What is a Handgun chamfered cylinder?

Answer 1

A revolver with a chamfered cylinder simply has the front edge of the cylinder beveled rather than the edge of the face of the cylinder being at a right angle to the long axis of the cylinder. This facilitates inserting the revolver in to a holster, and also reduces wear to the holster. Chamfered cylinders were common on older revolvers, but have largely been abandoned by modern manufacturers - probably to save cost on a feature of relatively minor importance. A revolver with a chamfered cylinder is more esthetically pleasing to many shooters, especially those with a taste for tradition. It is available as a customization option from after-market gunsmiths such Bowen Classic Arms Corporation, which refers to it as a "black powder cylinder chamfer" in their catalog. Metallic cartridges were originally loaded with black powder, rather than nitro based smokeless powder as they are now. Old black powder revolvers, particularly Colt and Smith and Wesson revolvers such as the Single Action Army and later the New Century (Triple Lock) had chamfered cylinders.