1.
Revolver
–
A revolver is a repeating handgun that has a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. Revolvers might be regarded as a subset of pistols, or as a subset of handguns. Though the term revolver usually only refers to handguns, other firearms may also have a revolving chamber and these include some models of grenade launchers, shotguns, and rifles. Most revolvers contain five or six rounds in the cylinder, though the original name was revolving gun, the short-hand revolver is universally used. The revolver allows the user to fire multiple rounds without reloading, each time the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name. In a single-action revolver, the user pulls the back with his free hand or thumb. In a double-action revolver, pulling the trigger moves the back, then releases it. Loading and unloading a double-action revolver requires the operator to swing out the cylinder and insert the proper ammunition, the first guns with multichambered cylinders that revolved to feed one barrel were made in the late 16th century in Europe. They were expensive and rare curiosities, not until the 19th century would revolvers become common weapons of industrial production. One of the first was a flintlock revolver patented by Elisha Collier in 1814, the first percussion revolver was made by Lenormand of Paris in 1820 and the first percussion cap revolver was invented by the Italian Francesco Antonio Broccu in 1833. He received a prize of 300 francs for his invention, although he did not patent it, however, in 1835 a similar handgun was patented by Samuel Colt, who would go on to make the first mass-produced revolver. The first cartridge revolvers were produced around 1854 by Eugene Lefaucheux, revolvers soon became standard for nearly all uses. In the early 20th century, semi-automatic pistols were developed, which can hold more rounds, Automatic pistols also have a flat profile, more suitable for concealed carry. Automatic pistols have almost completely replaced revolvers in military and law enforcement use, revolvers still remain popular as back-up and off-duty handguns among American law enforcement officers and security guards. Also, revolvers are still common in the American private sector as defensive, in the development of firearms, an important limiting factor was the time it took to reload the weapon after it was fired. While the user was reloading, the weapon was useless, several approaches to the problem of increasing the rate of fire were developed, the earliest being multi-barrelled weapons which allowed two or more shots without reloading. Later weapons featured multiple barrels revolving along a single axis, the earliest examples of what today is called a revolver were made in Germany in the late 16th century. These weapons featured a barrel with a revolving cylinder holding the powder
2.
H&R Firearms
–
H&R1871, LLC is a manufacturer of firearms under the Harrington & Richardson and New England Firearms trademarks. H&R is a subsidiary of the Freedom Group, the original H&R firm was in business for over a century from 1871 to 1986. Frank Wesson, brother of Daniel B, Wesson who co-founded Smith & Wesson, started a firearms manufacturing firm in 1859, sharing an early patent with Nathan Harrington. Wesson produced two trigger rifles and spur trigger pistols and pocket rifles/shotguns popular for short length holster models such as the discontinued topper compact pocket shotguns. He started a partnership in 1871 with his nephew Gilbert Henderson Harrington, as Wesson & Harrington. In 1875 Harrington and another former Wesson employee, William Augustus Richardson, in 1888 the firm was incorporated as The Harrington & Richardson Arms Company. Their original capital investment was $75,000, Harrington was president, Richardson was treasurer, and George F. Brooks was secretary. After the deaths of Harrington and Richardson in 1897, Brooks became the manager, in 1894 the company opened a new facility on Park Avenue in Worcester, Massachusetts. The factory was expanded again after a few years, the firearms produced through this time to 1911 carry extreme value as original antiquities. Original rifles and shotguns from these dates are scarce because of their limited production, in 1950 the company opened a new facility on Cockburn street in Drummondville, Québec, Canada. In the 1960s H&R was acquired by the Kidde corporation and run by the Rowe family, warranty cards were sent to Industrial Rowe, Gardner, Massachusetts. The original H&R company went out of business in 1986, a new company, H&R1871, Inc. was formed in 1991 and started production of revolvers, single-shot rifles and shotguns using original H&R designs. H&R1871, Inc. assets were sold to H&R1871. A Connecticut LLC owned by Marlin Firearms Company in November 2000, H&R1871, LLC. did not extend their product warranty to H&R guns made prior to the LLCs takeover. Marlin, including all its H&R assets, was acquired by Remington Arms Company in December,2007. H&R1871, LLC production was moved to Ilion, N. Y. in late 2008, while their corporate offices are co-located with Remington Arms in Madison, Remington, along with its Marlin and H&R subsidiaries, are now part of the Freedom Group. H&R1871 production ceased 27 February 2015, the Wesson & Harrington company was at 18 Manchester Street, Worcester, Mass. from 1871 until 1877. The Harrington & Richardson company was located at 31 Hermon Street, Worcester, William Richardson lived at 921 Main Street in Worcester
3.
