1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Smith & Wesson
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Smith & Wesson is a manufacturer of firearms in the United States. The corporate headquarters are based in Springfield, Massachusetts, founded in 1852, Smith & Wessons pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world, in addition to their popularity among sport shooters. Apart from firearms, Smith & Wesson has been known for the types of ammunition it has introduced over the years. Wesson founded the Smith & Wesson Company in Norwich, Connecticut in 1852 to develop the Volcanic rifle, Smith developed a new Volcanic Cartridge, which he patented in 1854. The Smith & Wesson Company was renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms in 1855, Smith left the company and returned to his native Springfield, Massachusetts, Wesson stayed on as plant manager with Volcanic Repeating Arms. As Samuel Colts patent on the revolver was set to expire in 1856 and his research pointed out that a former Colt employee named Rollin White held the patent for a Bored-through cylinder, a component he would need for his invention. Wesson reconnected with Smith and the two partners approached White to manufacture a newly designed revolver-and-cartridge combination, rather than make White a partner in their company, Smith and Wesson paid him a royalty of $0.25 on every revolver that they made. It would become Whites responsibility to defend his patent in any court cases which led to his financial ruin. The orders for the Smith & Wesson Model 1 revolver outpaced the production capabilities. In 1860 demand was so great that Smith & Wesson expanded into a new facility, at the same time, the companys design was being infringed upon by other manufacturers which led to numerous lawsuits filed by Rollin White. In many of these part of the restitution came in the form of the offender being forced to stamp Manufactured for Smith & Wesson on the revolvers in question. Whites vigorous defense of his patent caused a problem for armsmakers in the United States at the time as they could not manufacture cartridge revolvers, at the end of the war the US Government charged White with causing the retardation of arms development in America. Demand for revolvers declined at the close of the Civil War, in 1870 the company introduced a large frame revolver in heavier calibers than the pocket sized revolvers it had been making. The design was known as the Smith & Wesson Model 3, after an organized campaign by the NRA and NSSF, thousands of retailers and tens of thousands of firearms consumers boycotted Smith & Wesson. On 11 May 2001, Saf-T-Hammer Corporation acquired Smith & Wesson Corp. from Tomkins plc for US$15 million, Saf-T-Hammer assumed US$30 million in debt, bringing the total purchase price to US$45 million. The acquisition of Smith & Wesson was chiefly brokered by Saf-T-Hammer President Bob Scott, after the purchase, Scott became the president of Smith & Wesson to guide the 157-year-old company back to its former standing in the market. On 15 February 2002, the name of the newly formed entity was changed to Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, about 2006 Smith & Wesson refocused its marketing on big box retailers, according to Smith & Wesson CEO Mike Golden in a 2008 conference call with investors. In December 2014, Smith & Wesson Holding announced it was paying $130.5 million for Battenfeld Technologies, the company made the acquisition with the eventual intent to merge all its existing Smith & Wesson, M&P and Thompson Center Arms accessories into a single division
3.
Bullet
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The word bullet is a firearm term. A bullet is a projectile expelled from the barrel of a firearm, the term is from Middle French and originated as the diminutive of the word boulle which means small ball. Bullets are made of a variety of materials and they are available singly as they would be used in muzzle loading and cap and ball firearms, as part of a paper cartridge, and much more commonly as a component of metallic cartridges. Bullets are made in a numbers of styles and constructions depending on how they will be used. Many bullets have specialized functions, such as hunting, target shooting, training, defense, a bullet is not a cartridge. In paper and metallic cartridges a bullet is one component of the cartridge, bullet sizes are expressed by their weight and diameter in both English and Metric measurement systems. For example.22 caliber 55 grain bullets or 5. 56mm 55 grain bullets are the same caliber, the word bullet is often used colloquially to refer to a cartridge, which is a combination of the bullet, paper or metallic case/shell, powder, and primer. This use of bullet, when cartridge is intended, leads to confusion when the components of a cartridge are discussed or intended, the bullets used in many cartridges are fired at a muzzle velocity faster than the speed of sound. Meaning they are supersonic and thus can travel a substantial distance, bullet speed through air depends on a number of factors such as barometric pressure, humidity, air temperature, and wind speed. Subsonic cartridges fire bullets slower than the speed of sound and so there is no sonic crack and this means that a subsonic cartridge such as.45 ACP can be effectively suppressed to be substantially quieter than a supersonic cartridge such as the.223 Remington. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the target by impact. The first use of gunpowder in Europe was recorded in 1247 and it had been used in China for hundreds of years. Later in 1364 hand cannon appeared, early projectiles were made of stone. Stone was used in cannon and hand cannon, in cannon it was eventually found that stone would not penetrate stone fortifications which gave rise to the use of heavier metals for the round projectiles. Hand cannon projectiles developed in a similar following the failure of stone from siege cannon. The first recorded instance of a ball from a hand cannon penetrating armor occurred in 1425. In this photograph of shot retrieved from the wreck of the Mary Rose which was sunk in 1545, the round shot are clearly of different sizes and some are stone while others are cast iron. The development of the hand culverin and matchlock arquebus brought about the use of cast lead balls as projectiles, bullet is derived from the French word boulette, which roughly means little ball
4.
Revolver
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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
5.
Cartridge (firearms)
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Military and commercial producers continue to pursue the goal of caseless ammunition. A cartridge without a bullet is called a blank, One that is completely inert is called a dummy. Some artillery ammunition uses the same concept as found in small arms. In other cases, the shell is separate from the propellant charge. In popular use, the bullet is often misused to refer to a complete cartridge. The cartridge case seals a firing chamber in all directions excepting the bore, a firing pin strikes the primer and ignites it. The primer compound deflagrates, it does not detonate, a jet of burning gas from the primer ignites the propellant. Gases from the burning powder pressurize and expand the case to seal it against the chamber wall and these propellant gases push on the bullet base. In response to pressure, the bullet will move in the path of least resistance which is down the bore of the barrel. After the bullet leaves the barrel, the pressure drops to atmospheric pressure. The case, which had been expanded by chamber pressure. This eases removal of the case from the chamber, brass is a commonly used case material because it is resistant to corrosion. A brass case head can be work-hardened to withstand the pressures of cartridges. The neck and body portion of a case is easily annealed to make the case ductile enough to allow reforming so that it can be reloaded many times. Steel is used in some plinking ammunition, as well as in military ammunition. Steel is less expensive than brass, but it is not feasible to reload, Military forces typically consider small arms cartridge cases to be disposable, one-time-use devices. However, case weight affects how much ammunition a soldier can carry, conversely, steel is more susceptible to contamination and damage so all such cases are varnished or otherwise sealed against the elements. One downside caused by the strength of steel in the neck of these cases is that propellant gas can blow back past the neck
6.
.38 Special
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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
7.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
8.
Webley & Scott
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Webley & Scott is an arms manufacturer founded in Birmingham, England. Webley produced handguns and long guns from 1834 to 1979, when the company ceased to manufacture firearms and instead focused on producing air pistols, in 2010 Webley & Scott restarted the production of shotguns for commercial sale. Webley is famous for the revolvers and automatic pistols it supplied to the British Empires military, particularly the British Army, the Webley company was founded in the late 18th century by William Davies, who made bullet moulds. It was taken over in 1834 by his son-in-law, Philip Webley, the manufacture of revolvers, for which the firm became famous, began twenty years later. At that time the company was named P. Webley & Son, in 1897 Webley amalgamated with W & C Scott and Sons to become The Webley & Scott Revolver and Arms Company Ltd of Birmingham. Webleys revolvers became the official British sidearm in 1887, remaining in British service until 1964, after 1921, however, Webley service revolvers were manufactured by the government-owned Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield. In 1932 the Enfield No.2.38 inch calibre revolver, however, wartime shortages ensured that all marks of the Webley, including models in.455 and. 38/200, remained in use through World War Two>. The.455 Mk. VI was declared obsolete in 1945, in 1920 the passing of the Firearms Act in the UK, which limited the availability of handguns to civilians, caused their sales to plummet. As a result, the company began producing pneumatic guns, their first being the Mark I air pistol. Demand for air guns increased rapidly in the 1920s and Webleys business began to grow again, Webleys dependent company - Venom Custom Shop - ceased trading as well. It was then bought by Wolverhampton-based company Airgunsport, at this time Airgunsport relocated the manufacture of all Webley guns to Turkey. Webley & Scott Ltd is owned by both the Fuller Group and John Bright, John Bright is also co-owner of Highland Outdoors Limited who are the UK distributors for Webley, Webley & Scott and AGS. Until 1979 Webley & Scott manufactured shotguns and revolvers for use, as well as producing sidearms for military. This came to include both revolvers and self-loading pistols, Webleys production originally consisted of hand-crafted firearms, although mass-production was later introduced to supply police and military buyers. The first Webley production revolver appeared in 1853, known as the Longspur it was a muzzle-loaded percussion cap and ball pistol. Some consider it to be the finest revolver of its day as it could shoot as fast as the contemporary Colt revolvers and was faster to load. However the hand-made Longspur could not compete in price with mass-produced revolvers such as the Colt, Webleys first popular success came with its first double-action revolver, adopted by the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1867. There is some question whether the gun or guns presented to George Armstrong Custer were Webley RIC’s, other sources indicate that Lord Berkeley Paget presented Custer with a Galand & Sommerville 44 calibre revolver and gave another to Tom Custer
9.
