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I have handled and fired a fair number of Civil War era revolvers and they are not of better quality than today's guns, usually not as good. Wartime contract Colts were not especially well finished, and the material was far inferior to that of the average repro today.
The tiny S&W revolvers of the period were precision instruments, well made and finished, but of course of low power.
I think the main changes in revolvers have resulted from the need for ease of assembly, a result of the rising cost of labor. The tiny parts and almost microscopic pins and springs of a 1900 era S&W M&P would drive a modern factory assembler to insanity (and blindness). Frankly, I don't know how they did it; maybe they had special tools, but with the poor lighting common in factories of that time, it must have been difficult to install pins 1/8" long and no larger in diameter than a common pin.
Jim
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