.38 Special
–
The.38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols, in other parts of the world, it is known by its metric designation of 9×29. 5mmR or 9. 1×29mmR. Noted for its accuracy and manageable recoil, the.38 Special remains the most popular cartridge in the world more than a century after its introduction. It is used for shooting, formal target competition, personal defense. Despite its name, the caliber of the.38 Special cartridge is actually. 357–.358 inches, except for case length, the.38 Special is identical to the.38 Short Colt.38 Long Colt, and.357 Magnum. This allows the.38 Special round to be fired in revolvers chambered for the.357 Magnum. Upon its introduction, the.38 Special was originally loaded with black powder and this.38 Special variant incorporated a 200 grains round-nosed lead Lubaloy bullet, the.38 Super Police. Remington-Peters also introduced a similar loading, testing revealed that the longer, heavier 200 grains. 357-calibre bullet fired at low velocity tended to keyhole or tumble upon impact, providing more shock effect against unprotected personnel. This cartridge was called the.38 S&W Super Police or the. 38/200, britain would later adopt the. 38/200 as its standard military handgun cartridge. In 1930, Smith & Wesson introduced a large frame.38 Special revolver with a 5-inch barrel and fixed sights intended for police use, the following year, a new high-power loading called the. That same year, Colt Firearms announced that their Colt Official Police would also handle high-speed.38 Special loadings, the. 38/44 high-speed cartridge came in three bullet weights,158 grains,150 and 110 grains, with either coated lead or steel jacket, metal-piercing bullets. The media attention gathered by the. 38/44 and its ammunition eventually led Smith & Wesson to develop a new cartridge with a longer case length in 1934—this was the.357 Magnum. During World War II, some U. S. aircrew were issued.38 Special S&W Victory revolvers as sidearms in the event of a forced landing, the new military.38 Special loading propelled its 158 grains bullet at a standard 850 ft/s from a 4-inch revolver barrel. During the war, many U. S. naval and marine aircrew were also issued red-tipped.38 Special tracer rounds using either a 120 or 158 gr bullet for emergency signaling purposes. In 1956, the U. S. Air Force adopted the Cartridge, Caliber.38, Ball M41, a military variant of the.38 Special cartridge designed to conform to the rules of land warfare. By 1961, a slightly revised M41.38 cartridge specification known as the Cartridge, Caliber.38 Ball, Special, a variant of the standard M41 cartridge with a semi-pointed, unjacketed lead bullet was later adopted for CONUS police and security personnel. At the same time.38 tracer cartridges were reintroduced by the US Navy, Marines, tracer cartridges in.38 Special caliber of different colors were issued, generally as part of a standard aircrew survival vest kit. A request for more powerful.38 Special ammunition for use by Air Police and security personnel resulted in the Caliber.38 Special, Ball, in 1972, the Federal Bureau of Investigation introduced a new.38 +P loading that became known as the FBI Load
4.
