Smith & Wesson, Protecting Guests on Disney's Jungle Cruise Since 1955

A little Jungle Cruise Revolver Trivia.  The revolvers are nickel plated.  The lanyard was put on the revolvers after two were stolen from the boats.  They cannot fire live ammunition.  The skipper fires 2 low powered blanks to scare the attacking hippos off.  They also carry louder blanks used to signal for help as follows:

• 3 shots means the boat is experiencing a mechanical difficulty 
• 4 shots means a medical or security emergency and the boat is returning to the dock at full throttle
• 6 shots means the boat is derailed

Requiem For The Revolver

The revolver is dead, long live the revolver.

The swing out cylinder six shooter (or five shooter, or seven shooter, or eight shooter) is as passé as the buggy whip, spats, and rumble seat. No one with any firearms knowledge sports a wheel gun anymore. The military abandoned the revolver in 1911, police departments followed suit some 70 years later, and no self respecting street gang member would be caught dead (hmm…”street gang members caught dead”…that’s an interesting concept) without his beloved Glock .40. And, it is easy to see the appeal of the semi-automatic pistol. They hold more rounds of ammo, are faster to reload, and, being slimmer than a revolver, are easier to reload. Lastly, the semi-automatic pistol, especially the single action variety, can be faster and more accurate to shoot due to the fact that their trigger pulls are shorter and lighter than revolvers. So, the revolver is dead, right?

Wrong! The revolver is very much alive and well & has a lot to offer. First and foremost is reliability. As Col. Jeff Cooper often stated, “a combat pistol must be utterly reliable”. Revolvers are not ammo sensitive and fewer, moving parts that can get out of alignment or stall due to a lack of proper lubrication or interference from lint, dirt, etc. There will be no failures to feed, double feeds, failures to eject, failure of the slide returning to full battery, etc. A revolver jam is highly unlikely but possible. In my 32 years of shooting this has occurred only once as documented in my July 2006 posting about the scandium weight, short barreled S&W model 325PD entitled “Big Bore Revolvers”:

"On my second cylinder full of Independence .45 ammo, the cylinder locked-up after firing the second round. The culprit was ammunition where the bullet had not been properly crimped into the brass. When this little revolver takes the shock of having .45 caliber explosions going off the bullets began coming unseated from the brass, causing them to stick out of the cylinder and causing the upcoming round to bang into the forcing cone.”

However, if the revolver does jam, you merely open the cylinder and remove the offending round. If round does not go off, you merely pull the trigger again and fire the next cartridge. Jams or rounds which fail to fire in a semi-auto, depending on the type of jam, can require a complex and time consuming process to clear the pistol and make it operational again. Not something you want to happen under the stress of a life or death situation when every second counts. Semi-autos can also jam if the gun is not held tightly and the shooter’s wrist is not locked in place. “Limp wristing” as it is called does not give the recoiling pistol a firm enough backstop to push against as the slide is cycling through the process of ejecting the fired round and the chambering the next cartridge. This doesn’t happen with the revolver. The revolver will fire with any grip tension and in any position. If you hold it sideways it will fire, if you hold it upside down it will fire; accuracy will certainly suffer putting others at risk so I do not advocate shooting sideways and upside down; I merely mention it as an example of the reliability of the revolver.

Another advantage of the double action revolver is safety. The double action has a longer and heavier trigger pull than all single action and many double action semi-automatic pistols. Like a lot of choices in life there are trade-offs. The single action semi-auto has a very short and light trigger pull, usually between 2.5 and 4 pounds. While this can enhance accuracy there is the safety trade-off of an accidental discharge. During the stress of a perceived life or death encounter vision, muscle control, and fine motor skills are affected. I love single action 1911s but would never carry one as I have experienced several accidental discharges during casual practice at the range; this even happened a few times with the very light double action pull of the Para Ordnance LDA pistols. A longer and heavier double action trigger pull may cause the shooter to move the handgun to the right or push it to the left depending upon where the shooter places their finger and how they pull it back. This could cause the shooter to throw the shot off target and could place an innocent bystander in jeopardy. How do I compromise on this issue? Well I go back to Col. Cooper again. After utter reliability, his next requirement for a combat pistol was a manageable trigger. Therefore I select handguns with the mid-range of trigger pulls. The 2.5 pull on most 1911 cannot be considered manageable for a combat arm if it increases the risk of an accidental discharge. Similarly, I have seen some double action revolvers and semi-autos with horrid trigger pulls of 12 to 14 pounds. I would not purchase, let alone carry one of those. I prefer to look for a pistol with a pull between 7 and 10 pounds. It is light enough to shoot accurately and heavy enough to assist in mitigating the chance of an accidental discharge. I also do not advocate having a gunsmith lighten a carry gun’s trigger pull. A zealous prosecutor or plaintiff’s attorney could paint you as a reckless, gun nut for modifying the factory’s original design in any subsequent legal proceedings.

Far from being dead, the double action revolver is actually in the midst of resurgence. One of the reasons could be nostalgia. When you think of nostalgia and handguns you probably envision the Colt Single Action Army revolver introduced in 1873. However, one should not overlook the extremely popular Smith & Wesson medium sized revolver. Smith & Wesson ushered in the modern era of revolvers back in 1896 when they introduced their revolutionary “Hand Ejector” model which incorporated a swing out cylinder with an integral ejection rod that positively expelled all six cartridges at once. In 1899 S&W brought out their medium framed model M&P in .38 special and that revolver quickly became a police staple. Their medium sized revolver designated as the “K” frame also served the military in WWII, Korea, and was the tool that the Army’s tunnel rats employed when jumping into the vast underground Viet Cong passageways during the Vietnam conflict. That basic design from 1899 is still represented in their line-up as the model 10.

When you go to the S&W website you will immediately see that hunting or protection from big game is a niche that they are filling with their .41 and .44 magnum N frame handguns and also with their .460 and .500 S&W X frame revolvers. The remainder of their revolver offering is clearly designed for providing potent calibers for protection against two legged aggressors. This includes their .357 magnum, .44 Special, and .45 caliber N frames service sized guns, their medium sized K-L frame revolvers primarily in .38 Special and .357 Magnum, and the extremely popular small J frame handgun most of which are chambered for the .357/.38 (with a few in .22 long rifle and .22 magnum) . The small J frame is quite possibly the most popular concealed carry handgun in production with Smith and Wesson cataloguing 37 different J frame revolvers, including 3 models which are a part of S&W’s “new-for-2007” Classic Line. The Classic Line proves that nostalgic handguns do not necessarily mean cowboy guns.

