Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 - Dan Shideler - Страница 9
ОглавлениеThe N-Frame S&W Revolver
BY PAUL SCARLATA
PHOTOS BY JAMES WALTERS AND BUTCH SIMPSON
Ever since I first became interested in firearms (no, I’m not going to tell you how long ago that was!) I have associated certain periods in history with particular firearms. For example, when I think of the Thirty Years War in Germany (1618-1648) the firearm that comes to mind is the matchlock musket. Nor can I discuss the American Revolution (1775-1781) without mentioning Daniel Morgan’s Virginians and their long Rifles. When the Napoleonic Wars (1804-1815) are the subject, I envision red coated infantry marching in formation with flintlock Brown Bess muskets, while the American Civil War (1861-1865) is exemplified by muzzleloading, Rifled muskets such as the M1861 Springfield. And I doubt there is a gun fancier in the world who does not connect the settling of America’s western frontier with the Winchester lever action carbine and Colt SAA revolver.
As a historian and gun collector, I find the period most interesting to be that thirty-year stretch between 1884 and 1914. During this time we saw the invention of smokeless gunpowder and small bore Rifle cartridges, the perfection of bolt action repeating Rifles, semiautomatic pistols and fully automatic firearms. From the groundbreaking 8mm Lebel cartridge and Mauser’s Gewehr 98 Rifle to the Colt 1911 pistol and Maxim machine gun, many of the greatest advances in firearms technoltechnology occurred during this three-decade time span.
But another firearm was perfected during this era that has garnered little of the attention lavished upon its contemporaries: the double action (DA) revolver. While DA revolvers were nothing new, having been around since the 1850s, in the 1890-1910 period the newly perfected swing-out cylinder unloading/reloading system was combined with improved DA trigger mechanisms to produce the modern revolver as we know it today. In fact, I believe I’m on firm ground when I state that except for magnum cartridges and the use of high tech metals, there is little about the modern DA revolver that a firearms engineer from 1900 would find remarkable.
And of all the revolvers developed during this time, none of them is more interesting than the heavy-caliber, largeframe wheelguns from the Springfield, Massachusetts, firm of Smith & Wesson.
Smith & Wesson introduced their first large frame (referred to as the N-frame), swing-out cylinder, DA revolver, the .44 Hand Ejector - also known as the ‘Triple Lock” or “New Century” - in 1907 to compete with Colt’s New Service revolver. Up until this time all of S&W’s large-caliber revolvers had been of the hinged-frame, top-break variety, and, while popular, they were never viewed as quite rugged enough or chambered for powerful enough cartridges to be a real threat to Colt’s predominance in the American military and civilian markets.
S&W brought out their first swing-out cylinder revolver, the .32 Hand Ejector, in 1896 followed by the 38-caliber Military & Police revolver in 1899. The .44 Hand Ejector used the same basic mechanism as these smaller caliber revolvers. The cylinder was locked by a rod that passed through the ejector system and latched into a recess on the face of the breech while a second lock was provided by a spring loaded stud in a lug underneath the barrel that snapped into the forward end of the ejector rod. But S&W felt that a stronger system would be required with the powerful cartridges they intended to use, so additional locking was provided by a bolt housed in the ejector rod shroud that locked into a mortise on the cylinder yoke.
The .44 Hand Ejector could be ordered with 4-, 5-, 6- or 6.5-inch barrels, with wooden or hard rubber grips and a choice of blue or nickel finish.
S&W also introduced a new cartridge that was to become as famous, if not more so, than the revolver itself: the .44 S&W Special. This was based upon their popular .44 Russian but used a case 0.2 inch (5mm) longer and loaded a 246-gr. lead bullet moving at 755 fps. In addition to becoming popular for law enforcement and self defense, it quickly earned a reputation for accuracy and preempted the .44 Russian as the dominant target shooting cartridge of the day. While .44 Special guns accounted for the majority of sales, the Triple Lock revolver was also offered chambered for the .44-40, .45 Colt and, for the British market, .450 Boxer and .455 Webley.
The .38-44 Heavy Duty was designed for serious police work and fired a special heavy-duty .38 Special loads that came close to equaling the .357 Magnum.
