Wheelgun Wednesday

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday. Over the last few months, Smith & Wesson has dropped a number of modern variants of their classic line, with the Model 29, Model 19 as well as the Model 10 all having variants released as a part of their classic line. One of the newest additions to the classic line is the Mountain Gun variant, which brings a modern take on the classic wheelgun era. I received a copy chambered in .44 Magnum for review and over the last few months, I've been taking it for range sessions. Let's take a closer look at the new 629-9 Mountain Gun.

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday, our weekly article series where we cover everything related to revolvers. Today’s topic is another creation by TFB’s friend Booligan, whom you may remember for some unconventional creations. This time, as well, we can see a unique revolver customization, likely divisive due to both its visual impact and design intent.

Welcome back to another Wheelgun Wednesday. This week, I wanted to check out one of my favorite revolvers in my collection, the Smith & Wesson Model 19 Carry Comp. I’ve had this model for just over a year and over time, I have made a few small changes. Throughout my time with the Model 19, there have been some positive as well as a couple of negative aspects. Let's take a closer look at the S&W Model 19 Carry Comp.

It’s a bit weird when you think about it, but percussion revolvers are still fairly popular in the U.S. Considering they’ve been obsolete since the 1870s and were manufactured for only about 40 years, give or take a few years, there are an awful lot of these old thumb-busters still available. There’s a wide variety of models to choose from, but the Remington 1858 remains one of the most popular. Here are a few reasons why.

Hey there, cowboy! How quick are you on the draw? If you’re the fastest gun in the West (or at least, you think you might be), then you can put your skills to the test in the new Extreme Cowboy Fastdraw series, using real guns against real opponents (but not real bullets, for obvious reasons).

One of the most notorious self-defense revolvers of the past couple of decades is back in production—in limited production—and it offers a lot of firepower in a hand-cannon package. The Taurus Raging Judge has returned to the lineup, offering your choice of a standard cowboy cartridge, a heavy-duty bear-buster, or a buckshot load.

Thanks to social media and YouTube, expert shooters can be well-known stars today, even if the mainstream media isn’t so keen on them. But once upon a time, trick shooters and expert marksmen were as famous and media-dominating as pro stick-and-ball athletes are today. Annie Oakley was one of the most famous of them all; if you’ve got the green, you can show what a big fan you are of her legacy by buying her six-shooter through Rock Island Auction this August.

When you think of classic six-guns of the Wild West, of course, Colt is the foremost manufacturer of that era. But once you get past their offerings, there are many other smaller manufacturers who were nevertheless significant, with Smith & Wesson being one of the most important of these companies. While their pocket-sized rimfires were the most common, S&W made big-bore horse pistols too, particularly the Model 3. And if you’ve always wanted a Model 3 with a particularly grim backstory, Rock Island Auction Company has something you might want to see—the revolver that supposedly killed legendary Sioux war chief Sitting Bull.

Guns, politics and bling go together like bacon, lettuce and tomato—just ask Bond Arms, where they release a derringer every few months featuring some political tie-in. But this is nothing new; fancy-pants weapons have been floating around politics for years, and this highly customized Colt 1851 is the perfect example. It was originally presented to Mexican president Benito Juarez, and it is coming up for sale at Rock Island Auctions in the coming weeks.

Kentuckians are gunfighters by nature. So much so that since 1891, every public official in the commonwealth must swear an oath that they will not engage in duels: “Since the adoption of the present Constitution, I being a citizen of the state, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within the State or nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as a second in carrying a challenge nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.”

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday, TFB’s weekly article series where we discuss everything revolving around gats with cylinders. Today’s episode is a report about the release of a new limited edition Korth revolver dubbed The Adrenaline. The revolvers made by this German company are brought to the stateside by Nighthawk Custom and this particular model is made exclusively for the US market. Let’s take a closer look.

If you heard about a company that made single-action revolvers, and they’d been in business for 50 years, you’d probably think we were talking about some Peacemaker clone manufacturer. Some of those cowboy-gun-knockoff companies have been in business a long time. But no—we’re talking about North American Arms, which celebrates five decades in business this year, mostly focused on making single-action hideout guns that you can conceal almost anywhere.

Auto-loading pistols rule the roost in the handgun world these days, with revolvers in second place—but that wasn’t always the case. As the 1800s turned into the 1900s, autoloaders were just coming on the scene, but revolvers had decades of established reliability behind them. So what if you wanted the advantages of an auto, but the reliability of a revolver? In the Webley-Fosbery auto revolver, you had an attempt to combine both.

What is the most famous handgun in the history of fiction? James Bond’s Walther PPK? Dirty Harry’s .44 Magnum S&W? Considering the Lone Ranger’s history that dates all the way back to the 1930s, you could argue that this legend of the Wild West—or at least, a fictional version of the Wild West—deserves to have his revolvers up for consideration. And now, thanks to an upcoming Morphy auction, you can buy those pistols.

Welcome back to another edition of Wheelgun Wednesday. Last week, we took a look at the single action revolvers for any budget. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to look at the big brother of the Smith & Wesson revolver line. For years, it was the N frame that reigned king, but early on in the 21st century, something larger came along and took the market by storm as the champion of large-framed revolvers. Let's take a closer look at the X-Frame from Smith & Wesson.

For reasons that go far beyond the actual historical record, no firearm is as closely associated with America’s western frontier as the Colt Single Action Army revolver. Introduced in 1873, the original Colt SAA was in production until 1940, with 357,859 revolvers built during that run. Production rebooted in the 1970s and continues until today, but Colt’s modern Peacemaker is an expensive revolver, just as it always has been. Here’s a look at competing products, at price levels for anyone.

