Welcome, in case you are a newcomer to this enjoyable bi-weekly phase of AllOutdoor.com! The final time round, we took a small detour from our normal format to speak concerning the Scientific Merchandise Targ-A-Launch. Right now we’re leaping into one thing utterly totally different – a Smith & Wesson that most individuals have by no means heard of. The Smith & Wesson Mannequin 1913, chambered within the equally obscure 35 S&W Auto cartridge. This was Smith & Wesson’s very first try at making a semi-automatic pistol, and let me let you know upfront – it was a little bit of a business catastrophe. However that’s precisely what makes it fascinating!
Curious Relics Protection on AllOutdoor
Welcome to our recurring sequence of “Curious Relics.” Right here, we wish to share all of our experiences, data, misadventures, and keenness for older firearms that one may categorize as a Curio & Relic – any firearm that’s at the least 50 years previous in line with the ATF. Hopefully alongside the best way you’ll be able to garner a larger appreciation for older firearms like we do, and concurrently you’ll be able to train us issues as effectively by means of sharing your individual experience and ideas within the Feedback. Understanding the firearms of previous, their significance, and their improvement which result in most of the arms we now cherish right now is extremely fascinating and we hope you get pleasure from what we’ve to share, too!
Historical past Abridged: Smith & Wesson Mannequin 1913
By 1910, Smith & Wesson discovered themselves in an actual pickle. The semi-automatic pistol market was booming, and their important rival Colt was crushing everybody with John Moses Browning’s designs. Everybody was making autoloaders besides the corporate well-known for revolvers.
Enter Joseph Wesson, Daniel Wesson’s son, who was fairly the automated pistol fanatic. In early 1909, Wesson met with Charles Philibert Clement, a Belgian firearms designer who had developed a sequence of pocket pistols that caught Wesson’s consideration. Seeing promise within the design, Wesson purchased Clement’s patents in 1910 and commenced adapting them for the American market.
“Three Clement Patent Semi-Automated Pistols.” Rock Island Public sale Firm, https://www.rockislandauction.com/element/1027/2578/three-clement-patent-semiautomatic-pistols. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
The Clement design was truly fairly intelligent for its time. It used a recoil spring positioned above the barrel, which gave it a decrease bore axis much like Browning’s FN 1900. However as an alternative of utilizing a slide like most pistols, the Clement design used a small reciprocating bolt that rode throughout the receiver with uncovered sides so you may seize it when charging the weapon.
Now right here’s the place Smith & Wesson made their first mistake. They initially deliberate to make use of the favored .32 ACP cartridge, however engineers obtained spooked about feeding issues and barrel put on from the copper-nickel jacket. So as an alternative of using what everybody else was utilizing, they developed their very own proprietary cartridge. On prime of that they had been hesitant to have “ACP” (Automated Colt Pistol) since their gun would sport one other manufacturers title. Just like what Colt did to lots of their early double motion revolvers.
The .35 Smith & Wesson Auto was developed in 1912 particularly for this new pocket pistol design. The concept was to create one thing that sat proper between Colt’s fashionable .32 ACP and .380 ACP choices. However right here’s the place issues get murky concerning the precise bullet diameter.
“COLLECTIBLE REMINGTON-UMC .35 S&W AUTO AMMO.” Switzer’s Public sale & Appraisal Service, https://www.icollector.com/COLLECTIBLE-REMINGTON-UMC-35-S-W-AUTO-AMMO_i47701264. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Sources disagree on this vital element. Some sources point out the bullet diameter was .312 inches, making it the identical measurement as .32 ACP. Different sources declare it was truly .320 inches, about .008 inches bigger than .32 ACP. From what I can decide, the .35 S&W Auto was the identical diameter as .32 ACP. I consider the smaller measurement is extra probably appropriate, given that the majority 1913 house owners declare you’ll be able to safely shoot .32 ACP, albeit with possible biking points. What’s clear is that Smith & Wesson mainly created a advertising fiction. They referred to as it .35 caliber to place it between the .32 and .380, but it surely was truly about the identical measurement because the .32 ACP.
The cartridge itself was genuinely distinctive although. .35 was rimless whereas 32 was semi-rimmed. It used what Smith & Wesson referred to as a “half-mantle” bullet – the nostril was jacketed for dependable feeding, however the bearing floor that contacted the rifling was left as naked result in scale back barrel put on. This was Smith & Wesson’s try to get the feeding reliability of a jacketed bullet whereas stopping the barrel put on they had been frightened about.