When World War I broke out in 1914, the British government placed large orders with S&W for revolvers. In addition to producing purpose-built .455 revolvers, many 44-caliber guns were retrofitted with .455 cylinders and barrels to supply the anxious British. But in the brutal conditions of trench warfare it became obvious that the Triple Lock was far too finely made a revolver: the third lock and the ejector rod shroud often became clogged with mud or debris, preventing the cylinder from closing.
S&W rectified these problems by the simple expedient of removing the offending parts. The Modified revolver, dubbed the .455 Hand Ejector, Second Model or .455 Hand Ejector, Mark II, went into production in 1915. All British issue Mark IIs had 6.5-inch barrels and boasted a commercial-grade blued finish. The big Smith proved popular and by 1918 more than 68,000 had been supplied to British and Canadian forces.
S&W pioneered the “half-moon” clip with their famed .45 caliber M1917 revolver (right). The new Performance Center M625 revolver continues this tradition with “full-moon” clip loading.
As it became obvious that the United States would soon be entering the conflict on the Allied side, the U.S. Army began casting about for additional adverse to using revolvers they insisted upon one precondition: any substitute standard handgun MUST use the issue .45 ACP cartridge! This presented a problem as the rimless ACP cartridge would not function with the standard revolver ejector system. Working in conjunction with Springfield Armory, S&W’s engineers developed what has become known as the “half moon clip,” a semicircular piece of flat stamped steel with cutouts into which three rimless .45 weapons and while they were committed to the 1911 Colt pistol, it soon became obvious that not enough could be produced to meet demand. In 1916, the Army approached S&W about a “substitute standard” handgun and were offered the Hand Ejector, Second Model. But while the Army was not ACP cartridges could be snapped. This allowed the rimless cases to be ejected by the extractor bearing on the clip and had the secondary advantage of allowing very fast reloading.
The only modifications required to the design were a shorter cylinder to provide clearance for the half moon clips and wider cylinder stop stud to keep the cylinder in place when swung open. When the U.S. declared war on April 2, 1917, S&W began production and delivered the first Smith & Wesson Revolver, Caliber .45, Model 1917 on September 6, 1917.
While the Army’s original intention was to issue these revolvers to rear echelon and support troops, shortly after the first M1917s reached France, they began appearing in the trenches. It proved to be a rugged, powerful fighting handgun capable of standing up the vile conditions of trench warfare with aplomb and were soon much in demand by American doughboys. By the time contracts were canceled in 1918, S&W had delivered 163,476 Model 1917 revolvers to the U.S. Army,
S&W continued to produce the Second Model after World War I. Once again, the most popular caliber was the .44 Special with the .45 ACP a distant runner up while smaller numbers were produced in .38-40, .44-40, .45 Long Colt and .455 Webley. Another variation, the .44 Hand Ejector, Third Model was produced in 1926 on special order from the Wolf & Klar Company, a firearms distributor in Fort Worth, Texas. It was basically a .44 Special caliber Second Model with an ejector rod shroud and proved popular enough that limited numbers were produced up until 1950.
In 1937 the Brazilian government placed an order for 25,000 Second Models in .45 ACP. Known as the Modelo 1937 they were - except for the fact that some were fitted with checkered rather then smooth grip panels - identical to U.S. issue M1917s.
During World War II the army and USMC issued M1917s once again. While primarily used by military police and support troops, quite a few turned up in combat where they again gave a good account of themselves. In addition, large numbers were supplied to our British and Chinese allies.
The Performance Center Model 625 took honors for handling and accuracy.
France, 1944. 1st. Lt. John Upchurch covers a group of surrendering Germans with a S&W M1917 revolver. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Canfield)
The famous S&W Model 1917 pioneered the use of half moon clips to allow firing rimless pistol cartridges in a revolver.
The Model 327 TRR8 was designed for police service and has the ability to mount many different types of lights, optical sights and lasers.
The Model 327 TRR8’s eight round cylinder can be loaded with loose rounds of full moon clips.
Production resumed after World War II as the .45 Hand Ejector Model of 1917. In 1950 S&W began offering two slightly updated revolvers, the .45 Hand Ejector Model of 1950 with fixed sights and the .45 Hand Ejector Model of 1950 Target with a ribbed 6.5-inch barrel and adjustable sights. The latter was superseded two years later by the heavy-barreled .45 Hand Ejector Model of 1955 which, after 1957, was known as the Model 25.
