Very interesting pistol at the gun store today

[Cougfan2]

I thought I'd seen pretty much every pistol S&W ever made, but I ran into one at the gun store today I had never seen.

http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/admin/product_details.php?itemID=4697

The one I saw was in Blue rather than Nickel. The most interesting thing was a letter that was in the box to the original owner informing him that .35 S&W ammo was no longer manufactured, but he could just shoot .32ACP in it. I guess you'd just kind of rattle the bullet down the barrel

 

[.380awsome]

haha,ya those are quite rare i do believe ,never seen one myself,though i've read up on them

 

[rcmodel]

They are no more a .35 caliber then the .38 Spl. is a .38 caliber.

.32 ACP ammo will work in them after a fashon.

The Clement design .35 S&W's claim to fame was an inside lubricated lead base jacketed nose bullet.

It had little holes in the jacket, and pressure from firing was supposed to make the grease inside squirt out the holes to lube the barrel as the bullet passed through it.

Of course, it wasn't necessary, and the gun & ammo soon became just another foot-note in firearms history.

 

[Cougfan2]

This is what I love about THR. Nowhere else would you probably find so much info about such a rare pistol. A veritable fountain of knowledge you folks are.

 

[rcmodel]

If you look closely, you can see the little rectangle lube holes in the jackets on some of these.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=113958142

 

[krs]

Why am I thinking that I've seen some application of this sort of an idea applied in a modern artillery piece?

Maybe a self lubricating savot round of some kind?

Just a vague feeling that I've seen this before now.

 

[Will B]

That is an interesting pistol.

I work about 3 miles from the gun store in the original link. Collector's firearms if full of interesting weapons and memorabilia.

I love going in there. I see something new every time.

I will have to look at this gun the next time I am in there.

 

[Borch]

krs-
I believe you are right. IIRC I saw a show about tanks that said the military uses self lubricating rounds in their tanks when operating in the desert. I'm not 100% sure about this but it sounds very familiar.

On the subject of the OP, what is that little tab below the trigger guard? Is that a safety of some sort?

 

[Cougfan2]

Borch, I'm only making a guess here, but I believe it is some form of grip safety. It's just below the trigger guard rather than on the backstrap of the grip.

 

[armoredman]

Very odd.