No. 2: Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector Revolvers, 53 Points

First, we need to straighten out this “Hand Ejector” terminology. It comes from when S&W also made hinged-frame revolvers that ejected fired cases automatically when the gun was opened. To differentiate from that style, S&W called its new models “Hand Ejectors” in that the fired cases had to be ejected by hand from the opened, swing-out cylinder.

The system was developed in the early 1890s and was first used on the .32 Hand Ejector series in 1896. Basically, any modern S&W revolver is a Hand Ejector. That takes in many millions of wheelguns, but there are multiple virtues to the system. In 1899, there came the .38 Hand Ejectors, followed by .22s in 1902 and .44s in 1907. A different designation system called these four basic frame sizes I, K, M and N, respectively. The I-frame morphed into the J-frame in the early 1950s and the L-frame evolved out of the K-frame in the ’70s. Then there is the massive X-frame. All are derived from designs of the late 19th century. They all work the same way and handle with the same simplicity and safety.

That’s a considerable tribute to the basic mechanism, which might seem delicate but is remarkably durable. With rare exceptions, these double-action/single-action revolvers come with excellent trigger pulls in both modes. For precise shooting, the crisp single-action pull can’t be beat, and the double-action smoothness is legendary. Above all other virtues of the Hand Ejectors comes the versatility of the system. It was the platform for the police revolver of the century—the K-frame .38—and the foundation for many magnum cartridges.

For police service, plinking, competition, hunting and personal defense, where revolver is the question, Smith & Wesson is the answer. Thus it has been for more than a century. —Wiley Clapp, Field Editor

No. 3: Glock Pistols, 41 Points

The Glock 17 earned its third-place ranking for innovation and manufacture numbers, among other things, rather than service life or “coolness,” though some would boldly argue the latter. Regardless, the pistol has proven reliable, durable, accurate and easy to maintain. To date, more than 4 million Glocks—the 17 and its variations—have been manufactured.

Named for Austrian mechanical engineer Gaston Glock’s 17th patent, the Model 17 was designed and built in less than six months, and a second version shortly thereafter, to vie for the Austrian military contract, which Glock G.m.b.H. handily earned. Foreign militaries and law enforcement agencies alike soon flocked to Glock. Functionally, the 17 was a locked-breech, striker-fired, semi-automatic pistol in 9 mm Luger. The similarities to most prior designs, however, stopped there.

Glock—with a background in synthetic materials—designed the 17 with an injection-molded polymer frame, which not only reduced overall weight and manufacturing costs, but also added corrosion-, weather- and impact-resistance. And the polymer frame held a 17-round-capacity double-stack magazine without an unduly thick grip.

Another noteworthy feature of the 17 was “Safe Action,” in which a polymer lever projected through the face of the trigger shoe and served as the gun’s only manual safety—three safeties are deactivated by the trigger pull. It was simple, yet effective, and for every shot the trigger pull was consistent.

Although the polymer-frame, delayed-blowback H&K VP 70Z predated the Model 17, Glock proved that polymer-frame handguns not only work, but they do so very well. It is a pistol that forever changed the handgun landscape. —Aaron Carter, Managing Editor

No. 4: Smith & Wesson Model One Revolver, 33 Points

To the modern eye, the Smith & Wesson Model One looks like more of an ugly duckling curiosity than a “Top 10” handgun. It’s a diminutive single-action chambered for an anemic .22 rimfire cartridge. The hinged barrel has to be tipped up, and the bored-through cylinder removed, to load or unload the revolver.

This little seven-shooter, however, is arguably the granddaddy of all modern handguns. After the development of Colt’s repeating revolver in the late 1830s, the next technological challenge was the development of self-contained ammunition to replace the cumbersome and weather-sensitive percussion system, which required that loose powder, a lead bullet and a primer all be loaded into a firearm to render it ready to fire.

Daniel B. Wesson and Horace Smith had taken one swing at the conundrum with a lever-action repeating pistol, which came to be known as the Volcanic (see No. 5), and it proved to be far from satisfactory. They sold the design to a shirt manufacturer who saw some promise in the lever-action concept. His name was Oliver Winchester.

Undaunted, Smith and Wesson found a winner in their second partnership. They introduced the first widely successful American repeating handgun chambered for a self-contained metallic cartridge in 1857, and named this first S&W revolver, logically enough, the Model One.

It was chambered for a cartridge that is essentially the blackpowder twin to today’s .22 rimfire short, and it found immediate success. The era of the modern handgun had begun. All of today’s modern cartridge handguns can trace their lineage to the little Model One. —Jim Supica, Director,
National Firearms Museum

No. 5: Volcanic Volitional Repeater, 31 Points

The story of the Volcanic is also the combined stories of Smith & Wesson, the self-contained cartridge and the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. Only the genius of John Browning surpasses the influence of this gun in future firearm development. Prior to 1848, almost all firearms were loaded with loose or packaged powder, a ball and a separate primer. Walter Hunt changed all that in August 1848 with his invention of a hollow-based, conical-shaped bullet that held the propellant in the base cavity of the round. Hunt employed the services of a noted New York gunsmith by the name of Lewis Jennings to manufacture a rifle suitable to fire his self-contained cartridge. Unable to successfully market the new gun, Hunt and Jennings sought a partnership with Cortland Palmer, who invested heavily in the manufacture of the gun and who also sought out the help and advice of Horace Smith to make improvements to the gun and assist in marketing the rifle.

More than 5,000 Jennings rifles were completed by 1851 at the Robbins & Lawrence Co. in Windsor, Vt. At the Robbins & Lawrence factory, Smith made the acquaintance of another noted gunmaker, Daniel B. Wesson who was also employed at Robbins & Lawrence. Wesson was working on a project to make a pistol that fired the newly developed self-contained metallic Flobert cartridge. It was there, at Robbins & Lawrence, that Smith and Wesson figured that the magazine repeating rifle of Jennings could be improved if it used a self-contained cartridge. In 1852 the two men formed a partnership that today stands as one of the most successful icons of firearm manufacture and development in the history of the world.

In 1853 they took out a patent on an improved metallic cartridge that is today the single most produced round ever, the .22 rimfire. Adapting this round to a magazine-fed pistol resulted in the introduction of the Volcanic pistol in 1854.

Large- and small-frame pistols in .31 and .41 calibers were manufactured, yet problems persisted with the feed and extraction systems. Palmer, feeling that the endeavor was a bottomless money pit with no hope of success, bowed out of the partnership and was replaced with a wealthy New Haven, Conn., haberdasher by the name of Oliver Winchester. Smith and Wesson sold their interest to Winchester, who reorganized the company first under the name Volcanic Arms and then as New Haven Arms Co. Later, with the help of shop foreman and inventor Benjamin Tyler Henry, Winchester was able to develop and market Henry’s progression of the Volcanic into the famed Henry Repeating Rifle. That eventually led to another reorganization of the company, which became known as The Winchester Repeating Arms Co. in 1866.

Smith & Wesson formed a second partnership in November 1856 and began producing revolvers on the Rollin White bored-through-cylinder patent (the S&W Model One, No. 4), and the rest is, as they say, history. —Phil Schreier, Senior Curator, National Firearms Museum