Two names, one ampersand
Every Shield, every Bodyguard, every snub-nosed J-frame in a nightstand carries the same two surnames. Most owners never think about them. They're just the brand. But Smith and Wesson were real people, and the company they built only exists because their first try fell apart.
Horace Smith, the armory kid
Horace Smith was born on October 28, 1808, and grew up around guns in the most literal way. According to a biographical piece in Free Range American, his family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1812, when his father took a job at the federal Springfield Armory. Horace apprenticed there at 16, became a journeyman in 1828, and spent about 18 years at the armory before moving to Connecticut.
There, at Allen & Thurber, he worked with gunmaker Ethan Allen (not the Revolutionary War figure) on whaling guns, and he's credited with inventing an exploding projectile for them. By the time he met Daniel Wesson, Smith was an experienced machinist with decades of shop-floor knowledge.
Daniel Baird Wesson, the younger partner
Daniel Baird Wesson was 17 years younger than Smith. The NRA Museum describes both men as Massachusetts natives with firearms design and manufacturing experience. Wesson would turn out to be the long-term steward of the business: he outlived his partner by more than a decade and brought his sons into the firm. Walter, Frank and Joseph Wesson all worked there, the NRA Museum notes.
1852: the first partnership, and a gun that didn't quite work
In 1852, Smith and Wesson formed their first partnership. Wikipedia says the Smith & Wesson Company was founded in Norwich, Connecticut, to develop the Volcanic rifle. They produced lever-action repeating rifles and pistols that fired an early self-contained round called the Rocket Ball.
It was a bold idea, years ahead of its time. And by most accounts it didn't work very well. Free Range American describes the guns and ammunition as unreliable, underpowered and unpopular. Smith patented a new Volcanic cartridge in 1854, per Wikipedia, but the business was struggling by late that year.
The Winchester detour
In early 1855, the partnership dissolved, and an investor took over. His name was Oliver Winchester. Wikipedia records that the company was renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms and purchased by Winchester in 1855. Smith and Wesson sold their interest, according to the NRA Museum, and returned to Springfield, Smith's hometown.
Volcanic went insolvent in 1856. Winchester reorganized it as the New Haven Arms Company in 1857, and by 1866 it had become the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The NRA Museum notes that the Henry and Winchester lever-actions, descended from the Volcanic design, became famous during and after the Civil War.
So one of America's great gun names was built partly on the wreckage of Smith and Wesson's first company. That's the strangest twist in this story: the two brands most associated with American handguns and American rifles share a common ancestor.
1856: the revolver company, and a patent they didn't own
Smith and Wesson didn't give up on self-contained cartridges. By August 1856, according to the NRA Museum, Wesson had built a wooden model of a pistol designed to chamber a rimfire cartridge. In November 1856 the two formed a second partnership to make a metallic-cartridge revolver. That's the company Wikipedia identifies as the basis of modern Smith & Wesson.
There was a problem. A revolver for metallic cartridges needed a cylinder bored straight through from end to end so a cartridge could be loaded from the rear. That design was already patented by Rollin White, a former Colt employee.
Smith and Wesson solved it with a license, not a lawsuit. The NRA Museum says they obtained an exclusive license and agreed to pay White 25 cents per gun until the patent expired in 1872. In the firm's first year of production, the NRA Museum says, White's royalties came to just one dollar.
The cartridge they paired with it was the .22 rimfire short, which the NRA Museum describes as the first practical American-made self-contained metallic cartridge. The revolver was the No. 1. The First Issue was made from 1857 to 1860; the Second Issue, from about 1860 to 1868, sold nearly 120,000 copies. Across three issues, production approached 260,000 before ending in 1881.
A partnership ends, a family business begins
Horace Smith retired in July 1873, selling his interest to Daniel Wesson, per the NRA Museum. Free Range American says Smith was 65. He died on January 15, 1893. Wesson died in 1904.
The company didn't stay a family business forever. Wikipedia records that the Wesson family sold its controlling interest to Bangor Punta in 1965. British conglomerate Tomkins plc bought the company in 1987, and in 2001 Saf-T-Hammer Corporation acquired it. In 2016 the company renamed itself American Outdoor Brands Corporation; in 2020 the outdoor products business was spun off and Smith & Wesson kept its stock ticker. Its headquarters is now in Maryville, Tennessee.
