Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company, LLC is an American firearms manufacturer, founded in 1855 by Samuel Colt. It is the successor corporation to Colt's earlier firearms-making efforts, which started in 1836. Colt is known for the engineering and marketing of firearms, most between the 1850s and World War I, when it was a dominating force in its industry and a seminal influence on manufacturing technology. Colt's earliest designs played a major role in the popularization of the revolver and the shift away from earlier single-shot pistols. Although Samuel Colt did not invent the revolver concept, his designs resulted in the first successful ones; the most famous Colt products include the Colt Walker, made 1847 in the facilities of Eli Whitney Jr. the Single Action Army or Peacemaker, the Colt Python, the Colt M1911 pistol, the longest-standing military and law enforcement service handgun in the world and is still used today. Though they did not develop it, for a long time Colt was primarily responsible for all AR-15 and M16 rifle production, as well as many derivatives of those firearms.
The most successful and famous of these are numerous M16 carbines, including the Colt Commando family, the M4 carbine. In 2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colt's Manufacturing Company. Colt's Manufacturing Company now serves the civilian market, while Colt Defense serves the law enforcement and private security markets worldwide; 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, the reunited Colt was in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, starting in 2015 and reemerging in January 2016. Samuel Colt received a British patent on his improved design for a revolver in 1835, two U. S. patents in 1836, one on February 25 and another on August 29. That same year, he founded his first corporation for its manufacture, the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company of Paterson, New Jersey, Colt's Patent; the first firearm manufactured at the new Paterson plant, was the Colt First Model Ring Lever rifle beginning in 1837.
This was followed shortly 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, it was not yet easy to replicate across different factories. Interchangeability was not complete in the Paterson works, traditional gunsmithing techniques did not fill the gap there; the Colt Paterson revolver found patchy failure. 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, Connecticut.
This armory was run by the family of Eli Whitney. Eli Whitney Jr, the son of the cotton-gin-developer patriarch, was the head of the family armory and a successful arms maker and innovator of the era. Colt used a combination of renting the Whitney firm's facilities and subcontracting parts to the firm to continue his pursuit of revolver manufacture. Colt's new revolvers found favor with Texan volunteers, they placed an order for 1,000 revolvers that became known as the Colt Walker, ensuring Colt's continuance in manufacturing revolvers. In 1848, Colt was able to start again with a new business of his own, 1855, he converted it into a corporation under the name of Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Colt purchased a large tract of land beside the Connecticut River, where he built his first factory in 1848, a larger factory called the Colt Armory in 1855, a manor that he called Armsmear in 1856, employee tenement housing, he established a ten-hour day for employees, installed washing stations in the factory, mandated a one-hour lunch break, built the Charter Oak Hall, a club where employees could enjoy games and discussion rooms.
Colt ran his plant with a military-like discipline, he would fire workers for tardiness, sub-par work or suggesting improvements to his designs. In an attempt to attract skilled German workers to his plant, Colt built a village near the factory away from the tenements which he named Coltsville and modeled the homes after a village near Potsdam. In an effort to stem the flooding from the river he planted German osiers, a type of willow tree in a 2-mile long dike, he subsequently built a factory to manufacture wicker furniture made from these trees. The 1850s were a decade of phenomenal success for the new Colt corporation. Colt was the first to commercialize the total use of interchangeable parts throughout a product, it was a leader in assembly line practice. It was a major training ground in manufacturing technology in this decade. Soon after establishing his Hartford factory, Colt set out to establish a factory in Europe and chose London, England, he organized a large display of his firearms at the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Hyde Park and ingratiated himself by presenting cased engraved Colt revolvers to such appropriate o
Charter Arms
Charter Arms Co. is an American manufacturer of revolvers. The original Charter Arms produced revolvers chambered in calibers.22 Long Rifle.22 Winchester Magnum.32 Long.32 H&R Magnum.327 Federal Magnum.357 Magnum.38 Special.41 Remington Magnum.44 Special, and.45 Colt. The most famous revolvers manufactured by Charter Arms are the.44 Special Bulldog and.38 Special Bulldog Pug. Douglas McClenahan, a young gun designer who had worked for Colt, High Standard, Sturm, Ruger founded Charter Arms in 1964 to produce handguns, his first pistol was a five-shot revolver. McClenahan's innovation was to avoid using the side plate designs manufactured by other revolver makers for a one-piece frame, giving the new revolver a strength that allowed it to safely shoot high loads. McClenahan reduced the number of moving parts used in the gun and created a safety device for the firing pin; the company located in Stratford, went bankrupt in the 1990s, but the Charter design and mark were resurrected by Charter 2000, founded by the Ecker family.
