Top Break Revolver HELP/ADVICE
- Thread starter Redcoat3340
- Start date
- Status
AlexanderA
Member
The prewar Enfields were much better than the wartime production. I have an Enfield No. 2 Mk. 1 made in 1930 that is every bit as good as my Webley. I think the critical thing is to avoid the DAO versions.
WestKentucky
Member
DO NOT BUY A PROJECT GUN.
My s&w 3rd model safety hammerless was a project gun. I can’t get anew bolt for it because mine apparently needs a max length part. Everything I have bought/found/tried has been too short. If you buy a gun, buy a working gun.
My s&w 3rd model safety hammerless was a project gun. I can’t get anew bolt for it because mine apparently needs a max length part. Everything I have bought/found/tried has been too short. If you buy a gun, buy a working gun.
Gordon
Member
Tons of good deals on Gun broker currently
https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Keywords=.38 S&W&PageSize=24&Sort=13&View=1&PageIndex=2
I like the Iver Johnson Viking snub for $249 and the pristine S&W 3" nickled one for $399. Damn wish I was younger I would buy them, instead of selling mode
https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Keywords=.38 S&W&PageSize=24&Sort=13&View=1&PageIndex=2
I like the Iver Johnson Viking snub for $249 and the pristine S&W 3" nickled one for $399. Damn wish I was younger I would buy them, instead of selling mode
Speedo66
Member
I see this one on Armslist, he won't ship, but looks like it might be a nice shooter for someone local in FL.
http://www.armslist.com/posts/8681505/tampa-antiques-for-sale--webley--38-s---w-markiv-
http://www.armslist.com/posts/8681505/tampa-antiques-for-sale--webley--38-s---w-markiv-
I have never found a trigger scale that will come any where close to measuring the trigger pull force of the double action trigger pull on my Webley. I have many friends that can not pull the trigger in double action on my Webley. I am guessing this is why DAO is not recommended.
Monac
Member
Tons of good deals on Gun broker currently
https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Keywords=.38 S&W&PageSize=24&Sort=13&View=1&PageIndex=2
I like the Iver Johnson Viking snub for $249 and the pristine S&W 3" nickled one for $399. Damn wish I was younger I would buy them, instead of selling mode
What that search shows me is how many people - including gun dealers - do not know the difference between 38 S&W and 38 Special. I hate to offend people by treating them as if they are ignorant, but it is hard to avoid when so many people are.
Last edited:
AK103K
member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2002
- Messages
- 7,610
Unfortunately, youre right on here. And dont feel bad in the least offending them either.
I went through it about a month ago when bidding on a real nice lend Lease Victory in 38 S&W. The dealer said he picked it up at an estate sale, and had no idea what he had. He thought it was 38 Special, and listed it as such, and then posted a correction after someone sent him a message and told him, giving anyone who bid on it thinking it was 38 special an out. I was high bid, and doing real good, right to the end, and then lost it to a boy who just kept running it up and up. I finally gave up and lost it for $5.
The next day, I get an email from the dealer saying the boy who won, thought (another nit wit) it was a .38 special, and then didnt want it. I could have it, but someone else sent him a message and told him it was worth a lot more than was bid, and to make him an offer. I told him Id give him what the other guy won it for, but he never bothered to answer me back.
Ive had a couple of things like this go on on GB, and Im about done bothering with them. The better deals are what you find in out of the way shops, or people you know or know of someone looking to get rid of stuff. About all GB is good for, is to give you an idea of what things are going for. Not factoring in that many overpay for things there.
Most all of the top break guns Ive seen in shops though, Id probably shy away from. Ive had a number of them given to me over the years by people looking to get them out of the house, etc, and most were junk. Poorly maintained, and cared for, most were sloppy mechanically and out of time etc, and shaky at best to be shot. The only exception to that was the little 32 S&W I got above. Its also the only one I didnt break down into parts and sell on EBay. Made out pretty good $$ wise doing that.
OP
OP
Redcoat3340
Member
More like Morris Minor, Mossberg, and sccy...
