Smith and Wesson’s hand ejector revolvers are easily the most successful revolvers of all time. From .32 caliber I-frame revolvers to big-frame .45s, the people armed with hand ejectors are well-armed individuals.
These revolvers are reliable, often accurate, and handle better than most. When the hand ejector with a swing-out cylinder and simultaneous cartridge ejection was introduced, the trigger-cocking revolver wasn’t new.
But combining a solid frame, swing-out cylinder and reliable lockwork made for a winner. Named the “hand ejector” for the innovative swing-out cylinder and ejector rod, the original was introduced in 1896.
Built on the I-frame, this six-shot revolver was chambered for the .32 Smith and Wesson Long cartridge. The I-frame was a small-frame, double-action revolver. Originally, the bolt stop was located in the top strap.
The bolt stop was later moved to the bottom of the frame window. Considerable modifications resulted in an improved revolver and eventually, the design changed so that the ejector rod locked into a stop at the bottom of the barrel.
The next in Smith and Wesson’s line of hand ejectors was the Military and Police .38. Originally chambered in the military .38 Long Colt, the Military and Police was upgraded to the . 38 Smith and Wesson Special soon after.
Transition to K-Frame
The I-frames hung on for many years while the .38 Special hand ejector was to become the most popular police issue handgun of all time.
The .38 Special cartridge became a favorite of those wishing to protect themselves with a fairly light and easy-to-use revolver that offered reasonable power.
Those who must carry a handgun—police, guards and special agents—were armed with the .38 Special revolver for decades.
The .38 Special cartridge had a lot of stretch and further development led to a more powerful combination of velocity, bullet weight and accuracy. The .38 Hand Ejector Military and Police eventually became the Model 10 in 1957.
The K-frame (or Smith and Wesson medium-frame) spawned highly successful handguns such as the K-38 target revolver, the Combat Masterpiece, the K-22 and the .357 Combat Magnum.
The K-frame was the bread and butter of the company and remains in production. Variations include:
- Round and square butt frames
- Barrel lengths of two to eight and three eighth inches
- Calibers including .22, .32 Smith and Wesson Long, .32-20 WCF, .38 S&W, .38 Special, .357 Magnum and 9mm Luger
During World War II, both Britain and America deployed thousands of Smith and Wesson . 38 caliber revolvers. The majority are five-inch barrel revolvers, but two and four-inch barrel revolvers are encountered. Most were parkerized.
These were known as the Victory Model. They featured a “V” prefix in the serial number, save for very early production.
Post-War Developments
After World War II, there were important changes. A new short-action lockwork was introduced. This lockwork is more durable and makes for better shooting in both target and combat shooting.
The I-frame was stretched to accept the .38 Special cartridge in a five-shot version and became the Chief’s Special. The new frame is the J-frame.
The Chief’s Special became the stainless steel Model 60 and was later chambered in .357 Magnum, with the .38 Special being the most common chambering. The I-frame was discontinued soon after the introduction of the J-frame.
To replace the . 32 caliber I-frame, the Smith and Wesson J-frame was offered in . 32 Smith and Wesson Long. This is a feeble caliber, accurate and low recoiling, but at the bottom of the list for personal defense.
Just the same, it was a popular cartridge for about 100 years! If you have one of these excellent-but-underpowered revolvers, Buffalo Bore offers much stronger loads suitable for small game and are right on the edge for personal defense.
Where Hand Ejectors Shine
Hand ejectors excel as personal defense handguns, for field use and for hunting. Even the simplest fixed-sight revolvers are often very accurate. The .32s and .38s are not the whole story. Smith and Wesson introduced the N-frame or large frame hand ejector in 1907.
Originally known as the New Century or .44 hand ejector, the Smith and Wesson N-frame was chambered in .44 Special for the most part with versions in .45 Colt as well.