“COLLECTIBLE REMINGTON-UMC .35 S&W AUTO AMMO.” Switzer’s Public sale & Appraisal Service, https://www.icollector.com/COLLECTIBLE-REMINGTON-UMC-35-S-W-AUTO-AMMO_i47701264. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Tooling for Joe Wesson’s new pistol was accomplished late in 1912, and manufacturing started on Might 3, 1913. It was merely referred to as the .35 Automated Pistol, and it was out there in blue or nickel end for $16.50. That pricing was problematic as a result of the S&W price 10% greater than established Colt and Savage fashions, which offered for $15.00.
The pistol had some genuinely revolutionary options. One of many coolest was how you may entry the barrel for cleansing. You’d pull the rear of the set off guard down and ahead to rotate it, which launched a lug on the barrel and allowed the entire barrel meeting to pivot up for straightforward cleansing entry.
As a result of the small bolt didn’t have a lot mass, it required an especially heavy recoil spring. This made the gun tough for shooters with weaker fingers to function. Joseph Wesson got here up with a nifty resolution – a crossbolt lock that disconnected the bolt from the spring, permitting the weapon to be simply loaded. This crossbolt lock is seen on the left aspect of the receiver.
The protection system was, effectively, controversial. It consisted of a really small rotating cam within the higher a part of the backstrap that was knurled and might be moved considerably awkwardly by the thumb. When rotated up, the pistol was on secure. Rotated down, the pistol may fireplace. Smith & Wesson’s logic was that this may forestall unauthorized use – somebody not accustomed to the gun would take time to determine why it wouldn’t fireplace.
The pistol additionally had a grip security positioned on the entrance grip strap below the set off guard. This was patented by Joseph Wesson in 1910. Regardless of its revolutionary options, the Mannequin 1913 was a business flop. The proprietary ammunition was dearer than Colt’s .32 ACP, and the .35 S&W Auto didn’t carry out as effectively ballistically because the .32 ACP it was making an attempt to compete with. Curiously, many house owners found they may use the extra available .32 ACP ammunition, although accuracy suffered.
Sources fluctuate on the manufacturing timeline. Manufacturing was halted in April 1915 so the manufacturing facility may concentrate on making revolvers for England’s warfare wants. Manufacturing seems to have restarted someday between January 1918 and early 1919 – sources disagree on the precise timing. What’s documented is that manufacturing ceased on July 5, 1922, with a complete of 8,350 pistols having been made.
Right here’s one thing fascinating that usually will get neglected – the Mannequin 1913 did see some federal regulation enforcement use. In accordance with retired agent Roy McHenry, he was unofficially issued a 1913 by Bureau of Investigation Assistant Chief Albert Pike in 1917. So whereas it was a business failure, it discovered its manner into the palms of brokers from the Bureau of Investigation, the forerunner to the FBI.
Smith & Wesson discovered from this catastrophe. They shifted manufacturing to a Mannequin 32 self-loading pistol chambered for the usual .32 ACP from 1924 to 1937. However that pistol did even worse – it was discontinued in 1937 with solely 957 pistols offered. After that debacle, Smith & Wesson made no additional semiauto pistols till the introduction of the 9mm Mannequin 39 in 1954.
Finish of Half One: Smith & Wesson Mannequin 1913
Properly, of us, that’s all for right now’s introduction to Smith & Wesson’s first semi-automatic pistol. This gun is an ideal instance of how revolutionary engineering and good intentions can nonetheless end in business catastrophe. The Mannequin 1913 had genuinely intelligent options, however the proprietary cartridge, excessive value, and clunky look couldn’t overcome Colt’s dominance available in the market.
Subsequent time we’ll dive into the variations of the Mannequin 1913 – and sure, there have been eight differing kinds or variations acknowledged by collectors. We’ll additionally cowl courting, specs, and ultimately take one out for some vary time. These pistols are getting more and more uncommon and costly, however they signify an interesting footnote in Smith & Wesson’s historical past.
In closing, I hope our Curious Relics phase knowledgeable in addition to entertained. This all was written in hopes of continued firearm appreciation and preservation. We didn’t simply notice how weapons had been alleged to look and performance. It was an extended and tedious course of that has formed the world we reside in. So, I put it to you! Is there a firearm on the market that you simply really feel doesn’t get a lot notoriety? What ought to our subsequent Curious Relics subject cowl? As at all times, tell us your entire ideas within the Feedback beneath! We at all times respect your suggestions.
