Category: All About Guns
Israel: Draconian Gun Control in a Country in Desperate Need of a 2nd Amendment.
Editor’s Note: This article ran in the spring of 2022. Firearms News is currently working on a new report regarding reports of Israel issuing emergency gun licenses.
On March 22, 2022, Islamic State supporter Mohammad Abu al-Kiyan stabbed a woman to death at a gas station in Beersheba, Israel. He then proceeded to run down and kill a Chabad rabbi who was riding a bicycle. Al-Kiyan subsequently stabbed another two Israelis to death before being gunned down. Five days later a pair of ISIS gunmen opened fire at a bus stop in Hadera, Israel, killing two and wounding another dozen. Two days after that a 26-year-old Palestinian named Diaa Hamarsheh infiltrated Brnei Brak, Israel, and began firing from his car. His five victims included a 29-year-old rabbi who had been pushing his two-year-old son in a baby carriage.
On April 7, 2022, a 28-year-old Palestinian named Raad Hazem opened fire on a crowd in Tel Aviv, Israel. He ultimately killed three Israelis and wounded six. Around 1,000 soldiers and police officers were mobilized in response. Hazem took refuge in a nearby mosque and was later killed in a gunfight with Shin Bet agents. These are just a few examples. There have been many more. With each outburst of violence there is celebration in Palestinian-held territories and veneration of the perpetrators as martyrs. In response, Israeli security services crack down, and the cycle of violence escalates. The innocent are most frequently the victims.
Recent Events
This was a demoralizing article to research. I was last in Israel several years ago. I left enraptured with the place. Most Israelis are military veterans, and there was a sense of civic responsibility that eclipsed anything we enjoy over on this side of the pond. Every square meter of the country seemed to be cultivated or put to some similar good use. Everything seemed clean and tidy. The Israeli people were independent, industrious, and friendly. I was struck by the prevalence of firearms. Back then IDF (Israel Defense Force) soldiers frequently brought their service weapons home and carried them in public.
I saw young studs in civilian clothes out on dates with their girlfriends while packing Tavors, M4’s, and Mekut’zrar carbines. Israelis also seemed enamored with dummy cords. You could tell who was packing handguns in a crowd by the little curly cords that snaked out from underneath their shirts. All the greeters at hotels and museums were armed.
There was a reason for all those guns. Folks have been fighting over that remarkable scrap of dirt since the literal dawn of humanity. However, in recent years it appears Israel has become infected with the same socialist ideals that seem to drive most modern nation states.
I asked one 72-year-old Israeli back then about the rules for owning a weapon. He said that you had to get a permit from the government and show a need, but he claimed none of that was terribly difficult. His job as a tour guide was adequate to land him a 9mm Jericho pistol.
However, at some point between then and now something changed. As I type these words, Ukraine is in an existential fight for survival. When times were darkest the Ukrainian government was freely distributing assault rifles to anyone who could show an ID and sign up for their territorial defense forces (TDF). However, as soon as they caught their breath, the Ukrainian government began quietly retrieving military-issued weapons from private citizens in the TDF.
There has likewise been a gradual creeping effort in Israel to deprive private citizens of the tools they need to defend themselves in the face of rampant terrorism. In a nation comprised almost entirely of military veterans, it has become suffocatingly difficult to obtain a firearm for personal defense.
If ever there was a place and a time when private citizens needed to be armed it is there and now, yet the Israeli government nonetheless discourages its citizens from being prepared.
Private companies requiring weapons to do business must be extensively licensed, and transportation requirements are oppressive. Police approval is required to transport company weapons both to and from the range. Guns may only be moved in an approved vehicle.
Weapons must be religiously logged in and out. Of the 195 sovereign nations in the world, only four include constitutional protections for the right to bear arms. Of those three, Mexico and Guatemala clearly don’t take it seriously.
Only the United States and the Czech Republic actually treat the individual right to keep and bear arms with the respect it’s due. The experience of our Israeli friends should serve as a cautionary tale to any American who might question whether or not the 2nd Amendment requires defending.