And the “Classic line” leads us to the subject of today’s review; the Smith & Wesson Classic, Model 22 in .45 ACP.

You might look at this nickel plated beauty and say “Joe, didn’t you already review this handgun?” Well…close to it; on September 8th I reviewed the nickel plated Model 22-1917 and really liked it. Here’s how I came to acquire its little brother. After the very poor results I experienced with the Glock Model 21 SF (see the posting on October 8, 2007) I decided to immediately trade it off. When I arrived at my new favorite gun emporium (J&S Custom Guns of Lakeville, MN) I wanted another .45 and was delighted to see that they had the 4 inch Model 22 in nickel to match my 1917. In examining this Model 22 at the shop I found that it had about the best trigger pull on any recent, non-custom tuned, S&W revolver I had handled. It was very smooth with a Goldilocks trigger (not too hard, not too soft, but just right). The deal was done and I was on my way with the new revolver.


The longer barreled model 1917 was originally produced for our armed forces in WWII because Colt did not have enough machinery to produce all of the model 1911 pistols that the American Expeditionary Forces needed. Once the Great War was over the returning veterans thought the .45 ACP cartridge was a good thing and Colt 1911s were still in short supply on the civilian market. As consumer demand was there; S&W produced a .45 ACP revolver on their large “N” frame as the Model 22 (later changed to the Model 1950). The model 22/1950 stayed in the Smith & Wesson line-up until 1966. By then Colt 1911s were in full production for those who desired a .45 for self defense. For those who had been using the .45 ACP as a hunting or big game protection gun opted for the newer .357 and .44 magnum revolvers in the Smith & Wesson stable.

The new, classic version of the Models 2 is true to the original with the exception of the barrel length that is now 4 inches compared to the original model which was 5 inches long and with the exception of the dad-blasted superfluous locking device.

Just like the newly re-introduced model 22-1917, the shorter barreled model 22 is a pleasure to shoot. The factory supplied wood grips are very attractive but do have a tendency to impede the accuracy of which is revolver is capable; their vintage profile does not give the shooter much to hold. A set of Pachmayr Decellerator grips does wonders. The blue front sight is easier to see than you might imagine, the trigger pull is very good giving you fine accuracy at combat distances. This is both an attractive and intimidating handgun.

To an errant home invader that big barrel must look like a sewer pipe. (Please note: pointing a loaded revolver at yourself in order to get a photo would be dangerous and a violation of even the most basic safety rules.

The revolver in this photo was unloaded. The camera was mounted on tripod with the image feeding into an external monitor and I was standing beside the revolver, not in front of it. Pointing the firearm at yourself is both dangerous and reckless. I acknowledge that some may still be uncomfortable with this photo and I do not discount their opinion.)

(36 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ fired at 21 feet)

(36 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ fired at 35 feet)

This revolver looks and shoots like it means business.

Snakebite

“Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?” So uttered Harrison Ford as the character “Indiana Jones” in Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Snakes are perhaps the most mystifying and feared creatures put on this earth. Some say it is due to the story of the Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. However, I think that even without the biblical symbolism of the forked-tongue reptile tempting Eve, the snake would still be much respected and much feared. There are small snakes that have poison strong enough to drop an elephant and there are the large constrictors that can swallow huge animals. For some reason someone in Colt’s marketing department had such a fascination with snakes that they named several lines of handguns after them; the .44 magnum Anaconda, the premier .357 magnum the Python, the more affordable .357 the King Cobra and the .38’s; the Cobra, the Viper, and the subject of this review, the Diamondback.

11 years after the venerable Colt Python debuted, Colt introduced a scaled down version in .38 Special called the Diamondback. The Diamondback was manufactured for 20 years from 1966 to 1986 with barrel lengths of 2.5, 4 and 6 inches and offered in blue or nickel finishes. Unlike the Python which only came in .357 Magnum (OK…there was a very, very small run of a target models chambered in .38 Special with longer barrels—but it was a special run and they are very rare) the Diamondback could be had in .22LR or .22 Magnum along with the .38 Special model.

(Left to right: .22 caliber Diamondback, nickel plated Diamondback in .38 Special, Blue Steel .38 Special Diamondback)

The Python was a large and very strong .357 Magnum with adjustable sights and sported a very distinctive ventilated rib atop the barrel and a lug running the full length under the barrel. The Python was said to have had a factory hand-tuned action which made it very expensive; in the late 1970’s they were running upward of $800 which was one month’s net income for me at the time. The Python was also rather heavy at about 2.5 lbs for one with the popular 4 inch barrel.

The Diamondback maintained the strong profile of the Python including adjustable sights and complete with the vent rib and full barrel underlug. It was manufactured on Colt’s small “D” frame, the same frame as their very popular Detective Special and Police Positive, was much lighter than the Python at a mere 1.8 pounds, and was about half the price of its.357 magnum big brother. I always felt that the Diamondback was the less expensive alternative for the person who could not afford the Python.

Snake fever bit me about a year ago when at one of the Boise gun shows an attendee was exhibiting his collection of pristine Colt double action revolvers. Most of the collection was Pythons, but there amongst the magnums were a few Diamondbacks. I have always liked their looks but have never owned one. I think their smaller frame is a better fit for my hands and their distinctive look rates high on the cool meter. Although I do not have official Colt manufacturing numbers, I would expect to find out that Diamondbacks were produced in much fewer numbers than Pythons. For several years there was only one to be found at the Boise Gun Show. It was a 4 inch .22LR done up in matte nickel and fully (and beautifully) engraved. The owner must not have wanted to part with it as he seemed to raise the price about a $100 each year and I think it was going for $2,300 about the time I departed Idaho. While it was certainly desirable, it was an investment piece, not a shooter and I take my enjoyment in shooting my handguns.

