Im not new to guns, but Im fairly new to this forum. I have to confess I have never heard the term "Hand Ejector" before joining here.

We have a place for S&W Revolvers, and then a place for S&W Hand Ejectors. All the pictures I have seen look like revolvers to me, can someone explain the difference to me?

The hand ejector term refers to revolvers that used something like an extractor rod to manually extract/eject cases from the "swing-out" cylinder, as opposed to a top breaks or other older designs.

Real quickly, the late 19th century pattern for most S&W revolvers utilized a top-break design. As the barrel and cylinder assembly rotated down for loading, a spring-loaded cam popped out the empties so the cylinder could be reloaded.

The follow-up revolver design that is still used today featured a fixed frame with a swing-out cylinder. There was no way to engineer an automatic ejection motion into that mechanism, so the shooter himself had to push the ejector rod to clear the empties. Thus it is a "hand ejector."

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David Wilson

So why differentiate between revolvers and hand ejectors on here?

I suppose by the sixties, the term had more or less been dropped from everyday use, so I think the idea is just to use the appropriate term for each forum. In the earlier forum, "hand-ejector" is appropriate. In the newer forums, it is more of an anachronism.

Ok, I get it now..........If I were given a gun on the day of my birth in 1959 that revolver would have been called a Hand Ejector and then later somone coined the phrase "Revolver" They did that just to confuse me didnt they

You've got it backwards.

Confused yet? The old top breaks and such were revolvers. Hand ejectors are also revolvers but came along later. In other words, hand ejectors are the latest and current style revolvers we have.

They're all revolvers and always have been. The term hand-ejector had pretty much gone away from S&W literature by the sixties, shortly after model numbers came along, though the sixties and later guns were/are just as much hand-ejectors as those being made when the term was first coined. After the top-break revolvers were no longer being produced, hand-ejector just became something of an arcane term that some of us still like to use.

I remember when I bought my first S&W, in the supplied literature the company called it a "six-shot, breech-loading hand weapon with swing-out cylinder..." True of course, but a bit more awkward than "revolver," don't you think?

The earlier "Top Break", also referred to as "Hinged Frame" (as opposed to even earlier Tip-Up models) were all generically referred to as "Automatic Ejector" guns, as the extractor automatically extracted and ejected the cartridges simply by opening the gun.

The later (beginning in 1896 with the original ".32 Hand Ejector" model) model revolvers were of a design referred to as "Solid Frame", not hinged. This necessitated the use of the yoke (S&W) or crane (Colt) which the cylinder was mounted on to swing the cylinder out of the gun for the purpose of loading and un-loading. Since there was no way to cause the extractor to be automatically actuated when the cylinder was opened this design requies the cartridges to be extracted (ejected, there is a difference) "by hand" as a separate action. S&W referred this design as "Hand Ejector" for this required action, and to distinguish the solid frame, and stronger design from the earlier design. From 1896 on all newlt designed S&W revolvers were, at least officially, as "Hand Ejectors".

From the 1870s until 1857 all S&W revolvers were what is referred to as "Named Models". Literally they had a model name instead of a model number. The term fell out of common use, except among collectors and those who feel correct nomenclature is important, beginning in 1957 when S&W decided, probably with good reason, to assign model numbers to their products. Ever since numbers were assigned it bacame common to refer to various models by their number designation and use of the model names fell out of use.

So, interesting names like .38 Special Hand Ejector Military and Police Model, and the .38 Special Hand Ejector Military and Police Target Model became the exciting Model 10 and 14, and on and on and..............! Unfortunately the cold numbers then engendered the silly "Pre Model xx" terms we see so often used!

The Named Models aren't "Pre" anything, they are what they are and should be called by their proper names.

Oh, then there is the "revolver" issue. If it has a cylinder which turns (revolves) then the gun is a revolver, period. Makes no difference if it is hinged or solid frame, 5, 6, or more shots, rimfire or centerfire, single or double action etc. it is a revolver. Want to really start something? What we call "revolvers" were originally, and commonly, referred to as "Revolving Pistols" to distinguish them from the far more usual design of single barrel muzzle-loading pistols. If you are under 35 this concept is probably really confusing!