.357 Magnum
–
The.357 S&W Magnum, or simply.357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge with a. 357-inch bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B, Wesson of firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wessons earlier.38 Special cartridge, the.357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in 1934, and its use has since become widespread. This cartridge started the Magnum era of handgun ammunition, the.357 Magnum cartridge is notable for its stopping power. The.357 Magnum was collaboratively developed over a period in the early to mid-1930s by a group of individuals in a response to Colts.38 Super Automatic. Tests at the revealed that those vests defeated any handgun cartridge traveling at less than about 1,000 feet per second. Colts.38 Super Automatic just edged over that velocity and was able to penetrate car doors and vests that bootleggers and gangsters were employing as cover. Though.38 and.357 would seem to be different diameter chamberings, they are in fact identical, the.38 Special nomenclature relates to the previous use of heeled bullets, which were the same diameter as the case. Thus, the only difference in the two cartridges is a slight difference in length, solely for safety purposes. Much credit for the. 357s early development is given to hunter and experimenter Elmer Keith, the. 38-44 HV load used the. 38-Special cartridge loaded to a much higher velocity than standard. 38-Special ammunition. The. 38-44 revolvers were made by using a.44 Special size gun with the barrel bored to accept. 357-caliber bullets, since the frame, cylinder, and barrel were much stronger than the standard.38 Special components, it was capable of withstanding much higher pressures. The. 38-44 HV round, while no longer available, was in most cases the equal of the later.357 Magnum, which works at more than double the pressure of standard.38 Special. Elmer Keith also contributed the Keith-style bullet, which increased the mass of bullet located outside the cartridge, the Keith bullet also employed a large, flat meplat, thus enabling rapid energy transfer for greater wounding properties. At the same time, this design does not deform like a hollow point. These characteristics of the Keith bullet make it suitable for hunting applications as well as for target shooting. In order to reassert itself as the leading law-enforcement armament provider, Smith & Wesson developed the.357 Magnum, Wesson leading the effort within Smith & Wesson, along with considerable technical assistance from Phillip B. Sharpe, a member of the Technical Division staff of the National Rifle Association, the new round was developed from Smith & Wessons existing.38 Special round. It used a different powder load, and ultimately the case was extended by 1⁄8 inch, the case extension was more a matter of safety than of necessity
5.
Sturm, Ruger & Co.
–
Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. is an American, Southport, Connecticut–based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. The company was founded in 1949 by Alexander McCormick Sturm and William B, Ruger and has been publicly traded since 1969. Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, Sturm, Ruger & Company was founded by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm in 1949 in a small rented shop in Southport. Ruger is a dominant manufacturer in the.22 LR rimfire rifle market in the U. S. due primarily to the sales of its Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle, the 10/22 is very popular due to being relatively inexpensive and of good quality. As a result, a wealth of after-market accessories and parts were available for it. The availability and variety of after-market parts makes it possible to build a 10/22 using only these parts, Ruger similarly dominates the.22 rimfire semi-automatic pistol market with the Ruger MK II and Ruger MK III, descendants of the Ruger Standard pistol. Like the 10/22, the MkII is supported with a variety of after-market accessories. The 22/45 is similar to the Ruger Standard family of pistols but features a different grip angle, Ruger Casting has plants in Newport, New Hampshire and Prescott, Arizona, making ferrous, ductile iron and commercial titanium castings. Ruger Golf makes steel and titanium castings for golf clubs made by a number of different brands, Sturm, Ruger stock has been publicly traded since 1969, and became a New York Stock Exchange company in 1990. After Alex Sturm’s death in 1951, William B, Ruger continued to direct the company until his death in 2002. From 1949 through 2004, Ruger manufactured over 20 million firearms, and currently offers models for hunting, target shooting, self-defense, collecting, and law enforcement. Sturm, Ruger & Co. is headquartered in Southport, Connecticut, and maintains manufacturing facilities in Newport, New Hampshire, Prescott, Arizona, and Mayodan, North Carolina. Rugers subsidiaries are Ruger Precision Metals LLC in Earth City, Missouri, Pine Tree Castings in Newport, New Hampshire, and Ruger Sportswear & Accessories in Mayodan, North Carolina. Of the total 2,288 makers of civilian firearms operating in the United States from 1986–2010, Ruger was ranked the number one U. S. firearms manufacturer from 2008–2011. In 2011, Ruger manufactured 1,114,687 firearms, as their promotion, the company has set a new goal of 2 million firearms produced per year. From 2009 to 2012, Ruger was the top-seller of handguns, list of modern armament manufacturers TALO Distributors Wilson, R. L. Ruger & His Guns, A History of the Man, the Company and Their Firearms. Sturm, Ruger & Co official site Ruger Official History
6.