The new company capitalized on the fame of the old Charter Arms revolvers. Operations were moved to Connecticut. Basing their new line of weapons on the basic Charter Arms design, the new company has made a few improvements such as the use of a one-piece barrel and front sight; the one-piece barrels of the new models are machined with eight grooves instead of six for higher velocity, flatter trajectory and better accuracy. The new models feature a blocked hammer system so that the gun cannot fire unless the trigger is held in full rear position. In addition to reintroducing the.38 Special Undercover and the.44 Special Bulldog, Charter 2000 produces revolvers chambered for.22 Long Rifle/.22 Magnum.357 magnum and.38 Special. In 2005, Charter 2000 announced that it would be filing for bankruptcy, blaming the costs associated with nuisance lawsuits for their financial trouble. In September 2005, MKS Supply entered into an agreement with Charter Arms where MKS Supply would handle the sales and distribution for Charter Arms.
In 2008, Charter Arms brought the new Patriot revolvers to the market. The Patriot revolvers were chambered for the.327 Federal Magnum, were available in 2.2" or 4" stainless steel models. The Charter Arms web site as of August 2011 no longer lists this model under the products category. In 2008, Charter Arms announced a new revolver: the Charter Arms Rimless Revolver; the new revolver would be able to load and fire rimless cartridges such as the 9mm.40 S&W, and.45 ACP without the need for moon clips. The revolver was to ship in early spring, reported problems with the patents delayed the introduction. Charter Arms set a release date of April 2009 for the CARR. However, Charter Arms missed this deadline, company representatives have suggested the release date may not be until "late July" of 2009; the CARR, subsequently called the Pitbull reached production in August 2011 and the first Pitbull models had a 2.3" barrel and were chambered for the.40 S&W cartridge as this is the most popular U. S. law enforcement round and would enable the Pitbull to be used as a back-up gun to the.40 service pistol.
In October 2010 MKS discontinued the sales and marketing of Charter Arms. Charter now has taken over the sales and marketing function. At SHOT Show 2018 Charter introduced the.41 Remington Magnum Mag Pug and the.45 Colt Bulldog XL. The.44 Special Bulldog revolver gained notoriety after it was used by Son of Sam serial killer David Berkowitz in his murder spree. A Charter Arms "Undercover".38 Special model was used by Mark David Chapman to murder John Lennon in 1980. The Bulldog:.44 Special The Bulldog XL:.45 Colt The Target Bulldog:.357 Magnum The Undercover:.38 Special The Undercoverette:.32 H&R Magnum The Mag Pug:.357 Magnum and.41 Remington Magnum The Patriot:.327 Federal Magnum The Pathfinder:.22 LR and.22 Magnum The Off Duty:.38 Special The Dixie Derringer:.22 LR and.22 Magnum The Pitbull:.45 ACP.40 S&W, 9×19mm Luger The Southpaw:.38 Special
.40 S&W
The.40 S&W is a rimless pistol cartridge developed jointly by major American firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Winchester. The.40 S&W was developed from the ground up as a law enforcement cartridge designed to duplicate performance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's reduced-velocity 10mm Auto cartridge which could be retrofitted into medium-frame semi-automatic handguns. It uses 0.40-inch diameter bullets ranging in weight from 105 to 200 grains. In the aftermath of the 1986 FBI Miami shootout, in which two FBI special agents were killed and five wounded, the FBI started the process of testing 9×19mm Parabellum and.45 ACP ammunition in preparation to replace its standard-issue revolver with a semi-automatic pistol. The semi-automatic pistol offered two advantages over the revolver: increased ammunition capacity and increased ease of reloading during a gunfight; the FBI was satisfied with the performance of its.38 Special +P 158 gr lead semi-wadcutter hollowpoint cartridge based on decades of dependable performance.
