Picked up one of these off GB. Caliber .44 Russian. Got a good deal as it was missing the cylinder retaining screw. $9 to VTI fixed that.
I like the NA top breaks, I've said before they have the best Black Powder Cylinder Bevel of any of the imports. Current ones have none at all. However, this one in particular has a further difference.
First of all, none of these measurements include the star ratchet. Just the cylinder bulk and the "Gas collar" at the front. All my current Uberti top breaks have a cylinder length of 1.56". The collar at front measures .06". These are two Navy Arms Schofield models and a Cimarron #3 Russian. However, this Navy Arms #3 Russian has a 1.50" cylinder, with a .12 Collar at front. The Forcing cone on the barrel has also been extended .06" to match. This is a respectable visual difference.
I've never seen this before, and wonder if any others have. This is an early production gun, year 2000. It does shoot Black powder loads extremely well. The sights are also dead on, my other Russian shoots well left, though I was able to bend the front sight enough to compensate.
Also noted: the Retention screw remained tight while shooting black powder, but when shooting smokeless loads with their sharper recoil impulse began to work loose. I can see how the original was lost.