.45 Schofield

The .45 Schofield or .45 Smith & Wesson is a revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson for their S&W Model 3 American top-break revolver. It is similar to the .45 Colt round though shorter and with a slightly larger rim, and will generally work in revolvers chambered for that cartridge. In fact, US government arsenals supplied .45 Schofield cartridges for both the Schofield revolver and the Colt Army revolver to simplify their armament needs. .45 Colt cartridges cannot be used in .45 Schofield firearms, since the .45 Colt is a longer cartridge.

History
This cartridge was originally designed as a black powder round. This revolver was patented in the USA on 20 June 1871 and 22 April 1873 by Smith and Wesson. It was a Smith and Wesson Model 3 that was modified by Major George Schofield to make it easier for a cavalryman to reload while riding. While the Colt 45 had more power, the speed at which a cavalryman could reload a Schofield was less than 30 seconds, half of the time for a Colt 45. By 1879, the U. S. Army had purchased 8285 of the revolvers. Due to its lesser power and recoil compared to the Colt .45, it became the standard cartridge of the Army, though the Colt 1873 still was the main issue side arm of the Army. The .45 Schofield cartridge was shorter than the .45 Long Colt. It could be used in both the Schofield and the Colt 45 Peacemaker, but the .45 Long Colt was too long to use in the Schofield. As a result, by the 1880's the army finally standardized on the Colt .45 Model P.

The Schofield was quite a popular handgun in the old west, and may have been used by General Custer the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It has been claimed that had all of Custer's men had the Schofield revolver, the results at the Little Big Horn may have been different. This is not likely, however, since the Indians significantly outnumbered Custer and his men and were well armed.

Synonyms

 * .45 S&W
 * .45 S&W Schofield
 * .45 M1877 ball revolver

Categories
Cartridge:handguns