Folks know concerning the Smith & Wesson Schofield revolver, even when it’s solely from watching Unforgiven. Formally referred to as the S&W Mannequin 3, it’s one of many essential revolvers of the Outdated West. Once we look again at that period of firearms — the time when cartridges turned king and outdated cap-and-ball revolvers have been being transformed to fireplace brass — we consider the Colt Single Motion Military, the legendary Peacemaker, and subsequent to it, a bit blurry within the background, are the Schofield and the Remington 1875.
All three revolvers from a trio of iconic American gunmakers endeavored to be essentially the most dependable and environment friendly cartridge revolvers within the age of industrialization, mass manufacturing, and profitable army contracts for a rustic increasing ever westward.
Ultimately, the Colt Peacemaker reigned supreme. It dominated the market and was broadly adopted by the U.S. army. In comparison with the Mannequin 3, it wasn’t even shut. Smith & Wesson produced its top-break revolver from 1868 to 1898, with 54,000 weapons rolling off the road earlier than manufacturing ceased.
Between 1873 and 1940, Colt produced 357,859 Single Motion Military revolvers. However why did the Colt win so handily? In the event you take a look at it by the numbers, the Colt wasn’t that nice of a army sidearm, in comparison with the competitors.
It got here right down to timing, politics, provide strains, and, finally, a play for a army ammo contract that kind of labored out for S&W, and kind of didn’t. In a roundabout manner, Smith & Wesson was accountable for certainly one of Colt’s biggest successes and probably the most iconic American handgun rounds — 40 years down the street.
The Mannequin 3 and Main Schofield
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The Schofield was designed as a top-break revolver: The body was hinged simply in entrance of the set off guard, beneath the cylinder, with a latch above the hammer. When the latch was launched, the motion opened like a break-action shotgun, exposing all six chambers on the similar time.
It additionally featured a star ejector, which means all six spent instances have been ejected directly when the motion was opened. Recent cartridges could possibly be loaded rather more shortly with this design. In the event that they’d existed, the Schofield might have readily accommodated speedloaders; individuals usually use them with copy Schofields right this moment, moon clips, too. And that is smart, since these are the identical attributes carried into extra fashionable revolver designs that use a swing-out cylinder.
Reloading was less complicated within the warmth of fight, and it was far simpler to perform on horseback.
However the S&W revolver wasn’t excellent. The early Mannequin 3s had latch issues they usually have been chambered within the .44 S&W American, which was a bit underpowered.
The gun received its new title due to recommendations provided by Maj. George W. Schofield who requested tweaks to make the gun extra suited to calvary use. He had S&W transfer the latch — as an alternative of mounting it on the barrel, the Schofield mannequin had it mounted on the body, which made it simpler to make use of with one hand. He additionally added a spring to the barrel catch for a similar purpose.
Schofield additionally requested warmth handled, replaceable latch parts, as they skilled essentially the most put on of something on the gun.
Why the Colt Peacemaker Was Nice, and Not So Nice
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The Single Motion Military is a sturdy revolver, and it’s pretty easy. Nevertheless it actually isn’t flawless.
In the event you spend any time on the web investigating it, you’re going to learn all about how individuals who carried revolvers within the Outdated West solely loaded them with 5 rounds, leaving the hammer resting on an empty chamber.
Sure, this positively is smart as a security precaution. With the hammer down, the firing pin was resting proper on a primer because the gun was jostled all over, in a holster or in any other case — this was lengthy earlier than the transfer-bar security characteristic was invented. If the revolver was dropped or if one thing hit the hammer spur, there was an actual probability of a spherical going off.
This was additionally an issue for the sooner generations of cap-and-ball revolvers, which is why many fashions used within the 1860s had a security notch between the chambers the place the hammer might relaxation when the gun was being carried. For some purpose, this characteristic didn’t carry over to the Colt SAA and S&W didn’t characteristic it on the Schofield, however Remington did embrace the characteristic on the Mannequin 1875.
However how a lot did it matter? The precaution wasn’t in army manuals of the day. Yeah, security aware of us or individuals who had tough professions, like cowboys, may need taken the precaution of resting the hammer on an empty chamber, however it’s extremely doubtless that many individuals who carried a revolver, particularly an SAA, opted for the additional spherical over security.
That may be mentioned particularly for the SAA, as a result of it was gradual to reload.
