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 645 shooting. Smith & Wesson (S&W) began experiments with .45 ACP-firing pistols in 1984, and produced their first one, the Model 645, in 1985. Public demand led to the development of this series. The series is a .45 ACP version of their 9mm Parabellum weapons. They are normally double-action weapons, or what Smith & Wesson refers to as a traditional double action. They generally have a barrel bushing press fitted into the muzzle end of the slide instead of a separate barrel bushing like a 1911 pistol. Like many Smith & Wesson models, each variant was generally in production for only