Well, I've found these going for 90$ to 900$...
I'm pretty sure it depends on whether or not the thing is shootable. How much rotation of the cylinder is permissible at lockup for a safe shooter (obviously at very low pressure levels)? I suppose I could fire wax slugs with a bit more impunity, right?
Info on these seems to be pretty sparse. Apparently everyone and their brother in Europe was plagiarizing S&W in the '10s and '20s, and the Belgians and Spanish were the most prolific at forging the S&W no. 3 top break. Many makers were small scale shops, so maker's marks are typically absent, as well as any subsequent info. Each pistol should be treated as unique in terms of quality and function.
Since the quality and function are pretty good aside from the the lockup, is there anything that can be done to remedy the squishy/springy cylinder alignment?
TCB
I may pick this up simply because 160$ appears to be fair for a badly pitted non-functional specimen, and this one is in better shape than that. Real S&W's are +1000$...