Eventually, the big-frame Smith and Wesson was manufactured in . 38 Special, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .45 ACP and a few others. These are robust revolvers suited for the most difficult duty. The old long action guns are smooth and useful.
The short lockwork versions introduced after World War II are even faster-handling handguns. Smith and Wesson eventually introduced target grade versions of the N-frame. These adjustable-sight handguns are very accurate and fire powerful cartridges.
The Magnums are among the most accurate and useful of handguns.
My Favorite Hand Ejector
My favorite of the big-frame hand ejectors is the Model 1917. Manufactured in great numbers, these revolvers are not as easy to come by as they once were.
I would be more than happy with a modern Smith and Wesson big-frame hand ejector, but the classic 1917 is a useful and reliable handgun. These revolvers are chambered in .45 ACP.
Moon clips allow for quickly loading the cylinder and also make reliable simultaneous ejection possible no matter what the angle of the muzzle. This makes the Smith and Wesson 1917 perhaps the finest combat revolver ever manufactured.
Loaded with the Buffalo Bore hard-cast SWC load in .45 Auto Rim, it is a fine outdoors revolver.
Conclusion
Hand ejectors are still going strong and offer an excellent revolver for personal defense, hunting, home defense, and some forms of competition. They are among the greatest revolvers ever designed.
Rogue federal agencies are probably the greatest threat to the liberty of the American people. They present more of a threat than drug cartels or terrorists because they operate under the pretext of law and have a legal monopoly on the initial use of force to compel compliance.
Now, Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author of “Gun Control Myths,” is exposing how the FBI may well be deliberately misleading the American people on how often armed Americans really do stop active shooter incidents. Dr. Lott points out that there are a number of problems with how the FBI gathers and presents this data, starting with how shootings are defined and categorized.
The FBI defines active shooter incidents as those in which an individual actively kills or attempts to kill people in a populated, public area. But it does not include shootings that are deemed related to other criminal activity, such as robbery or fighting over drug turf. Active shootings may involve just one shot being fired at just one target, even if the target isn’t hit.
To compile its list, the FBI hired academics at the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University. Police departments don’t collect data, so the researchers had to find news stories about these incidents.
Did you get that? They relied on a third-hand source to gather data, data that will be presented to try to influence policy. To call this sloppy work is the grossest of understatements. Dr. Lott’s organization did its own research and, unsurprisingly, came up with a different result.
Unfortunately, the news media unquestioningly reports the FBI numbers. After 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken used his legally-carried concealed handgun to stop what would have been a mass public shooting, an Associated Press headline noted: “Rare in US for an active shooter to be stopped by bystander.” A Washington Post headline proclaimed: “Rampage in Indiana a rare instance of armed civilian ending mass shooting.”
The CPRC’s numbers tell a different story: Out of 440 active shooter incidents from 2014 to 2022, an armed citizen stopped 157. We also found that the FBI had misidentified five cases, usually because the person who stopped the attack was incorrectly identified as a security guard.
We found these cases on a budget of just a few thousand dollars. Though we found that armed citizens had stopped eight times as many cases as the FBI claims, I make no assertion that we unearthed all of these stories. It is quite possible that the news media itself never covers many such incidents.
I would say that it’s not only quite possible but indeed quite likely that the news media never covers many such incidents, but not having done my own research, I will defer to Dr. Lott on this. But it’s undeniable that the FBI and the legacy media are badly underestimating and under-reporting the numbers of active shooters taken down by armed citizens, just as they do other incidents of defensive gun use.
This is another example of the FBI’s ongoing deterioration, devolving from what was once a premier law enforcement agency to a barely concealed advocacy group for ever-more-intrusive government policy. They have acted in many cases as the political Left’s enforcement arm against such disparate groups as Catholics and elderly protestors. The FBI has arguably gone rogue, and the answer may well be to simply defund the agency, disband it, and start from scratch. There is, after all, already a Federal law-enforcement arm that predates the FBI by many years – the U.S. Marshals – and they do not appear (yet) to suffer from the failures in leadership that are plaguing the FBI.
