Umbrella Magnum Revolver

[News Bot]

http://www.phantom-web.com/products/special040409/

So yeah, this is pretty much another "Samurai Edge History." It gives background on a revolver manufactured by Umbrella Industries and supplied to the company's facilities (and the U.B.C.S.) as an anti-B.O.W. weapon. Very neat background details, such as the effectiveness of conventional weapons on certain B.O.W.s, and Umbrella's foray into weapons manufacturing and customization. Full translation coming soon.

Here's a snippet:

The pharmaceutical company "Umbrella" is known as a multinational enterprise boasting global-scale shares. It is a company which handles a great variety of products, but aside from daily necessities like supplements and advanced medical equipment, generally unknown "black products" also existed. As represented by the "T-Virus", biological weapons were seen to raise vast profits and "B.O.W. = Bio Organic Weapons" were developed.
But this development was accompanied by many sacrifices. This was because a developmental B.O.W. can become uncontrollable during field tests killing and wounding R&D team researchers, and accidents damaging precious experiment equipment were frequent. So within Umbrella a professional special operations force was founded, a biohazard countermeasure force (U.B.C.S. = Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) that suppressed out of control B.O.W.s.

[J0shuaKane]

extremely interested in reading the full thing, thanks!

what is that website?

[News Bot]

It's the official website for the manufacturer of the revolver, in the same way that Tokyo Marui made the Samurai Edge.

Work in progress.

UMBRELLA MAGNUM REVOLVER
DEVELOPMENT STORY

DEMAND OF AN ANTI-B.O.W. WEAPON

The pharmaceutical company "Umbrella" is known as a multinational enterprise boasting global-scale shares. It is a company which handles a great variety of products, but aside from daily necessities like supplements and advanced medical equipment, generally unknown "black products" also existed. As represented by the "T-Virus", biological weapons were seen to raise vast profits and "B.O.W. = Bio Organic Weapons" were developed.
But this development was accompanied by many sacrifices. This was because a developmental B.O.W. can become uncontrollable during field tests killing and wounding R&D team researchers and accidents damaging precious experiment equipment were frequent. So within Umbrella a professional special operations force was founded, a biohazard countermeasure force (U.B.C.S. = Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service) that suppressed out of control B.O.W.s. Before long, the damage caused by out of control B.O.W. accidents decreased in their activity, but the sacrifices of U.B.C.S. members were serious. In a certain case, there was also an instance in which the B.O.W. "Tyrant" went out of control during an experiment and the U.B.C.S. squad that won the suppression was annihilated. The main cause was because their weapons were conventional models used in military and law-enforcement organizations. After all even though military assault rifles are antipersonnel, it was difficult to kill a B.O.W. with much higher vitality and athletic capabilities than a human. Therefore the development of weapons for exclusive anti-B.O.W. use was greatly desired.

EFFECTIVENESS OF MAGNUMS

The Umbrella Corporation has its own weapons development section for the sake of the company's security departments (including the U.B.C.S.), so it's not an overstatement to even call it a paramilitary organization. Although customization of conventional firearms and weapons was its main function, it also undertook research and development of anti-B.O.W. weaponry. Then they observed the existence of the "Magnum Revolver." According to past combat data, magnum revolvers were amid the most effective against B.O.W.s.
As for the reasons, the huge stopping power of magnum cartridges will be mentioned first. A case was reported in which even the B.O.W. "Hunter", with phenomenal athletic ability and durability high enough so it couldn't be easily defeated by normal handguns and assault rifles, was reported to be killed in one shot with magnum handguns. Although the 5.56mmX45 cartridge used in the U.S. Armed Forces' M16/M4 series assault rifles also adopted by the U.B.C.S. had superior penetration, it didn't have much damage to a B.O.W. No matter how many small holes are made, a B.O.W. cannot be defeated.
In addition, magnum handguns are superior in terms of reliability and mobility. Although high-caliber rifles and shotguns (using slug ammunition) were superior in stopping power, they were detrimental to movement in small spaces like laboratories since the size of the gun's main frame was bigger. What's more, a quick-moving B.O.W. is a bigger opponent than a human. It's also said that the favorable magnum handguns could even be called "small cannons."
By the way, there are two types in magnum handguns; revolver types and automatic types. Although autos are excellent in regards to the number of cartridges and quick-fire, revolvers excel in operability and reliability. That is why a "magnum revolver" was chosen.

ARRIVAL OF THE UMBRELLA MAGNUM REVOLVER

Various kinds of revolvers using .357 or .44 caliber magnum bullets have been released by firearm manufacturers. Most magnum revolvers were developed for the purpose of competitions and hunting large beasts rather than military or police use, and were ideal for the base of an anti-B.O.W. weapon. Therefore, Umbrella Corp.'s weapons development section developed a gun exclusively for anti-B.O.W. use based on a commercial revolver that uses .44 caliber magnum bullets. The "Umbrella Magnum Revolver." This gun adopted the opinions of some employees with actual combat experience with B.O.W.s, including U.B.C.S. members, and the specifications of each part were decided. We will first look at its features.

[News Bot]

I finished quicker than expected.

http://projectumbrella.net/articles/Umbrella-Magnum-Revolver-Development-Story

[AsteroidBlues]

Awesome read, I can't wait for when we get to read about Umbrella's sanitary napkin division and/or the division that devised the condiments for their many cafeterias. xD

On a side note, there is a point in the article that discusses the individual components of the revolver, I'll quote it below for reference...

Grip
An orthodox slim and easy to grasp wooden grip was adopted with an emphasis on operability. The design calculated a favorable balance between the frame and barrel and became a shape that achieved the most balance. Checkering of the safety was performed and a medallion of Umbrella Corp.'s trademark was inserted.

I have a good amount of hands-on experience across broad categories of firearms, although never the S&W N-Frame, but I seem to recall that the N-Frame series of pistols did not have a safety. In fact, it's almost unheard of to have a safety catch system on any revolver.

Even assuming that Umbrella Corp modified the pistol to have such a feature, it would seem doubly ludicrous given the fact that it was to operate as a back-up weapon system for combat with B.O.W.'s. Assuming my information is correct, I can only come to three possible reasons for this...

A) The Umbrella Corp weapons division was run by idiots
B) Perhaps somewhere along the line, the cylinder release latch was mistaken for a "safety" due to lack of weapons knowledge
C) Perhaps you/the source were referring to a few semi-automatic magnum pistols which were pressed into service in that instance?

[News Bot]

The exact term used there is "滑り止めチェッカリング." It could also mean "non-slip checkering", which probably makes more sense.

[AsteroidBlues]

The exact term used there is "滑り止めチェッカリング." It could also mean "non-slip checkering", which probably makes more sense.

I would have to concur, given that the preceding statements spoke of the wooden grips it was fitted with and is followed by the statement regarding the umbrella logo that was set into the wooden grips. It is exceedingly common (and preferred) for wooden pistol grips to be checkered to improve your ability too firmly clasp the grip in adverse conditions

[News Bot]

Corrected.

[AsteroidBlues]

Corrected.

Glad to help the compendium, however little a help it might have been.