POTD: S&W 38 Double Action Perfected Model – The Last Top-Break

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have Smith & Wesson’s final word on the top-break 38. This is the 38 Double Action “Perfected Model,” made from 1909 to 1920 in 38 S&W, and S&W wasn’t shy about the name. They considered it the pinnacle of their top-break development.

What makes the Perfected so odd is that it’s half old and half new. S&W kept the top-break barrel and cylinder of the 38 Double Action but stuffed the lockwork of the contemporary 32 Hand Ejector inside. That brought a sideplate on the right side of the frame and a trigger guard made as part of the frame instead of a separate piece, which no other S&W top-break has. It also locks up twice. There’s the usual barrel latch on the top strap plus a thumbpiece latch on the left side of the frame, and you have to work both to open it. Basically, it’s about as solid as a top-break gets.

Unfortunately for S&W, the timing was off. Swing-out cylinders were the future by 1909, and the top-break was on borrowed time. Just over 59,000 were made before production ended in 1920, and a good number of those went to Central and South America, which makes them a little scarce stateside. These were pocket guns too, so plenty of them lived hard lives.

I would call it a bridge between two eras. It’s the kind of gun that shows a company wringing every last improvement out of a design before finally letting it go.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“Smith & Wesson .38 Double Action ‘Perfected Model’ Revolver.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/3628/smith-wesson-38-double-action-perfected-model-revolver. Accessed 29 Sept. 2026.

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