Origin Story
The modern state of Israel came into being on May 14, 1948, in the bloody wake of the Holocaust. The following day the five surrounding nations of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan invaded. Israel has been fighting for its very survival ever since.
Several geopolitical areas remain at the heart of this ongoing conflict. The Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem is the third-holiest site in Islam and rests atop the Temple Mount, the most venerated scrap of dirt in Judaism.
The Gaza Strip is a modest 141-square-mile piece of land governed by the Palestinians that rests between Israel and Egypt. The West Bank is a disputed territory separating Israel from Jordan. The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau wrested from the Syrians in 1967. Each of these spaces is a nidus for conflict today.
Violence has been an simmering constant since 1948, but there have been several full-blown wars. The Suez Crisis of 1956 pitted Britain, France, and Israel against the Egyptians. The Six Day War in 1967 saw Israel seize Jerusalem, Gaza, the Sinai, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. Israel eventually returned the Sinai to Egypt following negotiations 12 years later.
The subsequent 1973 Yom Kippur War, though bloody, was not nearly so transformative. The 1982 Lebanon War and the several Palestinian Intifadas that followed spilt a river of blood. Today violence taints most everything in the Holy Land. I stood on the back balcony of my hotel holding my daughter’s hand and watched the rockets rising out of Gaza. We Americans have a great deal for which to be grateful.
Boots on the Ground
I reached out to Howard Linnett, a friend who has lived in Israel for decades, with a series of questions. Howard is uniquely qualified to comment on the current state of affairs.
Dr. Will Dabbs: What’s your story?
Howard Linnett: I was born and bred in a working class factory town in Connecticut in the days when Connecticut was a firearms manufacturing dynamo. I was awarded my Eagle Scout rank in 1964. College took me away from home. Not too long after the Six Day War, I did my junior year abroad as a foreign student at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. There I met a beautiful Israeli sergeant still doing reserve duty. We married a year later. My roots have been deep in Israel ever since.
WD: What is your military history?
HL: I was drafted into the Israeli Army in the late ‘70s. Platoon Honor Graduate, Combat Engineers. Learned to build. And learned to destroy. Explosives are fun!
WD: There has been a recent uptick in violence by disaffected Palestinians. What is your view on this from your intimate vantage?
HL: Terrorism never stops. From kindergarten, Arab children are taught Israel must be destroyed. If a Palestinian commits a terror attack and is caught and sentenced to jail, she or he is idolized and receives a salary from the Palestinian Authority.
If killed in the attack, the terrorist’s family receives a monthly stipend. “Pay-for-Slay” allows any disaffected Israeli or Palestinian Arab a perfect way to end their life.
WD: PM Bennett has called upon Israeli citizens who are authorized to carry concealed weapons to do so. Does there seem to be a fresh push to increase the number of armed Israelis in the general population?
HL: When terror is everywhere and constant, several thousand or more folks file applications for a license to purchase and possess a handgun. Then the issuing authority (the police) s-l-o-w-l-y processes the application.
Permits are not easily obtained. One must “qualify” and self-defense is not one of the few reasons for which a permit is granted. Any notion to increase the number of handguns licensed to civilians is purely cosmetic and entirely fleeting.
The number of licenses decreases every year by perhaps 10,000. When the population is scared and the police hopeless and hapless, the powers-that-be call for licensed gun owners, licensed “to carry,” to do so.
The politicians also mouth-off about easing the requirements to qualify for a firearms license. The crisis is over before any changes can be legislated. Thus ends any meaningful regulatory change. Licenses for rifles and shotguns are virtually non-existent.
WD: What seemed to be the feelings of the last three or four prime ministers on gun ownership?
HL: Prime Ministers don’t really get involved in gun issues.
WD: How difficult is it to own a firearm as a private citizen in Israel?
HL: Close to impossible.
WD: What is involved in legally carrying a concealed weapon?