Ammunition for the new semi-automatic pistol had to deliver terminal performance equal or superior to the.38 Special FBI load. The FBI developed a series of oriented tests involving eight test events that they believed reasonably represented the kinds of situations that FBI agents encountered in shooting incidents. During tests of the 9×19mm and.45 ACP ammunition, the FBI Firearms Training Unit's special agent-in-charge, John Hall, decided to include tests of the 10mm Auto cartridge, supplying his own Colt Delta Elite 10mm semi-automatic, handloaded ammunition. The FBI's tests revealed that a 170–180 gr JHP 10mm bullet, propelled between 900–1,000 ft/s, achieved desired terminal performance without the heavy recoil associated with conventional 10mm ammunition; the FBI contacted Smith & Wesson and requested it to design a handgun to FBI specifications, based on the existing large-frame Smith & Wesson Model 4506.45 ACP handgun, that would reliably function with the FBI's reduced-velocity 10 mm ammunition.
During this collaboration with the FBI, S&W realized that downsizing the 10mm full power to meet the FBI's medium velocity specification meant less powder and more airspace in the case. They found that by removing the airspace they could shorten the 10mm case enough to fit within their medium-frame 9mm handguns and load it with a 180 gr JHP bullet to produce ballistic performance identical to the FBI's reduced-velocity 10mm cartridge. S&W teamed with Winchester to produce a new cartridge, the.40 S&W. It uses a small pistol primer. The.40 S&W cartridge debuted January 17, 1990, along with the new Smith & Wesson Model 4006 pistol, although it was several months before the pistols were available for purchase. Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b. H. Beat Smith & Wesson to the dealer shelves in 1990, with pistols chambered in.40 S&W which were announced a week before the 4006. Glock's rapid introduction was aided by its engineering of a pistol chambered in 10mm Auto, the Glock 20, only a short time earlier.
Since the.40 S&W uses the same bore diameter and case head as the 10mm Auto, it was a matter of adapting the 10mm design to the shorter 9×19mm Parabellum frames. The new guns and ammunition were an immediate success, pistols in the new caliber were adopted by several law enforcement agencies around the nation, including the FBI, which adopted the Glock pistol in.40 S&W in May 1997. The popularity of the.40 S&W accelerated with the passage of the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 which prohibited sales of pistol or rifle magazines that could hold more than ten rounds, regardless of caliber. Several U. S. states, a number of local governments banned or regulated so-called "high capacity" magazines. As a result, many new firearm buyers limited to purchasing pistols with a maximum magazine capacity of 10 rounds chose pistols in the.40 S&W chambering instead of smaller-diameter cartridges such as the 9x19mm. The.40 S&W case length and overall cartridge length are shortened, but other dimensions except case web and wall thickness remain identical to the 10mm Auto.
Both cartridges headspace on the mouth of the case. Thus in a semi-auto they are not interchangeable. Fired from a 10mm semi-auto, the.40 Smith & Wesson cartridge will headspace on the extractor and the bullet will jump a 0.142 inches freebore just like a.38 Special fired from a.357 Magnum revolver. If the cartridge is not held by the extractor, the chances for a ruptured primer are great. Smith & Wesson does make a double-action revolver. A single-action revolver in the.38–40 chambering can be modified to fire the.40 or the 10mm if it has an extra cylinder. Some.40 caliber handguns can be converted to 9mm with a special purpose made barrel, magazine change, other parts. The.40 S&W has 1.25 ml cartridge case capacity. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 406 millimetres, 6 grooves, ∅ lands = 9.91. According to the official C. I. P. Guidelines, the.40 S&W case can handle up to 225 megapascals piezo pressure. In C. I. P.-regulated countries every pistol/cartridge combo has to be proofed at 130% of this maximum C.
