You would think that handgun technology has come a long way.

Well, it has and it hasn't.

Quality control is better and tolerances are tighter and materials are more varied than before.

But all modern handguns are just modifications to 3 very very old designs.

Chronologically, the first one shouldn't surprise you.

The Colt Single Action Army of 1873. Designed by William Mason and Charles Richards for Colt in 1872.

If you have a single action revolver of any make or model, it no doubt borrows heavily from this design.

These are still being manufactured by the original company that produced them, though they've been cancelled and brough back twice.

How many things can you buy in 2020 that were on offer from the same company in 1873?

Originally this gun was called the "New Model Army Metallic Cartridge Revolving Pistol".

It had been designed to be the next standard issue military service revolver from the get-go.

The 1873 was a centerfire "modernization" of the 1851 Navy

Which was itself a lighter version of the 1847 Colt Walker

Which was itself a bigger, stronger version of the 1836 Colt Paterson.

All pictured below in order.

The 1873 / Single Action Army / Model P / Peacemaker was originally chambered in .45 Colt with a barrel of 7.5"

It fired a 255 grain bullet with 40 grains of black powder, probably around 1000ish feet per second.

It's no screaming Magnum, but that's still one helluva load.

Examples of newer designs that are just modifications to the original above are

The Ruger Blackhawk (possibly my favorite handgun of all time)

And The Magnum Research BFR

They say it stands for "Biggest Finest Revolver"...but we know better.

The second of the main three handgun designs around is the First Model Hand Ejector of 1896

Yes, 1896 not 1899.

The two are shown below for comparison.

The First Model Hand Ejector of 1896 was as its name suggests.

The first revolver to have a cylinder that folds out to the left of the frame to eject spent cartridges by hand.

This was different than the first gen "tip up" and second gen "top break" revolvers that preceded it.

"Hand ejector" because the second gen "top break" automatically ejected empties much like some break action shotguns.

This isn't strange to us now, since all double action revolvers on the market today are hand ejectors.

But it was noteworthy in 1896

Top break vs Hand ejector:

The original First Model Hand Ejector of 1896 was chambered in .32 S&W Long, an I Frame (one size below J Frame), firing an 85 Grain bullet at 680 feet per second with black powder.

Modern smokeless loads of .32 S&W Long give ~723 fps velocity and ~99 ft/lbs of energy with 85 gr

Some examples of newer guns that are just modifications to the original design above are

The S&W 500 in .500 S&W

The Ruger Redhawk in .44 Magnum

The Colt Python in .357 Magnum

Really, any double action revolver on the market today is a derivative of this design.

The third and final design setting the tone for handguns today is the Colt 1900.

Really, Browning had been working on this system since 1896 but the 1900 was the first commercially successful design implementing his ideas.

The bit of this design that is most used in "serious" pistols today is the locked breech action.

If you have a semi-automatic pistol in 2020, its either a blowback or a locked breech. Or a Desert Eagle. But we aren't talking about the Deagle today.

If you've ever wondered, "Why are Hi Point guns so big and bulky?"

It's because they are blowback designs, which is a really reliable design. But the more pressure the cartridge generates, the more slide mass must be present to ensure reliable cycling of the action.

The Hi Point pistols answer the issue by increasing slide mass and keeping the blowback action.

Blowback is less expensive than locked breech (I'm simplifying a lot here) so it makes sense

But most of your blowback designs are smaller cartridges like .380 and 9mm Makarov.

See:

The blowback action keeps the action closed by increasing slide mass long enough.

The locked breech action keeps the action closed by mechanically locking the breech closed.

This allows for more powerful cartridges in an overall slimmer package than blowback.

Browning fiddled around with the design quite a bit from 1896 to 1900 to 1902 to 1903 to 1905 to 1911 to 1935.

They all work basically the same, but some finer details were changed between all of them.

Today you can still buy his 1911 and 1935 designs.

Designs that are basically modifications to this one?

Try "every single semi-automatic pistol that isn't a blowback or a Desert Eagle".

Doesn't matter what they call their trigger action. If it's a locked breech design, it owes the Colt 1900 and John Browning for its existence

I hope you've enjoyed this bit of history and admiration of art in the form of iron (and polymer and wood and such).

Until next time, folks...

Y'all have a nice day.