This is a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver with a 3-1/4" barrel and a five shot cylinder. It carries serial no. 38726.

On the left side of frame you can see the appliquéd silver escutcheon with the inscription, "To J.F. Brown/From Texas Jack./Jan. 1879." John Brown was a New York stage actor who worked for a season in Texas Jack's play "The Trapper's Daughter."

A Smith & Wesson factory letter states that the revolver was shipped from their factory on November 20, 1878, and delivered to a dealer named M.W. Robinson in New York City, Smith & Wesson. Jack made a presentation of the gun to his fellow actor when the show opened at the Olympic Theatre in New York on January 27th, 1879.