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| Colt's New Line .22 Pocket Revolver |
Sorry for the flat and unsexy mug shot, but I saw this the 1876-vintage New Line .22 the other day at my
LGS with a $99 price tag on it and had to pick it up, if only to serve as an illustration in the forthcoming big post on these two:
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| S&W Model 1, 3rd Issue (top) and 2nd Issue (bottom) |
When the Rollin White patent for bored-through cylinders expired in 1872, it ended Smith & Wesson's lock on this new technology, and Colt's was ready to jump in and compete. While there was an initial run of open-topped "Old Line" Colt pocket revolvers, the solid-topstrap bronze-framed "New Line" .22 seven-shooter pictured at top was intended as a head-to-head competitor for the tiny Smith Model 1 revos.
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