Kaeto
Member
The only thing I need to do to my pair is replace the trigger return springs as they broke. I already have the springs from Wollf, I just need to get a new pin punch to remove the pins holding the trigger guard.
AlexanderA
Member
The British tactical doctrine for these guns was rapid fire at extremely close range. These were "last ditch" weapons. Under such circumstances, with the adrenaline flowing, a heavy trigger pull was probably hardly noticed. You can't expect any sort of accuracy out of it, however. The DAO Enfield precludes cocking and deliberately firing. (The troops hated it.)
AK103K
member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2002
- Messages
- 7,610
I havent found that good accuracy was a problem shooting mine DAO. Then again, I shoot all my DA revolvers DAO, so Im accustomed to shooting that way. From what Ive seen, "most" dont shoot that way, and I think thats likely where a lot of the complaints come from.
As I said earlier, I think the trigger on mine is actually quite good.
Last edited by a moderator:
Spug
Member
I'm partial to the S&W Safety Hammerless because I've got a lovely .38 S&W "bicycle gun" made around 1939 or so that I adore. I did get cases from Starline, Lee dies, and bullets from Matt's that I push with Trail Boss, because I just felt I had to reload for it, but the gun itself is too nice to shoot hundreds of rounds through. I'd like to get another S&W in the same caliber that maybe wasn't quite so rare as the factory short-barrel, that I'd feel comfortable shooting a little more. I check out gunbroker periodically but haven't found anything I was confident on bidding on.
For those that haven't held one of these and might be confused by the terminology, at least in my case the "lemon squeezer" label is a little misleading. I don't have to grip my safety hammerless any tighter, in fact the grip safety is almost unnoticeable in my hand.
For those that haven't held one of these and might be confused by the terminology, at least in my case the "lemon squeezer" label is a little misleading. I don't have to grip my safety hammerless any tighter, in fact the grip safety is almost unnoticeable in my hand.
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy
The last one I saw went for $1840.
http://www.amoskeagauction.com/119/detail.php?id=287
Smith and Wesson 38 Safety Hammerless and 32 Safety Hammerless revolvers most often had barrels 3 1/4", 4", 5" or even 6" long. The S&W Bicycle Revolvers were specifically the ones built with a 2" barrel.They are rarer than the other barrel lengths.
Like this one that shipped in 1909.
Bicycle riding was a new craze sweeping the country at the turn of the century. The idea behind the Bicycle Revolvers was they were very easily concealed, and could be used to defend Daisy against troublesome dogs or ruffians. The lady wearing a coat in this photo is Katherine Wright, Orville and Wilbur Wright's sister.
"Lemonsqueezer" is just a nickname. S&W never marketed the Safety Hammerless revolvers with that name.
Yes, the grip safety on any S&W Safety Hammerless was very light and simply holding the gun put enough pressure on the grip safety to depress it to enable the gun to fire. However, there was enough spring pressure to allow the grip safety to prevent accidental discharge.
This is my favorite contemporary advertisement about S&W Bicycle Revolvers.
Last edited:
Gordon
Member
There is an Iver Johnson Trailsman 66 snub .38 in excellent condition on Gunbroker for $295 right now, these and the couple year later Vikings have adjustable sights , the only .38 SW guns with that feature I am aware of. I have a Viking in .38 S&W and the latch system , hinge and thickness of the 1950s+ steel frame seems good. How ever I don't push it with real snappy loads, thats not what the .38 S&W is about.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/786417073
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/786417073
Monac
Member
Thank you for posting the photo of the ladies bicycle group, Driftwood. They would also have all been armed with hatpins, which, if you have ever seen one, were nothing to sneeze at. I think my mother's mother might have been a teenager about then.
IIRC, bicycles were being blamed for the moral decay of Our Wimmenfolk at that time. Before that, it was telephones; soon after, motorcars and moving pictures.
IIRC, bicycles were being blamed for the moral decay of Our Wimmenfolk at that time. Before that, it was telephones; soon after, motorcars and moving pictures.