HL: One’s permit to possess a handgun must be for self-defense based upon a government determination that where you live or where you travel is dangerous and you need the means to defend yourself.
WD: When I was in Israel, I was struck by the number of young soldiers out in public in civilian clothes who were packing their service rifles. What are the rules concerning this practice?
HL: Nowadays soldiers are, for the most part, no longer allowed to take their rifle home with them. Theft of rifles from soldiers’ homes is a huge problem. Civilians who live in communities in “dangerous” locations may be issued a rifle by the IDF, especially if the individual is a member of her or his community’s ERT. These folks come and go from home with the rifle as a matter of self-defense.
WD: What sorts of weapons can be privately held in Israel?
HL: One handgun, if you qualify. Glocks are the most prevalent. If you are an IPSC “active shooter” (participate in a minimum of five national competitions a year) you may be granted a license for a second handgun.
Only about 100 of us have rifles, grandfathered from our days as volunteer police precision marksmen and women. We are now members of the Israeli Rifleman Association.
Last time I asked, there remained the requirement that one must be an “active” shooter (participate in a minimum of five national competitions a year) for three years before being able to apply for a license to purchase and possess a rifle.
The Rifleman Association and the Israeli Shooting Federation must recommend one for a rifle license and endorse one’s application in writing. Then it is lots of luck.
Only active shooters can apply for a Israeli Shooting Federation recommendation to purchase ammunition. Otherwise one is limited to a box of 50 rounds. If you want to practice at a range, you purchase what you are going to fire for that practice session. One cannot buy more ammunition than you shoot then and there.
WD: Is there a gun culture in Israel?
HL: There are less than 180,000 licenses for approximately eight million citizens. Except during times of heightened terrorism anyone who would possess a firearm without being compelled to do so because of their job (soldier, police officer, etc.) is viewed by the general public as simply being mentally defective. Those same people are the first ones to ask that you sit next to them, if they know you are armed, when you get on Jerusalem’s Lite Rail.
WD: Is there an anti-gun political lobby in Israel?
HL: YES. It is called the Government. It is scared of armed folks.
WD: It seems the Israeli gun lobby cannot get traction due to a liberal/socialist leaning population. Is there an effective pro-gun political lobby in Israel?
HL: No movement of Israeli gun owners exists. Politics rule. Citizens don’t.
WD: How much of the population seems socialist/leftist and do you feel that this is where the opposition to gun ownership is birthed?
HL: Much of the opposition to gun ownership comes from the various women’s movements. They point to deaths of women from firearms. Otherwise opposition against private ownership of firearms goes back to the founding of Israel. If memory serves me, the second law passed by the Israeli Legislature (1949) was confiscation of all firearms and munitions.
WD: Do Israelis appreciate that, historically speaking, disarmament of the civilian population has led to genocide?
HL: Israelis rely on the IDF.
WD: The M1 carbine was once common in Israel. Are weapons donated by the United States still in use?
HL: The IDF is transitioning to the M16/M4 with a shorter barrel and flattop upper. Those M1 carbines were collected and sold as surplus to foreign purchasers.
WD: How does mandatory military service flavor Israeli culture and society?
HL: Military service is not really universal. For example, ultraorthodox constitute a group of citizens whose participation in the IDF is mostly voluntary.
Those who choose to serve are often scorned and banished by their community. Theoretically, Israel has a combat experienced reserve of men and women. Our reserves provide a quiet sense of added security.
WD: Israel is a melting pot of cultures dating back millennia. What are your observations on the engines behind the ongoing violence?
HL: Violence is getting worse. Iran’s people lack clean drinking water, but Iran is the financer of 90% of the terror in the Middle East. Israelis are seen as the latest Crusaders who must be driven into the sea. Convert or die by the sword is alive and well. An all-out Middle Eastern war is inevitable and may spread. We shall see who is the last man standing.
