In one of the previous installments of our Wheelgun Wednesday weekly article series, we took a look at a Colt 1851 Navy revolver attributed to Wild Bill Hickok that was consigned to May 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. Although everything indicated that the revolver belonged to Wild Bill, it was not 100% proven, but apparently, that was enough for the buyer who parted with $616,875 to purchase the revolver, a price that way exceeded the auction house’s estimated high price of $225,000. What we have in today’s edition of Wheelgun Wednesday is another Wild Bill Hickok revolver, a Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army, which is consigned to the upcoming August 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. According to Rock Island Auction Company, this revolver is solidly documented as owned and carried by Wild Bill Hickok.

Historical Revolvers @ TFB:

• Theodore Roosevelt’s Colt Single Action Army Sold at Rock Island Auction
• Wheelgun Wednesday: Colt 1851 Navy Revolver Attributed to Wild Bill Hickok
• President Ulysses Grant’s Revolvers Sold at RIAC for $5,170,000

James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill Hickok, is one of the most iconic figures of the American Old West. Born in 1837, he lived a life full of adventures, with triumphs and tragedies alike. Wild Bill has been a soldier, scout, lawman, actor, bodyguard, guide, spy, sharpshooter, gambler and a legendary gunfighter who mastered the art of the handgun to an unparalleled level. Stories of Wild Bill Hickok’s gunfights are breathtaking. Facing him in a gunfight was almost a guaranteed loss for his adversaries, no wonder why the only way Jack McCall could kill him is by cowardly shooting Wild Bill in the back of his head while he was playing poker. The day Hickok was murdered, he was carrying this very Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army revolver which he unfortunately never had a chance to unholster and protect himself with. Wild Bill Hickok is buried in Deadwood, South Dakota, the town where he was killed in 1876.

This Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army is the serial number 29963. It has a 6″ barrel and a 6-round cylinder chambered in .32 Long Rimfire. The revolver has a blued finish and grips made of rosewood. It is mechanically fine and overall is in a pretty good condition. For a detailed description of the provenance of this revolver, visit the lot page in Rock Island Auction’s catalog and read the RIAC article about this wheelgun.

The poker hand that Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was killed consisted of the black aces and black eights (the fifth card is unknown) and is now known as Dead Man’s Hand

Wild Bill Hickok’s Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army Revolver is Lot #1180 in the catalog of the August 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction and will be auctioned on August 27, 2022. The estimated price range that this revolver will be likely sold at is $150,000 – $350,000. I think chances are high that the hammer price of this wheelgun will also exceed the estimated high price, like the previous Hickok revolver sold by RIAC.

Images courtesy of Rock Island Auction Company, www.rockislandauction.com