(Hammer) less Is More
Why carry this J-Frame?
Three of a kind — the three types of short-barrel, short-frame revolvers: Chief Special (left), Bodyguard (top), Centennial (right).
In the time of the smallest good 9mms and the best pocket-size .380s ever, the smallest-frame short barrel double-action revolver still thrives — Smith & Wesson’s J-Frame. If you’re considering one, you have three basic formats: the conventional spur-hammered Chief Special-series dating back to 1950, the shrouded hammer Bodyguard style introduced in 1955, and the “hammerless” Centennial, so named because it came out in S&W’s hundredth year, 1952.
This latter revolver is a descendant of the top-break S&W New Departure Safety Hammerless of 1887 and discontinued in 1940. Gun lore has it the Safety Hammerless was so named because it was meant to be “child resistant” with an extra-heavy double-action-only pull and a grip safety, the latter causing users to nickname it “the lemon squeezer.” Col. Rex Applegate carried one for its small size and sleek, snag-free draw, but was disappointed when he pumped five of its stubby .38 S&W cartridges into an attacker who wasn’t stopped. It was he who famously convinced S&W to manufacture it on the Chief’s J-Frame in the more potent .38 Special cartridge. Like its predecessor, the Centennial was a lemon squeezer and “hammerless” only in that its hammer was inside, unseen and un-cockable.
Solid-frame “Lemon-squeezers” — Early ’50s Model 42 Airweight (top) and 21st Century 40-1 (bottom).
Twice Revived
The revived hammerless of 1952 was discontinued for lack of sales in 1974. J-Frame buyers found a grip safety on a revolver to be unnecessary or even stupid and wanted the single-action cocking capability of a Chief or a shrouded Bodyguard, the latter being almost as snag-free on the draw. The Bodyguard was seen as “the thinking man’s Chief Special.”
Four years before the discontinuance, Joni Mitchell sang “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone,” and it was true of the Centennial. It was during this period when shooters figured out a snub .38 was for emergencies, which meant double-action anyway. Savvy gun guys such as Wiley Clapp and the late Walt Rauch sang the praises of the Centennial and S&W listened. In 1990, what since 1957 had been the all-steel Model 40 and the Airweight Model 42 came back with new designations, and without the hated grip safety. It was so timely a reintroduction S&W execs back then told me it quickly became their best-selling J-Frame — of course it is with us today in many forms and chamberings.
The S&W New Departure Safety Hammerless was introduced in 1887 and the forerunner of modern hammerless designs.
Good News, Bad News
As a kid, I thought the Centennial was stupid too … but as a grownup and a serious shooter, I had to change my mind. It wasn’t necessarily the hammerless profile might be ever so slightly faster out of pocket or ankle holster than a bobbed-hammer Chief or a Bodyguard. The single biggest advantage in shooting was less muzzle rise, model for model with the same ammo. The “high horn” of the backstrap allowed the firing hand to get higher on the gun, lowering the bore axis and reducing muzzle rise, thus improving recoil recovery for fast follow-up hits. Don’t take my word for it — try it for yourself, as I did.
Another advantage comes from the direction of negligent discharge and civil liability protection. A cocked hammer creates a “hair trigger” effect that under stress can play into an unintentional shot. It also enables the false accusation an intentional, justified shot was an inexcusable accident! This is why so many police departments made their service revolvers double-action-only.
Moreover, with a revolver thumb-cocked in anticipation of a critical shot, the situation can resolve itself without a shot being fired, leaving the user to lower the hammer on a live round with a shaky, over-adrenalized hand. This gets all the more scary if the shooter only has the exposed nub of a hammer found on the Bodyguard. The double-action-only design of the hammerless becomes a feature, not a bug.
With hand high on the backstrap, note the low bore axis of the Centennial.
This is the .22 LR version, the Model 43C. Exposed-hammer Chief and
shroud-hammer Bodyguard (below) don’t allow the low bore axis hold of the Centennial.
This is the .22 LR version, the Model 43C. Exposed-hammer Chief and shroud-hammer
Bodyguard don’t allow the low bore axis hold of the Centennial.
Practice Makes Permanent
The lack of single-action capability is dealt with simply by practicing double-action. Once you have it down, it’s faster than thumb-cocking and you don’t have to break your hold. More worrisome is without a hammer spur, you can’t safely bring the hammer back to do a cylinder rotation check with a loaded specimen. We hammerless aficionados get past this by making sure our chambers are clean, our ejector rods are tight and our cartridges are free of high primers.
Thumb-break holsters are out, though; no hammer spur to hook on. Safety straps that secure at the trigger guard can snag on the middle finger, stalling the draw. We Centennial fans go mostly with pocket and friction-fit holsters.
The three styles are still in production because they each have their own attributes. Those of the Centennial are also found with the Ruger LCR and the hammerless revolvers of Taurus and Charter Arms. S&W’s three incarnations show how many generations like its style.