Lest we get too far ahead of ourselves and become confused, let us backtrack for a moment. The post-World War I years saw a massive switch by U.S. police to medium-frame revolvers chambered for the .38 Special cartridge, and S&W’s .38 Military & Police soon became the “standard” revolver in the holsters of most police officers in the Western hemisphere.
The 1920s and 1930s were times of great social change and economic unrest which led to the rise of a new breed of violent criminals. The proliferation of the automobile, combined with poor communications and lack of coordination between police agencies, provided these lawbreakers with the means to commit crimes, escape quickly, and elude pursuit. In addition, the heavy gauge steel auto bodies of the day provided excellent protection for these highly mobile banditti.
Gunfights between police and automobile-mounted robbers led to a call for a handgun cartridge capable of defeating auto bodies. In response, several ammunition companies loaded the .38 Special with a 200-gr. lead bullet at a velocity of 730 fps for 236 ft/lbs. of energy. Often referred to as “Super Police” or “Highway Patrol” loads, they nevertheless proved inadequate. Also, medium-frame revolvers tended to loosen up or go out of time when fed a steady diet of them.
In 1930 S&W came to the rescue with a revolver that, over the years, has been known by several names: .38/44 Heavy Duty, .38/44 Hand Ejector or .38/44 Super Police. It was in fact, little more than the fixed-sight .44 Hand Ejector rebarreled and chambered for the .38 Special and fitted with an ejector rod shroud. It proved to be a rugged, no-frills handgun capable of digesting a unlimited diet of heavy-bullet .38 Specials and became especially popular with rural sheriff’s departments and Highway Patrol agencies in the western and southern states.
In 1931, Remington developed a high-performance .38 Special loaded with a 158-gr. hardened lead bullet which, when fired from a 6.5 inch barrel, attained a velocity of 1175 fps, producing an impressive 460 ft/lbs.of muzzle energy. While Remington called it the .38/44 S&W Special Hi-Speed, it quickly became known simply as the “.38/44.” It was also available loaded with a 150-gr. metal pointed bullet at the same velocity, a round that had no trouble whatsoever penetrating auto bodies, walls and the primitive bullet proof vests of the day. [This .38/44 load is not to be confused with the earlier, similarly-named .38-44 S&W, a special target cartridge chambered in a variant of the S&W Model 3 large-frame, top-break revolver. -DMS]
That same year, S&W offered a second version designed for sportsmen and target shooters. The .38/44 Outdoorsman came with a 6.5-inch barrel, a fully-adjustable rear sight and a patridge front sight. The .38/44 revolvers retained their popularity throughout the 1930s and ‘40s although production ended in 1941 so S&W could concentrate on war orders. Production resumed after the war and in 1957 the .38/44 was rechristened the Model 20 while the Outdoorsman became the Model 23. But the increasing popularity of the .357 revolver led to declining sales, and manufacture of both ceased in 1967.
One of the more notable events in firearms history occurred in 1935 when S&W’s Philip Sharpe, in cooperation with Winchester’s Merton Robinson, introduced the .357 S&W Magnum cartridge. Based on the venerable .38 Special case lengthened by one-eighth of an inch, the original load propelled a 158-gr. bullet to approximately 1500 fps (from an 8-3/4-inch barrel), qualifying as the most powerful handgun cartridge of its era. (Note: the velocity of factory-produced .357 ammunition was later reduced to the 1200-1300 fps range.)5
The first revolvers available chambered for the .357 were based on S&W’s N-frame and were dubbed, appropriately enough, the .357 Magnum Hand Ejector. S&W’s new Magnum revolver was a deluxe item featuring the highest levels of craftsmanship and finish. All .357 Magnums were custom-made and were fitted with a fully adjustable rear sight while the buyer had the options of seven different front sights, any length barrel from 3-1/2 to 8-3/4 inches and several different styles of grips..