The big-bore turn
After the small rimfire revolvers, Smith & Wesson went bigger. Wikipedia notes that in 1870 the company shifted to large-frame revolvers in heavier calibers such as .44 S&W American, and the U.S. Army later adopted the Model 3. That shift took the firm from pocket guns to military and frontier guns in about a decade.
The Wesson family stayed involved for generations. The NRA Museum records that Frank Wesson died in 1887 and Daniel in 1904, and that a consulting engineer named Carl R. Hellstrom, hired as plant superintendent, gained operational control near the start of World War II.
Myth vs fact
| Claim | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Smith & Wesson started as a revolver company | No; the 1852 partnership made Volcanic lever-action rifles and pistols |
| Smith & Wesson invented the bored-through cylinder | No; Rollin White held the patent, and S&W licensed it |
| Winchester and S&W are unrelated | Not quite; Winchester's company grew out of Smith and Wesson's first venture |
| The founders ran it together for decades | Their revolver partnership ran from 1856 until Smith retired in 1873 |
| The M&P name is new | No; it echoes the .38 Military & Police of 1899 |
From the No. 1 to the Shield
Between the No. 1 and today's carry guns lie some of the most important handguns in American history. Wikipedia's timeline hits the highlights:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1899 | .38 Military & Police, later the Model 10 |
| 1935 | .357 Registered Magnum, the first .357 Magnum revolver |
| 1954 | Model 39 9mm pistol reaches the civilian market |
| 1955 | Model 29 in .44 Magnum |
| 2005 | Polymer-framed M&P pistol |
The "M&P" name on the polymer pistols revives the Military & Police name from 1899. That's a deliberate nod to the revolver that made Smith & Wesson the police supplier of the 20th century.
The Shield came next. American Rifleman dates the original M&P Shield to 2012 and its M2.0 update to 2017. It was a slim, single-stack M&P built for concealed carry, holding 7 or 8 rounds. In 2021 the Shield Plus arrived with a stack-and-a-half magazine 0.15 inch wider, taking capacity to 10 or 13 rounds at 1.1 inches wide.
That's how a line that began with a .22 rimfire revolver licensed from a Colt employee ended up with a slim 9mm built for everyday concealed carry. Read our Shield Plus buyer's guide for where it fits today.
Why the names still matter
Smith and Wesson's real legacy isn't a single gun. It's the self-contained metallic cartridge revolver, which made the modern handgun possible. Their first idea, a self-contained round, failed in the Volcanic. Their second, a rimfire cartridge in a bored-through cylinder, succeeded.
The company that bears their names still makes revolvers alongside polymer pistols. If you carry an S&W, you can find the current lineup on Ammunition Depot's handgun page, including Shield Plus and Shield EZ models. Our coverage of the S&W 642 and the Model 66 vs 686 Plus carries the revolver side of the story forward.
Whatever you carry, it's worth respecting the long road from a cartridge that didn't work to one that did. And worth handling with the same care: keep it holstered or locked up, and treat every gun as loaded.
Editorial note: This is an independent editorial overview built from manufacturer specifications, retailer listings and published sources. We have not performed hands-on testing of the products discussed, and nothing here is a performance guarantee. Verify specifications, compatibility and the law where you live.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Smith & Wesson?
Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson. They first partnered in 1852 in Norwich, Connecticut, and formed the revolver company that became modern Smith & Wesson in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1856.
Is Smith & Wesson related to Winchester?
Indirectly. Smith and Wesson's first company became Volcanic Repeating Arms, which Oliver Winchester bought in 1855. Its descendants led to the New Haven Arms Company and later the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
When did Horace Smith leave the company?
He retired in July 1873 and sold his interest to D. B. Wesson, according to the NRA Museum.
When did the M&P Shield come out?
The original M&P Shield was introduced in 2012. The Shield Plus, with a wider magazine holding 10 or 13 rounds, followed in 2021.
Sources and further reading
Related reading
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