3D Animation & Facts: S&W Schofield Top-Break Revolver

The U.S. Army adopted the .44 S&W American caliber Smith & Wesson Model 3 revolver in 1870, making the Model 3 revolver the first standard-issue cartridge-firing revolver in US service. Most military pistols until that point were black powder cap and ball revolvers. In 1875, the US Ordnance Board granted Smith & Wesson a contract to outfit the military with Model 3 revolvers incorporating the design changes of Major George W. Schofield, known as the “Schofield revolver“.