When all rounds have been fired from a Peacemaker, the person should do the next to re-charge the cylinder with recent cartridges:
- Deliver the hammer to half-cock
- Push out every spent case with the ejector rod whereas rotating the cylinder so every chamber exhibits by way of the loading gate.They by no means have to do that within the motion pictures, however you virtually all the time have to do that in actual life, and when utilizing brass loaded with black powder, it was much more crucial and tougher.
- Rotate the cylinder once more whereas loading a brand new cartridge into every chamber.
- Deliver the hammer to full cock
The revolver is now prepared to fireplace. That’s a full six steps requiring effective motor abilities. This isn’t so much to recollect on the firing line on the vary, however crouched behind cowl or on horseback whereas getting shot at was a distinct story.
It’s much better than a cap-and-ball wheelgun, however it’s nonetheless difficult, particularly in comparison with any fashionable fight pistol.
Whereas the Remington Mannequin 1875 might maintain six shells extra safely, the loading course of was practically an identical to the SAA.
Learn Subsequent: The Greatest Revolvers
Ammo Questions and Politics
The U.S. Military formally adopted the S&W Mannequin 3 revolver in 1870, in its unique chambering, .44 S&W American. It was the primary standard-issue, cartridge revolver in U.S. historical past, and it was a progressive step ahead whereas most militaries on the earth have been nonetheless utilizing cap-and-ball weapons. Shortly after, the Military additionally started to make use of the Colt SAA round 1873.
In 1875, S&W received a contract to outfit the U.S. army with new and improved Mannequin 3 Schofield revolvers, with the caveat that the weapons be chambered in .45 Colt, which was deemed more practical than the .44 S&W American. Plus, the .45 Colt was already in army provide strains for the Colt SAA revolvers.
As an alternative of doing that — S&W delivered weapons chambered for a brand new proprietary cartridge, the .45 Schofield, which was similar to the .45 Colt, only a bit shorter and a little bit of a lighter load. Keep in mind that. It’s essential.
The corporate mainly tried to muscle the army into adopting the brand new revolver and a brand new cartridge, each made by S&W. And so they have been profitable, for some time.
Why? Properly, keep in mind Maj. George Schofield? His older brother was John M. Schofield, who occurred to be the top of the Military Ordnance Board on the time. Many imagine that the adoption of the revolver and ammo bearing the household title was resulting from John’s place, and probably why the Military moved away from the gun later.
In a tragic twist, Lt. Col. John Schofield later dedicated suicide with an S&W Schofield revolver throughout a interval of melancholy and isolation in 1882.
Provide Line Issues
Now, due to army logistics, there was a severe problem. Troopers discovered themselves carrying a mixture of Schofields and Colts — which was an issue as a result of there have been additionally plenty of outdated .45 Colt cartridges sitting in armories that have been nonetheless being despatched to troopers within the discipline.
The newer Schofields wouldn’t chamber the longer .45 Colt rounds in any respect, and whereas the Colts might hearth the shorter .45 Schofield rounds, it wasn’t that straightforward. These early .45 Schofield cartridges had a bigger rim than the .45 Colt. In a SAA revolver, the brass would overlap and bind behind the cylinder if it was absolutely loaded.
So, if a soldier discovered himself with a Colt SAA and a pouch of .45 Schofield ammo, his six-shooter, which can have actually been a five-shooter, turned a three-shooter so it might operate in any respect.
However even worse, a soldier might find yourself carrying a Schofield and don’t have anything accessible however unusable .45 Colt ammo.
How the S&W Schofield Led to Colt’s .45 ACP
How did the Military clear up this drawback? Slowly. First the .45 Schofield was tweaked to have the identical rim diameter because the .45 Colt. This new ammo, the M1887 Navy Ball Cartridge, nonetheless chambered simply effective within the S&W revolvers and may be utilized in Colts.
Finally, the Military phased out the Schofield revolvers and went with the SAA throughout the board. Then, it additionally went again to the .45 Colt ammo till it was changed by the underpowered .38 Lengthy Colt in 1892.
However right here’s the factor — troopers favored the lighter .45 Schofield load higher, even of their Colt revolvers. The recoil wasn’t as sharp they usually discovered it was simpler to shoot precisely — keep in mind, troops didn’t get an entire lot of coaching or ammo for goal follow on the time.
