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S&W Handgun Model 3 "American" (1870)

S&W Handgun Model 3 - self-ejecting .44- and .45-caliber Model 3 series that was originally launched in 1870. These were the first American big-bore handguns (revolvers) exclusively produced for metallic cartridges.

The name "Model 3" in not the actual name of the handgun model – it is used by the S&W factory to technically refer to a handgun frame dimension. Actually, there were many different specific revolver configurations of Model 3 series Smith and Wesson handgun. Today, they would definitely be called "models" (the way there are currently many different S&W K-Frame models and N-Frame models). Altogether, these handguns had enormous and long-lasting influence. The fundamental top-break design was copied by many other handgun producers and stayed as a core of numerous position well into the 20th century.

Swinging out the cylinder gives access to the cylinder and barrel for all usual cleaning purposes. Actual takedown of any revolver is generally needless and is a job for a skilled armorer. The spring and lever system is so complex that attempts at stripping be supposed to be discouraged. When the thumb latch is pressed it forces forward the locking pin which passes down the middle of the ejector rod. So simultaneously the locking pins at the back of the cylinder and at the extreme end of the ejector rod are both released, allowing the cylinder to be swing out on its crane to the left of the revolver.

There are over 130,000 of the so called "Russian Model" sold to the Tsar's government. Smith & Wesson was recognized as an international manufacturer and this was the company's initial major government deal. The Model 3 "American model" was a favorite handgun of frontiersmen and Western lawmen during the 1870s and '80s. More than 120,000 were sold, making Model 3 “American” an equivalent contender with the Colt Peacemaker SAA for the designation of "Gun of The Wild West." Internet resources say that only 30,063 SAAs were purchased by the U.S. government between 1873 and 1891, and only 150,683 totals in .45 cal. were produced up to 1940.) The .45 Schofield version of the Model 3 is most likely the most well-known. The U.S. Cavalry acquired 7000, and historians still argue that had Custer's men been equipped with quick-reload Schofields (and lever-action Winchesters) instead of the slow-punchout Colts (and single-shot falling-block Springfields) at least some would have survived the field of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Later, the.32-44 and .38-44 chambering versions of the Model 3 Target, introduced in 1887, were the first revolvers to have adjustable sights.

This revolver was designed to use the rimless .45 Government Automatic Handgun cartridge. Revolver car¬tridges must have rims to catch on the cylinder and over the head of the extractor to permit extraction. Auto¬matic pistol cartridges, on the other hand, should be rimless, so they will lie correctly in place on top of each other in the magazine and will feed in and out of the action with a minimum of difficulty.
To make it unnecessary for the Army to use special cartridges for revolvers, Smith & Wesson developed steel, so called half moon clips, into which three automatic hand guns cartridges can be placed.

Smith & Wesson handgun cylinders are designed with a shoulder at the lower end of each chamber as is cus¬tomary in the automatic pistol, and if one has automatic handgun cartridges but no clips, the cartridges may be individually loaded into the chambers and will have a rest on these shoulders. The handgun may now be fired in the ordinary way. However, since there are no rims on these individually loaded cartridges for the extractor to catch on; pushing back on the ejector rod will not take them out of the chambers as they are not held by the extractor. Occasionally they may be shaken out, but normally they will have to be digging out with a knife or punched out with a pen or some similar tool. Cylinder is locked in rear and the arm of the crane has a latch to lock it to the front end of the frame.

Caliber: .45 M1911
Cylinder: 6-chambers.
Velocity: About 810 feet per second Weight of Bullet: 230 grains, lead with metal jackets
Striking Energy: 340
Weight: 36
Sights: Fixed

Accurate Range: 75 yards.
Maximum Range: About 1600 yards.
Safety: Hammer rebounds automatically after striking the cartridge, and can hit at primer just when the trigger is intentionally pulled.

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