be documented from Smith & Wesson ledgers as having been shipped to Japanese importers during their period of production, with the earliest recorded deliveries being to C. & J. Favre-Brandt of Yokohama in 1868. These guns are sometimes encountered with Japanese markings, including Meiji era gun registration marks or Imperial Chrysanthemums, indicating Japanese government (military) ownership. Smith & Wesson certainly viewed Japan as a potential customer for their product line and actively pursued Japanese military contracts. However, it may well have been the fact that Russia had adopted its own version of the Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver, known as the Model 3 Russian or “Old Model Russian,” that pushed the Japanese military to adopt the Model 3 revolver as well. Russia represented the closest potential major enemy for Japan, as well as the largest adversary in the region to resist the Japanese push to expand their sphere of influence in their constant search for the natural resources that their home islands lacked.
The Japanese military adopted the top-break .44 caliber "Russian" Model3 Smith & Wesson revolvers as the “No. 1 Model Break Open Handgun” and would proceed to acquire several thousand of them over the next three decades. Due to the fact that these purchases took place over time, the guns technically belonged to four different model classes, the Model 3 Russian Second Model, Model 3 Russian Third Model, New Model No. 3 Single Action, and New Model No. 3 Frontier. It does not appear, however, that the minor differences between the variations were ever a basis for classification in Japanese service, as all were essentially the same model and were all chambered for the same .44 S&W Russian cartridge, with only minor improvements in the extraction system, minor differences in barrel lengths, and other very minor changes, mechanical and visual. The first of the Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolvers to be acquired by the Japanese government were some 5,000 Smith & Wesson Model 3 Russian Second Model revolvers that were purchased from the London-based firm of H. Ahrens, which had offices and a warehouse in Yokohama for the purposes of engaging in the Asian trade. These guns were purchased circa 1878 and shipped during the following months in 1878-1879. Examples of these revolvers are known with both Japanese Naval and Army markings.
Contents:
This Extraordinary set will ship in the fitted wooden case seen pictured above.
Return Policy:
We gladly offer a 3 day unfired inspection policy from the time that the firearm is delivered to your FFL. Refunds are available for all qualifying orders.
Model: Second Model Russians (Old Model Russian or Model No. Three Russian 2nd Model) Japanese Government Variation
Serial: 5476/7827
Caliber: .44 S&W Russian
Finish: Blue
Barrel Length: 7" Round
Optics/Sights: Pinned Round Blade Front with Notch Rear on Top of the Barrel Latch
Stock/Grips: Scroll Engraved Walnut
Action: Single
Markings: The top strap is marked with the standard barrel address but ends in the REISSUE patent date instead of the words "RUSSIAN MODEL." The MATCHING serial is marked on the bottom of the butt, on the rear face of the cylinder, and on the barrel catch. The only other external marking is a small 1874 date on the butt above the serial number. Features floral scroll engravings throughout.
Bryant Ridge's Analysis:
In 1867, the Tokugawa Shogunate that had ruled Japan since the county’s unification in 1603 came to an end, and the period that came to be known as the Meiji Restoration (circa 1868-1912) began. This period of “Enlightened Rule” dramatically shifted the governmental power of Japan from the Shogun, who was the supreme military dictator, and the Bakufu (“curtain government”) of Shogunate officials and feudal lords under the Shogun’s direct control, who had controlled the country for more than two-and-half centuries, by returning the ruling power to the Emperor. Under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a strict policy of isolationism had been enforced, with only a limited contract between Japan and the outside world. This contact was primarily in the form of trade through the port of Nagasaki, which was the only Japanese port open to foreign vessels. Shogunate policy not only restricted trade to this single port, but it prohibited Western visitors from entering the interior of the various Japanese islands. With the arrival of Admiral Mathew Perry in Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay) in 1853, the Shogunate was forced to communicate with the Western world on terms it was most certainly uncomfortable with.
The appearance of Perry’s small flotilla of powerful warships full of marines and sailors armed with modern breechloading and repeating weapons made it woefully obvious to even the most backward-thinking member of the Bakufu (the Shogunate’s ruling council) that a Japan with a clan-based military system of samurai armed with swords was woefully incapable of resisting any serious western military incursion into the Japanese islands. Over the next decade, due to internal pressures brought to bear by more contact with the outside world, the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate waned, and eventually, the Shogun abdicated his power to the Emperor. The Emperor, with the help of his council and advisors, initiated a policy of modernization that would transform the Japanese military from a nearly medieval status in terms of technology and organization to a world military power in about fifty years. One of the first tasks was to reorganize the military from clan-dominated professional soldiers to a unified national force organized along Prussian military lines and to introduce general conscription so that the former samurai class of “professional soldiers” served with other classes of citizens from Japanese society. The second major task was to arm and equip this new national army that pledged its allegiance to the Emperor and not some local Daimyo (a local feudal lord who had been a vassal of the Shogun) in a modern way. This meant that for the first time in centuries, firearms were now to play a part in Japanese warfare. It had not been since the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the early 1600s that firearms had played a major role in the Japanese military conflicts, and for the next 250 years, the possession and use of firearms were strongly controlled by the Shogunate.
