The Smith & Wesson Model 2 Army was a groundbreaking revolver in the mid-19th century, introduced in 1861 and produced until 1874, it was chambered in .32 rimfire and built on S&W’s larger “No. 2” frame (which was a scaled up version of the previous Smith & Wesson 1 1/2, which in it of itself was a scaled up Smith & Wesson Model 1)

This was a single-action, tip-up revolver: the barrel tipped upward on a hinge, allowing the cylinder to be removed for loading and unloading. It held six shots and was relatively light and compact compared to the Colt 1860 Army or Remington New Model Army percussion revolvers. Though not as powerful, it had the huge advantage of using metallic cartridges, which were far quicker and easier to load than paper cartridges were.

The Model 2 gained immense popularity during the American Civil War, most commonly Union Captains who bought them privately, as legend has it that they did not rely on them as combat arms but as defense against battlefield surgeons bent on amputating a limb; a more likely reason is that officers were not expected to directly engage in combat, except in self-defense, and the small size and light weight of the Pocket models made carrying them around more attractive than larger, heavier models (especially once the .36 caliber models came out).
They were not standard military issue, but their reliability, reload speed, and portability made them popular backup weapons. Over 77,000 were produced, and many saw service both during and after the war.

Wild Bill Hickok is documented as carrying a pair of S&W Model 2s early in his career, before becoming most closely associated with the dual Colt Navies (however, he was carrying a S&W Model 2 when he was shot in Deadwood.

George Armstrong Custer, alongside his .44 Remington, also reportedly owned and carried a Model 2 during the Civil War as a backup gun.

Unosuke the gunfighter (Tatsuya Nakadai) also carries an ivory gripped Smith & Wesson Model 2 under his clothes in Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film Yojimbo

#Gun #Madness #Revolver #CivilWar