As far as American Revolvers go, or even revolvers in general, I think that the Smith & Wessons are overall the best. Long track record, plenty of innovation along the way, good mechanics and lockup, good interface, and they can be taken apart fairly easy too. The only way a Colt is better is in the trigger, which is only smoother by a small margin if you have the target trigger/hammer setup, and most older S&Ws compared to most older Troopers or Pythons are close to half the price.
I'm not familiar with much anything before the 1873 SAA, though, except the 1860 Army/1861Navy, so I haven't heard of these European revolvers, but I did know the double action design was not an American invention. Still, I think it's safe to say we perfected it.
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