Top Break with Side Latch?

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Again

This brings up one of my pet peeves. This vexes me almost as much as 45 Long Colt. The springs we are talking about are not spirals. They are helixes. When a football player throws the perfect pass, it is not a spiral, it is a helix. The rifling in a gun barrel is not a spiral, it is a helix. A spiral staircase is not a spiral, it is a helix.

A spiral is a flat, two dimensional figure. It is a curve on a plane that winds around a fixed center point at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance from the point. A helix is a three dimensional figure. The diameter is constant, but the curve extends in three dimensional space. That is why geneticists call the DNA molecule the Double Helix. It is two intertwined helixes.

In the picture below, the curve on the left is a spiral, the curve on the right is a helix.

With all due respect to Mssrs. Smith and Wesson, they got it wrong in that old catalog. Their springs are helical springs, not spiral springs.




OK, I feel better now. Where was I?

Here is an exploded view of my nickel plated Perfected. You can see the helical rebound slide spring below the rebound slide, not much different than the rebound slide spring in a modern S&W revolver. You can also see the little helical spring for the cylinder stop to the right of the trigger guard, again not much different than the same spring in a modern S&W. I did not remove the thumb piece because the nut (yes, it is a nut that holds it in place, not a screw) was frozen and I did not want to force it. So the little helical spring for the bolt/hammer stop bar is still in position as is the helical spring inside the cylinder assembly.

What I did learn from this thread is that some of the later Perfecteds had the side plate mounted hammer block in them. I did not know that, so thanks for that information.

If you want to see a helical spiral sometime, open up any battery operated device. The cone shaped spring that contacts the negative end of a battery is a helical spiral spring.

Don't anybody get me started on 45 Long Colt.

 

[JSR III]

I once owned a .45 Long Colt that had a spiral shaped helical spring.

Just kidding DJ.

Very cool guns and I would guess that they are the transition piece between the top breaks and the hand ejectors. The 6" barrel definitely makes this gun look neat and the fact that it has both a thumb piece and the top break lock makes it even cooler.

Thanks for sharing and now I have another one to add to the want list. That makes 25 this week.

 

[glowe]

James, actually the Perfected revolver came to market several years after the introduction of the I frame and K frame revolver. Its introduction is still somewhat of a mystery. When introduced in 1909, they used the Model 1903 frame and mechanism. There may have been a segment of buyers who still demanded top-break revolvers - maybe foreign markets??

And before Driftwood goes spiraling out of control, the use of this term has been promulgated for many years and, right or wrong, is going to continue to be used, so might as well get used to it.

 

[JSR III]

James, actually the Perfected revolver came to market several years after the introduction of the I frame and K frame revolver. Its introduction is still somewhat of a mystery. When introduced in 1909, they used the Model 1903 frame and mechanism. There may have been a segment of buyers who still demanded top-break revolvers - maybe foreign markets??

Gary, then perhaps with the introduction of the "new" thumb latch hand ejector revolvers it was deemed an improvement to the still desired top break design. Since the top break, IIRC, had the auto eject extractor and the HE's were manual, perhaps S&W thought that this hybrid would maintain sales of the former design.

S&W was not one to give up on one of their designs easily and I still firmly believe that the kit guns introduced in the mid 30's was their attempt to keep their .22/32 HFT platform alive albeit with a now shorter 4" barrel.

Some of these things we will probably never know for sure unless Roy Jinks or the SWHF find more answers as the S&W factory records are digitized.

 

[mmaher94087]

murphydog wrote: "There was a version specifically built for export that did not have the thumb piece, only the top latch - have seen photos of one but not in person." I can take photos of one of these revolvers but even with my wife's Photo Shop software, I haven't been able to figure out how to size the photo to publish it here. Photo Shop is in inches and this forum is in pixels. I don't seem to have the ability to translate this information. Can anyone help?

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Mike, change your photoshop settings to pixels vs. inches.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I had one I bought many years back. Nickel plated Perfected model in 99% condition. Serial # 1xx. Made in 1909. Think I gave 50 bucks. It's long gone now.