Kynoch
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Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition, later incorporated into ICI but remaining as a brand name for sporting cartridges. Kynoch was established in Witton in Birmingham in 1862 by Scottish entrepreneur George Kynoch when he opened a percussion cap factory in Witton, in 1895 he built an explosives factory east of Shell Haven Creek, Essex. This opened in 1897, with an estate for employees called Kynochtown, products included cordite, guncotton, gunpowder, and cartridges. Once Nobel Industries, including Kynoch Ltd, had merged to form ICI, Kynoch, along with names such as Eley, became brands of subsidiaries. Kynoch, established a factory on the north side of Arklow. This factory employed several thousand workers during World War I, but closed shortly after it, seventeen workers were killed in an explosion there on 21 September 1917. IMI became independent of ICI in 1977, still producing rimfire, the more economically viable production of shotgun and rimfire ammunition continued. The Ammunition Division was incorporated separately as Eley Limited in 1983, john Sutton Nettlefold JP - former managing director Eley Brothers Corringham Light Railway Kynamco A History of Kynoch Works
10.
Nitrocellulose
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Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it was known as guncotton. Partially nitrated cellulose has found uses as a film and in inks. In 1862 the first man-made plastic, nitrocellulose, was created by Alexander Parkes from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. Celluloid was used by Kodak, and other suppliers, from the late 1880s as a base in photography, X-ray films, and motion picture films. After numerous fires caused by unstable nitrate films, safety film started to be used from the 1930s in the case of X-ray stock and from 1948 for motion picture film. Henri Braconnot discovered in 1832 that nitric acid, when combined with starch or wood fibers, would produce a lightweight combustible explosive material, a few years later in 1838, another French chemist, Théophile-Jules Pelouze, treated paper and cardboard in the same way. Jean-Baptiste Dumas obtained a material, which he called nitramidine. These substances were highly unstable and were not practical explosives, however, around 1846 Christian Friedrich Schönbein, a German-Swiss chemist, discovered a more practical solution. As he was working in the kitchen of his home in Basel and he reached for the nearest cloth, a cotton apron, and wiped it up. He hung the apron on the door to dry, and, as soon as it was dry. His preparation method was the first to be widely imitated—one part of cotton wool to be immersed in 15 parts of an equal blend of sulfuric and nitric acids. After two minutes, the cotton was removed and washed in water to set the esterification level. It was then dried at a temperature below 40 °C. Schönbein collaborated with the Frankfurt professor Rudolf Christian Böttger, who had discovered the process independently in the same year. By coincidence, a third chemist, the Brunswick professor F. J. Otto had also produced guncotton in 1846 and was the first to publish the process, much to the disappointment of Schönbein and Böttger. The process uses nitric acid to convert cellulose into cellulose nitrate and water, 3HNO3+ C6H10O5 → C6H73O5 + 3H2O The sulfuric acid is present as a catalyst to produce the nitronium ion, the reaction is first order and proceeds by electrophilic substitution at the C-OH centers of the cellulose. The power of guncotton made it suitable for blasting, as a projectile driver, it had around six times the gas generation of an equal volume of black powder and produced less smoke and less heating
11.
Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907
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The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. The First Hague Conference was held in 1899 and the Second Hague Conference in 1907, along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the body of secular international law. A third conference was planned for 1914 and later rescheduled for 1915, the 1874 Brussels Declaration listed 56 articles that drew inspiration from the Lieber Code. Much of the regulations in the Hague Conventions were borrowed heavily from the Lieber Code, both conferences included negotiations concerning disarmament, the laws of war and war crimes. This effort, however, failed at both conferences, instead a voluntary forum for arbitration, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, was established, the peace conference was proposed on 24 August 1898 by Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Nicholas and Count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, his minister, were instrumental in initiating the conference. The conference opened on 18 May 1899, the Tsars birthday, the treaties, declarations, and final act of the conference were signed on 29 July of that year, and they entered into force on 4 September 1900. Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land This voluminous convention contains the laws to be used in all wars on land between signatories, inhabitants of occupied territories may not be forced into military service against their own country and collective punishment is forbidden. The section was ratified by all major powers mentioned above and it too was ratified by all major powers. The declaration was ratified by all the powers mentioned above, except the United Kingdom. Ratified by all major powers, except the United States and this directly banned soft-point bullets and cross-tipped bullets. It was ratified by all major powers, except the United States, the second conference, in 1907, resulted in conventions containing only few major advancements from the 1899 Convention. However, the meeting of powers did prefigure later 20th-century attempts at international cooperation. The second conference was called at the suggestion of U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, the Second Peace Conference was held from 15 June to 18 October 1907. The intent of the conference was to expand upon the 1899 Hague Convention by modifying some parts and adding new topics, in particular, the 1907 conference had an increased focus on naval warfare. The British attempted to secure limitation of armaments, but these efforts were defeated by the powers, led by Germany. Germany also rejected proposals for compulsory arbitration, however, the conference did enlarge the machinery for voluntary arbitration and established conventions regulating the collection of debts, rules of war, and the rights and obligations of neutrals. The treaties, declarations, and final act of the Second Conference were signed on 18 October 1907, Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land This convention confirms, with minor modifications, the provisions of Convention of 1899
12.
Full metal jacket bullet
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A full metal jacket bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core encased in a shell of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or less commonly a steel alloy. In military nomenclature, it is often labeled ball ammunition, the harder gilding was less prone to deformation than softer exposed lead, which improved feeding. Jacketed bullets had been in use since at least 1882, in general, a bullet jacket allows for higher muzzle velocities than bare lead without depositing significant amounts of metal in the bore. It also prevents damage to bores from steel or armor-piercing core materials, historically, the first successful full metal jacket rifle bullets were invented by Col. Eduard Rubin of the Swiss Army in 1882. Full metal jacket bullets were first used as ammunition in 1886. By design, fully jacketed projectiles have less capacity to expand after contact with the target than a hollow-point projectile. While this can be an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage as an FMJ bullet may pierce completely through a target, leading to severe wounding. Furthermore, a projectile that goes completely through a target can cause unintentional damage downrange of the target, the bullet design inspired the title of the film Full Metal Jacket, by Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr, and Gustav Hasford. Hollow-point bullet Soft-point bullet Huon, Jean, military Rifle and Machine Gun Cartridges. International Peace Conference at The Hague, which entered force on September 4,1900. Photos showing terminal effects of British Mark 7.303 bullets
13.
Browning Hi-Power
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The Browning Hi Power is a single-action, semi-automatic handgun available in 9mm and.40 S&W calibers. It is based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized. The Hi-Power is one of the most widely used military pistols in history, the Hi Power name alludes to the 13-round magazine capacity, almost twice that of contemporary designs such as the Luger or Colt M1911. The pistol is often referred to as an HP or as a GP, the terms P-35 and HP-35 are also used, based on the introduction of the pistol in 1935. It is most often called the Hi Power, even in Belgium, other names include BAP, particularly in Irish Army service, or BHP. The Browning Hi-Power was designed in response to a French military requirement for a new service pistol and it was to accomplish all of this at a weight not exceeding 1 kg. FN commissioned John Browning to design a new military sidearm conforming to this specification, Browning built two different prototypes for the project in Utah and filed the patent for this pistol in the United States on June 28,1923, granted on February 22,1927. One was a blowback design, while the other was operated with a locked-breech recoil system. Both prototypes utilized the new staggered magazine design to increase capacity without increasing the pistols grip size or magazine length. The locked breech design was selected for development and testing. This model was striker-fired, and featured a magazine that held 16 rounds. The design was refined through several trials held by the Versailles Trial Commission and this version featured the removable barrel bushing and take down sequence of the Colt 1911. By 1931, the Browning Hi-Power design incorporated a shortened 13-round magazine, a curved rear grip strap, by 1934, the Hi-Power design was complete and ready to be produced. It was first adopted by Belgium for military service in 1935 as the Browning P-35, ultimately, France decided not to adopt the pistol, instead selecting the conceptually similar but lower-capacity Modèle 1935 pistol. The HP35 originally had a rounded, serrated hammer with a hole through it and this lighter hammer was harder to cock and had difficulty firing the harder Berdan-primed centerfire cartridges commonly used in Europe, often requiring a tightening of the hammer spring. This was replaced in 1972 by a hammer on both civilian and military models. However, the Browning Challenger and special variants of the Browning pistol still use the classic ring hammer, the Browning Hi-Power has undergone continuous refinement by FN since its introduction. The adjustable sights are available on commercial versions of the Hi-Power
14.