Obtaining a Gun in Israel
A firearms license in Israel is a privilege, not a right. This simple observation fundamentally changes the calculus of personal defense in that country. Additionally, in recent years the government has been actively reducing the number of private firearms held by Israeli citizens. Israeli gun licenses must be renewed every three years.
Applicants must meet a series of preconditions along with at least one eligibility requirement. Applicants must be at least 18 if they have served in the IDF and 27 if they have not.
They must be fluent in Hebrew and have spent at least the previous three years in the country. The application for the license must include a health assessment and declaration performed by a physician along with a certifying letter of residence obtained from the local government council.
Applicants must also pass both written and practical shooting examinations along with an in-person interview. Denial is subjective and difficult to appeal. Recognized eligibility for a gun license includes certain professions such as security guard, explosives transport, or shooting instructor.
One criterion involves those who live or work beyond the Green Line in the West Bank where the threat of terrorism is omnipresent. There are 18 possible eligibility criteria.
Per the Israeli government website, “Once the application is submitted and recorded in the system, it will be forwarded for authorization by the Israel police and the Ministry of Health.
After their authorizations are received, you will be contacted by the Firearm Licensing Information and Service Center to schedule an interview at one of the licensing offices, in order to continue the process.” Processing time is at the whim of the government, and any license holder who finds themselves no longer meeting eligibility criteria must surrender their firearm at a police station within 72 hours.
The US Perspective
“It does not look like any progress is being made in Israel in regards to access to firearms for average citizens. Prime Minister Naftali Bennet recently made a statement encouraging armed citizens to carry their weapons in public, but this was more of a cynical publicity stunt than any indication of progress regarding gun rights.
Only a tiny fraction of the civilian population is licensed to own a firearm, and he has made no efforts whatsoever to enable greater access to firearms for average civilians. Deadly terror attacks against the civilian population are becoming a daily occurrence, yet the Israeli government enforces some of the most extreme gun control measures in the world, completely denying citizens the right to bear arms.
“Many of these terror attacks could easily be stopped if the civilian population was armed. However, in Israel, only police, military, security personnel, and a very small handful of privileged civilians who fall into several “eligible categories” have access to firearms.
The average citizen has no right to own any type of weapon whatsoever, and doing so illegally will land him or her in jail for many years. In situations like these, selecting who gets to have access to firearms and who doesn’t is the equivalent of selecting who gets to live or die.
“The State of Israel seems to think it has the power of God in deciding which citizens have a right to live and which don’t. Israel has no NRA or gun lobby, and those who wish to own a firearm in Israel are essentially powerless to do anything to change the situation.
This situation is absolutely unacceptable, and we feel it is our moral duty to speak up against these criminal and immoral gun control laws in Israel. So, what are we doing about this?
“The Israeli government is not going to change their policies because those of us in the US oppose them. However, Israel has three national interests that we here in the US do have leverage over —
•
Funding: Israel is heavily dependent on investment and donations from abroad. Israeli bonds and other contributions are essential to Israel’s economy.
- Aliyah (immigration). Israel desperately wants to attract educated and successful American Jews to immigrate there. It sends emissaries abroad to encourage western immigration and invests tens of millions of shekels every year in this policy.
- Political support. Israel heavily depends on American Jews and pro-Israel Christians to support organizations like AIPAC, speak out, and participate in rallies in support of Israel, especially when a major flare-up happens with Hamas in Gaza, usually sparking an international uproar.
“In these three areas, Israel is dependent on our cooperation and support. Threatening that cooperation and support is something the State of Israel is likely to pay attention to. If enough of us get on board, it might put enough pressure on Israel to change its draconian gun control policies. “We are taking the following three steps:
- We are calling our local Israeli consulates or organizations that raise money for Israel and telling them that we will not donate one penny to Israel so long as it continues disarming its citizens in the face of Arab terror.
- We are contacting our local Aliyah (immigration) emissaries and telling them that we would love to make Aliyah (immigrate to Israel), but we cherish our 2nd Amendment rights and will never consider moving there so long as we are barred from bringing our guns with us or buying guns locally.
