Tramp's Terror
- Category
- Revolver
- Barrel
- 57 mm
- Weight, empty
- 180 g
- Introduced
- 1875
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Tramp's Terror is a single-action, spur-trigger pocket revolver produced by the Hood Firearms Company of Norwich, Connecticut during the 1870s and 1880s. Chambered for the .22 Short rimfire cartridge, it carries a seven-shot cylinder in a compact frame with a roughly 2 to 2.5 inch barrel, nickel finish, and walnut grips, using a small brass bead front sight and no rear sight. 'Tramp's Terror' was one of roughly twenty inexpensive trade names Hood used to market these cheap pocket revolvers, a class of late-19th-century American arms later nicknamed 'Suicide Specials'.
'Tramp's Terror' was pure marketing menace: a cheap .22 pocket revolver sold under a tough-sounding name to appeal to city dwellers who feared vagrants during the post-Civil War handgun boom. Guns like it were sold so cheaply through hardware stores and catalogs that collectors later dubbed the whole class 'Suicide Specials' for their dubious reliability.
The frame top is stamped 'TRAMPS TERROR'. The model was distributed by hardware and mail-order dealers such as Western Gun Works of Chicago. Surviving examples are commonly found with 2 or 2-1/4 inch barrels.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Hood Firearms Company
- Category
- Revolver
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1875 to 1885
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 57 mm
- Overall length
- 152 mm
- Height
- 68 mm
- Weight, empty
- 180 g
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Revolving
- Firing mechanism
- Hammer fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 7
- Magazine
- Revolving cylinder
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Brass
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Nickel
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 240 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 54 J
- Effective range
- 10 m
- Maximum range
- 100 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Spur trigger
Bird head grip
Brass bead front sight
Fixed sights
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 404 revolvers | 180 g | 1.05 kg | Among the lightest tenth |
| Overall lengthAmong 415 revolvers | 152 mm | 260 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 431 revolvers | 57 mm | 127 mm | Shorter than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 434 revolvers | 7 | 6 | Holds more rounds than about 90% |
Its place in the rankings
Answers
Questions about the Tramp's Terror
How much does the Tramp's Terror weigh?
The Tramp's Terror weighs 180 g (6.3 oz) empty. It is the 3rd lightest of 404 revolvers in the catalogue.
What caliber is the Tramp's Terror?
The Tramp's Terror is chambered in .22 Short.
How many rounds does the Tramp's Terror hold?
The Tramp's Terror holds 7 rounds, fed from a revolving cylinder.
How long is the Tramp's Terror?
The Tramp's Terror is 152 mm (5.98 in) long overall, with a 57 mm (2.24 in) barrel.
Who makes the Tramp's Terror?
The Tramp's Terror is made by Hood Firearms Company (United States). It was designed by Freeman W. Hood.
When was the Tramp's Terror introduced?
The Tramp's Terror was introduced in 1875 and discontinued in 1885.
How does the Tramp's Terror operate?
The Tramp's Terror uses a revolving action, and its firing mechanism is hammer fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- American civilian market
- 1875
Provenance
Confidence in this record
62%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/tramp-s-terror' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "tramp-s-terror", "name": "Tramp's Terror", "manufacturer": { "id": "hood-firearms", "name": "Hood Firearms Company", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1874, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "updatedAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "version": "c8d0c1e809d3b85f989234e450d3b963735641d68e49fbcab65f5766543cf923" }, "category": { "id": "revolver", "name": "Revolver", "description": "Handguns with a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1875, "barrel_length_mm": 57, "weight_empty_g": 180, "action_type": "revolving"}