Colt's Manufacturing Company
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Colts Manufacturing Company is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt. It is the corporation to Colts earlier firearms-making efforts, which started in 1836. Colts earliest designs played a role in the popularization of the revolver. Although Samuel Colt did not invent the concept, his designs resulted in the first very successful ones. The most famous Colt products include the Colt Walker, made 1847 in the facilities of Eli Whitney Jr. Though they did not develop it, for a long time Colt was also responsible for all AR-15 and M16 rifle production. The most successful and famous of these are numerous M16 carbines, including the Colt Commando family, in 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colts Manufacturing Company. Colts Manufacturing Company now serves the market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement, military. The two companies remained in the same West Hartford, Connecticut location cross-licensing certain merchandise before reuniting in 2013, following the loss of its M4 contract in 2013, Colt was briefly in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, starting in 2015. Samuel Colt received a British patent on his design for a revolver in 1835. That same year, he founded his first corporation for its manufacture, the first firearm manufactured at the new Paterson plant, however, was the Colt First Model Ring Lever rifle beginning in 1837. This was followed thereafter in late 1837 by the introduction of the Colt Paterson. This corporation suffered quality problems in production, making firearms with interchangeable parts was still rather new, and it was not yet easy to replicate across different factories. Interchangeability was not complete in the Paterson works, and traditional gunsmithing techniques did not fill the gap entirely there, the Colt Paterson revolver found patchy success and failure, some worked well, while others had problems. The United States Marine Corps and United States Army reported quality problems with these earliest Colt revolvers, production had ended at the New Jersey corporation by 1842. Colt made another attempt at revolver production in 1846 and submitted a prototype to the US government, during the Mexican–American War, this prototype was seen by Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker who made some suggestions to Colt about making it in a larger caliber. Having no factory or machinery to produce the pistols, Samuel Colt collaborated with the Whitney armory of Whitneyville and this armory was run by the family of Eli Whitney. Eli Whitney Jr, the son of the patriarch, was the head of the family armory
15.
Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation
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Its roots lie in the Tophane-i Amire built in the latter part of the 15th Century to supply the Ottoman Empires artillery corps with cannon, powder, and shot. This was reorganized in 1832 as the Tophane Müşavirliği and was formed in a department of Harbiye Nezareti in 1908. After World War I and the following Young Turks revolt, it was reorganized as the General Directorate of Military Factories in 1923, today, the MKE is made up of 12 facilities that employ 7,430 personnel. The corporation mainly produces equipment for the Turkish Armed Forces, such as the ammunition for small arms and heavy weapons, artillery systems, aerial bombs, mines, explosives, MKEK also manufactures civil-purpose products such as steel, brass, and electrical parts and equipment. Its large range of industry products are not only demanded in Turkey. In 2011, the company has sold products to 29 countries worldwide. The first smoothbore gun for Altay main battle tank was introduced in 2011
16.
Sturm, Ruger & Co.
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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
17.
Fiocchi
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Fiocchi Munizioni is one of Italys largest and oldest manufacturers of ammunition. The Companys headquarters and main plant are in Via Santa Barbara in Lecco. Fiocchi Munizioni was founded on 3 July 1876 in Lecco, Italy, in 1876, Giulio Fiocchi took over the ammunition production part of a weapon and ammunition company already based in Lecco, which produced small caliber ammunition. At that time a change was introduced in firearms, the newly developed breech-loader replaced the traditional muzzle loader. Fiocchi started manufacturing cases with primers suitable for reloading, in the early 1890s production was extended to complete cartridges loaded with bullets or shot, at the same time, Fiocchi gave up the production of black powder, as it was no longer profitable. At the beginning of 20th century, Fiocchi introduced a product diversification and this brought to the creation of Fiocchi Snaps in 1903. During its long life, Fiocchi has manufactured all kinds of ammunition from pinfire, shotshells and they are known for manufacturing rarer cartridges for collectors and enthusiasts, for example the.455 Webley. Its presence and production sites are also in the United States, in 2008 Fiocchi UK was opened in Great Britain. In 2011 newly developed 12GA shot shells filled with chemical tracer Cyalume in which allows the shooter to see where the shots are going, the tracer shots are non-toxic and biodegradable and packaged in a sealed metal can in Fiocchis line of Canned Heat ammunition. The Canned Heat line of ammunition allows a greater shelf life and maintaining quality of the ammo throughout shipping, retail shelf, Fiocchi Munizioni is still entirely owned by private capital heading to the Fiocchi Family
18.
Colt Official Police
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The Official Police was also used by various U. S. and allied military forces during World War II. As the 20th Century began, the older.32 caliber revolvers which had been standard-issue for the majority of American police departments began to be phased out in favor of the larger-bore.38 caliber. In 1908 Colt introduced a sleek and modernized revolver they dubbed the Army Special, during the same period, revolvers began to fall out of favor with the U. S. Military, especially after the adoption on the U. S. Model of 1911 semi-automatic pistol. By 1927 the overwhelming sales of two models, the Army Special and Colt Police Positive, had assured Colt’s dominance of the law enforcement firearms market. Colt’s marketing strategy was further fine-tuned by making a few alterations to the Army Special revolver. The changes included adding checkering to the trigger, matting the topstrap of the frame, Colt also upgraded the quality of the gun’s finish from a dull blued finish to a highly polished blued surface. By 1933 the Colt sales catalog listed many law enforcement agencies as having adopted the OP as a sidearm, including the New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, in addition many state police organizations and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation chose the OP as their issue revolver. Many Official Police revolvers were also bought by the forces and militaries of various South American countries. These revolvers bore British military acceptance markings and had a 5 barrel, most of these OP revolvers were assembled from commercial-grade parts made before 1942. Commencing in 1941, small quantities of the.38 Colt Official Police were procured directly from the Defense Supplies Corporation, when government purchasing officials objected to production delays of the OP, as well as the unit cost, Colt responded by simplifying the gun. Instead of the bluing, the revolver was given a dull parkerized finish. In mid-1942 the Springfield Ordnance District was given control over procurement and distribution of the Commando, a few Commandos were shipped to the U. S. Maritime Commission and used as small arms equipment on U. S. merchant ships and ships provided to the Allies under Lend-Lease. Most Commando wartime production went to the Defense Supplies Corporation, for use by security and police forces, while approximately 1,800 Commandos were used by the U. S. Navy, with another 12,800 revolvers distributed to various military intelligence agencies. During the postwar period, Colt fell on difficult financial times, at Smith & Wesson, both output and new model civilian and police sales improved, and the sales margin gap between the two corporations progressively tightened. Finally in the 1960s S&W took over the lead, Colt announced the discontinuation of the Official Police in 1969, stating that competitive production of the design was no longer economically feasible. With a total production of over 400,000 pistols, the Official Police ranks as one of the most successful ever made. The Official Police was machined of fine carbon steel, with bright royal Colt blued as well as nickel-plated finishes, and was offered in 4,5 and 6 inches barrels. Built on Colt’s.41 or “I” frame, it was manufactured in a variety of chamberings including.22 LR. 32-20.41 Long Colt, and the most common and popular, the.38 Special
19.
Colt Police Positive
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The Colt Police Positive is a small-frame, double-action revolver featuring a six-round cylinder, chambered for either.32 or.38 caliber cartridges. Designed primarily for sale to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies, the Colt Police Positive was an improvement of Colt’s earlier “New Police” revolver, upgraded with an internal hammer block safety. Colt named this new security device the “Positive Lock”, and its ended up being incorporated as a partial namesake for the new revolver. The cylinder of the Police Positive rotated in the clockwise direction, ever a canny competitor in the firearms milieu, Colt missed no opportunity to score a coup déclat over its arch rival, and began a marketing campaign which accentuated this detail. The Police Positive was very successful, along with the Colt Official Police it dominated the law enforcement firearms market in the early 1900s, the Positive was itself incrementally modified in 1908, forming the basis for Colt’s Police Positive Special model. A nickel Police Positive with pearl grips &.32 calibre was used by Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey in Death Wish. The notorious American gangster Al Capone also used a Police Positive, a nickel.38 Police Positive with walnut grips, in June 2011 a private collector sold it at Christies for the sum of £67, 250/$109, 080/€75,656. The Police Positive was made of steel, and was finished with either a polished blued finish or nickel-plated. The First issue of the Police Positive ran from the introduction in 1907 until 1927. Sporting Colt’s standard hard rubber grips, it was offered with barrel lengths of 2.5,4,5, and 6 inches, and was chambered for the.32 Long Colt.32 Colt New Police, checkered Walnut grips became standard after 1923. The Second issue began in 1928 and ran until 1947, adding a heavier frame as well as a serrated topstrap to reduce sight glare. The revolver’s sights consisted of a blade front with a fixed iron open rear sight. Weighing 22 ounces and available with a finish and black hard rubber grips in.22 Long Rifle.22 WRF.32 Long Colt. A Second issue was sold from 1926 to 1941 and differed from the First in that it had a slightly heftier frame which upped the weight to 26 ounces, also Colt’s nickel finish was offered as an option. In todays collectable market, the.32 New Police version appears to be the most sought after and valuable. 32-20 Winchester and.38 Special cartridges
20.
