Welcome to right now’s Photo of the Day! Right here now we have a gold-plated Smith & Wesson .44 Double Motion Frontier revolver, manufactured previous to 1899 with matching serial numbers all through. It is a working revolver that somebody determined deserved the jewellery therapy. The .44 Double Motion Frontier was Smith & Wesson’s reply to Colt’s dominance within the .44-40 WCF market. By the point S&W launched this mannequin in 1886, the .44-40 Winchester cartridge was already established as the usual for lever-action rifles and single-action revolvers throughout the West. Providing a double-action revolver in the identical chambering gave shooters the benefit of quicker follow-up pictures whereas sustaining ammunition compatibility with their rifles.
The double-action mechanism was nonetheless comparatively new know-how within the Eighteen Eighties and Nineties. Most frontier customers grew up with single-action weapons and seen the DA set off as both pointless or unreliable. However for individuals who mastered it, the power to fireplace with out manually cocking the hammer for each shot was a big tactical benefit.
Somebody clearly thought sufficient of this explicit revolver to have it gold plated, which wasn’t a manufacturing facility choice from Smith & Wesson. This was customized work executed both by a retailer or an engraving home, turning a working frontier revolver into one thing a lot flashier. The 6-inch stable rib barrel was a sensible size – lengthy sufficient for respectable accuracy and velocity however brief sufficient for holster carry.
Gold plating a working revolver within the Nineties despatched a message. You had cash, you valued craftsmanship, and also you weren’t carrying some beat-up path gun. This might have belonged to a profitable businessman, a lawman who needed to challenge authority, or a gambler who appreciated the symbolism of carrying gold on his hip.
Most of our POTDs make the most of pictures from our mates at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms public sale in the US. Take a while to browse their current auctions – who is aware of, possibly you’ll discover a piece of historical past to take residence!
Gold Plated Smith & Wesson .44 Double Motion Frontier Revolver | Rock Island Public sale, www.rockislandauction.com/element/1049/47/gold-plated-smith-wesson-44-double-action-frontier-revolver. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
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