The Handgun Encyclopedia by B. Smith

Author:B. Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2013-07-06T06:00:00+00:00

·44 Smith and Wesson No. 3, New Model.

(1) In A. C. Gould‘s Modem American Pistols and Revolvers (Boston, 1894).

Five variants or models of the ·38 were made and two models of the ·32. The Safety Hammerless was in production from 1887 until 1940, and both American and European copies can again be encountered. The example illustrated is a ·32 ‗hammerless‘ revolver marked ‗Maltby, Henley & Co., New York‘. The safety hammerless was not, however, copied to the same extent as the standard double action top-break series.

During the period under review, Smith and Wesson also manufactured a ·32 calibre revolving ‗rifle‘, which was really nothing more than a modified No. 3 Russian revolver with barrel lengths of 16 , 18 or 20 . The butt was slotted and provided with a detachable wooden stock, and the frame was modified for the attachment of a hard rubber fore-end. The cartridge was specially developed with 17 grains of powder and a bullet weighing 100 grains. This cartridge could be used in the ·32-44 No. 3 revolver already mentioned and was relatively popular until Winchester appeared with their ·32-20 WCF cartridge. The Smith and Wesson ‗rifle‘ was not a success. The old story that ‗a shoulder stock converts a good pistol into an indifferent carbine‘ still held good and less than a thousand‗rifles‘ were manufactured in a five year production run which ended in 1885. An added cause of annoyance with revolving rifles in general is the gas leak between the cylinder and barrel; if the left hand supports the rifle by holding the fore-end, this can be unpleasant, and the fact that the gas leak on a rifle is very much closer to the face than with a one hand gun only makes matters worse.

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