Smith & Wesson Ladysmith Smith & Wesson Ladysmith The S&W Ladysmith (later styled LadySmith) is a series of handguns manufactured by Smith & Wesson starting early in the 20th century. Early models, branded were chambered in .22 Long. Starting in the 1980s, under the slightly modified "LadySmith" moniker, S&W manufactured several short-barreled revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. Smith & Wesson has produced firearms over the years in several standard frame sizes. "M-frame" refers to the small early Ladysmith frame. Later LadySmith small revolvers were made on the somewhat larger "J-frame", the standard S&W small-frame revolver. The tiny M-frame .22" hand-ejector Ladysmith revolver was produced from
Smith & Wesson returned to his native Springfield, Massachusetts, while Wesson stayed on as plant manager with Volcanic Repeating Arms. As Samuel Colt's patent on the revolver was set to expire in 1856, Wesson began developing a prototype for a cartridge revolver. His research pointed out that a former Colt employee named Rollin White held the patent for a "Bored-through" cylinder, a component he would need for his invention. Wesson reconnected with Smith and the two partners approached White to manufacture a newly designed revolver-and-cartridge combination. Rather than make White a partner in their company, Smith and Wesson paid him a royalty of