Smith & Wesson Model 3 Schofield - Number 1

Smith & Wesson brought the horse soldier's revolver back to life with this Model 3 Schofield reissue, and the gold box tells you exactly which one you're holding. It carries the original portraits of Horace Smith and D.B. Wesson flanking the old Springfield works, paired with the Roy Jinks article The Horse Soldier's Revolver and the 2000-dated owner's manual. That paper trail is what separates a Schofield you can shoot from a Schofield you can document.

The lines are pure 1875. A seven-inch barrel runs out front, the cylinder sits behind a top-break frame, and the spur hammer rises over a single-action lockwork that breaks clean. Lift the latch and the barrel drops, the star extractor rises, and all the cases clear in one motion. Colonel George W. Schofield reworked the original Model 3 latch and extractor so a cavalryman could open, eject, and reload one-handed from the saddle. The reissue keeps that geometry intact.

Chambered in .45 S&W, the same shortened case the Army adopted in 1874. The finish is bright nickel, polished to a near-mirror across the barrel rib, frame flats, and cylinder. The grips are figured walnut with a warm grain that plays against all that shine, each panel wearing a small script cartouche near the heel. The case-colored hammer, trigger, and latch add a touch of contrast where the eye lands.

Look into the muzzle and the rifling is sharp and bright, the chambers clean. Lockup is tight, the latch snaps shut with authority, and the action runs the way a top-break should. This isn't a relic pulled from a frontier trunk. It's a faithful modern build of the gun many cavalrymen called superior to the Colt, finished and documented to a standard the original surplus guns never enjoyed. For a collector who wants the Schofield silhouette without chasing a worn 1870s survivor, this one delivers.