So who came up with the Old Army designation for the No. 2 Tip-up? I understand many firearms have acquired unofficial nicknames over the years (such as Trapdoor, Garand, etc.), but Old Army doesn't really fit into the No. 2 Tip-up.

First off, the Army caliber of that time was 44, not 32. Second, to my knowledge there is no No. 2 New Army, so why is it necessary to call this the No. 2 Old Army? And finally, S&W's own advertising literature refers to the revolver as their No. 2 Belt Model.

So, who's responsible for the misnomer

John Gross

The answer is probably lost in antiquity. I think most collectors of the Model 2 just call them the Model 2 Army. Dealer catalogs, etc . sometimes call them "Old" Army. The Army did not have any "official" caliber, or handgun, during the Civil War period the Model 2s were sold, they bought whatever handguns the Ordnance Dep't approved, usually .36 caliber and up percussion models. Ed.

IMO the moniker came about because so many were carried by civil war veterans since the early S&W models were ahead of their time. Despite the smaller caliber of a model 2, having a cartridge revolver, when nearly everyone else had a cap and ball pistol or revolver was a tremendous advantage.

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}-----Jim----->
~SWCA #2732~

Of course I will always defer to Ed's first hand knowledge, But it seems I read somewhere that the S&W Model 2, even though of questionable stoping power, was first used in significant numbers before and early in the CW and was widely referred to as the "Army Model" or the "Army." Later, but only slightly, Colt released its 1860 Army 44 Revolver. The Colt quickly became the preferred stopper in both Cavalry and regular Army Units and because of its name was also referred to as the Army revolver. To distinguish between the two, the S&W Model 2 became the "Old Army" revolver.

I've also heard the same explanation with the S&W Martial 1st American substituted for the Colt 1860 Army. So who knows?

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Rush