The first Diamondback I picked up was a blue steel .22 LR which is now sporting incorrect Colt Viper grips. When I bought the revolver it had faux ivory grips which were very heavy on the “faux”. They did not look good and were of the slim variety that Colt was putting on their early service revolvers. They did not fit me well so I took them off and installed another set coming from my Colt Viper. These grips were too small for the recoil of the .38 Special Viper, but worked like a charm on the Diamondback .22 LR. The original owner was a hunter and took this revolver afield; while it is in good shape it does show some holster wear at the end of the barrel. I tried many different brands of ammunition but did not get as good of results as I had expected. Sometimes when I am finding an accuracy problem with a vintage handgun I try to think back and recall what the ammunition standard was at the time the gun was manufactured. The hyper velocity Federal and CCI cartridges available today were not around in 1966. My local gun shop had a good supply of Winchester Wildcat lead round nose ammo so I picked up a box. As you will see from the last target, problem solved.

All .22 targets were fired at a range of 21 feet.

(Target on the left: 26 rounds of CCI Velocitor 40 grain jacketed hollow-point ammunition. Target on the right: 26 rounds of CCI Quick Shok 32 grain jacketed hollow-point ammo.)

(26 rounds of Winchester Wildcat 40 grain lead round nosed ammo.)

At my final Boise Gun Show I spotted a table with a blued .38 Special Diamondback sporting a beautiful set of Hogue checkered and finger-grooved grips. While these grips are great looking, they are rather small for my hand. This revolver is also not really as accurate as expected and the grips may play a role in that problem. The original owner also took this gun afield and although the grips are in great shape, the finish shows some wear on the barrel.


(24 rounds of American Eagle 158 grain lead round nose .38 Special ammo fired at 21 feet)

(26 rounds of American Eagle 158 grain lead round nose .38 Special ammo fired at 41 feet)

(Six rounds of Remington 158 grain lead wad cutter hollowpoint .38 Special +P ammo fired at 21 feet)

After moving to the Minneapolis area I ventured to the Cabela’s in Rogers, MN and stumbled upon a 4 inch barreled, nickel plated Diamondback. The revolver showed no sign so having been shot; there was no carbon discoloration on the front of the cylinder or around the forcing cone. Had there been signs of use it would have been acceptable, however the abuse evident on this revolver was inexcusable and I hope the State of Minnesota pulled owner’s handgun permit. Around the cylinder and on one side of the barrel the finish was appallingly stained. This was a shame as the revolver was in LNIB condition but something had spilled on it and had not been cleaned off right away. The salesperson said that they had not tried to remove the stains so I took a chance on it. I was delighted to find that a little Flitz polish reduced the stains by about 85%. Someday I will get around to attacking the stains again to remove the remainder. This model wore a great looking of oversized Colt Target grips. 


Unfortunately these grips are too large from my hand and requires that I reposition my hand after each shot. Nonetheless, this revolver showed pretty darned good accuracy with 158 grain lead round nose ammunition.




(24 rounds of American Eagle 158 grain lead round nose .38 Special ammunition fired at 21 feet)


(26 rounds of American Eagle 158 grain lead round nose .38 Special ammunition ammo fired at 41 feet)
(9 rounds of Remington 158 grain lead wad cutter hollow point .38 Special +P ammo fired at 21 feet)

Smith & Wesson Model 22-1917

This year Smith & Wesson, in a move of near-brilliance, introduced their retro-line of revolvers. This is a reintroduction of some of their classic-discontinued handguns allowing the shooter to buy one that has benefited from the modern metallurgic processes, is safe to shoot with modern ammunition, and does not have the collector’s price tag that would be attached to an original specimen. Collectors can still hunt the gun shows and online auctions for an original to display, brag about, and keep locked in the safe. This reintroduction is a boon to those of us who want a shooting model that is true to the original and as long as we are willing to put up with that completely unnecessary internal lock that defaces the panel above the cylinder release latch. The only thing that puzzles me about their retro line offering is the lack of marketing behind this line. When I peruse the gun related magazines, and I subscribe to most of them, I see plenty of full page advertisements for their M&P line of polymer semi-automatic pistols and plenty of ad coverage for their light artillery hand-howitzers that launch the .500 caliber revolver cartridge. I cannot recall one instance of seeing an advertisement for the retro line. If you have not seen the complete line of retro revolvers, do yourself a favor and search them out on their website.

Two years ago Smith & Wesson brought out the Model 22 Thunder Ranch revolver in .45 ACP. 22 was the model designation for the model 1917 during its 1957 evolution. Thunder Ranch Firearms Instructor and gun scribe Clint Smith persuaded S&W to reintroduce the model 21 in .44 Special by convincing them that there was a market for a classic, large caliber fightin’ revolver. The model 21 hit dealer’s shelves in 2004. A year later, spurred on by Clint and the positive sales of the Model 21, Smith & Wesson reintroduced the Model 22. While this was a great move on their part there were many shooters, myself included, which wanted the revolver that went overseas with the doughboys of WWI.

The Model 1917
As many of you probably know, when Great War began General Blackjack Pershing, having studied the evolution of trench warfare from the American Civil War through the current stalemate in Europe, immediately realized the necessity of having his troops armed with a powerful, large caliber sidearm. Once you jumped into the enemy’s trench or he jumped into yours, the fighting got up close and personal real quickly and your four and a half foot long Springfield rifle with bayonet affixed became unwieldy and rather useless. Pershing made it known early on that he wanted every soldier to have the current military sidearm, the Colt Model 1911 in .45 ACP. The problem was that Colt did not have enough of the machinery tooled up to produce the semi-automatic pistol. Up to this point revolvers had been the bread and butter for both Colt and Smith & Wesson and they had the capability to produce revolvers in large quantities. The Colt New Service Revolver and the Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector were perfect solutions as they both were built on large frames and chambered for heaviest calibers available at the time. But there was one more hitch; the military knew from their experience in the Indian Wars that they could not logistically handle multiple calibers of ammunition.

During their frontier expeditions the Army was equipped with Colt single action revolvers chambered for the .45 Colt round (or .45 Long Colt as it is more commonly known) and the Smith & Wesson Schofield break-top revolver chambered for the shorter .45 Schofield cartridge. The Army found it nearly impossible to get the right round to the right troops so they finally decided that since the shorter .45 Schofield cartridge would fit in the Colt revolvers they would only procure the .45 Schofield ammunition. The Army did not buy the Schofield revolver in vast numbers, but purchased a lot of Schofield ammo. And that is why the Little Big Horn battle field is littered with Schofield casings even though the troops who fought and died there were equipped with the Colt Single Action Army revolver.