The modernization of the military initially required the importation of firearms from Western powers, as no significant firearms manufacturing industry was established in Japan other than the production of the Tanegashima, a Japanese interpretation of the 16th-century Portuguese matchlock. Early long arm purchases included thousands of muzzleloading English Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle-muskets as well as Pattern 1856 Enfield rifles, primarily acquired as American Civil War surplus from dealers like Schuyler, Hartley & Graham of New York. These arms were quickly replaced by more modern rifles like the Spencer from American as well English Snider breechloading rifles and European arms like Dreyse needle rifles, French Model1866 Chassepot rifles, and eventually French Model 1874 Gras rifles. The Gras, in fact, became the basis for the first modern and indigenous Japanese military rifle, the Type 13 Murata rifle, which went into production in 1880 at the Tokyo Arsenal, which had been established in 1871.
However, the Japanese military still relied upon foreign handguns to arm those soldiers to which they were issued. From the early days of Western influence in Japan, after the Perry expedition, the revolvers produced by Smith & Wesson had found a strong market in that country. The earliest Smith & Wesson revolvers, the Model 1 .22RF and Model 2 (Old Model Army) in .32RF, were both imported into Japan in some quantity. At least 1,550 of the No. 2 Old Army revolvers can be documented from Smith & Wesson ledgers as having been shipped to Japanese importers during their period of production, with the earliest recorded deliveries being to C. & J. Favre-Brandt of Yokohama in 1868. These guns are sometimes encountered with Japanese markings, including Meiji era gun registration marks or Imperial Chrysanthemums, indicating Japanese government (military) ownership. Smith & Wesson certainly viewed Japan as a potential customer for their product line and actively pursued Japanese military contracts. However, it may well have been the fact that Russia had adopted its own version of the Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver, known as the Model 3 Russian or “Old Model Russian,” that pushed the Japanese military to adopt the Model 3 revolver as well. Russia represented the closest potential major enemy for Japan, as well as the largest adversary in the region to resist the Japanese push to expand their sphere of influence in their constant search for the natural resources that their home islands lacked.
The Japanese military adopted the top-break .44 caliber "Russian" Model3 Smith & Wesson revolvers as the “No. 1 Model Break Open Handgun” and would proceed to acquire several thousand of them over the next three decades. Due to the fact that these purchases took place over time, the guns technically belonged to four different model classes, the Model 3 Russian Second Model, Model 3 Russian Third Model, New Model No. 3 Single Action, and New Model No. 3 Frontier. It does not appear, however, that the minor differences between the variations were ever a basis for classification in Japanese service, as all were essentially the same model and were all chambered for the same .44 S&W Russian cartridge, with only minor improvements in the extraction system, minor differences in barrel lengths, and other very minor changes, mechanical and visual. The first of the Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolvers to be acquired by the Japanese government were some 5,000 Smith & Wesson Model 3 Russian Second Model revolvers that were purchased from the London-based firm of H. Ahrens, which had offices and a warehouse in Yokohama for the purposes of engaging in the Asian trade. These guns were purchased circa 1878 and shipped during the following months in 1878-1879. Examples of these revolvers are known with both Japanese Naval and Army markings.
Contents:
This Extraordinary set will ship in the fitted wooden case seen pictured above.
Return Policy:
We gladly offer a 3 day unfired inspection policy from the time that the firearm is delivered to your FFL. Refunds are available for all qualifying orders.
Shipping Details
Handgun Standard Shipping $50.00
Long Gun Standard Shipping $65.00
We strive to ship orders within the close of the following business day after payment and documentation is received.
Payment Details
We accept all forms of Payment including Personal Check, Business Check, PO Money Orders, Certified Check, Etc.
Please note we place a 7 business day hold on shipment, for all non-certified payments.
Return Policy
We gladly offer a 3 day unfired inspection policy from the time that the firearm is delivered to your FFL. Refunds are available for all qualifying orders.
Additional Details
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