I. P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. The SAAMI pressure limit for the.40 S&W is set at 241.32 megapascals piezo pressure. The.40 S&W cartridge has been popular with law
.410 bore
The.410 bore or.410 gauge, is the second-smallest caliber of shotgun shell available. A.410 bore shotgun loaded with shot shells is well suited for small game hunting and pest control. The.410 started life off in the UK as a garden gun along with the.360 and the No.3, No.2 and No.1 bore rimfires..410 shells have similar base dimensions to the.45 Colt cartridge, allowing many single-shot firearms, as well as some derringers chambered in that caliber to fire.410 shot shells without any modifications. Lancaster's pattern centerfire and pinfire.410 shot cartridges first appeared in Eley Brothers Ltd. flysheets in 1857. By 1874, Eleys were advertising modern centerfire.410 cartridges. It appears to have become popular around 1900, although it was recommended as "suited to the requirements of naturalists, garden guns and for such weapons as walking-stick guns" for self-defense, in 1892 by W. W. Greener; the first ammunition was 2.0 inches long, compared with the modern 2.5 and 3.0-inch sizes.410 shotguns loaded with shot shells are well suited for small game hunting and pest control.
A. 410 loaded with 1/4 ounce slugs is effective against larger animals such as deer. While a.410 is inferior to the traditional 12-gauge shotshell for defensive use, a number of companies market defensive guns chambered in.410, such as the Mossberg 500 Home Security Model and the Taurus Judge revolver chambered for both.45 Colt and.410 bore rounds up to 3 inches in length. Defensive ammunition such as buckshot and combination loads are common. American Derringer and Winchester market ammunition loaded with five 000 buckshot pellets in 3-inch shells and three pellets in 2.5-inch shells. Combination shells such as Winchester Supreme Elite.410 shells are loaded with three 71 grain disks and twelve BB pellets. The small size of the.410 bore makes it popular for use in compact firearms carried for emergency use. These are combination guns, with a.22 Hornet or.22 rimfire rifle barrel mounted over a.410 bore shotgun barrel. The Snake Charmer is a.410 gauge, stainless steel, single shot, break-action shotgun, with an exposed hammer, an 18 1/8 inch barrel, black molded plastic furniture and a short thumb-hole butt-stock that holds four additional 2 1/2 shotgun shells.
These light weight 3 1/2 pound guns have an overall length of 28 1/8 inches and will fit under a car seat. They are used by gardeners and farmers for pest control, it sold for $89.95 and was marketed as a general purpose utility shotgun perfect for "Fishing - Hunting - Camping - Back Packing - Survival - Home Defense - Truck or Jeep Gun." The Savage Model 24 is an American made over and under combination gun manufactured by Savage Arms. The basic.22LR over.410 gauge model weighs 7 pounds, has 24-inch barrels and an overall length of 41-inches. It may be disassembled for ease of stowage; the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon was made for the US Air Force, with a.22 Hornet rifle barrel mounted over a.410 bore shotgun barrel. The civilian version, the Springfield Armory M6 Scout has a.22 rimfire over a.410 bore shotgun barrel. The original has a 14-inch barrel, the same length as the stock, folds in half for storage, making a compact package. With the short barrel, this is classified as an any other weapon in the United States, so 18.5-inch barreled models are made for civilian sales, as well as a 16-inch pistol version in.22 over.45 Colt.
Special flare cartridges in.410 were issued with the USAF model. The fact that the.410 bore shell fits in a.45 Colt chamber has resulted in some unusual applications. While shotguns are limited in minimum length, a firearm chambered in.45 Colt, such as the Contender pistol, is not defined as a shotgun though it can chamber shotgun shells. The Thompson Center Arms Contender pistols are encountered with a special.45 Colt-.410 bore barrel. The barrel is rifled for the.45 Colt, but has a special choke and vent rib to make it function as a shotgun. Due to the rifled barrel, the assembled firearm is considered a rifle or pistol and thus is not subject to the National Firearms Act's 18-inch minimum barrel length. Nonetheless, possession of a Thompson Center Arms.45-.410 pistol barrel is illegal in California, for both dealers and individuals, such a barrel may not be shipped into the state, or taken into California for a hunting trip, by reason of it being classified as a short barreled shotgun when used with a Contender receiver.