All of this lead the Army to specify that the supplemental revolvers be chambered in the .45 ACP round, the same round as their standard issue Model 1911 pistols. The problem was that revolvers required a pronounced rim at the base of the cartridge to keep the cartridge from falling through the chambers of the cylinder. The rim also was needed so that the extractor could eject the fired cartridges. Smith & Wesson found the answer to this problem by devising what became known as the half moon clip, a semi-circular arc of sheet metal stamped to hold three cartridges in place. It successfully kept the rounds snug in their chambers and eased the process of both loading and ejecting the cartridges. Therefore Colt and Smith & Wesson were able to chamber their New Service and Hand Ejector revolvers in .45 ACP and both became known as the Model 1917 with Smith & Wesson manufacturing 169,959 for the military which used the 1917 through WWII. The model 1917 was quickly accepted by the troops most of whom had extensive experience with revolvers but had never handled a new-fangled semi-automatic pistol.

Back in the mid 1980’s a number surplus model 1917s were located overseas, were imported back into the States and sold at fairly reasonable prices. I was smart enough to look at several of them and unknowledgeable enough to have passed on them.

Model 22-1917
Now S&W has brought the 1917 back to life and it is true to the original with a few exceptions; the internal safety lock has been added, a transfer bar and internal firing pin have replaced the hammer mounted firing pin on the originals, the grips are diamond checkered walnut as opposed to the smooth grips on the original military handgun, and in addition to the blued finish the new revolver is offered in nickel as well as with a case-color hardened frame.
Here are the technical specifications

Model: 22, Model of 1917

Caliber: .45ACP

Capacity: 6 Rounds

Barrel Length: 5 1/2"

Front Sight: Pinned Half Moon Service

Rear Sight: Service Grip: Altamont® Wood

Frame: Large

Finish: Nickel

Length: 10 7/8"

Material: Carbon Steel Frame and Cylinder

Weight Empty: 37.2 oz.

Prior to leaving Boise, Cliff (of Cliff’s Guns, Safes, and Reloading) was able to procure a Model 22-1917 for me that was nickel plated. I did not specify one in nickel, it was the only one he could get and, quite frankly, I have not seen another Model 22-1917 since then.

Upon first impression, the handgun was stunning. The grips were made of a lighter colored walnut, expertly checkered, and perfectly fitted to the frame and….they were extremely uncomfortable to shoot. Despite the size and weight of this revolver this handgun bucked pretty hard when fired driving the back of the grip frame painfully into the web of my hand. I thought a Tyler T-Grip adapter would give me more to hang onto thereby lessening the felt recoil. I was mistaken. The T-Grip adapter did nothing for the perceived recoil and it smashed my knuckles into the trigger guard. Fortunately, I found a set of Pachmayr Decellerator grips on the peg wall at Cliff’s and the Pachmayr grips not only made the revolver more shootable, it also improved my accuracy. The installation of the Pachmayr’s did require me to punch the lanyard retention pin out of the base of the grip frame so that the lanyard could be removed.

One of the features that surprised me was the sights. The rear sight is the standard S&W fixed sight milled into the top of the frame and the front sight was the standard half moon service sight. Nothing fancy at all however they provide an excellent sight picture, much better than I expected. It may have something to do with the contrast between the nickel plated rear sight and the front sight which is blued. As seen in the target below, which was shot at 21 feet from a standing two-handed hold, the revolver is capable of very decent accuracy.

I like this revolver quite a bit. It has a classic style, good accuracy, and a rather menacing appearance. What more could the soldiers of the Great War have wanted?

Colt Viper .38 Special and Springfield EMP Ammo Alert

Before I review the Colt Viper I want to offer a quick ammo alert to anyone who has purchased a Springfield EMP 9mm pistol. As you know from my earlier reviews I love this little pistol however, over the last couple of sessions it developed a problem of not firing when the trigger was pulled. During these sessions I was using Remington 115 gr. FMJ, Mag Tech 115 gr. FMJ and Sellier & Bellot in 115 and 124 gr. FMJ ammo. After cleaning it I turned it over the Mike Dudley the Gunsmith at the Impact Guns range. Mike gave it the once over and tweaked the springs and reported that he had put several magazines through the pistol with no misfires. However the problem prevailed and I brought it right back into Mike’s workroom. I went back to shooting my other handguns and a few minutes later Mike came into the range with the pistol and stated that there was a sliver of brass jammed into the firing pin hole. He had cleaned it out and reassembled the pistol. I loaded the magazine with the Sellier & Bellot 9mm ammo and fired the first round which slammed dead center into the target at 7 yards. However the next round only responded with a disappointing “click”. I ejected the round and gave it to Mike to examine and pulled the trigger again, “click” and “click” and “click”. I locked the slide back, dumped the magazine and turned the pistol over to Mike for his inspection. Another sliver of brass was clogging the firing pin hole. To make a long story short, the brass primers on the Sellier & Bellot ammo is so soft that the Springfield’s firing pin was puncturing it and ripping a sliver out. Mike explained that as the EMP was redesigned for the 9mm they shortened everything; in fact Springfield talks in their advertising about the “short action” they built for this pistol. As the firing pin and the rest of the action has been shortened they needed to put a correspondingly short but high tension spring in the action so that the firing pin could strike the primer with another force to make it fire. After cleaning the brass sliver out of the firing pin hole we fired 16 rounds of Winchester white box and 50 rounds of CCI Lawman 115 grain FMJ ammo with absolutely no problem---Whew! What a relief. I am very thankful that I am shooting at a range which has not only a competent gunsmith, but one who takes pride in his work and has a both a sense of curiosity and a keen interest in making them work. I am afraid that there are gunsmiths out there who would have said "That's all I can do, send it back to the factory". Fortunately Mike isn't one of those.
Sellier & Bellot ammo is produced in Czechoslovakia (home of the fantastic CZ 75 line of firearms) and has recently turned up in great quantities at both Cabelas and Impact guns. The price of ammo has recently risen in this area to $8.99 for a box of 9mm. The Sellier & Bellot is priced one buck less so I picked up several boxes. When I was firing it along with the Remington and Mag Tech ammo I shot the Sellier & Bellot first. Once the piece of brass primer was clogging the firing pin hole the failures to launch occurred with all of the other ammo. In fairness, I put 250 rounds of the Sellier & Bellot through my EAA Witness Match Elite with no problem. It is just not a good choice for the EMP or probably any other ultra-compact pistol with an enhanced short action.