In an obvious attempt to attract the attention of the law enforcement community, S&W’s president presented revolver serial #1 to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover on May 10, 1935. But while the .357 Magnum was beyond the budget of most 1930s police agencies, the cartridge’s performance quickly earned it an enviable reputation and in pre-World War II years it became a status item among both civilian shooters and law enforcement personnel. And while some affluent agencies issued them, many more were purchased with private funds by officers wanting the “best.” In the post-war years .357 Magnum Hand Ejector production continued and in 1957 it was rebaptized the Model 27. (It’s worth noting that the first 5,500 .357 Magnums were registered to their original purchasers. Today these guns are called “registered Magnums,” and their value is somewhat higher than non-registered Magnums of the same vintage, all other factors being equal.)
In 1954, so as to satisfy demand for a more affordable magnum revolver, S&W introduced the .357 Highway Patrolman (in post-1957 nomenclature, the Model 28). While this N-frame lacked the external finish and cosmetic beauty of the .357 Magnum, its lower price made it an instant hit and it became one of the most popular American police handguns of its day. By the early 1960s the Model 27 and 28 were outselling the .38/44, .44 Special and .45 ACP caliber N-frame guns by a wide margin, leading to S&W quietly dropping them from their catalog.
By the early 1950s the renowned writer, shooter and hunter Elmer Keith had spent several years hot-rodding the .44 Special and was advocating the development of a revolver cartridge capable of taking big game. Between 1954 and 1955, in cooperation with Remington, S&W engineers developed the .44 Remington Magnum cartridge. This was based upon the .44 Special case lengthened 0.125 inch and loaded with a 240-gr. jacketed bullet that was pushed to 1180 fps for 741 ft/lbs. of muzzle energy, making it the hands-down, most powerful, smokeless powder revolver cartridge of all time.
Introduced in 1955, the massive S&W .44 Magnum Revolver (post-1957, the Model 29) was an expensive specialty item that sold in limited numbers to big game hunters. But with the release of Clint Eastwood’s hit 1971 film Dirty Harry, the Model 29 became the most sought-after handgun on the American market, causing prices to skyrocket as the limited numbers available quickly sold out. While the pace of production at S&W’s factory was stepped up, it still took several years to catch up to demand. S&W’s marketing types wisely conducted an advertising campaign that used Dirty Harry movie posters to extol the virtues of their most powerful revolver. The Model 29 became so well know to the general public that even those persons who have no interest whatsoever in firearms can tell you in an instant what type of revolver Detective Harry Callahan carried!
Designed for concealed carry and home defense, the new Night Guard line features Scandium alloy frames, stainless steel cylinders and special night sights.
Designed for concealed carry and home defense, the new Night Guard line features Scandium alloy frames, stainless steel cylinders and special night sights.
Possibly the most famous revolver cartridges of all time were all designed for S&W N-frame revolvers. Left to right: .357 S&W Magnum, .41 Remington Magnum and the .44 Remington Magnum.
A replaceable, hardened steel shim prevents frame “cutting” from the gases of powerful Magnum cartridges.
Recoil with the Hwy Patrolman, self-explanatory.
Recoil with the M29, stiff but controllable.
“Magnum mania” was now sweeping the handgun world and it seemed that everyone with R&D or production facilities was either trying to develop a new magnum cartridge or market a revolver chambered for one. In 1963 S&W had announced a new N-frame, the Model 57, chambered for the .41 Remington Magnum cartridge, which was intended to provide sufficient power for hunting big game but with lower levels of recoil than the big .44. The following year, in an attempt to popularize the .41 Magnum with police, S&W introduced the Model 58 revolver which, with its 4-inch heavy barrel and fixed sights, harked back to the .44 Hand Ejector Third Model. Despite the development of medium-velocity .41 Magnum loads, the concept never quite caught on with American police although a loyal group of big game hunters evolved that kept the .41 Magnum cartridge and Model 57 revolver commercially viable propositions.
The next trendsetting move by S&W occurred in 1963 with the introduction of the J-frame Model 60, the first all-stainless steel revolver. As the practicality - and popularity - of stainless steel grew, S&W expanded the option to most of their N-frame guns. Over the next several years, the market saw the introduction of the stainless steel Models 629 (.44 Magnum), 657 (.41 Magnum), 624 (.44 Special), 627 (.357 Magnum), 625 (.45 ACP) and 610 (10mm Auto). The two latter guns use full moon clips to handle the rimless pistol cartridges and, because of their rapid reloading capabilites, once dominated dominate those action shooting sports where revolvers are used such as ICORE, bowling pin shooting, IDPA and IPSC.
