Quote:
Originally Posted by BMur
Yes Sir, I did not perform a study on the Smiths. There were additional methods used by manufacturers to reduce pressure. Changes to land(rifling design) was by far the most common . . . Bottom line is there "must be" a difference. It might be subtle but it's there . . . I do have a perfection model that dates to post 1900 . . .
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Sorry, but I believe you might be reaching for straws here. You will find no difference in the rifling between pre-1898 and post 1898 top breaks. Many top-break S&Ws were made well past 1900. 32 DA mfg. 1919; 32 Safety mfg. 1927, 38 DA mfg. 1911; 38 Safety mfg. 1940; 44 SA (NM3) mfg. 1913; 44 DA mfg. 1913. These revolvers remained the same design, same materials, and the same rifling. The only change was that the post 1900s guns shot smokeless and the pre-1900 guns shot BP, all without concern over the small differences in ballistics.
I checked my antique 38 Double Action revolvers and compared them to my collection of 38 Perfected revolvers to find no difference in rifling, twist/pitch, lands or grooves. Also, you will notice that I did not call the 38 top-break with a thumb release a "perfection", but rather by the name both the company and collectors call it.