And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Was there a design issue that kept the top-break revolver from wider applications by gun manufacturers? I don't think many are made any more. Maybe replicas?
Basically only the Schofield revolver replicas by Uberti and Cimarron Arms are manufactured today. The swing out cylinder made the frame stronger and easier to manufacture pushed the break open design to the history books.
The one at the top right is a S&W model 1-1/2. I have the blued version, but the pivot screw is bad & the hammer spring is busted. That doesn't matter, though. They don't make .32 rimfire rounds anymore.
I have an Iver Johnson .32 cal center fire in great condition. I carry it occasionally. Found it advertised in a reprint of a 1900 sears catalogue for $5.00. still fires fine except it has an inch and a half barrel.
The top-breaks got a bad reputation via Iver Johnson's aggressive courting of the bottom of the market, sacrificing quality control to sell at rock-bottom prices.
Smith & Wesson was the other major top-break manufacturer, but most of their production went to Russia. The Tsar's armories bought them as fighting pistols for mounted troops.
Back when laboriously loading new cartridges through a side gate and ejecting the empties one at a time with a rod, the Model 3 and its relatives ejected all their empty brass at once when opened. They could be easily loaded by hand... but the Russians issued Lefeaucheax speed loaders. At a time when European armies felt .30 or .32 caliber was sufficient, the Cossacks could lay down a hail of .44 caliber "up yours".
Autoloading pistols weren't a thing in 1870, and even if they were, they would have been quickly fouled by black powder residue. And when the autoloaders finally started hitting the battlefield, the Smiths were initially superior; indifferent to ammunition quality or ambient temperature, no occasional jams or stovepipes, etc. The manufacturers of the autoloaders finally ironed out all the details, and that was the end of the military top-break revolver, though solid frame revolvers have remained in service for decades to come.
I am partial to the “ Bicycle Gun”
ReplyDeleteWas there a design issue that kept the top-break revolver from wider applications by gun manufacturers? I don't think many are made any more. Maybe replicas?
ReplyDeleteThe top latch was a weak point and sometimes the revolver would open on firing or the latch would completely snap off.
DeleteBasically only the Schofield revolver replicas by Uberti and Cimarron Arms are manufactured today. The swing out cylinder made the frame stronger and easier to manufacture pushed the break open design to the history books.
ReplyDeleteThe little hammerless revolver looks like the .38 that I carry in my glove compartment of my truck.
ReplyDeleteI've got a couple S&W that are completely worn out & dangerous to fire. Saving them for a gun buy back but they never have those around here.
ReplyDeleteThe one at the top right is a S&W model 1-1/2. I have the blued version, but the pivot screw is bad & the hammer spring is busted. That doesn't matter, though. They don't make .32 rimfire rounds anymore.
ReplyDeleteI have an Iver Johnson .32 cal center fire in great condition. I carry it occasionally. Found it advertised in a reprint of a 1900 sears catalogue for $5.00. still fires fine except it has an inch and a half barrel.
ReplyDeleteThe top-breaks got a bad reputation via Iver Johnson's aggressive courting of the bottom of the market, sacrificing quality control to sell at rock-bottom prices.
ReplyDeleteSmith & Wesson was the other major top-break manufacturer, but most of their production went to Russia. The Tsar's armories bought them as fighting pistols for mounted troops.
Back when laboriously loading new cartridges through a side gate and ejecting the empties one at a time with a rod, the Model 3 and its relatives ejected all their empty brass at once when opened. They could be easily loaded by hand... but the Russians issued Lefeaucheax speed loaders. At a time when European armies felt .30 or .32 caliber was sufficient, the Cossacks could lay down a hail of .44 caliber "up yours".
Autoloading pistols weren't a thing in 1870, and even if they were, they would have been quickly fouled by black powder residue. And when the autoloaders finally started hitting the battlefield, the Smiths were initially superior; indifferent to ammunition quality or ambient temperature, no occasional jams or stovepipes, etc. The manufacturers of the autoloaders finally ironed out all the details, and that was the end of the military top-break revolver, though solid frame revolvers have remained in service for decades to come.