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The letter
notes it as one of
only two manufactured.
The other example is noted
as the consecutive serial
number 36669 shipped on June
12, 1898, to “Colonel Roosevelt.” Just
one month prior, Smith & Wesson
had shipped a factory engraved
New Model No. 3 in .38 Long Colt
to Roosevelt on May 12, 1898, the
same day he departed to join up with
the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry in San
Antonio, Texas. It had a price realized of
$910,625 when sold by Rock Island Auction Co. on
December 9, 2022. June 10th notably marks the first landing
of U.S. Marines onto Cuban soil during the war, and the U.S. Army troops were preparing to
depart from Tampa, Florida, for the invasion of Cuba.
The precise genesis of these revolvers is currently unknown. Smith & Wesson executives
may have been purely being patriotic and providing suitable arms for noteworthy officers
headed to Cuba, but they would have also had the incentive to get their revolvers into the
hands of men going off to the war for publicity and potential influence on future government
contracts. It is also possible that officers wanting a sidearm chambered for the standard service
cartridge made special requests just as some American servicemen later ordered Single Action
Army revolvers chambered in .45 ACP. Smith & Wesson had long competed with Colt for both
government contracts and commercial sales. Both companies tended to avoid chambering their
revolvers in each other’s cartridges, but with the .38 Long Colt adopted by both the U.S. Army
and Navy, Smith & Wesson clearly made some exceptions as exemplified by this revolver.
Collector’s Fact
According to "Standard Catalog
of Smith & Wesson" by Supica
and Nahas, Smith & Wesson
.44 Double Action First Model
Revolvers in .38 Long are
extremely rare, with up to
10 having been produced,
and Smith & Wesson historian
noting only 2.
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