I think I need one of these.

The pictured sixguns, True  Believers, are examples of the Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model ‘New Century,’ generally known as the Triple Lock and widely considered the finest double-action handgun ever made.  It’s a unique and iconic piece of American firearms history (and so good examples usually carry a fancy price) and a valuable weapon in the hands of any dedicated guntwist.

This revolver was the first of Smith & Wesson’s swing-out cylinder double action revolver, the first of the big N-frame guns, chambered originally in the very fine .44 Special and used by the late Elmer Keith and others to develop hot .44 Special loads that led to the rise of the .44 Magnum.

This was possible in part because of the feature that led to the name “Triple Lock” – a third locking lug on the cylinder crane, which made the big revolvers bank-vault solid.  There was an issue – it was an expensive feature, requiring fine machining, and some potential users considered them too prone to possible failure due to dirt in the action.  So, after producing only 15,376 examples, Smith & Wesson redesigned the gun into the 2nd Model, eliminating the third locking lug and the ejector shroud and dropping the price of the gun by $2 – not a bad sum in 1915.

Old guns are almost always a fair investment.  Unless mistreated, they never lose value.  A good quality sixgun like these old Smiths should, if properly cared for, last a century or more.  It wouldn’t be a bad inheritance for one of my grandsons somewhere in the middle of the 21st century.