Question On Production of 38 S&W Hammerless

[delta-419]

As both the .32 and .38 S&W Safety Hammerless revolvers were produced from 1887 to 1940 the changes in ordnance steel had to change with the times, an assumption, along with the ammo. Case in point, the .38 SH was the fourth model made from 1898 to 1907, well into the smokeless powder era. The fifth model from 1907 into the late 30s. Winchester was building model 1894 rifles out of nickel steel during this timeline. What was S&W doing with steel for these little guns, again, a question for the experts. I assume they manufactured SH revolvers using the same steel as they did for the Triple Lock and the model 1917. A timeline from 1887 to 1940 production of steel would be of interest and from where it was purchased.

 

[BMur]

Carbon Steel

I'm sorry nobody responded to this interesting subject. Some folks try to convince collectors that there is no difference between antique production firearms and modern firearms. However, there was a significant difference that came about when Smokeless powder became the primary propellant. High carbon Steel became the new base steel for firearms production. The more carbon you add the tougher the steel becomes with proper heat treating.

When exactly did this happen? Between 1905-1907 the industry became high carbon content/heat treated steel. However, some models never saw this change and were discontinued due to basic design flaws. The Colt lightning is an excellent example. By 1909 the model was discontinued since the original 38 Colt caliber was replaced with the .38 special smokeless round. There were attempts made by changing the bore dynamics and cylinder wall thickness, but the caliber could not be altered so the model became extinct.

The later top breaks most definitely saw improvements in the quality or carbon content in the steel and heat treating of same.

The 38 Cal 5th model Smith & Wesson top break introduced in 1907 would have seen these higher carbon/heat treated improvements.


Murph