American Derringer has long offered.45 Colt-.410. Bond Arms offers various Derringer models which chamber both.45 Colt cartridges and.410 shotshell. Taurus, Magnum Research, Smith & Wesson offer revolvers with extended cylinders, long enough to hold.410 shells as well. Magnum Research offers a single-action revolver in their BFR line, while the Taurus Judge is similar in price to their other double-action revolvers, with the Raging Judge model capable of chambering and firing the.454 Casull cartridge. The Smith & Wesson Governor is a double-action revolver capable of firing.45 Colt as well as.45 ACP cartridges with the aid of moon clips. The discontinued MIL Thunder 5 is chambered in.410-bore. Most shotgun cartridges are measured in terms of shotgun gauge. Shotgun gauge is determined by the weight of a round lead ball, sized to fit into its barrel. For example, the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun is equal to the diameter of a 1/12-pound lead ball and a 20-gauge can fit a 1/20-pound ball. Using this method a.410 bore is equivalent to a 67-gauge.
Garden guns The Shotgun Report review of the Remington
Metal
A metal is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, conducts electricity and heat well. Metals are malleable or ductile. A metal may be an alloy such as stainless steel. In physics, a metal is regarded as any substance capable of conducting electricity at a temperature of absolute zero. Many elements and compounds that are not classified as metals become metallic under high pressures. For example, the nonmetal iodine becomes a metal at a pressure of between 40 and 170 thousand times atmospheric pressure; some materials regarded as metals can become nonmetals. Sodium, for example, becomes a nonmetal at pressure of just under two million times atmospheric pressure. In chemistry, two elements that would otherwise qualify as brittle metals—arsenic and antimony—are instead recognised as metalloids, on account of their predominately non-metallic chemistry. Around 95 of the 118 elements in the periodic table are metals; the number is inexact as the boundaries between metals and metalloids fluctuate due to a lack of universally accepted definitions of the categories involved.
In astrophysics the term "metal" is cast more to refer to all chemical elements in a star that are heavier than the lightest two and helium, not just traditional metals. A star fuses lighter atoms hydrogen and helium, into heavier atoms over its lifetime. Used in that sense, the metallicity of an astronomical object is the proportion of its matter made up of the heavier chemical elements. Metals are present in many aspects of modern life; the strength and resilience of some metals has led to their frequent use in, for example, high-rise building and bridge construction, as well as most vehicles, many home appliances, tools and railroad tracks. Precious metals were used as coinage, but in the modern era, coinage metals have extended to at least 23 of the chemical elements; the history of metals is thought to begin with the use of copper about 11,000 years ago. Gold, iron and brass were in use before the first known appearance of bronze in the 5th millennium BCE. Subsequent developments include the production of early forms of steel.
Metals are lustrous, at least when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured. Sheets of metal thicker than a few micrometres appear opaque; the solid or liquid state of metals originates in the capacity of the metal atoms involved to lose their outer shell electrons. Broadly, the forces holding an individual atom’s outer shell electrons in place are weaker than the attractive forces on the same electrons arising from interactions between the atoms in the solid or liquid metal; the electrons involved become delocalised and the atomic structure of a metal can be visualised as a collection of atoms embedded in a cloud of mobile electrons. This type of interaction is called a metallic bond; the strength of metallic bonds for different elemental metals reaches a maximum around the center of the transition metal series, as these elements have large numbers of delocalized electrons. Although most elemental metals have higher densities than most nonmetals, there is a wide variation in their densities, lithium being the least dense and osmium the most dense.
Magnesium and titanium are light metals of significant commercial importance. Their respective densities of 1.7, 2.7 and 4.5 g/cm3 can be compared to those of the older structural metals, like iron at 7.9 and copper at 8.9 g/cm3. An iron ball would thus weigh about as much as three aluminium balls. Metals are malleable and ductile, deforming under stress without cleaving; the nondirectional nature of metallic bonding is thought to contribute to the ductility of most metallic solids. In contrast, in an ionic compound like table salt, when the planes of an ionic bond slide past one another, the resultant change in location shifts ions of the same charge into close proximity, resulting in the cleavage of the crystal; such a shift is not observed in a covalently bonded crystal, such as a diamond, where fracture and crystal fragmentation occurs. Reversible elastic deformation in metals can be described by Hooke's Law for restoring forces, where the stress is linearly proportional to the strain. Heat or forces larger than a metal's elastic limit may cause a permanent deformation, known as plastic deformation or plasticity.
