The features that easily distinguish the 1st issue are the flared, square cornered shaped grip (also seen in the 2nd Issue), the small round side plate, the round profile of the frame between the back of the cylinder and the grip, a split articulated hammer, and the flat spring barrel latch seen in some early variants. The 1st Issue of the Model 1 was the first major iteration (and the least common), with approximately 12,000 produced over a three-year period.
The Model 1 had three issues or major variants, with each subsequent issue introducing significant technical changes.
It would become White's responsibility to defend his patent in any court cases which eventually led to his financial ruin, but was very advantageous for the new Smith & Wesson Company. Rather than make White a partner in their company, Smith and Wesson paid him a royalty of $0.25 on every 'Model 1' revolver that they made. When they discovered that a former Colt employee named Rollin White held the patent for a 'Bored-through' cylinder, a component needed for this new invention, the two partners approached White to manufacture a newly designed revolver-and-cartridge combination. Wesson were researching a prototype for a metallic cartridge revolver. As Samuel Colt's patent on the revolver was set to expire in 1856, Horace Smith and Daniel B.