FALL 2019
anyoneintheU.S.frommanufacturing
revolversduringthespanofhis 1835 pat-
entandpatentextension,whichremained
ineffectuntil1858.
WhileRemingtonmayhavefiredthe
firstshotoverColt’sbow,S&Walmost
sanktheshipin1870.IfWilliamMason
hadn’tdesignedthePeacemakerin1872,
Coltcouldhavecompletelylostitsmilitary
contractsforsidearmsto S&Wafterthe
cavalrybeganissuingthenewFirstModel
No.3 top-breakrevolvers.TheU.S.Army
ordered1,000oftheserevolvers,which
werecarriedbytheU.S.cavalryfrom 1872
to1876.Andthisisasidefromthe3,000
SchofieldmodelsorderedinJulyof 1874
anddeliveredtotroopsin1875.Anaddi-
tional5,000SecondModelSchofieldswere
orderedanddeliveredin1877.
“Model3”wassimplyS&W’sclassifica-
tionforitslarge-framerevolvers,justas
N-Framedesignatesa large-frameS&W
today.Withinthisline,S&Wbrokethe
variousmodelsdownbynumericaldesig-
nations:FirstModelNo.3,SecondModel
No.3,ModelNo.3 RussianFirstModel,
ModelNo.3 RussianSecondModel,Model
No.3 RussianThirdModel,FirstModel
Schofield,SecondModelSchofield,andthe
lastversiondesigned,theNewModelNo.3.
Whattheyallsharedincommonwas
S&W’sinnovativetop-breakdesignand
automaticcartridgeejectionforquick
reloading.S&W’sModelNo.3 linewas
fastertohandle,loadandunloadthan
a Colt.Whenbrokenopen,theS&W
simultaneouslyejectedtheshellsinallsix
chambers.Unfortunately,italsoejected
anyunfiredroundsif openedprema-
turely.Butyoucouldemptyandreloadan
S&Wwhilesomeoneelsewasstillrotat-
ingthecylinderandejectingthespent
shellsfroma Peacemaker.
TheFirstModelNo.3 waschambered
inboth.44Henry,thoughonlyaround
200 wereproduced,and.44American
(alsoknownas.44S&Wor.44/100).This
wasthemodelcarriedby VirgilEarpin
FRONTIER FIREPOWER
56 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
Theoriginalgunswerechamberedforthe.44S&Wwhilethereproduction,madebyUberti,loads.45Coltrounds.If S&Whaddone that
in1870,orwiththeSchofieldin1875,therevolversmightwellhaveeclipsedtheColtPeacemakeraltogetherfortheU.S.cavalry.
ReloadinganS&Wtop-breakwaseasy work.
Youdidn’thavetorotatethecylinder, as
witha Peacemaker,andalltheempty shells
ejected at once when the gun was opened up.