You could argue what classic military semi-auto pistol was the best. The Browning Hi-Power has a lot going for it. So does the Colt Model 1911. The Luger P08 scores a lot of style points; the Walther P38 wins on features. But if you’re talking about military revolvers, there’s only one that combines effectiveness with a long lifespan in military arsenals of a wide variety of users. Based on that criteria, the Smith & Wesson Model 1917 is the greatest military revolver of all time, and it’s not even close.

Except for very, very rare exceptions like the Chiappa Rhino, revolvers more or less look the same these days, and function mostly the same as well. There’s a pattern to follow. But in the 1800s, designers were still figuring things out, trying new ideas to make better handguns. One of those was the 1858 revolver from entrepreneur/designer Ebanezer Starr. This was one of the earliest double-action handguns in the world, particularly in the U.S.

Welcome back to another edition of Wheelgun Wednesday. Last week, we talked about the Bitcoin Revolver from Korth. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I really want to look at cool pieces of history when it comes to Smith & Wesson revolvers: the Model 27-2, a hard-use, durable revolver, and the Model 29-2, its big brother chambered in 44 Magnum. Let’s take a closer look at the Model 27 vs Model 29

What makes a revolver a bitcoin revolver? Does it shoot bitcoins? Does it mine bitcoin? What even is a bitcoin? As it happens, The Bitcoin by Korth is more so merely inspired by bitcoin. Just as only 21 million bitcoins will ever be mined, only 210 copies of this revolver will ever be produced. Afterwards, Korth vows to destroy all the tooling and software used to create it, making it a rare collector’s item. Also, good luck with replacement parts, should you ever need them.

Want to buy a classic Smith & Wesson? Something way older than an original K-frame, even older than the Schofield. Why not a customized Model 1 ½, as ordered and owned by Horace Smith, aka the “Smith” in Smith & Wesson? Thanks to the Rock Island Auction Company, you will have your chance to do that next month.

If someone asked me what the first modern repeating rifle was, I wouldn’t say the Henry or the Spencer lever guns—I’d tell them it was the Colt Ring Lever Carbine. And while it wasn’t a successful rifle, it set out a pattern for revolving rifles and shotguns that are still around today, even if they still aren’t as popular as they could be, thanks to the limitations of the design.

The Colt Single Action Army is the definitive revolver. Custer made his last stand with it. Billy the Kid died by one, assuming he actually died in 1881. Teddy Roosevelt wielded it in battle. Patton led the Allies to victory with one. Now an extremely rare specimen is going up for auction through Rock Island Auction Company on May 2, 2025.

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday, TFB’s weekly article series where we discuss all kinds of firearms with cylinders, including unusual ones like the modern multi-caliber pepperbox that we took a look at a couple of weeks ago or what we have for today's edition - the ROTO 12 revolver shotgun line by American Gun Craft. ROTO 12 shotguns are basically black powder percussion revolvers; each chamber of their cylinders must be primed and loaded with FFG powder and projectile. Well, thanks to that feature, purchasing them does not require an FFL transfer; the company can deliver these wheelguns directly to your doorstep (with a few exceptions).

Welcome back to another edition of Wheelgun Wednesday. A few weeks ago we took a look at some of the differences between K and L-frame revolvers from Smith & Wesson. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I wanted to continue the coverage of various frame sizes with the N-frame revolvers that are quite possibly the most well-known revolver culturally out of all models but what makes it special compared to the other models? Let’s take a closer look at the legendary Smith & Wesson N-frame revolver.

The pepperbox is an early type of wheelgun that looks like a barrel-less revolver with a much longer cylinder because its cylinder is basically a set of barrels as opposed to the revolver design where there is a single barrel and the cylinder is a set of chambers. Over the years, this type of wheelgun has almost completely been replaced by revolvers. Almost … earlier we took a look at a 410 Bore 18-shot modern pepperbox designed by the Swiss company KUGS. In this edition of TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday, we have another attempt to revive the pepperbox - the Quest Firearms MC6.

Welcome back to another edition of Wheelgun Wednesday. Last week, we talked about the French Modele 1892. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I wanted to take a closer look at some of the various frame sizes from Smith & Wesson. To the casual gun buyer, there are several frame sizes in the modern lineup. While each frame size has a pretty incredible history behind it, I wanted to take a look at the two frame sizes that oftentimes get the most confusion. Smith & Wesson also has been expanding their Classic Line to include Model 19s and other options from their historic line of revolvers. It’s important to consider the timeline when looking at K and L-frame revolvers.

Welcome to  TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday, where we discover the vast world of revolvers together. In this week’s edition, we’ll take a brief look at the Manville R12, which is a 12 gauge revolver designed for using special tear gas cartridges. The R12 was designed during the mid-1930s as a less lethal option for law enforcement to disperse riotous crowds or to deal with dangerous individuals. Let’s take a look at the Manville R12 revolver.

This week on Wheelgun Wednesday, we're tracing the fascinating journey of magnum revolvers, from the groundbreaking .357 Magnum of 1935 to Smith & Wesson's latest innovation - the Model 350. While most are familiar with the progression of traditional magnum cartridges, the story takes an interesting turn when we look at how rifle cartridges found their way into revolver frames.

Welcome back to another Wheelgun Wednesday where we are traipsing our way through the world of revolvers checking out the weird and wonderful happenings surrounding them. Something that recently caught my eye wasn’t a new wheelgun offering; rather, a small upgrade to some single-action offerings from Ruger. Samson Manufacturing creates Enhanced Ejector Rods for various single-action models to upgrade your reload performance on an otherwise cumbersome process.