Spug
Member
That's just what I'd be happy to find, Orpington, and I'd say you got it at a good price too. Mine is a real short barrel factory bicycle gun, one of the last models if I recall, made just before WWII, and pretty mint. I may just get around to sending for a letter from S&W about it. It's been in my family a long time, but I don't know where it came from and anyone who could tell me has long since passed on.
Spug
Member
I guess the guy in the advertisement must have been carrying a competitor's gun. Either that or he reacted unfortunately to hitting the dirt.
Tallball
Member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 7,803
Well, this thread has re-awakened my interest in (finally) purchasing a top-break revolver. There are a bunch of enablers around here!
I'm leaning towards 32 S&W long.
I have some 22 handguns that shoot so well that I would probably never shoot a 22 top-break.
My FiL is kind enough to reload ammunition for both of us (I pay half of the cost)... as long as it's a caliber that he also shoots. He doesn't shoot 32 S&W or 38 S&W.
I don't have any DA 32 long revolvers that are particularly good shooters. I figure that if I get a top-break in that caliber with a decent SA trigger and it's not a snubby, I would probably shoot it about as well as any of the others. Thus it would get its fair share of shooting.
Since my funds are limited, I'm leaning towards an H&R. I read an article today that claimed that by the time they got around to stamping "S&W 32 ctg" on the barrel, H&R had decided that the 32 S&W long had made the other 32 cartridges obsolete. The article claimed that any barrel so stamped would have a long enough cylinder for 32 S&W long, and that the ammo wouldn't harm it.
Does anyone have facts or opinions on this?
I'm leaning towards 32 S&W long.
I have some 22 handguns that shoot so well that I would probably never shoot a 22 top-break.
My FiL is kind enough to reload ammunition for both of us (I pay half of the cost)... as long as it's a caliber that he also shoots. He doesn't shoot 32 S&W or 38 S&W.
I don't have any DA 32 long revolvers that are particularly good shooters. I figure that if I get a top-break in that caliber with a decent SA trigger and it's not a snubby, I would probably shoot it about as well as any of the others. Thus it would get its fair share of shooting.
Since my funds are limited, I'm leaning towards an H&R. I read an article today that claimed that by the time they got around to stamping "S&W 32 ctg" on the barrel, H&R had decided that the 32 S&W long had made the other 32 cartridges obsolete. The article claimed that any barrel so stamped would have a long enough cylinder for 32 S&W long, and that the ammo wouldn't harm it.
Does anyone have facts or opinions on this?
Last edited:
OP
OP
Redcoat3340
Member
A quick update: I found a mid-war H&R Defender for a decent price. Had everything I wanted...."modern" so shooting new ammo is no worry at all; a decent price; not too small; H&R made okay guns and a decent seller. All it was lacking was a S&W logo...but I'm still looking for a "Perfected" as I'm partial to Smiths (although I liked adding the H&R to my one gun collection of H&R top breaks...a .22...699 I believe).
Gordon
Member
And because nobody else wanted it I bought the Trailsman 66 snub I posted in this thread a couple days ago. It is as new, and $260 +$25 dollar ship was good. I know it doesn't have the transfer bar of my Viking , but it is otherwise identical. Think I'll cerracote my Viking and keep this pristine Trailsman 66 snub after Itest it
For later resale.
For later resale.
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy
All the 32 caliber Top Break revolvers that Smith and Wesson made were chambered for the shorter 32 S&W cartridge.
Such as this 32 Safety Hammerless.
S&W did not chamber any Top Breaks for the 32 S&W Long cartridge.
Smith and Wesson developed the 32 S&W Long cartridge specifically for the 32 Hand Ejector, 1st Model, shown at the top of this photo. This was the first revolver S&W made with a side swinging cylinder. It was first cataloged in 1896 and is sometimes known as the Model 1896. The photo shows how much longer the cylinder was on the 32 Hand Ejector, in order to accommodate the longer 32 S&W Long cartridge.
- Status