The Cartridge Conversion Revolvers
When metallic cartridges replaced cap and ball revolvers in the 1870s, thousands of gently used wheelguns became obsolete almost overnight. But like so many once innovative products with loyal fan followings, many frugal pistoleros weren’t ready to make the jump from old to new and for them the so-called cartridge conversions were good enough.
In 1870, Smith and Wesson introduced their newfangled Model 3 revolver and when compared side-by-side to the cap and ball revolvers of the day, this gun was simply revolutionary. The chief innovation was that this new wheelgun could be rapidly loaded and reloaded with large caliber metallic cartridges. Throughout the 1860s Smith had marketed smaller caliber cartridge guns and in fact held the patent on the entire concept, but the large caliber Model 3 was a big deal. One of these new Smiths could be loaded in seconds with true blue manstoppers, whereas a Colt 1860, introduced just a decade before, took minutes to load safely.
In these cap and ball Colts, one had to pour powder, seat lead balls, seal cylinders, and set primer percussion caps. If not done properly a life and/or limb threatening chain fire in which all six cylinders could ignite at once, could result. In addition, there was really only one way to effectively unload one—and that was by firing. Overnight it seemed, the Model 3 solved all of the universal complaints shooters had about early handguns not unlike how DVDs almost immediately eclipsed VHS. This cartridge firing Smith was an instant hit with gunfighters and that included Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, and the US Army. Within just a couple years, Colt had to respond with the cartridge-firing 1873 model Single Action Army and the days of cap and ball revolvers were over.
The thing was, hundreds of thousands of relatively new cap and ball revolvers were still out there…, and many of their owners often could not afford the shiny new $15 Smith Model 3 or Colt SAA. This development led to a strange craze in affordable conversions of obsolete but still functional cap guns to newer cartridge guns….
Read the rest in my column at Guns.com
