There will always be a class of revolver-shooters who will prefer an arm with a solid frame. These persons will unhesitatingly select the Colt’s revolver. The strength of this arm is undoubted, and it is believed that an unbiassed judge would award the claim of superiority in standing rough usage to the Colt’s revolver. The author has devoted much time to testing the Smith & Wesson, the Merwin, Hulbert, & Co., and the Colt’s revolvers, and has for several years corresponded with experts, and observed the shooting and solicited the opinion of persons who have had extensive experience with these arms. A careful summarizing the opinions shows that a majority of revolver experts believe that the Colt’s revolver is not made with such delicacy of parts as the other arms mentioned; but it is evident that this very want of delicacy of the parts is much in favor of its adoption by those desiring a revolver powerful, accurate, and less affected by exposure to the elements, neglect of care after using, and requiring less attention while using. It is believed that more shots can be fired from the Colt’s revolver without cleaning, and have it work well, than any other revolver of American make; and it certainly can more than the other two makes, judging from our own experience. But with the cleaning found necessary to secure accuracy even with this arm, it seems to require less cleaning than other revolvers; and accurate shooting has been secured repeatedly, even after firing a hundred shots, by simply swabbing out the barrel with a brush or cleaning-rod with a cloth drawn through a slot, and without removing the cylinder, which worked well after firing two hundred shots. The combined points of the solid frame and the arm being unaffected, so far as operating it is concerned, by neglecting to clean it while using or afterwards, has made the Colt’s revolver the chosen arm of many frontiersmen, and, doubtless, has influenced the members of the Government Ordnance Board to favor this arm.
COLT’S FRONTIER MODEL AND ARMY, DOUBLE ACTION.
COLT’S FRONTIER OR ARMY MODEL, SINGLE ACTION.
It is doubtless true that if several battalions of cavalry were armed with the revolvers of different make, the one equipped with the Colt’s revolver would find less disabled arms, after a rough campaign, than those armed with other American revolvers.
The Army .45 calibre and Frontier model .44 calibre are identical in the model, the difference being in the calibre and chambering. The U.S. Government .45-calibre straight cartridge is loaded with 30 grains of powder and a 250-grain bullet. The .44-calibre Frontier model takes a magazine rifle-cartridge holding 40 grains of powder and a 200-grain bullet. Both these cartridges are powerful and accurate. There is an apparent difference in the recoil, it being less in the .44-calibre rifle-cartridges, the 50 grains more of lead in the .45-calibre Government cartridge being noticeable by the increased recoil. In a number of tests made with these two cartridges the best results were generally secured with the .44-calibre rifle-cartridge, taking six shots for a standard, it being the number of chambers in these revolvers. It was not difficult to place the six shots in a 5-inch circle at a distance of fifty yards, and often a 4-inch circle, and occasionally, with the .44-calibre 40-200 cartridge, a 3-inch circle would touch or enclose all of the shots.
The .41-.38-calibre revolvers of this company’s make are very accurate and reliable arms, the .38-calibre, with 6 and 7 inch barrels, are chosen by persons desiring an accurate, quite powerful, and pleasant shooting weapon. The .38 calibre with the 6 and 7 inch barrels are very accurate up to 50 yards; the recoil is light and not unpleasant. The charge is less powerful than the .44 and .45, but about as heavy as is possible in an arm of the size and weight, and retains a satisfactory degree of accuracy. It is not difficult in shooting with a rest to place six shots within a 3-inch circle at 50 yards; and this feat has been accomplished in off-hand shooting with a .38-calibre Colt’s revolver with a 7-inch barrel.
The .32, .30, and .22 calibre Colt’s revolvers are intended for pocket-revolvers, and for short-range weapons unreliable beyond a few yards.