Best One I've ever had! This little No.1 2nd Issue Smith & Wesson is in incredible condition.  A real New England Closet Queen!  It takes a lot of human and environmental factors coming together (i.e. lack of fingerprints, stable climate, moderate temperature, correct humidity, little exposure to light, and lack of usage through several generations of human owners) in order to keep an antique gun in this condition for 14 decades.  This one so far has survived quite nicely.  I've had these early Smith & Wesson's still in the original Gutta Percha cases that weren't this nice.  Standard configuration in 22 Caliber, 7 shot cylinder with silver plated frame, blued barrel/cylinder, and case colored hammer. Overall its in NRA Antique Excellent condition with 95% strong mirror bright barrel blue and 85% cylinder blue.  Its very hard to find these with all the barrel blue and cylinder blue...like most Smith & Wesson's, the barrels were badly prone to flaking off both blue and nickel finish...my guess is this had something to do with heat expansion from firing. Chances are, this revolver was fired only  a few times and probably put away in a drawer for the next 140 years. In fact, the only real wear can be found on some of the screws that have been turned, and some rubbing on the extreme edges of the grips and portions of the cylinder radius where it looks like it slid inside of a wooden drawer.  The darkness kept the fragile case colors on the hammer still vivid as these would have been completely bleached out with exposure to sunlight.  The frame has 99% original silver plating which has tarnished to a deep grayish blue hue.  Rosewood grips show 95% shiny original piano varnish with no chips or cracks.   The No.1 was S&W's first attempt at a cartridge revolver and with Rollin White's patent, they had a lock on the market for several years.  You can clearly see their patent dates on the cylinder and S&W barrel address. This little revolver is known as the 2nd variation with squared frame and a solid hammer.  These were popular both during and after the Civil War with both soldiers and civilians. This one was made in the year 1866.  This one would be difficult to improve upon and collectors rarely part with a Smith & Wesson this strong. 

SOLD