Enfield revolver
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The Enfield Revolver was a self-extracting British handgun designed and manufactured at the government-owned Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, initially in the.476 calibre The. The term Enfield Revolver is not applied to Webley Mk VI revolvers built by RSAF Enfield between 1923 and 1926, the Enfield No.2 is an unrelated.38 calibre revolver that was the standard sidearm of British and Commonwealth forces during World War II. NWMP Commissioner Acheson G. Irvine ordered 200 Mark IIs in 1882, priced at C$15.75 each, Irvine liked them so much that, in one of his final acts as Commissioner, he ordered another 600, which were delivered in September 1885. His replacement, Lawrence W. Herchmer, reported the force was entirely outfitted with Enfields and was pleased with them, the first batch was stamped NWMP-CANADA after delivery, later purchases were not. They were top-break single- or double-action, and fitted with lanyard rings, worn spindle arms would fail to hold empty cases on ejection, and worn pivot pins could cause barrels to become loose, resulting in inaccuracy. Its deep rifling would allow firing of slugs of between.449 and.476 in diameter, complaints began arising as early as 1887, influenced in part by the British switching to Webleys, and by 1896, hinge wear and barrel loosening were a real issue. Beginning in late 1904, the Mark II began to be phased out in favor of the.45 calibre Colt New Service revolver, but the Enfield remained in service until 1911. The.476 Enfield cartridge the Enfield Mk I/Mk II were chambered for fired a 265 gr lead bullet, loaded with 18 gr of black powder. The Enfield Mk I/Mk II had a frame, and when the barrel was unlatched. The idea was that the cylinder moved forward far enough to permit fired cases to be completely extracted, but not far enough to permit live cartridges from being removed in the same manner. The system was obsolete as soon as the Enfield Mk I was introduced, barnes, Frank C. ed. by John T. Amber. Cartridges of the World, p.175.476 Ely/.476 Enfield Mk-3, hogg, Ian V. and John Walter. Pistols of the World, 4th Ed. Maze, Robert J. Howdah to High Power, phillips, Roger F. & Klancher, Donald J. Arms & Accoutrements of the Mounted Police 1873-1973. Bloomfield, ON, Museum Restoration Service,1982, the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Museum of Technology, Pistol Revolver.476 inch Enfield Model 1882
21.
Smith & Wesson Model 10
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In production since 1899, it is a six-shot double-action revolver with fixed sights. Over its long run it has been available with barrel lengths of 2 in,3 in,4 in,5 in. Barrels of 2.5 inches are also known to have made for special contracts. Some 6,000,000 of the type have been produced over the years, making it the most popular centerfire revolver of the 20th century. In 1899, the United States Army and Navy placed orders with Smith & Wesson for two to three thousand Model 1899 Hand Ejector revolvers chambered for the M1892.38 Long Colt U. S, in 1902 the.38 Military & Police was introduced, featuring substantial changes. These included major modification and simplification of the internal lockwork and the addition of a locking underlug on the barrel to engage the previously free-standing ejector rod, barrel lengths were 4,5,6, and 6.5 inches with a rounded butt. Serial numbers for the Military & Police ranged from number 1 in the series to 20,975, most of the early M&P revolvers chambered in.38 Special appear to have been sold to the civilian market. By 1904, S&W was offering the.38 M&P with a rounded or square butt, and 4-, 5-, heat treating of cylinders began in 1919. The S&W Model 10 military revolvers produced from 1942 to 1944 had serial numbers with a V prefix and it is noteworthy that early Victory Models did not always have the V prefix. Most Victory Models sent to Britain were fitted with 4-inch or 5-inchbarrels, the Victory Model was used by United States forces during World War II, being chambered in the well-known and popular.38 Special cartridge. Some of these remained in service well into the 1990s with units of the United States Armed Forces. Until the introduction of the Beretta M9 9mm pistol in 1990, U. S. Army helicopter crew members, criminal Investigation Division agents were issued.38 caliber revolvers with two inch barrels. The Victory Model remained in use with Air National Guard tanker, rechambering of. 38-200 cylinders to.38 Special results in oversized chambers, which may cause problems. Lee Harvey Oswald was carrying a re-chambered Victory Model when he was apprehended on November 22,1963, other distinguishing features of the Victory Model revolver are the lanyard loop at the bottom of the grip frame, and the use of smooth walnut grip panels. However some early models did use a grip, most notably the pre-1942 manufacture. After World War II, Smith & Wesson returned to manufacturing the M&P series, in 1957, Smith & Wesson adopted the convention of using numeric designations to distinguish their various models of handguns, and the M&P was renamed the Model 10. The M&P/Model 10 has been available in blued steel finish and nickel finish for most of its production run. The model has also offered throughout the years with both the round butt and square butt, i. e. grip patterns
22.
Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
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Table of selected handgun, submachine gun, rifle and machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load, number of manufacturers currently producing complete cartridges - e. g. Norma, RWS, Hornady, Winchester, Federal, Remington, Sellier&Bellot, Prvi Partizan. May be none for obsolete and wildcat cartridges, a guide to the recoil from the cartridge, and an indicator of bullet penetration potential. The. 30-06 Springfield is considered the limit for tolerable recoil for inexperienced rifle shooters
23.
Webley Revolver
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The Webley Revolver was, in various marks, a standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and the British Empire and Commonwealth, from 1887 until 1963. The Webley is a revolver and breaking the revolver operates the extractor. The Webley Mk I service revolver was adopted in 1887 and the Mk IV, the Mk VI, introduced in 1915 during the First World War, is perhaps the best-known model. Firing large.455 Webley cartridges, Webley service revolvers are among the most powerful top-break revolvers ever produced. The.455 calibre Webley is no longer in military service, many Webley Mk VIs were converted to fire 45 ACP ammunition after the remaining.455 Webley ammunition dwindled. The British company Webley & Scott produced a range of revolvers from the mid 19th to late 20th centuries, as early as 1853 P. Webley and J. Webley began production of their first patented single action cap and ball revolvers. Later under the name of P. Webley and Son. Today, undoubtedly best-known are the range of revolvers, which were in service use across two World Wars and numerous colonial conflicts. The military was suitably impressed with the revolver, and it was adopted on 8 November 1887 as the Pistol, Webley, Mk I. The initial contract called for 10,000 Webley revolvers, at a price of £3/1/1 each, the Webley revolver went through a number of changes, culminating in the Mk VI, which was in production between 1915 and 1923. The large.455 Webley revolvers were retired in 1947, although the Webley Mk IV. 38/200 remained in service until 1963 alongside the Enfield No.2 Mk I revolver, the Webley Mk IV, chambered in. Demand exceeded production, which was already behind as the war began and this forced the British government to buy substitute weapons chambered in.455 Webley from neutral countries. America provided the Smith & Wesson 2nd Model Hand Ejector and Colt New Service Revolvers, rexach & Urgoite was tapped for an initial order of 500 revolvers, but they were rejected due to defects. The official service pistol for the British military during the Second World War was the Enfield No.2 Mk I. 38/200 calibre revolver, owing to a critical shortage of handguns, a number of other weapons were also adopted to alleviate the shortage. As a result, both the Webley Mk IV in. 38/200 and Webley Mk VI in.455 calibre were issued to personnel during the war. The Webley Mk VI and Mk IV revolvers were issued to British and Commonwealth Forces after the Second World War. An armourer stationed in West Germany recalled that by the time they were retired in 1963. This lack of ammunition was instrumental in keeping the Enfield and Webley revolvers in use so long, they were not wearing out because they were not being used
24.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
25.
Smith & Wesson Model 1
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The Smith & Wesson Model 1 was the first firearm manufactured by Smith & Wesson, with production spanning the years 1857 through 1882. It was the first commercially successful revolver to use rimfire cartridges instead of powder, musket ball. It is a single-action, tip-up revolver holding seven.22 Short black powder cartridges, as Samuel Colts patent on the night revolver was set to expire in 1856, Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson were researching a prototype for a cartridge revolver. Rather than make White a partner in their company, Smith and it would become Whites responsibility to defend his patent in any court cases which eventually led to his financial ruin, but was very advantageous for the new Smith & Wesson Company. The Model 1 had three issues or major variants, with each subsequent issue introducing significant technical changes, the 1st Issue of the Model 1 was the first major iteration, with approximately 12,000 produced over a three year period. There are six variations of the Model 1, first identified in an article by John Kountz in the April 1956 issue of The Gun Report. In this article, Kountz noted specific differences in the shield, the barrel latch. Serial numbers were issued sequentially for the Model 1 1st Issues ranging from 1 through approximately 12,000, the 2nd Issue of the Model 1 looked similar to the 1st Issue, with several notable differences. The side plate on the 2nd Issue was much larger and irregularly shaped, the profile of the frame was flatter, and the hammer was now made in one piece. Model 1 2nd Issues still had the flared, square cornered shaped grip and the octagonal tip-up style frame, there are several variations of the 2nd Issue guns. Variants between serial numbers 12,000 through to about 20,000 involve the shape of the plate, the design of the trigger spring. There was also a decrease in the size of the barrel roll stamps at around serial number 95,000, 2nd Issue marked 2D QUALTY are also seen occasionally. There were approximately 110,000 2nd Issues produced from 1860 through 1868, the Model 1, 3rd Issue represented a substantial redesign for the Model 1, with a fluted cylinder, a round barrel and a rounded birds head style grip. Finishes included full nickel plating, full blued steel, and a half plate nickel/blue combo, variants include the square and triangular top strap design that changed around serial number 9,500. The 3rd Issue guns were produced from 1868 through 1882 with serial numbers from 1 through approximately 131,000 and this popularity led to numerous knockoffs and patent infringements by other armsmakers. Rolin White and S&W brought infringement cases against Manhattan Firearms Company, Ethan Allen, Merwin & Bray, National Arms Company, the courts mostly allowed these manufacturers to continue production runs, with a royalty on each revolver paid to White. In some cases, Smith & Wesson bought the back to remark and sell
26.
Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2
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Chambered in.32 Rimfire, its cylinder held 5 shots. It was produced in three varieties from 1865 through 1892, with production exceeding 223,000. The Model 1 1/2 had three issues, the first issue of the Model 1 1/2 can be identified by its smooth cylinder, and the square shape of the grip butt. Models were available in blued or nickel-plated finishes, and the majority were produced with 3 1⁄2-inch barrels, a less common 4-inch barrel variety was also sold. Serial numbers range from 1 through to approximately 26,300, the second issue of the Model 1 1/2 can be identified by its fluted barrel and the rounded shape of the grip butt. Like the 1st Issue, it was produced in blued steel and nickel-plated varieties. 2nd Issue guns were numbered consecutively after the 1st Issue. There is also a transitional model 2nd issue that uses the unfluted 1st issue barrels, the serial numbers for these transitional models span approximately 27,200 through 28,800. The third issue of the Model 1 1/2 is known as the Model No.1 1/2 Single Action Revolver and it differs substantially from the first two issues by breaking at the top, consistent with the design of the Safety Hammerless or S&W.38 Single Action. The grip is rounded at the butt, and is similar in appearance to that on the 2nd Issue and this revolver marked the debut of the.32 S&W centerfire cartridge. Serial numbers ranged from 1 to approximately 97,500
27.
Smith & Wesson Model 3
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Schofield, who made his own modifications to the Model 3 to meet his perceptions of the Cavalrys needs. Smith & Wesson incorporated these modifications into an 1875 design they named after the Major, the S&W Model 3 was originally chambered for the.44 S&W American and.44 Russian cartridges, and typically did not have the cartridge information stamped on the gun. Model 3 revolvers were produced in an assortment of calibers, including.44 Henry Rimfire. 44-40. 32-44. 38-44. The design would influence the smaller S&W.38 Single Action that is referred to as the Model 2. Smith & Wesson produced large numbers of the Model 3, in three models, for the Russian Empire by special order. The Russian and European copies of the S&W Model 3 revolver were generally of high quality. This led to the Imperial government cancelling the order for significant quantities of Smith & Wesson–made revolvers, and delaying payment for the handguns that had already been delivered. The U. S. Army adopted the.44 S&W American caliber Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver in 1870, most military pistols until that point were black powder cap and ball revolvers, which were slow, complicated, and susceptible to the effects of wet weather. Smith & Wesson instead developed their own, slightly shorter.45 caliber round, when it became obvious in the field that the two cartridges would not work interchangeably in the Schofield, the U. S. Government adopted the shorter.45 Schofield cartridge as the standard cartridge. Despite the change, old stocks of the longer.45 Colt rounds in the line caused the Army to drop most of the Schofields. Many of the S&W Model 3 Schofield revolvers saw service in the Indian Wars, the Smith & Wesson No.3 revolver was famously used by Wyatt Earp during the OK Corral Gunfight with the Clanton Gang. While the standard length was 7, many Schofields were purchased as surplus by distributors, and had the barrels shortened to 5. After the Spanish–American War of 1898, the US Army sold off all their surplus Schofield revolvers and these revolvers were then inspected by the Wells Fargo armorer and uniquely stamped W. F. Lieutenant Colonel Schofield shot himself on December 17,1882, with a S&W Schofield revolver after suffering a bout of illness, stress. The Schofield was produced in various versions, the First Model Schofield has a latch configuration that is rather pointed at the top and has a circle around the screw head at the bottom. The Second Model latch has a raised circle at the top of the latch. In the previous engineering, the posts of the frame would wear out after heavy usage, Schofields improvement called for heat treated, replaceable components at this sensitive wear area of the catch and latch. The serial number range also will give an indication of whether it is First or Second Model, in 1877, S&W discontinued production of its other Model 3s such as the American, Russian, and Schofield—in favor a new improved design called the New Model Number Three
28.
Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless
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The Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless or Smith & Wesson New Departure is a double-action revolver that was produced from 1887 to 1940 by Smith & Wesson. The revolver incorporated an internal hammer and a grip safety on its backstrap. It was chambered in.32 S&W and.38 S&W calibers, the grip safety made a brief return to Smith & Wessons revolvers in 1952 with the release of the Models 40 and 42. The Smith & Wesson.38 Safety Hammerless models were produced from 1887 to just before World War II and they were chambered in either.32 S&W or.38 S&W with a five-shot cylinder. They were most often produced with a 2-inch, 3-inch, or 3. 5-inch barrels and these top-break revolvers were designed for fast reloading and concealed carry as the hammer was internal and would not snag on drawing the revolver from a pocket. They were known as The New Departure to reflect the new approach to designing revolvers. Minor design changes were made to these revolvers over the years, resulting in different design models. The first model was manufactured between 1887-1902, the 38 was based on S&Ws medium frame, while the 32 was based on the smaller sized 1½ frame. In 1952 the safety hammerless concept was applied to Smith & Wessons J-frame, the finished product became the Model 40 and 42 chambered in.38 Special and is alternately known as the Centennial as it was produced in the 100th anniversary of the founding of Smith & Wesson. While few competitors replicated the grip safety, the hammer or hammerless design proved popular with other manufacturers such as Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson. The concept is still maintained by numerous modern double-action revolver manufacturers
29.
Smith & Wesson Model 30
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The Smith & Wesson Model 30 is a small-frame, six-shot, double-action revolver chambered for the.32 Long cartridge. It was based on the Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector Model of 1903 and it was a round butt I-frame and was produced from 1948 to 1976. From 1948 to 1957, this model was known as the Model.32 Hand Ejector and was built on the 5-screw I-Frame, in 1958 the frame was redesigned to use four screws and a coiled mainspring as opposed to a flat or leaf spring and called the Improved I-Frame. Three years later in 1961, the I-Frame was discontinued and the slightly longer 3-screw J-Frame replaced it. A square butt version first known as the Model.32 Regulation Police was made during the time period as the Model.32 Hand Ejector and was eventually replaced by the Model 31 in 1958. The Model 31 followed the path as the Model 30 with regard to production dates.32 Long Smith & Wesson
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Smith & Wesson Model 36
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The Smith & Wesson Model 36 is a revolver chambered for.38 Special. It is one of models of J-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers. It was introduced in 1950, and is still in production, the Model 36 was designed in the era just after World War II, when Smith & Wesson stopped producing war materials and resumed normal production. For the Model 36, they sought to design a revolver that could fire the more powerful.38 Special round in a small, since the older I-frame was not able to handle this load, a new frame was designed, which became the Smith & Wesson J-frame. The new design was introduced at the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention in 1950, a vote was held to name the new revolver, and the name Chiefs Special won. A three-inch barreled version of this went into production immediately. It was available in either a blued or nickel-plated finish and it was produced as the Chiefs Special until 1957, when it then became the Model 36. The Chiefs Special continued to be manufactured as a separate variant, in 1951, Smith & Wesson introduced the Airweight Model 37, which was basically the Model 36 design with an aluminum frame and cylinder. The aluminum cylinders proved to be problematic and were abandoned in favor of a steel cylinder, in 1989, Smith & Wesson introduced the LadySmith variant of the Model 36. This was available with a 2-inch or 3 inch barrel and blued finish and this model also featured special grips designed specifically for women, and had LADYSMITH engraved on the frame. Approximately 615 Model 36-6 Target variations were produced and this variant had a 3-inch full lug barrel with adjustable sights and a blued glass finish. In 2002, Smith & Wesson reintroduced the Model 36 with gold features, the gold color was actually titanium nitride. In 2005, Smith & Wesson produced the Texas Hold Em variant and this was produced with a blued finish, imitation ivory grips, and 24k gold plate engraving. A large number of Model 37 variants with a ring attached were made for Japan. Part of this contract was cancelled, resulting in a number of these being sold to a wholesaler. These entered the market in 2001. In 2006, the Model 37 was dropped from Smith & Wessons catalog, serial number 337 was shipped to J. Edgar Hoover and is engraved with his name. In 1958, Spanish manufacturer Astra developed a high quality revolver line based on this weapon, under the name of Astra Cadix, Astra 250, designed to be small and compact, the Model 36 is available with a 1.875 inch barrel
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Smith & Wesson Bodyguard
