Smith & Wesson N frames: the early years

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2006 by Mike Venturino

Growing up in Mingo County, West Virginia, along the border with Kentucky, my early exposure to double-action revolvers was considerable. That area was the site of the infamous Hatfield/McCoy feud and the extremely violent Coal Mine/Union Wars of the 1920s. My own coal-mining grandfather was never without Smith & Wesson handguns of one sort or another, and it seemed that if I talked to a man who owned a revolver in those days it was also a Smith & Wesson. By the time I was old enough and learned enough to discern the different models of revolver, I could see the handgun shelves of the local pawn shops were three deep in various used Colt and Smith & Wesson double-action revolvers. By my memory a significant percentage of those used guns were big-bore Smith & Wessons.

Indeed, the first 60 to 70 years of the 1900s were the golden era of double-action revolvers. In that era, autoloading handguns were mostly used by bull's-eye target shooters or the military. It was a rare cop or civilian who relied on one for self-defense. In the first seven decades of the 20th century the two giants of handgun manufacturing--Colt and Smith & Wesson in their combined efforts produced some of the finest quality double actions ever made. Common items in their catalogs were things like Smith & Wesson K-models in .22, .32, and .38 calibers, or the big Colt New Service model in bore sizes from .38 to .45. Colt's Python was a legend and Smith & Wesson's ".357 Magnum" was coveted. However, to many avid handgunners of that era, and to those of us like myself, John Taffin and Clint Smith who got in at the tall end of the era, the creme de la creme was the N-frame Smith & Wesson.

What's In A Name?

In their first half century they came in four basic versions. Collectors today call them Hand Ejector; 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Models. There have also been considerable sub-variants and nicknames such as Triplelock, Model 1917. Outdoorsman, Model 1926. Highway Patrolman, Model 1950 Military, or the newest--Thunder Ranch Revolver. Circa 1957 Smith & Wesson began assigning model numbers instead of names to their handguns, and the N-frames took up the range from Model 20 to Model 29 and ran over into the Model 50 range.

Most people mentally associate N-frame Smith & Wessons with .44s--first the .44 Special and then the awesomely powerful .44 Magnum. However, in truth, .44s were a minority among N-frames. Far more were produced as .45 ACP or .38/.357 caliber. And let's not forget the many thousands made in .41 Mag since its inception in 1964. More than a handful of N-frames have been made for what could be considered odd-ball cartridges by mainstream shooters. Those would be .38-40 and .44-40. The British government bought well over 70,000 N-frames (Hand Ejector 1st & 2nd Models) chambered for their puny .455 Webley cartridge during WWI.

Chosen Identity

Smith & Wesson focused on the .44 as its premier big-bore handgun cartridge since 1870 with the introduction of their top break Model No. 3 revolver. Starting in 1872 that focus had narrowed on the fine little .44 Russian round with its .97"-long case. However, by 1907 smokeless powders were here to stay, as were revolvers whose cylinders swung to the side for loading. A side-swing revolver could be built stronger than the top-break types, and Smith & Wesson chose that time to introduce their first big-bore, large-frame, side-swing revolver. This was the premier of the N-frame, and they called the first revolver based upon it the Model 1908 Military. Later after other models were built it came to be known as the Hand Ejector, 1st Model, and almost every avid shooter has heard its famous nickname of "Triplelock." It is a legend among revolver fans.

They certainly were beautifully made firearms. If you run across one in nice shape, take a look at yourself in its blue. They were polished that nicely. The "Triplelock" moniker came from the unique third lock the company put on the revolver's crane, and removed in 1915 as unnecessary. It was. The Hand Ejector, 2nd Model shot just as good as the "Triplelock," just as strong and cost an amazing $2 less when introduced ($19 as opposed to $21).

Smith & Wesson didn't have much truck with the popular .45 Colt cartridge through the golden era. Along the way some N-frames were so chambered, Triplelocks and some Model 1950s, but not many. In the 1970s S&W started building the Model 25-5. More about that one shortly.

Some handgun fans didn't like the removal of the barrel underlug and prevailed on Smith & Wesson to put it back. That revolver is called Hand Ejector, 3rd Model, but is also known as the Model 1926. It evolved into the Model 1950 Military, which was identical in form but contained some internal engineering changes. It then became the Model 21 and, in 2004, was returned to us as the Model 21-4 aka Thunder Ranch Revolver thanks to the efforts of Clint Smith.

One little known fact is Smith & Wesson always offered a target version of the Hand Ejector .44 Specials along with the standard fixed-sight ones. Sometimes these were very rare. For instance, a target-sighted "Triplelock" is not too uncommon. I've owned one myself for nearly 20 years. But, as avid as I am about N-frame Smith & Wessons, and as many gun shows I've attended around the country, I've still never seen a target-sighted Hand Ejector 2nd or 3rd Model. By the Hand Ejector 4th Model the company gave the target version its own name of Model 1950 Target and for once it sold in greater numbers than the fixed-sight version (5,050 to 1,200 in a 16-year period). It became the Model 24, and was returned in the 1980s with even a snubnose version sold by the big distributor Lew Horton. Those are nifty little N-frames, which definitely seems like a contradiction in terms considering the N-frame's size.