I have no idea why S&W designed two completely different revolvers and labeled them as Model 1 1/2, and 2, but that was how the company named their handguns in the last half of the nineteenth century. I have seen many factory flyers advertising the three models of tip-up revolvers 1, 1 1/2, and 2. I also have a 1882 Poster from S&W that calls the 32 and 38 centerfire revolvers Model 1 1/2 and Model 2.
Collectors now simply use 32 Single Action and 38 Single Action (1st or 2nd Models). That makes identification much easier for us. These revolvers were made long before company lawyers started down the road of lessening corporate liability, so all the shooter needed to know was how to open, load, close and shoot. Those instructions were inside the top lid of the pasteboard box issued with every gun that left the factory. I do not have an image of the 38 SA box, but for the purpose of this thread, the single action boxes would have had similar instructions as this example of a 32 Double Action box.
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Gary
SWCA 2515
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