164 



RECREATION 



THE IDEAL EELT EEVOLVER. 

 Editor Recreation : 



One would naturally suppose that a man 

 looking for an ideal belt revolver would cer- 

 tainly be able to select one from the innum- 

 erable number of models, calibers, and styles 

 of actions now on the market. While I ad- 

 mit that there are many desirable weapons 

 of this class now to be had, it is, I believe, 

 a fact generally recognized by all well- 

 informed shooters that in the matter of a belt 

 gun there are many ways in which they may 

 be improved. We have single action, double 

 action, and hammerless (automatic pistols 

 will not be considered in this article), and 

 many different methods of ejecting the cart- 

 ridges — automatic, simultaneous, or one at a 

 time only, as in the old reliable Colt's Single 

 Action — a gun that as the ideal belt gun, 

 barring its objectionable weight, has never 

 been equalled. We have rebounding locks, 

 and safeties galore, and yet to my way of 

 viewing this matter, the absolutely perfect 

 belt gun has yet to be manufactured. 



The gun that the frontiersman, or any man 

 of experience, car- 

 ried where he 

 wanted a weapon 

 that might be need- 

 ed at any time on 

 which his life might 

 depend, was, nine- 

 ty-nine cases in a t 

 hundred, the old re- J 

 liable Colt's Fron- M 

 tier or Army 

 .44-40 and .45 caliber 

 and one or two of these, on the bor- 

 der, were considered as essential to a 

 man as the clothes he wore. There were 

 Other revolvers to be had, Single and Double 

 action — but none that were tolerated as was 

 this Single-action Colts, and it's only natural 

 to ask, "Why?" There must have been a 

 reason. So there was, and here it is : It 

 was a gun that would stand more use and 

 abuse than any other gun that could be had, 

 when guns were carried from necessity; nor 

 is there a gun made today that surpasses 

 it in the above respects. It was a gun that 

 for "fit'' and "hang" in a man's hand was 

 unequalled. The stock and hammer were of 

 proper proportions; large enough to be found 

 in the dark. The stock fitted the hand per- 

 fectly, and when thrown down the barrel 

 came naturally in line with the target instead 

 of pointing "skywards," as is the case in some 

 of the more modern guns. The hammer — 

 the lever, properly speaking, that operated the 

 machinery — had sufficient leverage to operate 

 the gun, however, badly rusted it might be. 

 Look at some of the little hammers on some 

 of the late model revolvers. Little show here 

 to throw the thumb around the hammer, and 

 expect the gun, as it is thrown down, to be 

 cocked by its own weight ! Some find no lit- 



COLT SINGLE 

 7 l A 



Single Action, 



tie amusement in ridiculing the .45 because 

 it made some dozen or so of "clicks" every 

 time it was cocked, sounding somewhat like 

 the noise created by a brick dashing through 

 dead timber — but to the man that had used 

 these for a score or more of years every 

 "click" meant "reliable," "never fail," "stand- 

 by," etc. 



If these guns were so nearly perfect it 

 would be but natural to ask, "What is wrong 

 with them today? The factory is still turn- 

 ing them out, and so far as can be seen they 

 are still up to the old standard." But that 

 gun, from the up-to-date shooter's view, is 

 lacking in several important respects. The 

 method of loading and extraction is too slow. 

 The gun is too heavy and the caliber too 

 large. It is true that it can be had in cali- 

 bers as small as .32-20, but as this is with the 

 .45 frame, the gun weighs more than the .44 or 

 .45. Manufacturers make a great mistake in 

 building small caliber guns on frames de- 

 signed for larger fires. This will apply to 

 some rifles as well as revolvers. It is neces- 

 sary to make a 38.40 on a .44-40 frame, but 



no such necessity 

 exists regarding the 

 .32-20. * I have often 

 pointed this out in 

 different magazines, 

 and first mentioned 

 it in Recreation 

 some eight years 

 ago. 



For saddle work 

 the 45's may be all 

 right, but where is the man that rides contin- 

 ally? This gun, or any other caliber made on 

 .45 frame, is altogether too heavy for a man 

 afoot — they weight him down too much for 

 an all day's tramp, and what is wanted is a 

 lighter weapon using the .38 Smith & Wes- 

 son special cartridge, a cartridge that is about 

 the equal of the .45 for penetration, with suf- 

 ficient killing power for all practical purposes,, 

 and, as regards accuracy, without a peer. 

 This is a cartridge that can be used on small 

 game without mutilating, yet large enough to 

 kill a deer or similar game handily, and, 

 should occasion require, large enough for a 

 man in a "tight corner" to "shoot out" with- 

 out difficulty. 



"Very well," say you, "if this is all true, 

 why not use some of the revolvers now made 

 for this cartridge? The Smith & Wesson 

 and Colts' people are both turning out these 

 guns in regular and target models, and on 

 small frames, too." Yes, my friend, that's 

 all true, but those guns are double action, 

 the stocks and hammers could be improved, 

 and a small, shapely trigger guard should 

 supplant the large ones that the double-action 

 feature in these guns necessitates. Of course 

 these guns can be used single action if one 

 so desires, but as they wish to use them this 

 way about all the time, why not have a single 



ACTION, 44-CALIBER, 

 IN. barrel. 



