Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army
The Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army also Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Army revolver was a six-shot revolver mass-produced by Smith & Wesson's , which, in contrast to its predecessor, the first revolver manufactured by the company, the Smith & Wesson No 1 in .22 caliber, fired more effective rimfire cartridges in .32 caliber . From this also Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army revolvers were produced from 1861 to 1874, a total of 77,155 copies.
development
Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson founded their company in Norwich , Connecticut , where they manufactured the Volcanic bolt action rifles , lever bolt action rifles with tubular magazine, which they developed and patented in 1854 . In 1855 the company was sold under the name Volcanic Repeating Arms to Oliver Winchester , who later made the Henry and Winchester rifles .
Even before Samuel Colt 's patent for the production of revolvers expired in 1856, Daniel Wesson began to develop a revolver for unitary cartridges . In October 1853, Daniel B. Wesson contacted former Colt employee Rollin White , patent holder for revolvers with cylindrically pierced drums. The purpose was to come to an agreement that would allow him to use the system he patented. As early as November 17, the two agreed that Smith & Wesson would receive a license to manufacture revolvers with a pierced drum for a fee of 25 cents per weapon. The patent from April 3, 1855 ran until April 2, 1869. In application of the patent, Smith & Wesson brought the first breech-loading cartridge revolver manufactured in the USA, the Smith & Wesson No. 1, onto the market in 1857 and even before the outbreak of the American version Civil War began in 1861 the production of the Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army , of which a total of 77,020 copies were made by 1874. Other manufacturers were not authorized to bring corresponding cartridge revolvers onto the market. An exception was the Remington Arms Company , which was allowed by Smith & Wesson to modify the Remington New Model Army percussion revolver still in stock for a license fee for Remington conversion for cartridges.
Function, technology
The Smith & Wesson No. 2 Army is a "single action" revolver, (cock tensioner), the cock must be cocked by hand to fire. The trigger of the weapon, a spur trigger, is attached to a horn-shaped projection below the system box. A trigger guard was not considered necessary. The drum is centered by two short axles integrated into the frame at the back and the drum at the front. In early versions of the revolver, 2 pins held the drum lock on the top of the housing, one as an axis, one to fix the spring. Later, from around serial number 3000, a third pin was added behind it to limit the vertical movement of the drum lock.
Early models of the "S&W" revolvers had a tendency to jam the drum more and more the more cartridges were fired. The reason was that the bottom of the rimfire cases made of copper expanded when fired by the gas pressure. With model No. 2 Army , the rear contact surface of the cartridge was therefore slightly increased in the firing position.
To load the Model No. 2 Army , like its predecessor Model No. 1 a tip-up revolver, the barrel hinged to the frame at the top was opened up and the lock at the bottom had to be released. The drum was then removed, cartridges inserted and the weapon reassembled. The case ejector, which is permanently attached under the barrel, was used to eject shot cases.
The model No. 2 Army was produced in series in barrel lengths of 5 and 6 inches, later also 4 inches. A weapon with an 8 inch barrel and an extended handle is also known. Most of the Model No. 2 Army were burnished, more rarely nickel-plated. "Half-plate" weapons with a nickel-plated casing and a blued barrel and drum are rare.
history
The first Model No. 2 Army revolvers appeared on the market in June 1861, just two months after the start of the American Civil War. As the only manufacturer of a cartridge revolver that could be carried as a second weapon loaded in a belt or in a holster, it was purchased in large numbers by officers and other army personnel. This applies to weapons that were purchased before May 1865, serial numbers before 35,731. In 1862, 2600 S&W Army Model 2 revolvers were sold to B.KITTREDGE & CO. CINCINNATI OHIO sold, these guns have this company inscription on one side of the barrel. Of these guns, 730 went to the 7th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry . From 1865 a smaller 5-shot version of the Model No. 2 Army made in the same .32 caliber, the Smith & Wesson Model 1 1/2 revolver.
It is also known that George Armstrong Custer had a pair of engraved S&W Army Model 2 revolvers in the presentation box.
After the Civil War, from 1867 onwards, Smith & Wesson developed a revolver with a retractable barrel in .44 S&W caliber, the Smith & Wesson No 3 -Single Action, which came onto the market from 1869.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ethan Allen : Deposition of Rollin White . In: Circuit court of the United States, Massachusetts district: In equity. For complainants: EW Stoughton, CM Keller, EF Hodges. For respondents: BR Curtis, Caustin Browne 1863, pp. 187-193.
- ↑ a b Klaus-Peter König: Handguns Today, Volume 1: Europe. 1st edition, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 1997, ISBN 3-613-01791-1 , p. 28.
- ^ A b Roy G. Jinks: Smith & Wesson, A company with a history. Verlag Stocker-Schmid Dietikon-Zurich, 1979, ISBN 3-7276-7025-8 , pp. 47-58.
- ↑ Standard Flayderman, Flaydermans Guide, 8th Edition , Krause Publications, p. 187, ISBN | 0-87349-313-3.
- ^ Earl C. Coates, Echoes of Glory, Arms and Equipment of the Union , 1991 Time Live Inc. Book Company, ISBN 0-8094-8854-X .
- ^ John E. Parsons, John S. Du Mont, Firearms in the Custer Battle , 1953 The Stackpole Co., Penn. UNITED STATES.