With the burgeoning popularity of semiauto pistols, in recent years the market for revolvers has shrunk, leading to S&W’s dropping several models. But that being said, over the past few years S&W’s Performance Center has introduced a number of limited edition and custom N-frame revolvers. Six of the newest are the Model 625 5.25-inch competition revolver in .45 ACP; the classically styled, blue steel Model 251 .45 Hand Ejector in .45 Colt; the Model 28 in .357 Magnum (an eight-shooter, no less!); the Heritage Model 25-12, a reincarnation of the Model 1917 in .45 ACP; and two tricked-out hunting revolvers, the Model 647 Comped Hunter in .41 Magnum and Model 629 7.5- inch Stealth Hunter in .44 Magnum.
The newest kids on the block are the S&W Night Guard revolvers, which utilize a frame constructed from a special alloy that contains a small amount of Scandium, a rare metal that has the ability to transmit its strength and flexibility when alloyed with other metals - in the case of the Night Guard revolvers, aluminum. This allows the construction of lightweight frames capable of standing up to the operating pressures of magnum cartridges. But the Night Guards differ from S&W’s other light weight revolvers in that a replaceable blast shield made of thin, hardened steel is positioned above the cylinder/barrel gap where it prevents hot powder gases from “cutting” the frame’s top strap. While it would have been possible to use titanium cylinders to reduce weight even further, S&W decided to fit the new revolvers with stainless steel cylinders featuring a Physical Vapor Deposit (PVD) matte black finish that provides increased protection against salts, solvents, powder residue, abrasion and just about any other problem they may encounter.
This side view shows the Triple Lock’s locking bolt housed in the bottom of the ejector rod shroud...
...that locked into a mortise on the front of the cylinder crane.
Night Guards also feature what just might be the most practical set of sights I have ever seen on revolvers intended for service use. The XS Sight Systems 24/7 Big Dot front sight has a tritium insert surrounded by a large, white ring making it equally visible in the dark or bright light conditions. The rear sight is a Cylinder & Slide Extreme Duty fixed unit whose generously-proportioned U notch allows a fast sight picture and alignment under a variety of light conditions.
The Night Guard line includes three N-frame guns: the M327NG (eight shot .357), M329NG (.44 Mag) and the M325NG (.45 ACP). As it would be unprofessional of me to pass judgement upon these handguns without actually test firing them, I amassed a varied selection of N-frame revolvers and my friend Butch Simpson and I ran them through their paces. My test guns ran the gamut from oldest to newest: a British contract .455 Triple Lock (converted to .45 Auto Rim, and so marked on the left side of the barrel but restored by the present owner with an original .455 cylinder; a .357 Highway Patrolman; a .44 Magnum Model 29; and a Performance Center Model 625 5.25-incher. The intended purposes of these four handguns run the gamut from military service (Triple Lock*), to big game hunting (M29), to action pistol competition (M625) and, finally, to police service (Highway Patrolman). Test ammo consisted of the following: Federal .357 Magnum, 158-gr. Nyclad; PMC .44 Magnum, 180-gr. JHP;. Lawman .45 ACP, 230-gr. FMJ; and Fiocchi .455 Mk. II, 262-gr. LRN. Ably assisted by my good friend Butch Simpson, I fired each gun for accuracy from a rest at 50 feet.