(Round on the left is a CCI Lawman 115 grain FMJ cartridge. Round on the right is the Sellier & Bellot 9mm cartridge. Sellier and Bellot puts a red coating on the primer of all of their handgun ammunition. I am uncertain why they do this, but I can tell you that after shooting I am cleaning red paint off the face of the chamber.)

Colt Viper
The Viper is a handy lightweight revolver produced on Colt’s small/medium “D” frame. This is the same frame size as their legendary Detective Special snubnose .38 revolver. This specimen came, once again, from Cliff (of Cliff’s Guns, Safes, and Reloading) in Boise. This firearm was a part of an auction lot of police confiscations that Cliff procured at a Dealer’s Gun Show. This one is a minty example in 98% condition or better. Quite frankly there was no indication that the revolver had ever been fired. I am finding some conflicting information about the Viper dates of manufacture. The Blue Book of Gun Values states that it was only manufactured in 1977 however Krause Publications “Pistols of the World” says it was manufactured from 1977 to 1984. Regardless of whoever is correct, the Viper was not manufactured in great quantities. While the Viper was not a popular choice at the time, it was produced at a time when Colt was making very fine revolvers and the quality shows on this piece. The lock work is exact, precise, and very tight, the bluing is a deep, mirror finish and the total revolver fits my hand like a glove. The Viper was a reduced weight revolver employing a carbon steel cylinder and barrel mounted to an aluminum frame.
Although I don’t know exactly what caused the demise of the Viper I can make an educated guess at a few of the contributing factors:

1. In 1977 revolvers ruled the handgun roost. If you were a first time handgun buyer you probably left the gun shop with a revolver rather than a semi-automatic pistol. In those days semi-auto pistols were disdained by quite a few people as being inaccurate and unreliable. Although this should have worked in favor of the Viper it probably did not as the revolver rage at this time was for heavy framed stainless steel models not carbon steel finished in blue.
2. The other factor working against the Viper was probably the caliber. The preferred revolver caliber in 1977 to 1984 was the venerable .357 magnum. Not many people actually carried .357 magnum cartridges in their .357 magnum revolvers. The most commonly carried cartridge for your Smith & Wesson model 66 was the .38 Special +P 125 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint. Police departments fed these rounds into their 66’s by the millions and whatever the police use is usually very popular with the general public. Unfortunately for the Viper, the folks at Colt were not keen on the use of +P ammo in their aluminum framed revolvers.

Fast forward to today when most states offer concealed carry rights and a lightweight revolver is considered a pretty handy tool. This is confirmed by the number of feather weight scandium/titanium revolvers in the Smith & Wesson line-up.

(24 rounds of Mag Tech 158 grain lead round nose ammuniton were fired at 7 yards)

The Viper is still pretty desirable when compared to the scandium revolvers currently catalogued by S&W today. The Viper is a small/medium framed handgun with a four-inch barrel. The four inch steel tube provides a longer sight radius and better recoil control over its 1.78 inch scandium competition built on Smith & Wesson’s small “J” frame. Smith does not make any lightweight medium “K” frame revolvers. The next size up is the medium-large “L” frame and, while they were able to squeeze a 7th round into the “L” frame’s cylinder it makes the “L” frame more difficult to conceal. The diameter of S&W’s “L” frame’s cylinder is 1.57 inches versus the 1.25 inches of the Colt “D” frame.
So what are the drawbacks to the Viper? First and foremost it is the restriction against +P ammo. Nonetheless, a well placed .38 Special 158 grain hollowpoint at the short distances of most civilian armed encounters is hardly anything to sneeze at.

(50 rounds of Sellier & Bellot 158 grain FMJ ammo were fired at 7 yards.)

The second consideration is the sights. The Viper sports fixed sights both front and rear with the front sight being of the very low ramped variety. While far from being target sights they are functional for its intended purpose as a short range defensive weapon.

(50 rounds of Mag Tech 158 grain LRN ammo fired at 7 yards)

End Result? It is a lightweight, fairly small revolver in a good caliber with better than reasonable accuracy. What’s not to like?

A Good Revolver

Back in the early 80’s I recall reading in Guns and Ammo magazine where the late great Colonel Jeff Cooper was lamenting the fact that many new students were showing up at his Gunsite Academy with new double action 9mm pistols or “Wonder-Nines” as they were then called. Those who are familiar with Colonel Cooper know that he was probably the greatest modern-day proponent of the Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol. Not since General Blackjack Pershing commented that he wanted one issued to every soldier in the American Expeditionary Forces of the Great War had anyone extolled the .45’s virtues like Cooper. In fact, when I first started reading Guns and Ammo back in the mid-1970’s Cooper was sort of a rebel. Almost every article was written about the Smith & Wesson K-38 Masterpiece in .38 Special, the S&W Model 19 in .357 Magnum or the .357 Magnum Colt Python. The 1911 pattern .45 ACP pistol was pretty much only manufactured by Colt and was considered by everybody except Cooper to be inaccurate and unreliable with too much recoil. My how times have changed! Cooper was pretty adamant that the 9mm cartridge did not have the power necessary for a combat pistol and he was equally disdainful of double action semi-automatic pistols. He was frequently quoted as saying that the double action pistol was the solution for a nonexistent problem.

In getting back to the original story, while frustrated at the number of people attending Gunsite with double action 9mms like the Beretta 92 and the Smith & Wesson model 59, Cooper received a call from an interested future student who stated that he owned a .357 Magnum revolver and wanted to know if it was O.K. to bring the revolver to Cooper’s Academy. Cooper enthusiastically responded in the affirmative stating that a good .357 Magnum revolver was better than any 9mm pistol. In fact, Cooper’s affirmative statement probably began with an equally enthusiastic expletive.

So today we look at two revolvers of which Colonel Cooper would probably approve. The first is the Smith & Wesson model 22 chambered for the .45 ACP and the second is the Smith & Wesson model 586-L Comp in .357 Magnum. The model 586 is an offering from S&W’s Performance Center and features a 3 inch ported barrel and a front night sight.

