Who makes topbreaks?

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addedpulp

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I was looking through the buyer's guide and saw... Thompson?.. Thomas?.. Made topbreaks, schofields, and similar for a reasonable price. Anyone seen these? I've been looking for a decent topbreak for under $500.
 
Sadly the NAA Ranger is on hold and may never see the light of day.

Uberti makes the Schofield replica but as mentioned it's a bit pricey and it's SA only as was the original.

I've got an H&R Sportman that I'm still tinkering with to try to make the trigger feel more like a quality S&W trigger for both DA and SA. It's a lot of work to get there in small steps so that I don't go too far.
 
The older pistols from Iver Johnson, H&R or even Smith & Wesson are the best way to go. Get a somewhat newer one and you can shoot off the shelf .32 S&W or .38 S&W all day long. Fun pistols & many of them very compact carry pieces.
 
Topbreaks are generally limited to the shorter cartridges because the throw of the extractor arm doesn't allow full extraction of longer cartridges. Plus the use of powerful cartridges like hot .38 Special or .357 is not indicated because no matter what some folks say, any (repeat ANY) top break will loosen up in firing and high pressure rounds will accelerate that process to an unacceptable degree.

Jim
 
Topbreaks are generally limited to the shorter cartridges because the throw of the extractor arm doesn't allow full extraction of longer cartridges.

The Ubertis come in .38 Spl., .44 Russian, .44-40 and .45 Colt. They're also pretty stout guns. I'm not arguing that the design is anywhere near as strong as a solid frame gun, but modern metallurgy makes them far more durable than the original guns they copy.
 
Also keep in mind that the original Schofields were used with black powder rounds. Black powder has a longer "thump" like recoil compared to the short and sharp "BANG!" recoil with smokeless powders. A Uberti Schofield's timing and latch tightness won't last long if shot with full power SAAMI .45Colt loads even though they are no faster than the original stout .45Colt BP loads.

It's this inherent weakness which is why the major names shifted away from any top breaks and left this style in the hands of the cheap and cheezy gun producers that did "Saturday Night Specials" that were never intended to be shot a lot over their lifespan.
 
And, again- Not all Uberti breaktops are Schofields. It's not a generic term, it's a specific model variation. :)
Denis
 
How about a top break in .45ACP that ejects on opening and takes moon clips? Such a revolver would sell well to the action shooters as no revolver is faster to reload. Too bad no one makes such a gun.
 
Sleazy,
That's not a Schofield, and the S&W often attributed to Earp was an American model.
Denis
 
W.E.G.,

Just out of curiosity why did you take a picture of an antique revolver and vintage box of cartridges with a very new $50 bill?
 
Just out of curiosity why did you take a picture of an antique revolver and vintage box of cartridges with a very new $50 bill?

Just a WAG, but perhaps the revolver was manufactured while Grant was in office?

Barring that, I'd be just as baffled
 
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