- We are contacting our local Israeli consulates, AIPAC and/or other pro-Israel organizations, and informing them that they cannot count on us for any kind of political support until Israel recognizes the right to bear arms and allows ALL its citizens to own firearms.
“The way we see it, if only a few of us do this, it will be easy for them to laugh us off and completely ignore us. However, if hundreds or thousands of us do this, they will have no choice but to listen.” For more information, please visit CherevGidon.com.
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Smith & Wesson Revolver
Growing up in Mingo County, W. Va., along the border with Kentucky, my early exposure to double-action revolvers was considerable. That area was the site of the infamous Hatfield/McCoy feud and the extremely violent Coal Mine/Union Wars of the 1920’s. My own coal-mining grandfather was never without Smith & Wesson handguns of one sort or another, and it seemed that if I talked to a man who owned a revolver in those days it was also a Smith & Wesson. By the time I was old enough and learned enough to discern the different models of revolver, I could see the handgun shelves of the local pawn shops were three deep in various used Colt and Smith & Wesson double actions. To my recollection a significant percentage of those used guns were big-bore Smith & Wessons.
Indeed, the first 60 to 70 years of the 1900’s were the golden era of double-action revolvers. In that era, autoloading handguns were mostly used by bull’s-eye target shooters or the military. It was a rare cop or civilian who relied on one for self-defense. In the first seven decades of the 20th century the two giants of handgun manufacturing — Colt and Smith & Wesson in their combined efforts — produced some of the finest quality double actions ever made. Common items in their catalogs were things like Smith & Wesson K-models in .22, .32, and .38 calibers, or the big Colt New Service model in bore sizes from .38 to .45. Colt’s Python was a legend and Smith & Wesson’s “.357 Magnum” was coveted. However, to many avid handgunners of that era, and to those of us like myself, John Taffin and Clint Smith who got in at the tail end of the era, the crème de la crème was the N-Frame Smith
& Wesson.
This is an original Model 21 left, and the new Model 21-4 Thunder Ranch Revolver on
right along with the special loads Black Hills Ammunition has produced for the latter gun.
These are the S&W N-frame .38-44’s. Top and bottom are Outdoorsman (Model 23).
In between are two Heavy Duty Model 21’s
What’s In A Name?
In their first half century they came in four basic versions. Collectors today call them Hand Ejector; 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Models. There have also been considerable sub-variants and nicknames such as Triplelock, Model 1917, Outdoorsman, Model 1926, Highway Patrolman, Model 1950 Military, or the newest — Thunder Ranch Revolver. Circa 1957 Smith & Wesson began assigning model numbers instead of names to their handguns, and the N-frames took up the range from Model 20 to Model 29 and ran over into the Model 50 range.
Most people mentally associate N-frame Smith & Wessons with .44’s — first the .44 Special and then the awesomely powerful .44 Magnum. However, in truth, .44’s were a minority among N-frames. Far more were produced as .45 ACP or .38/.357 caliber. And let’s not forget the many thousands made in .41 Mag since its inception in 1964. More than a handful of N-frames have been made for what could be considered odd-ball cartridges by mainstream shooters. Those would be .38-40 and .44-40. The British government bought well over 70,000 N-frames (Hand Ejector 1st & 2nd Models) chambered for their puny .455 Webley cartridge during WWI.
The Roaring 20’s: These are examples of each S&W N-Frame.
These three Hand Ejector, 3rd Model .44 Specials are examples of the three standard
barrel lengths Smith & Wesson offered on early years’ N-Frames.
Chosen Identity
Smith & Wesson focused on the .44 as its premier big-bore handgun cartridge since 1870 with the introduction of their top break Model No. 3 revolver. Starting in 1872 that focus had narrowed on the fine little .44 Russian round with its .97″-long case. However, by 1907 smokeless powders were here to stay, as were revolvers whose cylinders swung to the side for loading. A side-swing revolver could be built stronger than the top-break types, and Smith & Wesson chose that time to introduce their first big-bore, large-frame, side-swing revolver. This was the premier of the N-frame, and they called the first revolver based upon it the Model 1908 Military. Later after other models were built it came to be known as the Hand Ejector, 1st Model, and almost every avid shooter has heard its famous nickname of “Triplelock.” It is a legend among revolver fans.