Ruger Blackhawk
–
The Ruger Blackhawk is a 6-shot, single-action revolver manufactured by Ruger. It is produced in a variety of finishes, calibers, in the early 1950s, Westerns were popular in movies and television. Colt had discontinued the iconic Single Action Army prior to World War II, in 1953, the new firm of Sturm, Ruger & Company introduced the Single-Six, a.22 LR rimfire single-action revolver. The Single-Six proved to be a seller, leading Ruger to develop and market a centerfire revolver similar to the Single Action Army. Ruger introduced the Blackhawk in 1955, chambered for the.357 Magnum, the Blackhawk was a simple and strong design, and it sold well. In 1956, as Smith & Wesson was introducing the new.44 Magnum, Ruger achieved wide popularity with this firearm in a hotly anticipated new cartridge, which was both cheaper and more readily available than the Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver. The 1955–1962 Blackhawks are known today as the Flattop models, because their rear sights were not protected by ears extending up from the frame as later became standard. From 1962 through 1972, Ruger made the Three Screw Blackhawk in various calibers, bill Ruger chose coil springs due to their greater durability, saying that it solved one of the primary weaknesses of the Colt design. In 1973, in order to eliminate accidents occurring from the hammer jarring against a round loaded in the chamber, Ruger introduced the New Model Blackhawk. The New Blackhawk was seen as limiting firearms accidents and legal liability, Ruger then began offering a retrofit program, offering free transfer bar conversions to earlier variants of the Blackhawk. Over the years the Blackhawk has appeared in a variety of models. Multiple barrel lengths were offered in many of these configurations, New Model Blackhawk Convertible, The cylinder of a Blackhawk is easily removed, and can be replaced with a cylinder for a different cartridge of the same diameter. Ruger has offered convertible cylinder revolvers in.45 ACP/.45 Colt. 38-40/.40 S&W/10mm Auto, other than being sold with multiple cylinders, these firearms are identical to the Blackhawk. New Model Super Blackhawk, Produced in blued and stainless, with or without a rib for mounting a scope. The Super Blackhawk is built on the frame, but with a larger grip and unfluted cylinder. Also, the rod housings and grip frames are made of steel. Vaquero and New Vaquero, With the popularity of Cowboy Action Shooting came demand for a revolver that was more traditional in appearance. In all other ways, the Vaquero was identical to the Blackhawk, the original Vaquero was offered in.357 Magnum.44 Magnum, and.45 Colt
7.
Ruger GP100
–
The GP100 is a family/line of double action six-shot seven-shot or ten-shot revolvers made by Sturm, Ruger & Co. manufactured in the United States. It was introduced in 1985 as a generation of the Ruger double-action. It was made stronger with the intent to fire a number of full-power. The GP100 was an evolution of an earlier Ruger double-action revolver, the first significant change was introduced with the Ruger Redhawk and that involved a new locking mechanism with a lever on the crane rather than using the end of the ejector rod to lock. Another change was the shape of the frame, traditional revolver frames had exposed metal at the front and rear of the grips, with the frame determining the shape of the grips. This meant that to have a round butt concealed carry version, the GP100 series, instead, used a small rectangular peg grip large enough to enclose the hammer spring and strut. The grips could then be any shape desired, as long as they were enough to enclose the peg. This was not a new innovation having been used by Dan Wesson and, to some degree, the Dan Wesson patent was granted in 1972 and Rugers patent was granted in 1986. The stock grips are made of Santoprene, a soft, chemical resistant elastomer that helped absorb the recoil of firing, panels on the side, made of black plastic, goncalo alves wood or rosewood, provide contrast to the flat black of the Santoprene. The grips are now Hogue one piece rubber grips standard, the GP100 shared the crane lock from the Redhawk that was later used in the small frame SP101 revolver. All of these use the same thickness on the solid frame. Because of these features, the GP100 series is described as one of the strongest medium frame revolvers ever made. The GP100 is manufactured in.357 Magnum.38 Special.22 Long Rifle.44 Special, available Barrel lengths are 3,4.2 and 6 with partial or full length underlugs. Blued Steel, or Stainless Steel finishes are available with model numbers preceded by a K. The Firing pin of the GP100 is mounted inside the frame, the Transfer bar of the GP100 is connected directly to the trigger. The transfer bar must be present between the hammer and the pin in order for the cartridge to be fired. The transfer bar only assumes the position when the trigger is pulled completely rearward. GP100 models are available with fixed or adjustable sights, fixed sight models are designated by a F suffix model number
8.