.44 Triple Lock
| Caliber | 44 Special |
| Barrel length | 4", 5", 6", 6.5" |
| Overall length | 11.75" (6.5" barrel) |
| Weight (unloaded) | 38.5 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| Grips | checkered walnut |
| Front sight | blade |
| Rear sight | groove in top strap |
US Model 1917
| Caliber | 45 ACP |
| Barrel length | 5.5" |
| Overall length | 9.6" |
| Weight (unloaded) | 34 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| Grips | smooth wal |
| Front sight | blade |
| Rear sight | groove in top strap |
.38-44 Heavy Duty
| Caliber | 38 Special |
| Barrel length | 4", 5", 6.5" |
| Overall length | 10.4" (5" barrel) |
| Weight (unloaded) | 40 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| Grips | checkered walnut |
| Front sight | blade |
| Rear sight | groove in top strap |
Highway Patrolman
| Caliber | 357 S&W Magnum |
| Barrel length | 4", 6" |
| Overall length | 9.25" (4" barrel) |
| Weight (unloaded) | 41.75 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| Grips | checkered walnut |
| Front sight | blade |
| Rear sight | fully adjustable |
Model 29
| Caliber | 44 S&W Magnum |
| Barrel length | 4", 6", 6.5", 8-3/8" |
| Overall length | 11.4" (6" barrel) |
| Weight (unloaded) | 47 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| Grips | Magna walnut |
| Front sight | blade with insert |
| Rear sight | fully adjustable |
Performance Center Model 625
| Caliber | 45 ACP |
| Barrel length | 5" |
| Overall length | 10.5" |
| Weight (unloaded) | 42 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| GripsHogue Laminate Combat | t |
| Front sight | gold bead |
| Rear sight | fully adjustable |
Model 327 TRR8
| Caliber | 357 Magnum |
| Barrel length | 5" |
| Overall length | 10.5" |
| Weight (unloaded) | 35.2 oz. |
| Capacity | 8 |
| Grips | Hogue rubber |
| Front sight | interchangeable brass bead |
| Rear sight | fully adjustable |
Model 329NG Night Guard
| Caliber | 44 Magnum |
| Barrel length | 2.5" |
| Overall length | 7.75" |
| Weight (unloaded) | 29.7 oz. |
| Capacity | 6 |
| Grips | Pachmayr |
| Front sight | interchangeable brass bead |
| Rear sight | V notch |
While firing large caliber revolvers from a rest can be a trying process, our quartet of big Smiths proved controllable and accurate. As luck would have it, all four printed more or less to point of aim, even the fixed-sight Triple Lock. Neither of us was surprised when honors went to the finely made Performance Center Model 625, which put six rounds of Speer hardball into a pleasing 1-5/8-inch group. Somewhat surprisingly, the runner-up was the heaviest recoiling of our test guns, the Model 29, with a beautifully centered 1-3/4-inch group. Even thought it had the shortest barrel, the Highway Patrolman was no slouch with a half dozen .357s in 2-1/8 inches, while the greybeard of the bunch, the Triple Lock, showed it could still do what was needed to be done with six Fiocchi .455s in 2-3/8 inches.
Butch then set up a series of D-1 target at ten yards and we performed the following drills with each revolver. As we did not have holsters suitable (i.e., big enough) for our test guns, each drill began with the shooter holding the revolver at the low ready position (45 degree angle to the ground). The test protocol was as follows:
1. Six rounds, slow aimed fire.
2. Three sets of rapid fire, double taps.
3. Six rounds as fast as we could obtain a flash sight picture.
We were gratified to find that all four of the N-frames performed these tasks with aplomb. In fact, except for a few hits in the outer scoring zones caused by the Triple Lock’s rather minuscule sights, all four of our targets had nicely centered groups in their respective X and 10 rings. Except for the differences in felt recoil the performances of these revolvers - each of which was produced in a different era, fired a different cartridge and was designed for a different purpose - were more or less equal. Each displayed strong and weak features: the Triple Lock had an excellent DA trigger pull but its grips and sights were too small for fast shooting; the M29 was, once again, pleasingly accurate but its recoil was stiff; the Highway Patrolman was the handiest of the four although muzzle blast from the .357 cartridge was heavy; finally, while the M625 proved the most accurate, Butch and I both felt that replacing its smooth wooden grips with a set of modern, finger groove, synthetic grips would enhance handling even further.
In conclusion, I believe I’m safe in saying that the job description of the large frame, heavy caliber revolver has not changed all that much, if at all, in the last century. For this reason, a S&W N-frame wheelgun is sort of an ageless entity. In fact, it might be fair to say that a present-day law enforcement officer, soldier or outdoorsman would be equally well served with an 80-something year old S&W .44 Triple Lock as he or she would be with a modern M627 revolver.
Note: I would like to thank the following persons and organizations for supplying revolvers, ammunition, photos and much needed information used in the preparation for this article: Roy Jinks, Ken Jorgensen, Lois Chase, Vincent Scarlata, Butch Simpson, Bonnie Young, Daniel Hecht, Smith & Wesson, Inc., Fiocchi USA, PMC and Blount, Inc.
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