Dr. Lott concluded:
The FBI data on active shootings is missing so many defensive gun uses that it’s hard to believe it isn’t intentional. Errors can happen, but the failure to fix past reports shows a troubling disregard for the truth. The reality is that armed, law-abiding citizens are unsung guardian angels.
Dr. Lott is correct; it is difficult to believe that these omissions, this sloppy data-gathering—these misleading conclusions—are not deliberate. It staggers the belief that the Federal government, through the FBI, is concocting favorable data to try to push certain policies. This is absolutely anathema to the very idea of a free country inhabited by free people. We should be able to rely on a federal agency, funded by our taxpayer dollars, to conduct honest, rigorous analyses of subjects within their purview and to report the results of these analyses honestly. It is becoming abundantly clear that this is no longer possible. Fortunately, we have private groups, like Dr. Lott’s CPRC, to take that task on.
While Dr. Lott’s presentation of more believable data is useful and important, it’s important to remember that there is only one piece of data we need when it comes to considering firearms policy:
A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Ward Clark hails from Alaska’s Susitna Valley, where he maintains his rural household in one of America’s last free places. Ward is a twelve-year veteran of the U.S. Army including service in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Joint Endeavor, and today is a staunch minarchist libertarian, along with being an author, self-employed small businessman, woods bum and semi-professional bad influence.
Remington Arms has survived for more than 200 years, through some painful financial times. The company’s foundation is built solidly on tradition and a number of iconic designs, a fact that has allowed it to weather each of those storms. There’s a good reason the brand is a favorite among enthusiasts.
The firm was rolling out some classics in the ’50s and ’60s, including the now-iconic 870 pump-action shotgun that appeared in 1950 and went on to claim the “best selling shotgun of all time” title. The Model 700 rifle arrived in 1962, and there are many others. The list wouldn’t be complete, however, without including the semi-automatic Model 1100 shotgun.
The first Model 1100s came out of the factory in 1963 and were available in several versions, all of them 12 gauge. The Field Grade had a vent rib and plain barrel—$149.95 at the time, if you’re wondering—Magnum Duck guns could chamber 3″ shotshells and a High Grade, with F Premier and D Tournament versions. Models chambering 16- or 20-ga. shotshells hit the market the next year.
The response was a warm one, and sales were good. By 1966, more models were added to the lineup, including one for deer hunting, another for skeet and commemorative versions embellished to celebrate the company’s 150th anniversary.
It became available in 28 gauge and .410 Bore in 1969. The gas-operated semi-auto gained such a sterling reputation for performance, reliability and clean operation that by 1972, the millionth Model 1100 had been sold. That number reached 3 million by 1983, in an era when firearm sales pale by comparison to today’s numbers.
Then, in 1987, the company introduced the Model 11-87. It was an elegant solution for waterfowl hunters facing non-toxic shot requirements. It quickly gained traction among enthusiasts, and the subsequent drop in Model 1100 sales was likely anticipated by Remington.
Despite that fact, both shotguns were a popular choice well into 2000s. In 2016, the company even made a limited-edition Model 1100 to commemorate its 50th anniversary (seen above). Two years later, the corporation that owned Remington Firearms reorganized and, in late 2020, what remained in the gun business was sold in parts during bankruptcy proceedings.
Thankfully, the gunmaking legend is back at it at the Ilion, N.Y., factory, employing many of the same craftsmen, supervisors and management. The company is concentrating initial efforts on manufacturing Model 870s, but plans including bringing back Model 1100s. Variants slated for production include a Sporting 12, Sporting 20 and Sporting 410, each with a high-gloss finish on semi-fancy American walnut furniture (with checkering), blued receivers and barrels, gold-plated triggers and twin bead target sights. MSRPs—along with when we can expect them at sporting goods dealers—are not currently available.
