From the Vault: Tula Arsenal S&W No. 3 Russian Revolver

[@robertscott2210]

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at Brownells and RIA, and all your friends, families, fans and viewers.

[@tgrif04]

I have always liked the lines of the Schofields. Beautiful guns.

[@wildyracing1]

Frankly, everything that came from Tula Arsenal, from its inception under tzar Peter I back in the beginning of 18th century right until today, is a good, quality firearm. I own a very rare (probably for US, not so much for Eastern Europe) Tula side-by-side shotgun. It is 16 gauge, open hammers, made in 1963. Mine is customized to be a coach gun, and I bet it is surely at least on par with every coach gun other makers had sold during the centuries.

[@Commonwealthcollector]

As I major fan of 44 caliber cartridges I had heard of the 44 russian being the basis for 44 special development, but I had not saw the original gun chambered for it! Thanks for sharing,

[@noahcount7132]

From The Vault videos are a treat to view, every time. Please keep them coming. HAPPY THANKSGIVING, one and all!

[@jonrolfson1686]

Thanks for showing that well-made, well polished, and beautifully finished Russian Russian. Your explanation helps us to understand why those guns were so popular and why many of them were, by preference, kept in service far into the twentieth century.

[@justinweaver8787]

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

[@Albert-tp8bs]

Sweet Find ,Great History lesson and Great design in mind for horseback riding. Would be cool to see some range shooting footage to see just how well the model held up after all these years.

[@zillsburyy1]

you guys need a tv channel

[@Destroyer4790]

Such a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. The colt vs smith and wesson story is one of the most interesting stories in firearm history. It's interesting to think that if smith and wesson would have had the longer cartridge that the single action army probably never would have gained the popularity it had then or now.

[@slaughterhound8793]

That's a good point, but the inherent weakness in the top-break design is what prevented them from being able to fire a longer, more powerful cartridge. Don't get me wrong, I love the top-break design and hope to someday find a couple of old ones that I can buy; but people that have been around firearms a lot longer than I have all say that there is a limit to how much power they can safely handle. I do wish some inventive person could figure out a way to beef up the design so that it could handle much higher pressures, but these days, it seems everyone's minds are on coming up with a new whiz-bang design for a polymer sub-compact 9mm auto-loader.

[@Destroyer4790]

@@slaughterhound8793 yeah, I'd love to get a more modern version of the top break system. I have the uberti copy of the Schofield in 45 colt and I love it but the sights are pretty aweful. They make standard 3 dot sights seem high tech. The fact that they would never chamber the no 3 for 45 colt must either be either an unwillingness to conform to colt chambering (witch seems possible) or the metallurgy back then just wasn't good enough and legit just couldn't handle any higher pressure.

[@chubbethsthunder]

Love the From the Vault videos. GOD Bless and Happy Thanksgiving Patriots.

[@slaughterhound8793]

I think I'd rather had a S&W top-break back in the day also! Being able to quickly eject your empties and rapidly reload probably saved a lot of people's lives. I've heard at the height of his "career" Jesse James' favorite revolver was a S&W top-break; and, like it or not, his "endorsement" should still carry some weight.

[@jeffhuntley2921]

Thanks for my history lesson of the day:)

[@YellowHammer26]

Fine looking gun!!

[@seraphim2525]

Beautiful guns, I own a .38 Special and .45 Colt Beretta Laramie bc that's the closest I'll get to owning a S&W or Tula.the auto-eject completely smokes the Colt-funny how history works out sometimes...

[@patrickmitchell100]

Great gun

[@shoeshiRoll]

"I wonder if i can afford it...it looks kinda cool" *both guys put on gloves to handle the gun* "Damn...."

[@antiquelover007]

I have an original 1874 S&W Russian Model 3, ( Russian contract) . I'm looking for an enthusiastic collector who can preserve and make use of this great piece of History. Please do let me know if anyone is interested in buying it.

[@Lucastrujillo59]

Great video thank you Happy Thanksgiving

[@GunstockBayA90]

I have acquired an 1873 model 3 made in Rusak by Tula. It needs some tlc. It was captured by Polska officer Michalski around WW1. He came to US, and his son worked with Col. Stapp out west inventing ejection seats, aramid kevlars, darpa type stuff.

[@thinman8621]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[@paulvenn4447]

lol how much content Brownell's is pumping out now

[@ukaszbiaas183]

What is that trigger guard extension for?

[@slaughterhound8793]

It's for the shooter to put their middle finger on for a steadier firing grip. I'm not sure how good it would work, as I've never fired any handgun with that spur on it, but I'm dubious that it would help. Then again, people have different size hands, so what doesn't work for the first guy may be perfect for the next one.

[@ukaszbiaas183]

@@slaughterhound8793 Wow, I thought so, but it's hard to imagine how would it work, as neither I have seen them before at the range.

[@slaughterhound8793]

@@ukaszbiaas183 I think a few other revolvers from the 1800's had those spurs on the trigger guards, so I guess they were right for some shooters.

[@hancock63]

Did a shooter need to keep the hammer over an empty chamber on these top break revolvers?

[@poacher-ec9zo]

Close ups??

[@michaelw.urbansr.8617]

I have a handgun that looks like one of the Russian guns. My grandfather brought it back after WWII. It dosnt have one of the double figer grips but it dose have that hump you spoke of. And the bottom of the grip is quite rounded off rather then flaring out like the Scholfield. It has a "W" or and "M" with an arrow threw it ,it looks like but not 100% sure. Then it has a "66W" or if you flip the gun upside down its an "M" with an arrow and a "77m" hehe There are a few very small royle stamps on it as they look like crowns..... but so small i cant be sure. Plus the welds on the firearms are quite rough. And the trigger guard is screwed on kind of crudely although the trigger guard was made for the gun as the type of metal and color/bluing is all the same. HELP PLEASE? hehe I mean the one stamp other then crowns could be a 44W or M44? Looking at it while holding the gun upright or upside down?lol