tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post3673311571997663007..comments2023-12-07T03:49:54.864-05:00Comments on The Arms Room: Sunday Smith #48: .38 Double Action 2nd Model, 1882Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post-63742474331495798752009-11-05T08:46:04.145-05:002009-11-05T08:46:04.145-05:00I once inherited a late model .38 DA with a 6-inch...I once inherited a late model .38 DA with a 6-inch barrel, from my grandmother. During the WW2, her first husband was working in occupied Europe on some kind of secret-squirrels op.. Sounds like he was something of a live-fast-die-young playboy before the war; owned a boat and a 'plane and was missing one leg from a motorbike accident. He was the sort of character you'd think only ever existed in fiction, the way my grandmother spoke about him. Anyway, when it looked like the Germans were all set to invade England, he gave her this pearl-handled S&W to defend herself with, whilst he was away. Back in the days when pretty-much anything that went 'bang' was being snaffled-up by the British government, this was no small thing to get hold of, either. I wonder, did he ever use it in occupied Norway? Did he ever parachute into France with it under his coat? I wish I knew.<br /><br />Well, my grandmother never had to use it, thankfully, and towards the end of the war, her husband sadly died in a mid-air collision. She later married my grandfather and the Smith went into an old suitcase, where it stayed for nearly fifty years. I inherited it in the early '90s along with an ancient .22 Martini rifle that some relation had used in a home-defense regiment during WW1. <br /><br />Course, shortly after the Dunblane Massacre happened, the government decided that anyone who owned guns was obviously pure evil and likely to start killing people at the drop of a hat. Dad made me hand them both in, rather than risk getting caught with them and copping some jail-time. So the Smith and the Martini were destroyed by the sniveling, shrieking, hysterical ninnies and all that history was lost.<br /><br />I can't look at a picture of a break-top S&W and not feel sad now. Where the hell did it all go wrong?<br /><br />LCD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post-49920962566860911902009-11-05T06:25:53.403-05:002009-11-05T06:25:53.403-05:00Harder to engineer a lockup strong enough to resis...Harder to engineer a lockup strong enough to resist really stout cartridges without getting worn and coming unlatched.<br /><br />The solid-frame hand ejector design is very nearly as quick to operate and much stronger.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post-9599966493981238332009-11-05T00:02:27.307-05:002009-11-05T00:02:27.307-05:00I do like a top break revolver for some reason, a ...I do like a top break revolver for some reason, a Webley being the favorite.<br /><br />Anyone know why they fell out of favor?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post-7561393456005696672009-11-04T21:53:50.596-05:002009-11-04T21:53:50.596-05:00"Is that what is often affectionately referre..."<i>Is that what is often affectionately referred to as a lemon-squeezer?</i>"<br /><br />No, <a href="http://cosmolineandrust.blogspot.com/2007/05/sunday-smith-2.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> is a Lemon-Squeezer. :)Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post-33013687477156411072009-11-04T20:42:28.149-05:002009-11-04T20:42:28.149-05:00Nice..... and easy to see where Iver Johnson got t...Nice..... and easy to see where Iver Johnson got their ideas from.Carteachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08468700184940877315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36483455.post-44327642814552375852009-11-04T19:42:55.893-05:002009-11-04T19:42:55.893-05:00Can't tell from the picture, Tam. Is that wha...Can't tell from the picture, Tam. Is that what is often affectionately referred to as a lemon-squeezer?Stevenoreply@blogger.com