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The Smith & Wesson Bodyguard is a family of small J-frame revolvers with shrouded hammers manufactured by Smith & Wesson. They are available chambered in either.38 Special or.357 Magnum, the Model 38 is aluminum-framed, has a carbon steel cylinder with a five round capacity and barrel. The Model 49 is a revolver chambered in.38 Special. The Model 638 is aluminum-framed with stainless steel cylinder and barrel, the Model 649 is an all stainless-steel framed revolver. The M&P Bodyguard 38, introduced in 2014, is the latest incarnation of a Smith & Wesson revolver using the Bodyguard moniker and it is a polymer framed revolver chambered in.38 Special, and is only available with a Crimson Trace laser sight integrated in to the grip. Like previous Bodyguard models, it has a five round cylinder and a hammer but unlike the previous models. The lockwork is different than any other Smith & Wesson revolver, chambered in.38 special, it is only available with a Crimson Trace red-dot laser sight integrated in to the grip. It is most closely related to the Centennial models, clyde A. Tolson, special assistant to FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, owned a Model 38 Airweight, serial number 512236, with his name engraved on the side. Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, South Vietnams chief of National Police, was photographed using a Model 38 Bodyguard to execute a Viet Cong prisoner, Nguyễn Văn Lém, the picture, which earned photographer Eddie Adams a Pulitzer Prize, is credited with increasing public antipathy towards the Vietnam War. On December 22,1984, Bernhard Goetz used a Model 38 Airweight in the shooting on a New York subway train of four men who he believed were about to rob him.357 Magnum Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380
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Smith & Wesson Model 60
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The Smith & Wesson Model 60 revolver is a 5-shot revolver that is chambered in either.38 Special or.357 Magnum calibers. It was the first revolver produced from stainless steel, the Model 60 has a swing-out cylinder, and features an exposed hammer. It has been in production since 1965, and holds the distinction of being the first regular production all stainless steel revolver ever made, the 1965 models stainless steel production proved so popular that there was a waiting list at gunshops for up to six months to purchase one. At that time the Model 60 featured a 1.875 barrel and was chambered solely for the.38 Special, in 1996, the stronger J-Magnum frame was introduced and the cylinder was lengthened to support the.357 Magnum round. The new model replaced the.38 Special-only version and is available in either a 2.125 or a 3 barrel, with a 5 barrel introduced in 2005. Older versions of the Model 60 were produced with only fixed sights, modern productions are made with an adjustable rear sight
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Smith & Wesson Model 317 kit gun
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The Smith & Wesson Model 317 Kit Gun is the current version of over 60 years of the companys kit gun line. The current version is a light, versatile, eight-shot, double-action revolver chambered for the.22 Long Rifle cartridge, manufactured by Smith & Wesson. Due to its low weight, it can be carried for hiking or camping and used for recreational shooting, due to this light weight and small size, the Model 317 is quite easily concealed. With this in mind, an area of the butt of the gun is hollowed out, a transverse pin allows the use of a lanyard to carry the Model 317 under clothing. The 317 was designed to be lighter than previous Smith & Wesson kit guns carried for outdoor activities, steel was replaced by titanium and aluminum for this purpose. Between World War I and World War II, the kit bags carried by hunters, hikers, campers and these kit bags carried many of the necessary items one might need when alone in the open country or forest. In 1935, the.357 Magnum was released by Smith & Wesson and it was said to be “The World’s Most Powerful Revolver. ”After this came the more compact. 22/.32 Target I-frame revolvers. The. 22/.32 Kit Gun was so named because it was intended to be carried in a kit bag, the Kit Gun line began as an I-Frame.22 caliber 6-shot revolver in 1953, and its model designation at the time was Model of 1953. This is sometimes called the pre-34, in 1958, S&W renamed it as the Model 34 and began stamping the models thus. This production continued till the early 1960s, when the pistol was redesigned using the larger J-frame J-frame and marketed as the model 34-1. Due to the popularity of stainless steel revolvers, the. 22/.32 Model 63 Kit Gun was released in 1977, the.22 WMR Model 651 in 1983. There was a Kit Gun Airweight and a Kit Gun chambered in.22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, all three were available with adjustable sights. The Model 34 continued to be manufactured until 1991, but Model 43 and 51 production stopped in 1974, the model 63 stainless was replaced by the significantly lighter model 317 in the late 2000s. Older Kit Guns have been replaced, and though some come in larger calibers and this is due to advances in titanium and aluminum construction. There is the Model 317.22 Long Rifle AirLite Kit Gun, the Model 337.38 Special AirLite Kit Gun, and a.44 Special Kit Gun and these revolvers have aluminum alloy frames and cylinders made of titanium. While titanium is considerably lighter than steel, it is just as strong, the aluminum barrels have a steel liner. The Smith & Wesson Model 317 is the lighter, shorter version of the Model 317 Kit Gun and it is extremely light at just 10.8 oz /306.2 g. The model 63 stainless also comes in a 8-shot, 3-inch-barrel version, http, //www. smith-wesson. com Guns Magazine, Oct,2000 http, //www. gunblast. com
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Smith & Wesson Model 340PD
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The Smith & Wesson 340PD is an ultra-light J-frame five shot snubnosed revolver chambered for.357 Magnum. It has a constructed of scandium enhanced aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy cylinder. Unloaded it weighs only 12 ounces and when loaded remains under 1 pound, with no external hammer it operates double action only. A variant of the Model 340 is the M&P340, part of Smith & Wessons M&P line of handguns and it features a PVD coating and stainless steel cylinder. It has XS Sights® 24/7 Tritium Night sights and weighs 13.3 ounces and it is available with or without an internal lock. Another warning in the manual is recoil may pull the cases of unfired rounds in the cylinder rearward with enough force to unseat the bullets. It has also said that accuracy is compromised in these types of ultra-light revolvers since the barrel is a steel sleeve liner rather than a single solid piece of steel
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Smith & Wesson Centennial
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S&W Centennial is a family of revolvers made by Smith & Wesson on the J-Frame. Depending upon caliber, the cylinder holds either 5,6,7, or 8, centennials feature a fully enclosed hammer, which makes them Double Action Only firearms. Like all other J-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers, they have a swing-out cylinder, the Smith & Wesson Model 40 originally debuted as the Centennial in 1952 and was renamed the Model 40 in 1957. The Model 40 is chambered in.38 special and has a five-round capacity and it is a snub-nose revolver with a 1 7/8-inch barrel. It is built on Smith & Wessons J-frame and weighs 21 oz. empty, the revolver was made with a grip safety as some shooters could not get used to the idea of firing a revolver without cocking the hammer. Smith & Wesson reintroduced this model in 2007 as a piece with some models featuring a case hardened finish by Doug Turnbull. The Model 42 came out in 1952 as the Airweight Centennial but was changed in 1957 to the Model 42, the gun was the same design as the Model 40 except the frame was made of an aluminum alloy, resulting in a lower weight than the Model 40. The Model 42 was discontinued in 1974, the Model 640 revolver has been in production since 1990 and was chambered for.38 Special. It was fitted with a barrel of 1-7/8 inch length. The second model had a heavier and longer barrel of 2-1/8 inch length. A3 barreled version was offered until 1993, when it was dropped from production, in 1996 S&W began chambering the 640 in.357 Magnum. Because of the power of the.357 magnum cartridge, the frame is strengthened just in front of the release on those models. The 442 has a frame and blued carbon steel cylinder. The 642 has a frame and stainless steel cylinder. In 1993 S&W introduced the Model 940, similar in appearance to the 640, in 1996 the 940 was dropped from production. In 2001 a Scandium framed version was introduced in.357 Magnum designated as the Model 340. The model M&P342 was introduced in 2001 as a run of revolvers that are identical to a Model 340. Another warning in the manual is that recoil may pull the cases of unfired rounds in the cylinder rearward with enough force to unseat the bullets causing the cylinder to jam
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Smith & Wesson Model 640
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The Smith & Wesson Model 640 revolver is a 5-shot snubnosed revolver that is chambered in either.38 Special or.357 Magnum caliber introduced in 1990. Like other J-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers, it has a cylinder, but this model features a concealed hammer. The first model was chambered in.38 Special and fitted with a barrel of 1-7/8 inch length. The second model had a heavier and longer barrel of 2-1/8 inch length. The gun was constructed entirely of stainless steel, in 1995 the model 642 was introduced which was made in aluminium and designated airweight. A3 barreled version was offered until 1993, when it was dropped from production and that same year S&W introduced the Model 940, similar in appearance, but chambered in 9mm Luger. In 1996 the 940 was dropped and S&W began chambering the 640 in.357 Magnum, because of the power of the.357 magnum cartridge, the frame is strengthened just in front of the cylinder release on those models. In 2001 a Scandium framed version was introduced in.357 Magnum designated as the Model 340, in spite of its small frame and short barrel the revolver is durable and fairly accurate. Firearms writer Joe Gorman fired 500 full power rounds through the revolver and it survived still tight, the Model 640 is an approved off-duty/back-up weapon for the New York City Police Department