They certainly were beautifully made firearms. If you run across one in nice shape, take a look at yourself in its blue. They were polished that nicely. The “Triplelock” moniker came from the unique third lock the company put on the revolver’s crane, and removed in 1915 as unnecessary. It was. The Hand Ejector, 2nd Model shot just as good as the “Triplelock,” just as strong and cost an amazing $2 less when introduced ($19 as opposed to $21).
Smith & Wesson didn’t have much truck with the popular .45 Colt cartridge through the golden era. Along the way some N-frames were so chambered, Triplelocks and some Model 1950’s, but not many. In the 1970’s S&W started building the Model 25-5. More about that one shortly.
Some handgun fans didn’t like the removal of the barrel underlug and prevailed on Smith & Wesson to put it back. That revolver is called Hand Ejector, 3rd Model, but is also known as the Model 1926. It evolved into the Model 1950 Military, which was identical in form but contained some internal engineering changes. It then became the Model 21 and, in 2004, was returned to us as the Model 21-4 aka Thunder Ranch Revolver thanks to the efforts of Clint Smith.
The .38-44 cartridge (left) was a high-pressure version of the .38 Special meant only for
shooting in guns built on .44 size frames. It was the forerunner of the .357 Magnum.
N-Frame Smith & Wessons have been chambered for these cartridges (from left) the .38 Special,
.357 Magnum, .38 WCF, .41 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-40, .44 Magnum, .45 ACP, .455 Webley, and .
45 Colt.
They could also chamber such rounds as the .38 Long Colt in .38 Special/.357 Magnums or .44 Russians in .44 Special/.44 Magnums but were not specifically chambered for such cartridges.
One little known fact is Smith & Wesson always offered a target version of the Hand Ejector .44 Specials along with the standard fixed-sight ones. Sometimes these were very rare. For instance, a target-sighted “Triplelock” is not too uncommon. I’ve owned one myself for nearly 20 years. But, as avid as I am about N-frame Smith & Wessons, and as many gun shows I’ve attended around the country, I’ve still never seen a target-sighted Hand Ejector 2nd or 3rd Model. By the Hand Ejector 4th Model the company gave the target version its own name of Model 1950 Target and for once it sold in greater numbers than the fixed-sight version (5,050 to 1,200 in a 16-year period).
It became the Model 24, and was returned in the 1980’s with even a snubnose version sold by the big distributor Lew Horton. Those are nifty little N-frames, which definitely seems like a contradiction in terms considering the N-frame’s size.
Since small-frame handguns are obviously strong enough to accommodate the .38 Special cartridge, it may seem odd to the uninitiated why Smith & Wesson chose to make N-frames in .38 Special. There was a method to their madness. In 1930 it was decided to increase the .38 Special’s power — and hence its pressures — dramatically. The new round was called the .38-44, meaning it was a .38 caliber meant to be used in .44-size handguns. Factory ammunition for it was even headstamped “.38-44” so knowledgeable shooters would not fire such rounds in smaller, weaker handguns. Smith & Wesson named the first fixed-sight .38-44’s “Heavy Duty.” Within a couple of years, public demand called for a target version and they named it the Outdoorsman. Eventually they became the Model 20 and 23 respectively.
Where ballistics of a standard .38 Special cartridge called for a 158-grain roundnose bullet at about 850 fps, the powerful .38-44 had the same bullet moving at about 1,150 fps. That still didn’t satisfy everyone, so in 1935 Smith & Wesson launched the magnum era. They lengthened the .38 Special case from 1.16″ to 1.29″ and beefed up the N-frame with heat treatment techniques, and so were able to push 158-grain bullets up to 1,500 fps. From 1935 to 1939 Smith & Wesson offered their “.357 Magnums” in a registered version, which meant they came from the factory with paperwork showing they had been ordered by and shipped to specific individuals. I have one in my collection with factory letter saying that it was one ordered as a registered magnum, but in 1939 was one of the very first shipped without the registration papers after that service was discontinued by the factory.
