Smith & Wesson Model 1 Smith & Wesson Model 1 The Smith & Wesson Model 1 was the first firearm manufactured by Smith & Wesson, with production spanning the years 1857 through 1882. It was the first commercially successful revolver to use rimfire cartridges instead of loose powder, musket ball, and percussion caps. It is a single-action, tip-up revolver holding seven .22 Short black powder cartridges. As Samuel Colt's patent on the night revolver was set to expire in 1856, Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson were researching a prototype for a metallic cartridge revolver. When they discovered that a former Colt employee named Rollin
Smith & Wesson Model 61 had numerous reliability problems and according to Smith & Wesson historian, Jim Supica, many were returned to the factory for repair. According to Supica, many of these returned pistols were not actually repaired. Employees at Smith & Wesson simply took a new pistol off the line, restamped the serial number and shipped the pistol to the customer in place of the old one because repair time would have been too costly. Model 61 engineering changes: Smith & Wesson Model 61 The Smith & Wesson Model 61 (also known as the Smith & Wesson Escort or simply the Pocket Escort) is