Taurus (manufacturer)
–
Forjas Taurus is a manufacturing conglomerate based in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Founded as a tool and die manufacturer, the company now consists of focusing on firearms, metals manufacturing, plastics, body armor, helmets. Taurus produced its first revolver, the Model 38101SO, in 1941, beginning in 1968, it exported revolvers to the U. S. market through a series of importers. In 1977, Taurus was purchased from Bangor Punta by its current owners, in order to more effectively tap the U. S. market, the company created a subsidiary, Taurus International Manufacturing Incorporated, also known as Taurus USA, in 1984. In 1997 Forjas Taurus purchased the rights & equipment to manufacture Rossi brand revolvers and they currently manufacture three.38 Special models and four.357 Magnum models under the Rossi name, manufactured in São Leopoldo, Brazil. The current product line includes steel-frame pistols, polymer-frame pistols, revolvers, and law enforcement weapons, one writer said in 2010 that the uality of Taurus handguns in the modern era is second to none. In 2015, Taurus settled a lawsuit for $39 million and recalled nearly one million handguns produced between 1997 and 2013 due to safety defects, Taurus was originally known for manufacturing revolvers similar in design to those offered by Smith & Wesson. The company moved away from this realm by offering larger framed models such as the Raging Bull, the most recent addition to the Taurus pistol lineup is a copy of the Colt 1911.45 ACP pistol, the PT1911. This slightly redesigned and updated design offers many features and this is around one million pistols and includes the following models. IMBEL Taurus USA Taurus France Taurus Export Taurus Forum Carryconcealed. net review of the Taurus 605B2
9.
Derringer
–
The term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous 19th-century maker of small pocket pistols. The original Deringer pistol was a single-shot muzzleloading pistol, with the advent of cartridge firearms, a derringer is generally the smallest usable handgun of a given caliber. They were frequently used by women, because they are easily concealable in a purse or as a stocking gun, such weapons designed specifically for women were called muff pistols, due to their compact size enabling them to be carried in a muff. Derringers are not repeating firearms—repeating mechanisms such as used in semi-automatic handguns and/or revolvers would add significant bulk to the gun. The famous Remington derringer design doubled the capacity, while maintaining the size, by adding a second barrel on top of the first. Each barrel then held one round, and a cam on the hammer alternated between top and bottom barrels, the Remington derringer was in.41 Short caliber and achieved wide popularity. The.41 Short bullet moved very slowly, at about 425 feet per second, around half the speed of a modern.45 ACP. It could be seen in flight, but at close range, such as at a casino or saloon card table. The Remington derringer was sold from 1866 to 1935, a Remington-pattern derringer in.38 Special is still smaller than the most compact.25 ACP semiautomatic, and provides superior terminal ballistic performance to the.25 ACP. While the classic Remington design is a single-action, manufacturers have also made double-action derringers, including some four-shot models, with the barrels stacked in a 2 ×2 block. The COP357 Derringer provided four shots of.357 Magnum in a not much larger than a.25 ACP automatic. The COP derringer was invented by Robert Hillberg and closely resembled his earlier work on insurgency weapons, a related design, often grouped with derringers since it fits no other standard classification, is the Semmerling pistol. It is a five-shot.45 ACP pistol with a manual repeater, another military pistol that is truly a derringer design is the FP-45 Liberator, a.45 ACP insurgency weapon dropped behind Axis lines in World War II. The current production of derringers are used by Cowboy Action Shooting reenactors as well as a concealed-carry weapon and it is the smallest handgun that is capable of handling the largest ammunition. Some favor the derringer as a carry weapon because of its size as well as the swiftness of putting it into action. Critics believe it is not a weapon for self-defense since the derringer possesses only a two-shot capacity. The Philadelphia Deringer was a small percussion handgun designed by Henry Deringer, a popular concealed carry handgun of the era, this pocket pistol design was widely copied by competitors, sometimes down to the markings. A new percussion cap would then be placed on the tube, then, to fire the handgun, a user would fully cock the hammer, aim, and squeeze the trigger
10.
