S&W New Model 3 Target C&R eligible?

[SDDL-UP]

Would this old S&W be Curio & Relic eligible? I have one for sale right now on Gunbroker and received this question. I checked the BATFE site and it's just so jumbled I can't find anything that old.

Thanks!

 

[Old Fuff]

I didn't pull up any kind of photo, but I presume that the revolver in question is an original S&W New Model Russian, with target sights. I'll have to confirm this, but I believe that all of this model come under the legal status of antique. While guns were sold as late as 1908, all of the frames were made and serial numbered before 1899. If it's some kind of current-day reproduction it would be considered a conventional firearm subject to the restrictions contained in the 1968 GCA.

While antiques are exempt from federal gun control laws, there may be something in the way of laws in the potentional buyer's state and/or city of residence. He (the buyer) should determine what the status is there.

Also you can inquire here for more information:

www.armchairgunshow.com

 

[rcmodel]

C&R from BATF:
1.) Firearms which were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;


rcmodel

 

[Old Fuff]

Ya, but C&R firearms are still subject to some restrictions. Antiques are not. If the revolver (or frame thereof) was made before 1899 it's an antique, not C&R.

 

[rcmodel]

I think we can agree a real S&W #3 would have been made before 1898, and would be an antique.

But if the guy has a C&R to ship it too, go for it.

It might not be an "antique" in the state he needs to send it too if it shoots cartridges.


rcmodel

 

[Old Fuff]

Note: Although the New Model Number 3 was cataloged into the early 1900's, all frames were manufactured by 1898, making the gun an antique.

Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd Ed. by Jim Supica & Richard Nahas, p. 103.

It might not be an "antique" in the state he needs to send it too if it shoots cartridges.

True, but if there isn't a state or local restriction he can just send it, and forget about the 1968 GCA and C&R. Once it's entered into someone's bound book it becomes a controled firearm.

 

[SDDL-UP]

So if it's a C&R it can be sent from one C&R holder to another or from an FFL to a C&R , but if it's an antique it can be sent from a private individual to a C&R or FFL?

 

[Old Fuff]

Unless there is a state or local law it can be sent from an individual to another individual, with no FFL or C&R required. This is wny many prople collect antique (pre-1898) guns rather then later ones. USPS, will accept antiques for shipment between unlicenced individuals, but not post-1898 firearms.

So as an example, I live in Arizona, where there are no legal restrictions on antique firearms. If I wanted your gun I could send you a certified check, and then you could send me the gun. It would be shipped as an Antique, not a Firearm.

However once it is entered into a FFL or C&R licence holders "bound book" the BATF&E will expect it to stay "on paper" and it would no longer be attractive to many collectors (read that as well funded buyers) because of this.

If your potential buyers lives in a gun-restrictive state or city, such as NYC or Chicago, or a state like N.J. there could be a problem. If however he lives in most of the United States, and some foreign countries there wouldn't be.

If Gunbroker.com had listed the revolver in the Antique Section this matter shouldn't have even come up.

It is possible that the New Model No. 3 is listed as a C&R, but I doubt it, and if it is it shouldn't be.

Incidentally, post the serial number of your revolver, using xx for the last two numbers. You need to know when it was made, not when it was originally sold.

A call to Roy Jinks at S&W will confirm that all of the New Model No. 3 frames were made prior to 1898.