The “.357 Magnum” was a Cadillac sixgun in fit and finish, almost as good as those old “Triplelocks.” Their cost reflected such, as they were priced at $60 when other S&W N-Frames cost $35. For that reason Smith & Wesson brought out a low-cost version called the “Highway Patrolman” in the early 1950’s. In physical size it was identical to the “.357 Magnum,” but finished more to suit the working man and his pocketbook. The earlier version became the Model 27 and the latter the Model 28.
Smith & Wesson
This third lock on the revolver’s crane (above) is the feature that gave the Hand Ejector, 1st Model its unique name of “Triplelock.” Early S&W N-Frame .357 Magnums were simply named “The .357 Magnum” (bottom)
Smith & Wesson Barrel
The Magnum Hook
Smith & Wesson saw the magnum hook landed many customers, and repeated the process again in 1955 and 1964 with .44 and .41 Magnum revolvers. Everyone knows the story of the .44 Magnum and how Elmer Keith pushed for a more powerful .44, but how it was Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry” who made everybody want one. At least until they fired part of a box of factory loads, and then either put the gun away in like-new condition or sold it likewise in new condition. I bought my 1956-vintage .44 Magnum in such shape along with a partial box of .44 Magnum factory loads from a Mingo County deputy sheriff in 1968.
The .44 Magnum became the Model 29 and has always been made with adjustable sights, but since someone envisioned the .41 to also be a police gun, S&W made it with both fixed and target sights. There was no more room in the Model 20-somethings for .41’s so they became the Model 57 (adjustable sights) and Model 58 (fixed).
Of course the N-Frame story didn’t end in 1964 with the .41 Magnum. The company makes many versions of N-Frames today. But actually the innovations with the N-Frame did end a while back. There have been variations such as the stainless steel Model 6XX-somethings or other and titanium/scandium/whatevers, but still all are variations of the same N-frame theme. The only ones that have tickled my fancy have been the various Mountain Revolvers with their lightweight 4″ barrels.
This unique looking revolver is a S&W Model 24 .44 Special with 3″ barrel as
special ordered and sold by distributor Lew Horton.
The only N-Frames to end up in the Model 50 series were the .41 Magnum Models 57 (top) and 58 (bottom).
On Paper
Now I want to tell you my take on N-Frames since my shooting collection holds at least one sample of every basic model made between 1908 and 1964. First let’s cover the .44 Specials. Everyone talks of the Special’s accuracy reputation. In my opinion it isn’t that special. From shooting results of many N-Frame .44 Specials of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Model versions, I don’t think the .44 Special is any more accurate than any other run-of-the mill handgun.
Good Specials will group five shots into about 2″ at 25 yards, which, of course, is more than adequate for most purposes — just not in the legendary arena. Bad ones won’t come close to that. My Model 24/Model 1950 Target certainly isn’t a target grade revolver. It will barely group five shots into 3″ at 25 yards, and I can’t find a single thing wrong with it mechanically. My attitude changes with the new S&W Model 21-4 Thunder Ranch Revolver. It’s the most accurate .44 Special double-action revolver I’ve ever owned; capable of putting five shots into about an inch and a little more at 25 yards with some loads.
The most accurate S&W N-Frames I’ve encountered have been the magnum chambered ones. A recently test-fired Model 27 .357 Magnum put 12 rounds of Federal 125-grain JHPs into an inch at 25 yards from a machine rest. My 1950’s vintage .44 Magnum is almost as accurate, and I’ve never seen a .41 Magnum Smith & Wesson that was not superbly accurate. Why? I see the good coming from a perfect mating of barrel diameters and cylinder chamber mouth diameters, i.e. no larger than a .430″ chamber mouth for a .429″ barrel.
