What is the relationship between Springfield Arms Co and Smith and Wesson?

Answer 1

I am not sure what you have, although there is someone out there who probably can answer that, just from what you have described, because it is probably a S&W 1855! The answer to your question is simple; in 1855, Smith and Wesson was a private company (as it is today) and, at that time, they had very little or no manufacturing capabilities, just a whole lot of ideas, inventions and patents. In 1855, Springfield Armory in Springfield, MA was "the" government arsenal (as it was long into the 20th century), thus rifles and pistols made there said "Springfield" on them. It is now a US National "Park". Check it out at (http://www.nps.gov/spar/). Because of this, the nickname Springfield has been applied to many models of US martial arms but most recently the Model 1903 (our infantry weapon of WWI). All of the companies calling themselves Springfield Armory, Arms or Arsenal today (and there are a few) are modern companies, either making, restoring or selling military arms or military arms "look-a-likes. Today, Smith & Wesson, is North America's premiere manufacturer of quality handguns and has no known relationship with any of the so-called "Springfields". In the 1850s Smith & Wesson owned the patent to the "drilled through cylinder" which was the key part of cartridge revolvers. Whenever they caught another manufacturer using this design, they sued and won every case. Any revolvers in the offender's inventory were turned over to S&W as part of the settlement and they marked them "Made for Smith & Wesson" before selling them. Because these companies were knowingly infringing on the patent, they often did not mark them with their own names, hoping to avoid litigation. The Springfield name was used by other manufacturers, particularly Stevens and Crescent, on shotguns, but I am not aware of any revolvers. I'm pretty sure your pistol wasn't made by the US Armory at Springfield.