38 smith and Wesson stamped on side of barrel 38hammerless with warner arms corp norwich conn stamped on top of barrel any info would help?

Answer 1

The Warner Arms Corp was established in 1912 and marketed revolvers, rifles, semi-automatic pistols, and shotguns made for them by other companies including N.R. Davis & Sons, Ithaca Gun Company, and so forth. In 1917, the company was purchased by N.R. Davis & Company. Under Warner, the .38 caliber revolver is only described as a double action or a double action hammerless. You state that the gun is marked ".38 Smith & Wesson", which is a black powder round first introduced in 1880 by Smith & Wesson and was most often seen in break top revolvers. The round is relatively low power and the break top action is inherently weak, so the two went well together. During that time frame, the break top was very popular. Under Davis-Warner, only a .32 revolver is discussed and it is a swing out cylinder meaning that it is a solid frame revolver. You have an old gun which, if in good condition or better, is worth less than $100 to a collector. If the condition is VG or Exc, the value is somewhat higher, but not astronomical. This is a collector gun, not a shooter. It may be able to be shot, but it's best if it isn't.