That certainly did not happen with those .45 Colt Model 25-5’s — at least not in the beginning. Like almost everyone else, Smith & Wesson used .451″ barrels in those guns but gave them .456″ chamber mouths. The ones I fired were dismally inaccurate; sometimes not grouping into 4″ at 25 yards. I know for a fact, however, that country/western singer Hank Williams Jr. was instrumental in getting the situation rectified by his input through a friend at Smith & Wesson. Thank God for hillbilly singers!
In my shooting I also ran into an odd situation with other S&W N-Frame .45’s. Those were a Model 1917 and a Model 1950 Army. Not long ago I decided to do a handloading project on the .45 Auto Rim (the .45 ACP given a rim for use in .45 ACP chambered handguns). Along with a Colt Model 1917 and S&W Models 25 and 26 (Models 1950 and 1955 Target respectively) those two handguns were test fired from machine rest. Neither would group under 8″ or 9″ with any lead bullet ammo I fed them. The other three .45 ACP/.45 AR chambered revolvers all shot one or another lead bullet load beautifully. It has been written many times that the Model 1917s were built with shallow rifling for jacketed military ball ammo. I intend to delve into this project deeper with jacketed bullets and will let you know what I discover.
Likewise is true with my Hand Ejector, 2nd Model .455 Webley that factory letters to the Canadian Government in 1916 for use in World War I. With Fiocchi factory loads and my own handloads using a cast RCBS bullet (260-grain hollowbase), it groups around 3″ to 4″ at 25 yards.
And finally for pure joy of just shooting an excellent handgun nothing can beat the S&W Heavy Duty or Outdoorsman (Models 20 & 23). Shot with mild-mannered .38 Special loads these fairly heavy guns hardly have recoil or muzzle blast. In fact the last time I participated in a Thunder Ranch Revolver class, when the .44 Specials began wearing on my hands near the end of a full day’s shooting, I’d dig out the .38-44’s to finish the day. They are just plain comfortable.
And one last point before I finish up. Remember how I said West Virginia had plenty of big-bore Smith & Wessons floating around when I was young? I’ve factory lettered all of those in my collection and was pleased to find that my Hand Ejector, 2nd Model .44 Special went to Charleston, W. Va., in 1929 and my .44 Magnum lettered to Bluefield, W. Va., in 1957.
It’s not so easy to just go out and find good N-Frame Smith & Wesson revolvers anymore. It seems that those who have them are loathe to sell them. But, that doesn’t mean you should despair. The hierarchy of Smith & Wesson nowadays seems to be listening. They brought out those fine S&W Mountain Revolvers, then brought back the .44 Special in the Thunder Ranch Revolver for 2004. I think many of you will like what is coming next.
The US Government also bought many S&W Hand Ejector, 2nd Models chambered for
.45 ACP loaded via “half moon” clips and used them extensively in both World Wars.
During WWI, the British — forever short of firearms — bought a number of “Triplelocks” chambered for the .455 cartridge and right away thought the large under lug encasing the ejector rod and third lock was not needed, especially in the mud of the trenches. Both changes were incorporated in the Second Model.
The American government got involved in 1917 and also needed revolvers, but wanted ones firing the standard rimless .45 ACP cartridge. How does one go about getting rimless cases to extract from a star-type extraction system of a double-action revolver? Someone at S&W had the ingenious idea of making little spring-steel clips holding three rounds each, and the American government reciprocated the favor by buying over 150,000 Hand Ejector, 2nd Models, which they termed the Model 1917.
In fact the “half-moon” clip idea was so good the S&W Model 1917 sold very well for 33 years. It was remodeled as the Model 1950 Army and then seven years later named the Model 22. By the time you read this you will be hearing more about the Model 22, as Smith & Wesson has the one from my personal collection there at the factory for reasons you will soon be reading about.