These are the Smith & Wesson M1900-1 leg irons. Similar to the slightly older M1900, but these have the familiar modern rivets as part of their construction.
These are very nice quality. Their shape and design mean they can fit quite a wide array of ankle/leg sizes.
They have the usual familiar window double locking mechanism and work pretty smoothly.
They are decently comfortable and because of the ovular shape, can accommodate with people with particularly muscular calves/ankles due to the shape.
They came with 2 standard chunky S&W keys, one of which I have converted into a back-cut TOOOL Ultimate Handcuff Key.
The nickel finish on them seems a bit on the patchy side. Almost like it consists of grubby hand prints all over it. It is hard to describe but you may perceive them to be dirty, but let me tell you that I have cleaned them with metal cleaner, polished them with Renaissance wax and given them some PTFE lubricant. It's part of the finish. Also it seems during transit they got slightly chipped. On the back of one of the double strands the nickel has flaked off on a small area making it feel a bit rough when running a finger over it. Normal skin contact areas are intact but this was a bit of a disappointment never the less.
I believe Yuil definitely copied this design. I no longer have a pair of Yuil leg irons, as at the time I did not really want to collect leg irons and I gave them to a worthy home :) But as I recall from memory these are extremely similar to each other.
On their smallest size, they are adequate to secure around my hands and on their largest size they would accommodate a leg larger than mine, so I find that quite impressive.
On the very very largest setting, within the ramp divot area, you can double lock them and they do appear secure, though because it is a slope either side, unsuccessful attempts to kick the bow tighter or pull it out may progressively damage the teeth on the pawl, whereas when closed on a normal click, any attempt to kick closed or pull open either go nowhere or merely pull on the pawl teeth. So I would recommend closing them on a proper click unless someone has SO large ankles that you have no choice but to use that little initial groove area.
These are mainly used in the US but there may be other places using them. I have seen them used in transport situations and in courtrooms/prisons but it's not a typical "cop on the street" item as far as I can tell.
Very nice and glad to have these in my collection!
Enjoy 😀
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