Teddy Roosevelt’s Smith & Wesson #3 revolver Posted on 01/03/2023 4:01:29 AM PST by marktwain
President Theodore Roosevelt’s Smith & Wesson #3 was sold for a total of $910,625 ($775,000 before buyers premium) at Rock Island Auction Company on December 9, 2022. The buyer’s premium is fifteen percent.
Theodore Roosevelt is the president most associated with personal arms and with promoting that Americans should be armed and trained in the use of arms. He became the President after the assassination of President Mckinley, the youngest president in US history. He was an early adopter and user of silencers.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Smith & Wesson #3 revolver
“Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most beloved and influential men in American history, and having documentation of the shipment makes this gun something incredibly extraordinary and valuable,” said Kevin Hogan, President of Rock Island Auction Company. “This is a crown jewel in fine arms collecting. Not only is it a rare chance to own a presidential firearm, but of a president who embodied the spirit of a nation. You don’t need to look further than Mt. Rushmore to understand his significance.
The Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 revolver is chambered in a .38 Long Colt, the U.S. service cartridge at the time, but scarcely seen in this particular model. Roosevelt’s revolver also has distinct combat target rear sights – both features indicating that this revolver was intended to be carried into the war against Spain. Roosevelt instead famously carried a Colt double action revolver that had been salvaged from the wreckage of the USS Maine battleship, allowing this revolver to remain in excellent condition.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Liked the opinion, at the end.
Being a wheelgun afficianado, this is a beautiful revolver.
Wheel gun fan or not, I WANT THAT!
Maybe, maybe not.
The problem with collectibles is that their market is highly inefficient and, as a consequence, the collectibles themselves are often illiquid.
We hear a lot about items such as Teddy's Smith and Wesson, but the rest of us don't buy items that are so well known. Lesser collectibles aren't nearly so easily sold.
You can buy an Italian made copy of this revolver for about one thousand dollars.
If you buy an Italian copy for $1000, you’ve spent a thousand dollars and you only have an Italian copy.
Americans should be armed and trained in the use of arms.
More than ever now staying alive is a job now.
I believe lesser collectibles are easily sold. The problems is, you cannot rely on prices always going up or even staying level.
Lots of personal value of firearms disappeared overnight when some governments banned them. A classic case is India, where double rifles worth thousands of dollars became almost worthless with a ban on hunting and extreme difficulty in selling and transferring rifles legally.
India even made the export to the rifles illegal, because they were "cultural artifacts".
In my opinion, they were a good revolver for their time, but they have a reputation for getting dirty and refusing to work. They have a number of precisely fitted parts.
Keep them meticulously clean, and they work well.
Smith and Wesson #3. Commonly known as the Russian.
Nice handgun, but I prefer my Colt Pythons.
I agree.
When I said "sold," I should have clarified that to include "at an expected price."
As you say, just about anything can be sold at a fire sale...even a Van Gogh.
I have 3 of them, all in 44 S&W Russian. I shoot them quite frequently. I reload my own cartridges and use Trail Boss powder. I even fire the 44 Russian cartridges out of my Colt Anaconda 44 Magnum when I want to take it easy. Unfortunately I can’t get them to cycle through my 44 Mag lever guns, so I just load up some of the 44 Mags with Trail Boss and enjoy the sound of the big lead slugs banging the steel plates. Very satisfying.
😉👌
Their price has been skyrocketing, but for a while, they were much cheaper than the S&W #3s. All of them were made before 1898, so they are all not "firearms" under the 1968 gun control act.
They are big, tough, strong revolvers with a solid frame.
Much slower to reload than a #3 S&W.
Bully for the purchaser!
California seems to be doing the same.
Formally legally owned Then outlawed with no way to transfer. Destroy, turn in to LE or Move to a Free State are the options for protecting your property.
I choose the later.
I’m still kicking myself for passing up Reichs back when they were affordable. I remember passing up a nice Snail Drum Trommel magazine for $600 back in the 90’s. Oh well. I have a 12” steel gong 85 yds from my backdoor and can frequently ring it with my #3’s. One is a Russian Model and the other 2 are 1878 New Models. I love the antique and historical pieces. I still shoot my 56-56 Spencer, 1863 Sharps, Snider-Enfield, etc, etc. I have an 1895 Winchester SRC in 30-40 Krag caliber that I’ve been told is the type of carbine carried by Teddy’s Rough Rider officers on San Juan Hill. If everyone held on to all of their old pieces, things wouldn’t be nearly as valuable today. Scratch my head every time I see the price tags on garden variety K98’s. I think my biggest regret is not stocking up on 32 Rimfire when Navy Arms was having it made in Brazil. I could a box of 32 Long for $15/50 if buying 4 or 5 boxes. One of those things I would have loaded up on if I’d known they were gonna discontinue it. I still have a couple hundred rounds of long and short and 150-200 rds of 41 Rimfire. I’ve a nice 1885 Winchester Low wall and a Remington Rolling Block and S&W
# 1 1/2 and # 2 among others in 32 RF but don’t shoot them as much as I used to. If my cancer recurs you can bet I’m gonna have a ball shooting up all of the rare and expensive ammo I’ve hoarded.
What is the “buyer’s premium” for?
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