Smith and Wesson made a quality revolver, and they were not cheap. Using and inflation calculator, it takes $331 in today's money to buy what $10.25 did in 1902. And given "Putin inflation", it might be $350 to $400 by the end of 2022!
These old pistols were made of plain carbon steels with a lot of residuals and slag. The simple metallurgical processes of the period could not remove non oxidizing elements, such as copper, nickel, tungsten, vanadium, etc, all naturally occurring in ores. Cheap Chinese nuts and bolts, made of plain carbon steels, are made from better quality steels, and have better material properties than the "same" vintage steels in these old firearms. That's the breaks.
Residual Elements in Steel
https://www.totalmateria.com/page.aspx?ID=CheckArticle&LN=EN&site=kts&NM=205
Residual elements (Cu, Ni, As, Pb, Sn, Sb, Mo, Cr, etc.) are defined as elements which are not added on purpose to steel and which cannot be removed by simple metallurgical processes. The presence of residual elements in steel can have strong effects on mechanical properties. There is therefore clearly the need to identify and to quantify the effects of residual elements in order to keep these effects within acceptable limits.
Residual elements, or at least some of them, have an influence on processing conditions and regimes, from casting to the final annealing, and possibly on all mechanical properties.
Cylinders and frame were not heat treated in this period, so the smart thing to do, is never, ever, hot load one of these vintage revolvers. Given the plain carbon steel materials, they do not have the fatigue lifetime of later alloy steels, and neither do they have the same yield strength. Top break revolvers are also very weak, over pressure loads will stretch the top strap locking mechanism. So, if you shoot it, take it easy on the old pistol.
If you have ammunition that is a couple of decades or more older, don't shoot the stuff in this old pistol. Gunpowder deteriorates and the subsequent burn rate instability has, and will blow up firearms. If you want to shoot this with factory ammunition, use new, and not anything that is listed as extra performance or +P!.