Lanyard rings

Alpo

Alpo

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Was this an option - could you order your Smith HE with a lanyard ring? In the good old pre-GCA days, could I just write Smith (and enclose a check) and tell 'em I wanted a 4" M&P with a lanyard ring?

Or would you have to be a distributor and order a special run (like Lew Horton used to do), all with rings?

My 1917, my 1937 and my Victory all have lanyard rings. I would expect that. But I also have an M&P from 1956 with one. Does not appear to be a cop-gun - at least it's not marked as one.

And it is definitely factory work, as the SN is arranged around it - the ring is centered, with a C on the left of it, and a 41000s number on the right.
 
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The Victories and 1917s came with lanyard swivels. Many police departments ordered revolvers with them also, so the factory would supply them that way on order. There are several different types around, but I am not familiar with all of them or when each type was used. There is probably someone reading this who can probably supply better information.
 
I'd be interested in how they were used, tied to holster, belt, wrist and the purpose, prevent it being taken or dropped?
 
My guess is that a revolver ordered by a police officer could have been fitted with a lanyard ring. Unusual for one gun to get it. A special order for numerous units, not so much.

Pistols had rings to tie the guns to the users, so not lost while riding or in a scuffle. Idea that has returned, IMO. Tying the duty gun to the officer would go a long way in weapon retention.
 
As I recall, at one time in the not so distant past, it was a factory option.
 
S
Comrad said:
I'd be interested in how they were used, tied to holster, belt, wrist and the purpose, prevent it being taken or dropped?
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Historically, the period of widespread use of handgun lanyards was actually relatively short; they appeared in substantial numbers in the late 1800s on European service revolvers. The US Army adopted them service-wide with the Colt DA Model 1901. From that time on, most service handguns had provisions for lanyard loops, but already by WW II, you don't see a lot of lanyard use in historical photos, except by the British.

There were two main attachment points. I think many regulations expected them to be installed under the uniform jacket epaulettes, but they were more commonly just worn around the neck as this allowed unhindered use of the gun with either hand. See the two random illustrations attached.

And if you look at pictures of American police uniforms from before 1950 or so, they really didn't look that much different from a military wool uniform as worn by the soldiers at the time.

Lately some high-tech flexible lanyards have become popular again with some police officers and military forces; they are usually clipped to the belt behind the holster.
 

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Alpo said:
Was this an option - could you order your Smith HE with a lanyard ring? In the good old pre-GCA days, could I just write Smith (and enclose a check) and tell 'em I wanted a 4" M&P with a lanyard ring?

Or would you have to be a distributor and order a special run (like Lew Horton used to do), all with rings?

My 1917, my 1937 and my Victory all have lanyard rings. I would expect that. But I also have an M&P from 1956 with one. Does not appear to be a cop-gun - at least it's not marked as one.

And it is definitely factory work, as the SN is arranged around it - the ring is centered, with a C on the left of it, and a 41000s number on the right.
Click to expand...

Yes
Yes
No

Historically with Smith, Lanyard sivels (as the factory called them) were always an option. Don't know for sure about currently, however.

To be a factory installation, it must be offset 1/10" towards the front, not centered, no exceptions. Sounds like factory though; measure again and this time disregard curved corners on the butt, which vary. Even if a model was in inventory w/o a swivel, when an order came in for that model with a ring, the # on the butt was drilled thru, 1/10" off center. The serial # was re-stamped on the left side of the grip frame.

Original S&W factory lanyard swivels are available just about anywhere if you want one. And there are varying styles depending on the model for which it was intended.

A J frame variation: Special order, Model 36-6 shipped circa 4th quarter 2000.
36_10_9972.jpg

36_10Box_9966.jpg
 
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So you're saying a Victory would have a different size one than a 1917, because it's a smaller K frame, and not an N?
 
Alpo said:
So you're saying a Victory would have a different size one than a 1917, because it's a smaller K frame, and not an N?
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I can't say yes or no, but there were three, possibly four, different variations of Victory swivels, mainly in the finish and means of attachment to the butt.
 
I like the lanyard ring setup that Hondo pictured...... on the one Terry (tjpopkin)posted above, I can't tell how a lanyard ring would even be attached to that pistol......and I suspect that the owner would be limited to one with a certain male fixture on the attaching end.........which would not be a good thing.......I've been looking at getting a S&W .460, 5" (measured at the end of the comps) for use as a back up gun in bear country, and can see the desirability of having a good lanyard ring on it.....but only if the lanyard ring could use any type of braided leather or synthetic laces to attach it.......
 
>on the one Terry (tjpopkin)posted above, I can't tell how a lanyard ring would even be attached to that pistol.<

I've thought about that, time and again. I have two Titanium 32s and the aforementioned aluminum 22, and they all have that "pin in the groove" in the butt.

I believe you could put a small split ring on it, like for a keychain.

SplitRings.jpeg


Possibly the oval one might work better than a round one. And then hook your lanyard to the split ring.
 
Here's a 1931 K-22 Outdoorsman that letters as being shipped with the swivel lanyard (it is the only K-22 Outdoorsman that I have seen that shipped with one...)







 
DWalt said:
I can't say yes or no, but there were three, possibly four, different variations of Victory swivels, mainly in the finish and means of attachment to the butt.
Click to expand...

I've seen case hardened swivels, blued swivels and parkerized swivels. I've only seen one way of attaching them though, as illustrated in the K-22 photo.
 
I lucked into finding some lanyard rings that replace the grip screw in a mono grip. They are just about as handy as a pocket on a shirt. The first time you experience a "flying dismount" from a green broke horse or dump over a canoe in deep water you understand why some people feel they need a lanyard on a pistol. If you really look at most of the stuff the old horse cav troopers used it really works well and you would have a hard time improving on it. Just look at the single point sling all the commando tactical guys all run and rave about now. That's been in use since about 1800 or so. I highly recommend lanyards and like useing them.
 
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