Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army Revolver with factory letter that states this revolver was shipped to the S&W agent J.W. Storrs in New York, New York on April 23, 1862. The letter states that the revolver has a five-inch barrel, half-plate finish and two-piece ivory grips. The scarce half-plate finish consists of a silver-plated frame and high polish blue finish on the six-shot cylinder and barrel. The trigger and hammer have a color casehardened finish. The revolver has a nickel-silver half-moon front sight, niter blue cylinder stop leaf with sighting notch, knurled hammer spur and a single screw side plate. The top of the barrel rib is roll-stamped "SMITH & WESSON, SPRINGFIELD, MASS." in a single line. The cylinder is roll-stamped "PATENTED APRIL 3, 1855, July 5, 1859, and DEC. 18, 1860.". The serial number"3983" is stamped in small numbers on the butt. The assembly number "39" is stamped on the front face of the cylinder and the rear face of the barrel lug. All of the visible serial numbers match. The S&W Model No. 2 Army Revolver was a popular privately purchased handgun for officers and enlisted men during the Civil War. Historic figures such as General George A. Custer and James Butler ("Wild Bill") Hickok are known to have owned S&W Model No. 2 Army Revolvers. No. 2 Army Revolvers with the half-plate finish are scarce.

Very fine. The revolver retains a strong 85% of the original blue and silver-plated finish. The blue finish on the barrel is thinning and shows light-moderate edge wear. Most of the blue finish is present on the cylinder. The frame and ejector pin have more than 85% of the original silver-plated finish. The hammer and the trigger retain most of the dove-gray case colors. The markings on the barrel and cylinder are sharp. The ivory grips are very good. The ivory has an attractive mellow patina, wear is limited to a pair of hairline age cracks in the right grip and several small age cracks in the heel of the left grip. This is a very fine example of a scarce high condition factory documented S&W Model No. 2 Army Revolver.