The unique black powder .45 Colt was topped with a 255-grain lead bullet and had a muzzle velocity of about 1,050 fps. However the 40 grains of black powder produced intense recoil. The army later switched to a 28-grain cost for a muzzle velocity of about 855 fps.
The unique .45 Schofield pushed a 230-grain bullet at about 730 fps from a Mannequin 3 revolver, which had a shorter barrel than the usual SAA. The modified M1887 ammo held 26 grains of black powder and generated velocities round 760 fps with a 250-grain bullet out of the Schofield.
A .45-Caliber Mannequin
When the twentieth Century got here calling and it was time for the Military to improve to a semi-auto, it wanted to determine parameters for the ammo it wished. The .45 Colt was a strong and revered spherical referred to as a “man-stopper,” particularly in comparison with the .38 Lengthy Colt that had proved insufficient in the course of the Phillipine-American Warfare from 1899 to 1902.
However the .45 Colt of the smokeless powder period, produced even heftier felt recoil and it required extra coaching to get better for correct, quick follow-up pictures. The lighter .45 Schofield cartridge and 28-grain .45 Colt masses had been extra manageable.
The Military advised Colt and John M. Browning they wished their new pistol cartridge to be extra just like the lighter-kicking Schofield cartridge than the full-power .45 Colt. They have been delivered the .45 ACP that Browning developed together with the gun that will develop into the Colt M1911. The basic .45 ACP load is a 230-grain bullet shifting round 830 fps. Sound acquainted?
If all that nonsense hadn’t occurred within the 1870s with the Colt SAA and the Schofield and the drama over the .45 Colt and the .45 Schofield, we could have by no means gotten the .45 ACP that we all know right this moment.
In any case, Browning wasn’t significantly keen on the .45 caliber. After the 1911, he by no means constructed one other gun chambered in .45 ACP. his different well-known handguns: the Colt 1903 Hammerless was in .380 ACP, the Colt Woodsman was a .22 LR, and the posthumously accomplished Hello-Energy was, after all, in 9mm. The handguns he created that have been made below the FN model, the FN M1900, Mannequin 1903, and Mannequin 1910 have been all .32 or .38 caliber.
The Weapons That Gained the West
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Whereas the Colt Peacemaker received out within the icon standing division, the Schofield actually has a agency place in gun historical past.
The Mannequin 3 was used within the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American Warfare, and the Philippine-American Warfare. And whereas the army couldn’t get its act collectively, civilian lawmen and outlaws took to the Smith & Wesson — together with some well-known ones.
Jesse James reportedly used a Schofield at instances, and later, Robert Ford used one to shoot James within the again, killing him in 1882. Schofields have been carried in holsters worn by Teddy Roosevelt, John Wesley Hardin, Pat Garrett, Virgil Earp, Emiliano Zapata, and Billy the Child.
Some accounts say Wyatt Earp was carrying an S&W Mannequin 3 Schofield in the course of the well-known Gunfight on the O.Okay. Corral throughout which Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp, together with Doc Holliday confronted off in opposition to the Clanton brothers, the McLaury brothers, and Billy Claiborne in Tombstone, Arizona.
Whereas S&W was bettering the gun and attempting to promote it to the U.S. army, it was additionally producing the Mannequin 3 in giant numbers on particular order for the Russian Empire — the first Mannequin Russian, the 2nd Mannequin Russian, and the ultimate model, the third Mannequin Russian, all that includes enhancements requested by the Russian Ordnance Inspector.
Learn Subsequent: 9mm vs .45 ACP
The American Military finally liquidated its inventory of S&W revolvers after the Spanish-American Warfare of 1898. The weapons have been reconditioned by wholesalers and gunsmiths and plenty of made it to the industrial market. A very good lot of these reconditioned Schofields have been purchased by the Wells Fargo and Firm to be used by Wells Fargo brokers, who usually accompanied wagons hauling precious cargo by way of harmful locations.
In the event you ever come throughout an outdated top-break revolver with “W.F. & Co” or “Wells Fargo & Co” stamped on it someplace, it could possibly be a precious Wells Fargo Schofield. Or, it could possibly be a counterfeit, as a result of the weapons received tremendous standard with collectors within the Seventies.
After all, how might we neglect, Clint Eastwood used a Schofield as William Munny within the last shootout of Unforgiven, which he received from his former associate, the Schofield Child.