But Colt’s Double Action Navy Model of 1889 put the onus on S&W’s first double-action top-break model did not appear until 1880.
Manufacturing a gun until it met their exacting standards. Wesson had been working on various double-action designs since before 1872, but the Wessons were apparently perfectionists and had no intention of The mechanism which holds the cylinder in correct alignment was redesigned in 1892, and this same basic design has been in use by Colt’s ever since.ĭaniel B. Was not until 1889, when Mason was working for the Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, that Colt’s adopted his swing-out cylinder design for their Double Action Navy Model. Karr, in their book Remington Firearms, aver that a small number of these guns were made under the name Mason Patent Revolver, but there are no surviving specimens to prove this. patent 51117) a design for a revolver cylinder that swung out of the frame on a crane or yoke. I recently purchased a large frame Colt New Service revolver made in 1925 which has a fifteen pound double-action trigger pull.Īs early as 1865 William Mason, while working for E.
Well into the 20th century, most revolver shooters preferred to manually cock the hammer and shoot in single-action mode, particularly with Colt revolvers–quite frankly because the Colt had anĪwful double-action trigger pull. These modern Colt revolvers have the hand in the left side of theįrame to rotate the cylinder in a clockwise direction, and the sideplate covering the lockwork is also on the left side. Operated, and that includes non-firing use.”Ĭolt’s did a redesign of Mason’s double-action lockwork for its Double Action Army Model of 1878, making it more robust and reliable, but Chicoine notes (in his book Antique FirearmsĪssembly/ Disassembly) that the guns “.are well known for their very long trigger pull lengths and hard double action trigger pulls.”įinally, in 1908 Colt’s adopted a variant of the Warnant lock, which they have used to this day with only minor modifications. In his book Gunsmithing Guns of the Old West David Chicoine writes: “The internal mechanismĬolt used in these is overly intricate, many of its critical components are as likely as not to break and these will often do so as frequently as the revolver’s action is In 1877, the Colt’s Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company marketed a double-action revolver with a uniquely complex lock designed by William Mason, but it proved to be a disastrous mistake. Holds the firing pin away from the cartridge until the trigger is pulled. This design utilizes a V-shaped main spring, the upper arm of which tensions the hammer and the lower arm of which tensions a rebound lever which Most double-action revolver locks of the late 19th century were based on the 1875 design by the Belgian Jean Warnant, as seen in the Swiss Army revolver of 1878 and also in the top-breakĮnfield and Webley revolvers after 1880. So I can learn more about unusual variations.* However, I would be happy for people to send me photographs of their revolvers All questions should be addressed to the appropriate sub-forum of the Smith & Wesson Forum. I am not an expert on Smith & Wesson revolvers, so please do not write to me asking questions about your gun. Early and late examples of any model (or change) may show differences from standard production guns, due to the use of left-over parts, or toĬhanges that may have been introduced before patent inscriptions were updated.
32 Hand Ejector revolvers, but for every generality thereĪre usually several exceptions. I have tried to offer information about the standard production versions of small (I Frame) Smith & Wesson. Resource for people who wish to look up patents that are listed only by date on older Smith & Wesson revolvers. The patents were applied to Hand Ejectors in all frame sizes and calibers, so this article can serve as a Numbers and descriptions so that readers can do research for themselves. Patent Office or from the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. I have added information on patents which is not readily available elsewhere, though I have not reproduced drawings from every patent, as the patents are available online from the U.S. I have also had generous assistance from several collectors from the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association. Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson by Jim Supica and Richard Nahas. Jinks, with additional information taken from The 38 Smith & Wesson revolvers.ĭetailed information included in this article is largely based on the book, Smith & Wesson, 1857-1945, by Robert J. Though after the First Model many innovations were actually driven by, and appeared first in, the larger (K frame). 32 Hand Ejector because it was the first Smith & Wesson to have a swing-out cylinder, even The goal of this article is to trace the evolution of the first truly modern revolver.