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Smith & Wesson Model 12
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The Smith & Wesson Model 12 is.38 Special revolver on Smith & Wessons medium-sized K-frame. It is an aluminium alloy-frame version of the Model 10 and it was made from 1953 to 1986 in both two- and four-inch barrel configurations. Early models used a cylinder as well as frame.38 Special. Some 40,000 Smith & Wesson M13 revolvers were produced, a civilian model of the M13 was released in 1953, called the Military & Police Airweight. This designation was changed in 1957 to the Model 12 Airweight, the Military & Police Airweight initially used both an aluminum cylinder and frame, and weighed only 14.5 ounces. The Model 12 variants 12-1, 12-2, and 12-3 used a hammer and had an aluminum grip frame that was 0. 08-inch narrower than the standard steel K-frame. The final version, the Model 12-4, used the standard frame dimension of the other K-frames and it also featured a rounded butt. Pre-Model 12 - predates model number markings and it has an alloy cylinder and will be a 5 screw design with 4 sideplate screws and a screw in front of the trigger guard. This is apparent when the primers have elongated firing pin marks, very early versions have aluminum cylinders and should not be fired. The two-inch barrel Model 12 is also called a snub-nose and it is also a proven performer as a back-up pistol for some officers, who carry a larger caliber pistol at their waist. The Model 12 is most often found to have some wear on its due to age. An important earmark is the factory stamp Mod-12 on the frame inside the yoke, also on the inside of the yoke is the revolvers serial number, which is repeated verbatim on the base of the butt. The Model 12 holds its market value nicely and is highly collectible, as with most older revolvers, a reputable gunsmith should check its functioning prior to purchase
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Smith & Wesson Model 13
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The Smith & Wesson Model 13 is a.357 Magnum revolver designed for military and police use. It is based on Smith & Wessons K-frame—specifically, it is a.357 Magnum version of the variant of the.38 Special Model 10. This is a revolver with a capacity of six rounds. Barrel lengths are 3-inch and 4-inch with fixed sights, both round-butt and square-butt versions were produced. The Model 19 is essentially the same gun with adjustable sights, the M13 has a blued finish, the Model 65 is a variant in matte finish stainless steel. The Model 13 was manufactured from 1974 to 1998, the Model 65 was manufactured from 1972 to 2004. The original Model 13 used no designation and was known as the Air Crewman Model 13. Alternate generations of the model 13 are as follows, 1st Gen. -1974- Introduced, 2nd Gen. -1977- Change back to gas ring on cylinder, both models were issued by police agencies and federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. The Model 13 was requested by the New York State Police in order to have a.357 Magnum revolver to replace their.38 Special Model 10, the Model 65 in stainless steel came about at the request of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The FBI issued the Model 13 with round butt and 3 heavy barrel shortly before switching to semi-automatic pistols, the Model 65 is used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Netbook of Modern Firearms entry S&W Model Changes
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Smith & Wesson Model 14
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The Smith & Wesson Model K-38 Target Masterpiece Revolver Model 14 is a six-shot, double-action revolver with adjustable open sights built on the medium-size K frame. It is chambered for the.38 Special cartridge, and most were fitted with a 6 in or 8 3⁄8 in barrel, a small batch were made with 4 in barrels, and even fewer were made with 5 in barrels. First produced in 1947 and originally known as the K-38 Target Masterpiece and it is built on the same medium-sized frame as the seminal Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver. The K-38 model was authorized for duty with the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1960s, the Model 14 Masterpiece Single-Action was available in 1961 and 1962. It came with a 6 in barrel and functioned in single-action only and it was otherwise identical to the rest of the Model 14s. Smith & Wesson also released a Model 14 in their Classics line, a nickel-plated version has since been discontinued, but the blued-steel version is still available. Other than the finishes, the revolvers were identical with 6 in barrels, a pinned Patridge front sight, a rear sight. Smith & Wesson Model 15 Smith & Wesson Model 17 List of firearms
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Smith & Wesson Model 15
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The Smith & Wesson K-38 Combat Masterpiece, Revolver Model 15 is a six-shot double-action revolver, with adjustable open sights, built on the medium-size K frame. It is chambered for the.38 Special cartridge and is fitted with a 4-inch barrel, originally known as the K-38 Combat Masterpiece, it was renamed the Model 15 in 1957 when all Smith & Wesson revolvers were given numerical model numbers. The main production run of the Model 15 was from 1949 through 1999 and it was discontinued for approximately a decade until 2011, when a re-tooled version was re-released under S&Ws Classics Revolvers line. The Smith & Wesson K-38 Combat Masterpiece Revolver Model 15 is a derivative of the classic 1899 K-frame Military, the M&P underwent steady evolution throughout the 20th century and S&W spun off several variations as separate models in the post World War II years. One of these was the K-38 Target Masterpiece, which production in 1947. 375” short-throw hammer, a trigger adjustment for overtravel. Noting the accuracy of the Target Masterpiece, a number of departments and the FBI soon requested the same revolver with a four-inch barrel. The result was the K-38 Combat Masterpiece, the major distinction between the K-38 Target Masterpiece and the K-38 Combat Masterpiece is the barrel length and the front sight. In 1957 the K-38 Combat Masterpiece was renamed the Model 15 when all Smith & Wesson revolvers were given model numbers. The model number is stamped on the frame behind the cylinder yoke, a number of production and engineering changes have been made throughout the years, some of which are noted by a dash number suffixed to the Model number. Over the years the Model 15 has been produced with several barrel lengths, in 1972 S&W released a stainless steel version as the Model 67. These two safety systems work oppositely, but achieve the goal of only allowing the gun to fire when the trigger is pulled all the way. The Model 15 was a sidearm for law enforcement and was the standard issue sidearm of the U. S. Air Force Police from 1962 until 1992 when it was replaced by the Beretta M9 pistol. Production of the Model 15 was discontinued in 1999 when Smith & Wesson was purchased and reorganized, in 2011 Smith & Wesson re-introduced the Model 15 under their Classics Revolvers line, newly machined, with a shrouded redesigned barrel, and a built-in trigger lock. Caliber.38 S&W Special Capacity,6 Barrel, 4” Length overall,9 1/8” With 4” barrel Weight loaded,34 oz, with 4” barrel Sights, Front – 1/8” Baughman Quick Draw on plain ramp. Rear, S&W Micrometer Click Sight, adjustable for windage and elevation.38 S&W Special.38 S&W Special Mid Range, 15-9, Limited run Lew Horton Heritage Series McGivern Models from the S&W Performance Center. 3 Models commemorating Ed McGivern’s world speed records in 1934 with a revolver, from 1960 to 1969 the Air Force bought large numbers of Model 15-1, 15-2, and 15-3 revolvers with a 4 barrel. The only distinctive markings are U. S. A. F on the side of the frame. Originally all were blued, though some were reparkerized while in Air Force service, the Model 15 was the standard issue sidearm of the U. S. Air Force Air/Security Police from 1962 until 1992
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Smith & Wesson Model 17
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The Smith & Wesson Model 17 is a six-shot double-action revolver chambered for.22 LR. It is built on Smith & Wessons medium-sized K-frame, Smith & Wessons Models 16 and 17 have their origins with the companys Pre-World War 2 Hand Ejector series in the 1930s. These two revolver models debuted as companion pieces known as the Models K-32 and K-22 after World War 2, the K-32 Masterpiece debuted in 1935 and was chambered in.32 S&W Long caliber. Production ceased during World War 2 and the revolver was reintroduced in 1947 along with the K-22 Masterpiece in.22 Long Rifle caliber, the Model 17 has an adjustable rear sight and an un-pinned, fixed ramp or Patridge style front sight. It was designed as a revolver and could be ordered from S&W with The Three Ts, Target Trigger, Target Hammer. Standard barrel lengths were 4,6 and 8 3/8, the 4 model 17-6 is infrequently seen, as S&W produced the almost identical,4 barrelled, Model 18. The Model 18 was a Model 17 copy- except the 4 barrel was tapered where the Model 174 barrel was not. Many collectors believe the Model 17-6 with the 4 non-tapered barrel was a bit of a production oddity, in 1990, S&W also shipped the Model 17 featuring a 4,6 or 8 3/8 full under lug barrel. The under lug was a solid, blued steel, circular rod, cast as part of the barrel, the under lug not only enclosed the ejector rod, it also added considerable weight to the gun itself. The under lug model shipped with a round butt wood grip that featured inletted finger grooves. The 4 Model 17 Under Lug is infrequently seen and quite possibly manufactured as an afterthought using factory shortened 6 or 8 3/8 under lug barrels. Model 617 - At the same time S&W introduced the Model 17 full Under Lug and this is the stainless steel version of the blued steel Model 17.22 LR, however all Model 617s have full, Under Lug barrels. Offered in the same three barrel lengths as the Model 17, the 617 is still in current production and is shipped with rubber grips, the Model 617 is found with a six-shot or ten-shot, steel.22 LR cylinder. The only exception is the early production Model 617-2 which was made with a ten-shot, later dash 2 617s were shipped with stainless steel cylinders. Photograph of Model 53 with cylinder inserts. Model 53 in.22 Jet with cylinder inserts to use.22 Rimfire The Smith & Wesson Model 53 was introduced in 1961 in the.22 Jet caliber. It is a revolver of six round capacity built on the small K frame using a double action trigger, the.22 Jet cartridge had a listed velocity of 2460 fps using a 40 grain bullet, but actually reached 1700-1800 this in the revolver. The Model 53 can also fire the.22 Short, Long, the hammer had a two position firing pin to allow it to be switched from rimfire to centerfire as needed. The handgun came with target handgrips and sights an in barrel lengths of 4,6 and 8.3 inches, in the late 1950s there was considerable interest in the shooting community for revolvers chambered in various.22 caliber wildcat cartridges