Both of these revolvers offer good combat accuracy, however neither are tack-driving Match-Grade handguns. Cooper would probably approve of this as well. In one of the last columns published in Guns & Ammo prior to Cooper’s death last September the good Colonel remarked that people put too much emphasis on shooting tight groups and stated “If I was interested in shooting a tight group I would only shoot one round per target”.

I have written about both of these revolvers before however they have been slightly enhanced since I last wrote about them.

S&W Model 22 in .45 ACP

The model 22 is a reintroduction of the Smith & Wesson model 1950, which was a reintroduction of the S&W model 1917. The model 1917 was manufactured in response to General Blackjack Pershing’s desire for every soldier in WWI to be armed with a .45 ACP pistol. When jumping into one of the enemy’s trenches the .45 ACP pistol came in pretty darn handy. The only problem was that Colt could not produce enough of the 1911 .45 ACP pistols to meet Pershing’s needs. The Army turned to the two largest handgun manufacturers in the country and told them they could take all of the revolvers they could produce, however in order to keep logistics and supply lines simple the Army required the revolvers be chambered for the .45 ACP ammunition which was a rimless cartridge for use in semi-automatic pistols. Both companies solved the problem by producing stamped-metal full moon clips that held the .45 ACP cartridges in the revolver’s cylinders and aided in the extraction of the fired rounds. Colt then began re-chambering their New Service model revolvers for the .45 ACP cartridge and Smith & Wesson re-chambered their Hand Ejector model for the .45 ACP as well. The designation for both companies’ revolvers became the model 1917.

Here are the technical specifications of the model 22:

Model: 22
Caliber: .45ACP
Capacity: 6 Rounds
Barrel Length: 4"
Front Sight: Pinned Half Moon Service
Rear Sight: Service
Grip: Altamont® Wood
Frame: Large
Finish: Blue
Overall Length: 9 1/4"
Material: Carbon Steel Frame and Cylinder
Weight Empty: 36.8 oz.


The enhancement made to this revolver since the last time I wrote about it was the addition of a gold dot front sight replacing the rounded “half nickel” sight on the original revolver. The gold dot greatly aids in faster sight alignment.












Here’s how she shot:

The first target was placed at 21 feet and fired upon with 25 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ ammunition.















The second target was placed at 50 feet and absorbed 40 rounds of the same ammunition.















Again, not exactly match accurate, but close enough for defending yourself against two-legged carnivores.

Smith & Wesson Model 586-L Comp

One of the interesting features of the 586-L Comp is that Smith & Wesson was able to squeeze a 7th round into the cylinder so you can stay in the fight one shot longer. This revolver was a limited edition made for Camfour Distributors and featured a great set of slim rosewood boot grips. The only problem was that there was no place for my little finger and this was far from the best arrangement when shooting full power factory magnum ammunition. I replaced them with a nice-looking set of light cherry service grips augmented with a Tyler T-grip adapter. While better it was still not the optimal set-up for a magnum handgun. I finally found a set of Pachmayr rubber grips that fit the revolver and my hand extremely well. With these grips and the ported barrel shooting the full power magnum ammunition is no problem.









Here are the technical Specifications:

Model: 586 L-Comp
Caliber: .357MAG/.38+P
Capacity: 7 Rounds
Barrel Length: Full Lug 3" Ported
Front Sight: Ramp with Tritium Dot Night Sight
Rear Sight: Adjustable Black Blade
Grip: Altamont Rosewood Checkered Combat
Frame: Medium
Finish: Black
Overall Length: 8"
Material: Carbon Steel
Weight: 37.5 oz.

Here’s how she shot:

This target was placed at 21 feet and fired at with 50 rounds of Magtech 158 grain semi-jacketed soft point .357 magnum ammunition.


So here’s to Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper may you rest in peach and may your wisdom live on.

Nothing Fancy, Just Plinking

Today’s Range Report is just for fun. A relaxing morning at the range spent with a couple of Smith & Wesson revolvers just plinking away at some fun targets.

The first revolver is the Smith & Wesson Model 317 in .22 Long Rifle. This is an ultra light weight handgun and here are the technical specifications:

Model: 317
Caliber: .22LR
Capacity: 8 Rounds
Barrel Length: 3"
Front Sight: HI-VIZ Front
Rear Sight: Adjustable
Grip: Rubber Grips
Frame: Small - Chiefs Special Style
Finish: Clear Coat
Overall Length: 7 1/4"
Material: Alloy
Weight Empty: 11.9 oz.

This is a comfortable revolver to carry and to shoot. Recoil is hardly an issue, the rubber grips fit my hand very well, and the green fiber-optic HI-VIZ front sight is easy to see. Even though this revolver is produced on S&W’s small J-frame they have managed to squeeze 8 rounds into the cylinder.

How She Shot

Fortunately this revolver comes with adjustable rear sights. I had tried several brands of ammunition CCI Stinger, CCI Velocitor, CCI Quick Shok, CCI Blazer, and Federal Game Shok. The CCI Quick Shok and the Federal Game Shok turned in the most consistent groups which allowed me to dial the sights into my point of aim. The groups were somewhat disappointing in light of Smith & Wesson’s website information about this revolver which states:

“Smith & Wesson's line of Rimfire revolvers is the perfect choice for competition, plinking and small game hunting….The small frame Rimfire is built on an aluminum alloy frame with a 2" or 3" barrel, chambered for .22 LR, is perfect for target competition.” Target Competition? I don't think so!

The targets shown here were all shot with Federal Game Shok ammunition which has published ballistics of 1240 feet per second and 137 foot pounds of energy.

The first target was placed at 21 feet. I do not recall how many rounds were fired at it; I was plinking and when plinking you don’t count. I can tell you that it only took 3 rounds to hit the small quarter sized bulls eye in the upper left corner. I fired 8 rounds at the bulls eye on the right and did not manage to land one.






The second target was place at 31 feet. It is certainly not match accuracy but all in all it is not bad for a 3 inch barreled revolver.














Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece in 38 Special

I have written about this revolver before and really like it. For a full review I would recommend that you go back into my archives and locate the complete review. This revolver is ultra accurate and the double action trigger pull is fairly light and smooth as butter. The only thing that bothers me is the grip. The rubber grips are rather thin so they focus the recoil into the web of my hand. I would also like a more visible front sight however; with the inherent accuracy already in this revolver my gut tells me to leave well enough alone.