An applied force may be a compressive force, or a shear, bending or torsion force. A temperature change may affect the movement or displacement of structural defects in the metal such as grain boundaries, point vacancies and screw dislocations, stacking faults and twins in both crystalline and non-crystalline metals. Internal slip and metal fatigue may ensue; the atoms of metallic substances are arranged in one of three common crystal structures, namely body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic, hexagonal close-packed. In bcc, each atom is positioned at the center of a cube of eight others. In fcc and hcp, each atom is surrounded by twelve others; some metals adopt different structures depending on the temperature. The
M1917 revolver
The M1917 Revolvers were six-shot.45 ACP, large frame revolvers adopted by the United States Military in 1917, to supplement the standard.45 ACP M1911 pistol during World War I. There were two variations of one made by Colt and the other made by Smith & Wesson, they used moon-clips to aid in extraction. After World War I, they gained a strong following among civilian shooters. A commercial rimmed cartridge, the.45 Auto Rim, was developed, that allowed them to be fired without the need for moon-clips. U. S. civilians arms companies of Colt and Remington-UMC as well as other companies were producing M1911 pistols under contract for the U. S. Army, but with the additional production there existed a shortage of M1911s; the interim solution was to ask the two major American producers of revolvers to adapt their heavy-frame civilian revolvers to the standard.45 ACP pistol cartridge. Both companies' revolvers utilized half-moon clips to extract the rimless.45 ACP cartridges. Daniel B. Wesson's son Joseph Wesson invented and patented the half-moon clip, assigned to Smith & Wesson, but at the request of the Army allowed Colt to use the design free of charge in their own version of the M1917 revolver.
The Smith & Wesson Model 1917 was an adaptation of that company's Second Model.44 Hand Ejector, chambered instead for.45 ACP, employing a shortened cylinder allowing for use of half-moon clips, a lanyard ring on the butt of the frame. Smith & Wesson had until produced the Hand Ejector, which uses their heavy.44 caliber frame, for the British Army in.455 Webley caliber due to shortages in British production facilities of standard-issue Webley Mk VI top-break revolvers. The S&W M1917 is distinguishable from the Colt M1917 in that the S&W cylinder had a shoulder machined into it to permit rimless.45 ACP cartridges to headspace on the case mouth. The S&W M1917 could thus be used without the half-moon clips, though the empty cases would have to be poked-out manually through the cylinder face, since the extractor star cannot engage the rimless cases. Colt had produced a revolver for the U. S. Army called the M1909, a version of their heavy-frame.45-caliber, New Service model in.45 Long Colt to supplement and replace a range of 1890s-era.38 caliber Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers that had demonstrated inadequate stopping power during the Philippine–American War.
The Colt M1917 Revolver was the same as the M1909 with a cylinder bored to take the.45 ACP cartridge and the half-moon clips to hold the rimless cartridges in position. In early Colt production revolvers, attempting to fire the.45 ACP without the half-moon clips was unreliable at best, as the cartridge could slip forward into the cylinder and away from the firing pin. Production Colt M1917 revolvers had headspacing machined into the cylinder chambers, just as the Smith & Wesson M1917 revolvers had from the start. Newer Colt production could be fired without the half-moon clips, but the empty cartridge cases had to be ejected with a device such as a cleaning rod or pencil, as the cylinder extractor and ejector would pass over the edge of the rimless cartridges; the military service of the M1917 did not end with the First World War. The M1917s saw action again during World War II, when it was issued to "specialty troops such as tankers and artillery personnel." During the Korean War they were again issued to support troops.