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Smith & Wesson Model 19
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The S&W Model 19 is a revolver produced by Smith & Wesson on its K-frame. The model 19 is chambered for.357 Magnum, the K-frame is somewhat smaller and lighter than the original N-frame.357, usually known as the S&W Model 27. The.357 Magnum is the oldest magnum handgun cartridge, Smith & Wesson played a major part in the development and success of the cartridge and revolver that went with it. Firearms writer and experimenter Philip Sharpe is credited for its development during the 1930s when police agencies were asking for a more powerful round. S&Ws Dan Wesson agreed to produce a new revolver that would handle high-intensity.38 Special loads, but only if Winchester would develop a new cartridge. Winchester introduced the.357 Magnum, which was identical to the.38 Special except for a.125 inch longer case. Retired Assistant Chief Patrol Inspector of the U. S, border Patrol, famous gunfighter, and noted firearms and shooting skills writer Bill Jordan consulted with Smith & Wesson on the design and characteristics of the Model 19. Jordans idea for a peace officers dream sidearm was a heavy-barreled four-inch K-Frame.357 Magnum with a shrouded barrel like the big N-frame.357 and adjustable sights. The.357 Magnum, four-inch barreled model was standard issue to uniformed officers of the former U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as Patrol Agents of the U. S, border Patrol until both agencies adopted.40 caliber semi-automatic pistols. The.357 Magnum,2. 5” barreled model was standard issue to Special Agents of the former U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as Patrol Agents of the U. S. Border Patrol working plain clothes assignments until both agencies adopted.40 caliber semi-automatic pistols.5,4, or 6-inch barrel lengths, the weights are 30.5 ounces,36 ounces, and 39 ounces, respectively. The 2. 5- and 3-inch barrel versions had round butts, the Model 19 was produced from 1957 to November 1999. The Model 66 was produced from 1970 until 2005, the Model 66 differed by its use of stainless steel and its smooth target-type trigger. The Model 19 and the Model 66 had the same trigger options, engineering changes were designated with a dash- number after the model number. The engineering changes are as follows,19, Stamping of model number, 19-1, Change extractor rod, right to left-hand thread. 19-2, Cylinder stop changed, deleted triggerguard screw,50 manufactured with 2.5 barrel, serial range K544672–K544721. 19-3, Relocation of rear sight leaf screw, 19-4, Change gas ring from yoke to cylinder. 19-5, Eliminate cylinder counterbore and pinned barrel, small change in length to 1.62
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Smith & Wesson Model 64
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The Smith & Wesson Model 64 Military and Police revolver is the stainless steel version of its Model 10. The Model 64 was the second all stainless steel revolver made by Smith & Wesson and it is a six shot revolver chambered in.38 Special. It was widely used by several U. S. police, sheriff, the Model 64 was a popular choice in high humid states because the stainless model 64 was more corrosion and rust resistant than the blued model 10. Originally offered in two variants, a 4 taper barrelled square butt or a 2 round butt, the Model 64 has since been offered in numerous configurations, the 4 heavy barelled version, introduced in 1974, became a favorite with many police agencies. It was the first stainless steel revolver authorized for use by NYPD as well as the last revolver approved for use being replaced by 9mm semiautomatic pistols in 1993. Noted for its accuracy, dependability and manageable recoil, the Model 64 is still in use for security, inmate transportation, target shooting, formal target competition, caliber.38 S&W Special Capacity,6 Rounds Barrel Length, varies Frame, Medium Material, Stainless Steel
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Smith & Wesson Model 586
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The Smith & Wesson Model 586, is a six- or seven-shot double-action revolver chambered for the.357 Magnum cartridge. It is essentially the same weapon as the S&W Model 686, also, since the 586 was directed more to law enforcement, most have shorter barrels than the 686. It will chamber and fire.38 Special cartridges, as the.357 Magnum was developed from the.38 Special, the magnum case is slightly longer to prevent magnum rounds from being chambered and fired in handguns chambered for the.38 Special. The Model 586 uses S & Ws L revolver frame, with a K-Frame sized grip mated to a larger diameter cylinder, during the 1980s, Smith & Wesson developed its L-Frame line of.357 Magnums, the Model 581, Model 586, Model 681 and Model 686. The Model 581 had a fixed notch type rear sight, whereas the 586 used a target style adjustable rear sight and these handguns had a major effect on both law enforcement and sporting markets. The 586 was introduced in 1980 and the 581 was discontinued in 1988, according to Jim Supica and Richard Nahas in their book Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd Edition The K-frame.357 magnum revolvers became immensely popular as police revolvers. However some felt that extensive firing of full power.357 ammunition in the relatively light framed guns was wearing on both gun and shooter. There appeared to be a demand for a.357 that handled like a K frame but offered the heft, the L frame was introduced as this compromise size, with design input from Roy Jinks, and quickly established itself in the law enforcement and hunting markets. L frames also feature a full-length under-barrel lug, which adds recoil-absorbing weight to the gun. It was manufactured in blue or nickel-plated versions. A stainless steel version exists as the Model 686, other variations, such as the Model 686+, chambered for 7 rounds, are available. In the late 1990s, Smith & Wesson discontinued production of all but a few blued revolvers, thus the Model 686, in 2012, Smith & Wesson brought back the 586 in its 4-in. and 6-in. Barrel lengths as part of its Classic line of revolvers, the 586-8 features a redesigned and improved yoke. 586,1981 Intro 586-1,1986 Radius stud package, floating hand, 586-2,1987 Change hammer nose and associated parts. 586-M,1987 Product warning by S&W, M overstamp to indicate factory mod 586-3,1988 New yoke retention system,1992 Delete 8 3/8 barrel and four-position front site. 1992 Delete nickel finish 586-41994 Drill and tap, synthetic grips, change rear sight,1997 Delete 8 3/8 barrel, change to MIM thumb piece. 586-5,1998 Change design to eliminate cylider stop stud, Change to MIM hammer with floating firing pin, change to MIM trigger, change internal lockworks. 586-8,2012 Reintroduced under Smith & Wessons Classic lineup, the Smith & Wesson Model 686 is a stainless-steel version of the post-1980 L-frame revolver.357 Magnum ammunition for L-frame revolvers manufactured before August 1987
45.
Smith & Wesson Model 619 & 620
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The Smith & Wesson models 619 &620 are 7 shot revolvers introduced by the company in 2005. The 619 has fixed rear sights while the 620 comes with rear sights. They are very similar and often mistaken for members of the 686 family, in actuality they are descendants of S&Ws model 65 &66. The 65 &66 models were discontinued and the 619 &620 filled their place as the next generation and they were updated to current S&W standards with the addition of a key lock safety as well as 7 round cylinders. The K-Frame of the 65 &66 was replaced with the newer reinforced L-Frame and these handguns share many common traits but are easily distinguished by key differences. Both models are based on the Smith & Wesson L-Frame and are available in 4 barrels with 7 shot capacity, the 686 features a full-underlug barrel made of one piece whereas the 620 sports a half-lug and two piece barrel. The 620 weighs in at 37. 9oz, just a lighter than the 686s 38oz. The lighter model also shaves 1/8 off of the 686s 9 5⁄8 overall length
46.
Smith & Wesson Model 646
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The Smith & Wesson Model 646 is a six-shot, double-action revolver chambered for the.40 S&W pistol cartridge, manufactured in 2000 and 2003 by the U. S. company Smith & Wesson. The 646 was offered in a stainless steel finish with titanium cylinder, production was limited to 900 guns. It was offered in a Performance Center version in 2000 as a space-age looking stainless steel revolver with a heavy barrel. In 2003 a limited run was made with a more traditional underlug barrel design, the 646 is unusual in that it is a revolver chambered for a rimless cartridge generally used only for semi-automatic pistols. In order to use the rimless.40 S&W cartridge, the revolver utilized moon clips. But unlike other moon clip revolvers such as the 610 and 625, the non PC version works flawless with correct moonclips. Smith & Wesson Model 686 Smith & Wesson Moon clip
United States
