Tag: Smith & Wesson

The Day the Arkansas State Police Fought a Gun Battle with a Remnant of the Barrow Gang

Renowned Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer, and five other officers stopped the Barrows—permanently–on a country road outside Gibsland, Louisiana on May 23, 1934.  Three years later, in 1937, one of the country’s great state police organizations was reorganized as the Arkansas State Police (ASP).

So, if the Barrows were killed in a shooting by Hamer and his fellow officers in 1934, how did the newborn ASP get into a gunfight with a remnant of the Barrow Gang, many years later? Continue reading “The Day the Arkansas State Police Fought a Gun Battle with a Remnant of the Barrow Gang”

A Pretty Capable J-Frame

I bought a lightly used S&W 640-3 about four years ago. A friend’s elderly neighbor was thinning his collection and didn’t want his guns getting into the wrong hands. It was priced fairly, and I rationalized the purchase as an altruistic deed to help the man out. Continue reading “A Pretty Capable J-Frame”

SHOT Show 2023 Roundup

Another SHOT Show is in the books, and it’s time for a roundup of some of the products and news that will interest you as RevolverGuys (and Gals–I hope you know you’re always included in that general description, when I use it). So, without further adieu, let’s get to it!

Continue reading “SHOT Show 2023 Roundup”

D&L Sports Sights

Lt Col Jeff Cooper needs no introduction to serious RevolverGuys, but for those who didn’t get the memo, El Jefe’ was the man who, among other things, codified and popularized the Modern Technique of the Pistol, and ushered in the concept of a “gunfighting school” that was open to the public, instead of just to members of the military and law enforcement. His American Pistol Institute later morphed into Gunsite, which is famous in its own right, and still an industry leader in training armed Good Guys. Continue reading “D&L Sports Sights”

All About MIM–Part Three

In Part One of this series, we talked about how the MIM process works, and in Part Two, we discussed the pros and cons of manufacturing products with MIM methods.  In this next installment, we’re going to explore Smith & Wesson’s experience with transitioning to MIM production, and take a look at some of the engineering improvements that MIM allowed them to make to their famous line of revolvers. Continue reading “All About MIM–Part Three”

The RevUp Action Hammer

When we ran our 2022 SHOT Show Roundup article, one of the companies we highlighted was RevUp Action, which was promoting a replacement hammer design for Smith & Wesson revolvers, with frame-mounted firing pins, that would dramatically change the double action trigger pull. The idea was very intriguing, so we arranged for RevolverGuy to get a pre-production sample of the RevUp Action hammer for test and evaluation, and we’re now ready to report on our findings. Continue reading “The RevUp Action Hammer”

Smith & Wesson Takes a Stand For Freedom

“It has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.”

-Theodor Reik

RevolverGuy readers with a little white in their hair could be forgiven if recent events in the realm of Second Amendment politics evoked strong memories of an earlier era, because history does indeed “rhyme.” Continue reading “Smith & Wesson Takes a Stand For Freedom”