The M1917s were used by the "tunnel rats" during the Vietnam War. The British Army adopted it during World War I and the Home Guard and the Royal Navy used it during the Second World War; the M1917s was popular on the civilian and police market. Some were military surplus. Others were newly manufactured. Smith & Wesson kept their version in production, for civilian and police sales, until they replaced it with their Smith & Wesson Model 22 in 1950. After the War, Naomi Alan, an engineer employed by Smith & Wesson developed the 6-round full-moon clip. However, many civilian shooters disliked using moon clips. Although full moon clips allow a 1917 to be quickly reloaded and unloading the clips is tedious, bent clips can bind the cylinder and cause misfires. For these reasons, in 1920, the Peters ammunition company introduced the.45 Auto Rim. This rimmed version of the.45 ACP allowed both versions of the Model 1917 revolver to fire reliably without the clips. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Colt and Smith & Wesson 1917 were available through mail order companies at bargain prices.
In 1937, Brazil ordered 25,000 Wesson M1917s for their military. Now out of service, surplus examples can be identified by the large Brazilian crest stamped on their sideplates, they are sometimes referred to as the M1937 or the Brazilian-contract M1917. The Brazilian model had an altered rear sight, most were fitted with commercial-style checkered grips, though some utilized smooth grips left over from the United States contract. Colt New Service Smith & Wesson Triple Lock Service Pistol Smith & Wesson Model 10 Field Manual 23-35 Pistols and Revolvers, 26 February 1953 Chamberlain & Taylerson, W. H. J. & A. W. F.. Revolvers of the British Services, 1854-1954. Bloomfield, ON and Alexandria Bay, N. Y.: Museum Restoration Service. ISBN 0-919316-92-1. Law, Clive M.. Canadian Military Handguns, 1855-1985. Bloomfield, ON and Alexandria Bay, N. Y.: Museum Restoration Service. ISBN 0-88855-008-1. Maze, Robert J.. Howdah to High Power: A Century of Breechloading Service Pistols. Tucson, Ariz.: Excalibur Publications.
ISBN 1-880677-17-2. Murphy, Bob. Colt New Service Revolvers. Aledo, Illinois: World-Wide Gun Report, Inc. Phillips & Klancher, Roger F. & Donald J.. Ar
Smith & Wesson Centennial
S&W Centennial is a family of revolvers made by Smith & Wesson on the "J-Frame". Depending upon caliber, the cylinder holds 6, 7, or 8, cartridges. Centennials feature a enclosed hammer, which makes them Double Action Only firearms. Like all other "J-frame" Smith & Wesson revolvers, they have a swing-out cylinder. Centennial models have been made in different versions like PD "Personal Defense", LS "Lady Smith", M&P "Military & Police" The original Centennial Model 40 was introduced in 1952, was named for the company's 100th anniversary; the Smith & Wesson Model 40 debuted as the Centennial in 1952 and was renamed the Model 40 in 1957. The Model 40 has a five-round capacity, it is a snub-nose revolver with a 1 7/8-inch barrel. It is built on Smith & Wesson's 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 collector's 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 was chambered for.38 Special. It was fitted with a standard barrel of 1-7/8 inch length; the second model had a heavier and longer barrel of 2-1/8 inch length. A 3" barreled version was offered until 1993. 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 cylinder release on those models. The 442 has an aluminum blued carbon steel cylinder; the 642 has an aluminum frame and stainless steel cylinder. From 1993 through 1996, the 442 was made with a satin nickel finish. In 1993 S&W chambered in 9 mm Luger. In 1996 the 940 was dropped from production. In 2001 a Scandium framed version was introduced in.357 Magnum designated as the Model 340.
This revolver weighs 10.9 ounces. The model M&P 342 was introduced in 2001 as a special run of revolvers that are identical to a Model 340 but chambered only for.38 Special +P due to some police departments ammunition restrictions. Ammunition with bullet weight less than 120 grains should not be used due to the risk of frame erosion from powder, still burning after expulsion of the light projectile. Further, recoil may propel the cases of unfired rounds in the cylinder rearward, with enough force to unseat the bullets, causing the cylinder to jam. Accuracy is compromised in these ultra-light revolvers since the barrel is a steel sleeve liner rather than a single solid piece of steel; the Smith & Wesson Centennial and Development. Review of the Smith & Wesson Model 642CT. Ballistics By The Inch tests of the.38 Special cartridge
