Before the U.S. Army had the M1911, its officers used various revolvers, including the Schofield model 1873. Invented by a Union veteran of the Civil War, the Smith & Wesson Schofield was the first revolver to use metal cartridges instead of cap and ball, making it more reliable in wet weather. Philip Schreier, senior curator of the NRA's National Firearms Museum, calls it "one of the best friends a 19th-century cavalryman ever had" because its break-cylinder design ejected spent casings, making it easy to reload.