Shooting the Combat Masterpiece

The first target was placed at 21 feet. The center bullseye was fired at with 15 rounds of Magtech .38 Special 158 grain Lead Round Nose ammunition. The quarter sized bullseye at the upper portion of the page was fired at three times with the same ammunition.








The next target was also placed at 21 feet. I wanted to see how this revolver would perform with some hotter self defense ammunition. I fired 12 rounds of Winchester .38 Special +P 158 grain Lead Swaged Hollowpoint ammunition. The accuracy was again, superb. I tend to like the heavier bullets in the Smith & Wesson ammo as the 158 grain bullet was the load that the Smith & Wesson K frame revolvers were designed around. The published ballistics show this round moving at 890 feet per second with 278 foot pounds of energy.










The next three targets were placed at 35 feet with Magtech 158 grain .38 Special ammunition.

In the first one the Terrorist is attempting to assassinate a Fox News journalist. It is rare to see this terrorist actually brandishing a handgun since he has sponsored so much legislation against them. His normal weapon of choice is ill-conceived socialist dribble although when he began his career as an assassin he used a 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88, a rickety bridge and a shallow creek.








In the next target the terrorist is attempting to assassinate the 2nd Ammendment. Although she wants Ammendment #2 to get whacked, intelligence reports that she received the last concealled weapons permit before they were permanently banned in her residence within the USSF (the Union of Socialist San Francisco).













In the next target two Tikritan Terrorists are blocking rush hour traffic. Fortunately I was able to convince Darryl and his other brother Darryl that they are Fallujah Sh*t.

Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece .38 Special

History
This revolver’s pedigree goes back to the turn of the 19th Century. President McKinley was in the White House and Smith & Wesson was battling Colt for revolver supremacy. Smith & Wesson had evolved from producing breaktop handguns to revolvers with the new swingout cylinder. Colt had been evolving in the same realm and came out with their revolvers chambered for the .38 Long Colt. The U.S. Military jumped on board and soon regreted it as the new cartridge was not a good manstopper (see last week’s posting for the Taurus PT1911 which includes the history of the .45 ACP cartridge). Smith & Wesson lengthened the cartridge and introduced their 1st Model Hand Ejector in the more powerful .38 Smith & Wesson Special (most commonly referred to as just the .38 Special) and in doing so the .38 Special became the most popular centerfire revolver cartridges in History. (Note: the .38 Smith & Wesson Special/.38 Special should not be confused with the .38 Smith & Wesson which is a different cartridge and is not interchangeable with the .38 Special. Similarly the .38 Super is also a different round designed for semi-automatic pistols only. The .38 Super semi-automatic round should not be confused with the .38+P/ .38 Special+P, the later referring to a .38 Special revolver cartridge that is loaded to a higher pressure making the round more powerful. By now you should be thoroughly confused…so let’s continue.) Both Smith & Wesson, Colt, and many, many other manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, have produced revolvers for the .38 Special and prior to the high-capacity 9mm bonanza of the early 1990’s this cartridge was the overwhelming choice of police departments across the country. Even departments who issued a .357 Colt or Smith & Wesson revolver generally only allowed their officers to carry it with a .38 special load. The 1st Model Hand Ejector was a handsome revolver with a tapered barrel available in several different lengths and fitted with basic fixed sights.

Smith & Wesson continually found ways to improve their handguns and, in 1905 the .38 Special which was issued in Smith’s familiar and famous K-frame became designated the .38 Military & Police Model. Fixed sights remained and while different barrel lengths were available 4 or 5 inch barreled revolvers were the most common versions produced.
From 1905 until 1940 Smith & Wesson produced some 1 million .38 Special Military & Police revolvers. During World War II Smith & Wesson produced a variation on the M&P called the Victory Model. This was war-time production and these revolvers generally seem to be a little rough around the edges. The four inch barrel was by far the most common length and most were parkerized rather than sporting a blued finish. In fact I have seen some that appear to have been painted black. The Victory Model was issued to a lot of Navy Airmen and Army tank crews many of which were carried in shoulder holsters. Victory models also went overseas to England chambered in the shorter and less powerful .38 Smith & Wesson Cartride (as opposed to the .38 Special). The .38 Smith & Wesson was, at the time, the standard military handgun cartridge issued to Great Britan’s soldiers and when Webley was unable to manufacture enough of their own revolvers the Crown turned to Smith & Wesson. By the end of WWII Smith & Wesson had cranked out another 1 million M&P/Victory model revolvers.

In 1949 Smith & Wesson came out with a new .38 Special model entitled the Combat Masterpiece. This revolver was basically a Military & Police with a 4 inch ribbed barrel and adjustable sights. In 1957 Smith & Wesson changed it’s cataloging system with their descriptive handgun names being replaced by a drab numerical moniker. As such the M&P became the Model 10 and the Combat Masterpiece became listed as the Model 15. Both the fixed sighted Model 10 and the adjustable sighted Model 15 became stalwarts in the police arsenal and this takes us to the revolver being examined in this review

Smith & Wesson Model 15
Return with us now to those golden days of law enforcement yesteryear as we go all the way back to…the 1980’s. This revolver is curiously marked as belonging to “OR. CO. CAL. (presumably the Orange County, California Sherrif’s Department).
This is a basic K-frame Smith & Wesson with the ribbed barrel and plain black adjustable sights (no white dots, no gold beads, no red ramp, no fiber optics, no glow-in-the-dark inserts). This specimen also sports finger-grooved rubber grips with very slight palm swells. In the 1980’s rubber grips were very popular and Smith & Wesson did offer them as a standard option most being from Uncle Mike’s of Oregon. This set however, has no exterior markings as to the manufacturer. Upon removing the grips the interior of both panels are marked “S&W K Frame—Square Butt—Made in Italy”. Therefore nothing definative was gained as to their origin.

