Author Archives: Dennis Adler

Tales of Wells Fargo Part 3

Barra recreates the 5-inch Schofield model

By Dennis Adler

No matter how famous or infamous the owner, the S&W Schofield found its way into the holsters of legendary outlaws and lawmen alike, many of who also famously carried Colts, Merwin Hulberts, and Remingtons; but the Schofield in its several iterations and barrel lengths was conspicuous throughout the period from 1875 to the turn of the century.

Frank and Jesse James both had Schofield revolvers among their arsenal of handguns, (Jesse James was murdered by Robert Ford with an S&W Topbreak believed to have been given to him by Jesse), celebrated frontier lawmen Bill Tilghman carried a Schofield 7-inch model, El Paso, Texas, City Marshal (and Territorial Deputy U.S. Marshal) Dallas Stoudenmire also carried a 7-inch model in a leather lined trouser pocket, John Wesley Hardin owned an S&W No. 3 Topbreak (not a Schofield); as did Virgil Earp (the very gun he may have handed to brother Wyatt at the OK Corral shootout); lawman Pat Garrett had a Schofield, and Theodore Roosevelt carried a finely engraved New Model No. 3. The S&W topbreak revolvers were not at all uncommon guns. The Wells Fargo model and other cut down refurbished military Schofields more so into the 1880s and 1890s, with several hundred being purchased by Well Fargo alone. Civilian sales also likely numbered in the hundreds, and eventually more military Schofields, a sizable number also refurbished with cut down 5 inch and 5-1/2 inch barrels, ended up on the secondary market. The new Barra Schofield 5-inch models then, are in some very good company, including some very pricey .44-40 and .45 Colt caliber Schofield Wells Fargo reproductions manufactured in Italy by A. Uberti. (Smith & Wesson also made a limited edition of 7-inch and 5-inch models as commemorative pistols in 2000. These were official S&W copies, however, for safety reasons; these guns were fitted with an internal firing pin and a transfer bar, rather than a proper Schofield hammer-mounted firing pin. read more

Tales of Wells Fargo Part 2

Barra recreates the 5-inch Schofield model

By Dennis Adler

The first guns used by Wells, Fargo & Co. field agents (investigators) were Colt’s 1848 Baby Dragoon and improved 1849 model.Both guns were essentially scaled down versions of Colt’s new First Model Dragoon and featured a full octagonal barrel in 3-inch, 4-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch lengths without loading lever. The new lightweight Colt pocket pistol could dispense five .31 caliber balls with deadly accuracy at close range. The 1849 Model Colts requested by Wells Fargo without loading levers came to be known as the Wells Fargo Model. That title was not attached to any other gun until the Schofield was taken up by Wells Fargo agents in the 1870’s. read more

Tales of Wells Fargo Part 1

Barra recreates the 5-inch Schofield model

By Dennis Adler

The Schofield model of S&W’s No. 3 American was designed by a military officer looking for a way to correct a problem with the original topbreak latching mechanism that was proving problematic for U.S. Cavalry soldiers trying to reload the gun on horseback.

The groundbreaking .44 caliber S&W No. 3 revolver had been adopted by the military in 1870 and was being issued to troops early in 1871. It was a fine handgun for most, but mounted soldiers found it problematic to handle on horseback. The S&W design had been intended to make reloading faster by breaking open the action, tilting the barrel down, at which point a cam rotated by this movement forced the ejector upward to expel all six spent shell cases at once. The open cylinder also provided quick reloading of all six chambers before rotating the barrel up and locking it. All well and good if you had two free hands, one to hold the gun and the other to raise the latch on the top of the frame so the barrel could be tilted down. On horseback two free hands was a little daunting. Army Major George W. Schofield regarded the S&W as an excellent sidearm but believed the latching mechanism was all wrong, at least for the Cavalry. He set about redesigning the latch and secured a patent to “first, provide a lock-fast for such weapons, which shall hold the barrel securely in the position for firing; second, to provide a cylinder-stay for holding the cylinder in position when the weapon is opened for loading or ejecting discharged cartridge cases; third, to provide a simple and effective ejector-spring stop.” Maj. Schofield’s changes also improved the rear sight by incorporating a sighting notch on the latch itself, which was easily opened one-handed by pulling the hammer to half cock and using the thumb to pull the latch back releasing the barrel. read more