Thompson/Center Arms
–
Thompson/Center Arms is an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company is best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols, Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles and is credited with creating the resurgence of their use in the 1970s. In the 1960s, Warren Center developed an unusual break-action, single-shot pistol that later known as the Contender in his basement workshop. Meanwhile, the K. W. Thompson Tool Company had been searching for a product to manufacture year-round, in 1965, Warren Center joined the K. W. Thompson Tool Company, and together, they announced Warren Centers Contender pistol in 1967. As K. W. Thompson Tool began marketing Centers Contender pistol, then, in 1970, Thompson/Center created the modern black powder industry, introducing Warren Centers Hawken-styled black powder muzzle-loader rifle. On January 4,2007, Thompson/Center was purchased by Smith & Wesson, on December 8,2010, Smith & Wesson announced that the original Rochester, New Hampshire plant would be closed and manufacturing was transferred to Springfield, Massachusetts. Thompson/Centers success came with the emergence of long range hunting, target shooting. Their break-action, single-shot design brought rifle-like accuracy and power in a handgun, the Contender, first introduced in 1967, is a break-action, single-shot pistol or rifle with a number of unique features. The first unique feature is the way the barrel is attached to the frame, by removing the fore-end, a large hinge pin is exposed, by pushing this hinge pin out, the barrel can be removed. Since the sights and extractor remain attached to the barrel in the Contender design, a barrel of another caliber can be installed and pinned in place, the fore-end replaced, and the pistol is ready to shoot with a different barrel and pre-aligned sights. This allowed easy changes of calibers, sights, and barrel lengths, the Encore was released in 1983. The Encore uses a different trigger mechanism, designed to be stronger than the original Contenders, the Encore uses a considerably larger and stronger frame than the Contender, and accordingly, is found in over 86 cartridges - ranging from.22 Hornet to the huge.416 Rigby. There has even been one pistol-length stainless barrel made in.600 Nitro Express, the Encore barrel list also includes shotgun barrels in 28,20, and 12 gauge, and muzzleloading barrels in.45.50 caliber, and 12 gauge using #209 shotgun primers. In 2007, Encore rimfire barrels became available in 22 LR and 17 HMR, an upgraded T/C Encore is called the Pro Hunter which generally includes stocks with rubber Flex Tech inserts and are stainless or carbon steel with weather shielding. There are other differences among the rifles including the breech plug on muzzleloader versions. The original Contender, now known as the generation one Contender, was replaced by the G2 Contender soon after the Encore came out, the G2 Contender is essentially dimensionally the same as the original Contender, but uses an Encore style trigger group. Unlike the original Contender, dry-firing of the G2 Contender is possible only in the center hammer position, also, unlike the original Contender, the break-action does not need to be opened/closed to practice dry-firing, provided the hammer is lowered between dry firing shots. The adjustability of G2 Contender triggers is also different from the original G1 Contender