As mentioned earlier, at one point the blued S&W K frame .38 Special revolver ruled the law enforcement roost for many years and has since pretty much vanished. While it is easy to think that the move toward the high capacity 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the late 1980's caused the demise of the blued .38 Special revolver the decline actually came several years earlier with the advent of stainless steel .357 Magnum revolvers. In the 1970's the Smith & Wesson Model 66 Stainless Steel .357 Magnum revolver became the holy grail of the law enforcement crowd as well as the civilian shooter and Smith & Wesson could not keep up with the demand. I remember putting a $100.00 down payment on a Model 66 in the summer of 1978 (and $100 was a lot of money for me at the time) at my local Em-Roe Sporting Goods store in Indianapolis, Indiana. The revolver was ordered and my name went on a waiting list. In December I got the deposit refunded and used the money to buy Christmas presents. The demand for the revolver was hyped by many misconceptions about the Stainless .357 revolver. The three most common were:
1. Stainless Steel is rustproof. False--while it may be considered rust-resistant, it will rust if mistreated.
2. Stainless Steel handguns do not need to be cleaned. False again and if left uncleaned you would eventually discover the difference between rust resistant and rust proof.
3. Here's the biggest misconception I heard in those days: A .38 Special cartridge fired from a .357 revolver became somehow magically more powerful than if fired from a .38 Special revolver. Again, false. In fact, the longer .357 cylinder chamber also allowed more gas and energy to escape while the bullet jumped the gap into the barrel's forcing cone. Not a huge amount but there was some loss of velocity and energy. I will admit that advances in higher pressure .38 Special ammunition rendered .38+P cartridges unsuitable in vintage, President McKinley-era revolvers. Both the ammunition manfacturers and firearms producers did a lot of advertising to educate the gun shooting consumer that these new +P cartridges should only be fired in modern revolvers. Many shooters gravitated to the .357 revolver for the +P .38 Special ammunition, but a modern .38 Special revolver would work just fine.

But let's get back to this Model 15. One of the first things noticable on this revolver is the condition. The barrel and rifling are in outstanding shape with no evidence that the revolver has been fired. The finish is original and probably in 95% condition or slightly better with absolutely no holster wear. Is it possible that Orange County never issued this revolver and it sat in the armory virtually unused? I am really curious about this piece. If anyone knows a retired O.C. deputy who worked in the armory and can provide some color, please let me know.

The second thing noticable about this revolver is the trigger. My assumption would be that this trigger had been tuned, possible by the Orange County Department Armorer or possibly by some civilian gunsmith. I wish I knew who worked on the trigger because I would send them every revolver I own. The double action pull is extremely smooth and just about as light as you would want on a defensive revolver. The double action pull is so good that there is no need to fire it in the single action mode.

This brings me to accuracy. It doesn’t get much better than this. While I have owned two Model 10s in the past, this is the first Model 15 I have ever fired. It is easy to understand why Smith & Wesson originally dubbed this revolver the “Combat Masterpiece”.

(Click on image to enlarge. Six rounds fired at each target from 21 feet)

Living in Los Angeles at the time I remember that soon after the Military retired their Model 1911 .45 ACP pistols in favor of the Beretta Model 92 in 9mm the L.A.P.D also switched from their Model 15 .38 Special revolvers to the Beretta. This was around 1988 and I am sure that Orange County followed suit soon after. While I can understand the rationale behind the argument for the Beretta’s higher capacity 9mm magazine I cannot imagine finding a Beretta (or Glock, which has become the current law enforcement standard) that is more accurate and easier to shoot than this Smith revolver.
(Click on image to enlarge. 2o rounds fired at 50 feet.)

Taurus Tracker .44 Magnum

Company History
Tauras Manufacturing began as a producer of small tools in Porto Alegre, Brazil and manufactured their first revolver in 1941. In 1968 they began exporting firearms to the United States. Their entry into the US firearms market was fairly disrespected by the gun buying public. That began to change in the later part of the 1970's as their handguns came to bear a very close resemblence to Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolvers and Beretta 9mm semi-automatic pistols. This is because, in 1970, 54% of the company was purchased by the conglomerate Bangor Punta. That name may strike a familiar chord with those of you who were handgun afficiandos in those days as you will well remember that Bangor Punta also owned Smith & Wesson. In 1974 Beretta was contracted to supply their famous 9mm pistols to the Brazilian army. Part of the deal stipulated that Beretta produce them in Brazil. When the contract ran out Beretta sold the entire production facility to Taurus including the staff, drawings, and all manufacturing equipment. In the later part of the 1980's Taurus announced that their firearms now included a lifetime warantee and began to tweak their designs offering improvements and a style all their own. Taurus has always produced an economical firearm, but their revolvers and semi-automatic pistols are now renowned for quality, safety, and accuracy giving the gun buyer the best value for the money.

.44 Magnum Tracker Revolver
The Tracker is good packin' revolver as it is manufactured on the Taurus compact frame which gives it a capacity of 5 rounds. It comes in blue steel and is not too heavy weighing in at 34 ounces. The front sight is of the fixed red ramp variety and the rear sight is outlined in white and is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation. Even with hot full power magnum ammunition the revolver was comfortable to shoot due to the ported barrel, smooth & wide target trigger, and the Taurus "Ribber" grip. In my humble opinion Taurus makes the best revolver grip produced anywhere.

Shooting the Tracker
As mentioned above, the Tracker was very comfortable to shoot. Accuracy with .44 Special loads was good and, with the ported barrel and "ribber" grips, the revolver was absolutely no problem to shoot.
(Click image to enlarge Cartridge Line-up. From left to right: .22 Long Rifle, .22 Magnum, .32 S&W, .32 Long Colt, .32 S&W Long, .32 ACP, .380 ACP, 9mm, .38 Special, .40 S&W, .44 Special, .45 ACP, .357 Magnum, .45 Colt, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum.)
The Tarus manual recommended that it be shot with 240 grain bullets. While the 240 grainers are made in a .44 special load it is more of a speciality item and not readily available in my locality. The 240 grain bullet weight is the most popular size for .44 magnum loads and this is when the revolver really began to shine.

(click on image to enlarge photo)
All targets shown were set at 21 feet. The target on the left was fired at with 5 rounds of Winchester 240 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint .44 magnum loads and the target on the right took 10 rounds of the same hot ammunition.

(click on image to enlarge photo)

The target on the left was shot with 20 rounds of Winchester Silvertip 210 grain .44 Magnum ammo and the target on the right was hit with 20 rounds of Federal 240 grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint .44 Magnum ammunition.

For everyday defense I would go with the 210 grain Winchester Silvertip ammo. It is slightly less powerful and therefore easier to shoot than the 240 grain bullets. However, if traversing the wilderness of Idaho I would feel very confident with the Winchester .240 grain ammunition which seemed to produce the best accuracy of the four loads tested.