Antique S&W questions

Based on what you are talking about for function issues, I'd consider it a $40 paper weight, and a conversation piece.

If you really want a shootable old Smith top break, I'd hunt around on Gun Broker.com for one with fewer mechanical issues to worry about. You'll pay more, but have less to do to get it working properly.

Configuration looks just like my 3rd Model Double Action (DA). Mine is in the 260XXX serial range. Others with more S&W knowledge will undoubtably chime in.

Looks like a S&W 3rd Model, made 1882-3. I'd chop the barrel. Single action not working likely because the sear spring is broken.

I'd sell the gun to Numrich. They buy used guns and gun parts.

Or post it on Gunbroker with a $80.00 reserve and you will double your money.

Even if you could find a replacement barrel no reputable gunsmith will touch it. Likewise with trying to get it refinished.

It might be a DA only firearm. I have a S&W Double Action Perfected that I thought was broken but researched showed it to be DA only. Can't remember where I found the info.

Looks like a 38sw if you cut and crown the barrel, check lockup, and locate some proper ammo you can probably fire it. I would look at numrich for barrels in similar cosmetic condition but not bulged, then fire the old girl up with pyrodex.

It is a Smith & Wesson, .38 Double Action, Third Model, made where it says it was made, in Springfield, MA, around 1885. [It is hard to believe today, but at one time, things were actually made in the U.S., not in Asia.]

The bad news is that that gun might need some parts and those may not be available. The cylinder rotation should be clockwise, as viewed from the rear, and the cylinder should be locked in place when the gun is cocked or when the hammer is down. (It should be unlocked only when it is to be rotated.)

The failure to stay cocked could be a worn or broken sear or hammer, or just dirt or crud keeping parts from working properly.

The barrel bulge likely was caused by firing the gun with a bullet stuck in the barrel. It should be safe to fire with modern smokeless .38 S&W ammunition (if you can find any) but not as a steady diet. (Note that ".38 S&W" is the designation of the ammunition, not .38 Special.)

I would not sell it to a parts supply house; you will get a tenth of what you paid for it, if that.

Jim