I would like to explore the 19th and 20th century top break revolvers made by Iver Johnson, H&R, S&W, etc., with the intention of satisfying my nostalgia for this niche in our firearms history.
My local gunsmith refuses to work on them and claims there is no parts market for them, therefore a waste of time and money. Is this true?
I would like anyone's opinion about pursuing this urge (shooting a .32 S&W short looks like a lot of fun!).
What advice do you have for a beginner in this category (give as much detail as you can).
Howdy
It's a pretty big topic. Much too big for an adequate discussion in a forum like this.
The very first Top Break revolver made by anyone was the Smith and Wesson model that eventually came to be known as the American Model. This large, 44 caliber revolver, first introduced in 1870, was built on what S&W called the #3 frame. The Rollin White patent, which S&W controlled was about to expire. This patent gave S&W the exclusive right to make revolvers with the chambers bored through to accept cartridges from the rear. With the White Patent due to expire in 1869, Daniel Wesson was sure the other gun makers would be ready to jump into the cartridge revolver market with their new cartridge revolvers, so he came up with something revolutionary. A revolver that would except cartridges from the rear, and could be broken open to eject all the spent rounds simultaneously. As it happened, the next really big thing in revolver design, the Colt Single Action Army did not debut until a few years later in 1873. Being a very crafty old New Englander, Daniel Wesson took out patents on this design which prevented other manufacturers from making Top Break revolvers until the patents expired.
This is a photo of the S&W American Model.
The American Model was followed by four other large frame 44 and 45 caliber Top Breaks; the Russian Model in 1871, the Schofield Model in 1875, the New Model Number Three in 1878, and the 44 Double Action in 1881.
Smith and Wesson began building smaller Top Breaks in 1876 with the 38 Single Action nicknamed the Baby Russian. This revolver was chambered for the then new 38 S&W cartridge, not to be confused with 38 Special, which came along later. The 38 Single Action had a spur trigger, no trigger guard, as did many early revolvers.
Not a Baby Russian, this one is a 38 Single Action 2nd Model (the Baby Russians command a lot of money). The main difference is the Baby Russian had a longer extractor housing under the barrel. This one was made in 1877.
Smith and Wesson started making 32 caliber Top Breaks in 1878. This one was made in 1889. By the way, the proper name of the cartridge is 32 S&W, not 32 S&W Short. You will see some boxes labelled that way, but it is incorrect.
S&W also made double action Top Breaks chambered for both 32 S&W and 38 S&W.
Then there were the Safety Hammerless revolvers. These were double action only. They had a grip safety, much like the 1911 does, which had to be squeezed to pull the trigger. That resulted in their nicknames the Lemon Squeezers. The 38 Safety Hammerless revolvers first appeared in 1887, the 32 Safety Hammerless revolvers first appeared in 1888.
The 38 Safety Hammerless, 3rd Model at the top of this photo was made in 1905, the 32 Safety Hammerless, 2nd Model at the bottom of the photo was made in 1896. These revolvers are pictured with their appropriate ammunition, 38 S&W for the 38, 32 S&W for the 32.
The last Top Break that S&W introduced were the 38 Double Action Perfected Model. This was an unusual model in that it incorporated both a thumb piece to open the action, and a Top Break latch at the top of the frame. In order to open the gun, both latches had to be operated at once, or the gun would not open. This model was made from 1909 until 1921. As such, they were made with modern steel and are the only S&W Top Breaks that I can recommend shooting with modern Smokeless ammunition. All the others should be shot with ammunition loaded with Black Powder.
At some point, Smith and Wesson's patents on Top Break revolvers expired and other companies were able to get into the Top Break market. Sorry, I do not know exactly when that happened. I don't know much about the other companies, such as Iver Johnson and Harrington and Richardson, except to tell you that they were making Top Breaks long after S&W moved on to Hand Ejectors. I can tell you that around the turn of the Century Iver Johnson completely redesigned their revolver line to be safe to fire with Smokeless Ammunition. Better steel was used. There are three ways to identify an Iver Johnson Top Break revolver that is safe to fire with modern Smokeless ammunition.
The little owl on the grips faces backwards, not forwards. If the grips are removed, the hammer spring will be seen to be a coil spring, not a leaf spring. And the shape of the slots that the bolt pops into to latch the cylinder in position are different. On the Smokeless models, the slots have two straight edges, so the bolt is captured on both sides. The earlier models only had one straight edge, these revolvers relied on hand preventing the cylinder from rolling backwards.
Regarding parts availability, your gunsmith is pretty much correct. Difficult to find parts for the old Smiths. Not so bad for the newer guns.