|
|
Post by rjm52 on Oct 13, 2017 16:43:05 GMT -5
Picked up a gun exactly like this today but it is blue with a case hardened frame. www.gunbroker.com/item/707504576It is like new in the box just like this stainless one. The .22 LR cylinder has been fired a few times but the .22 Magnum not at all. Was wondering when these guns were made. Seems to be solid and very well made... Thanks...Bob |
|
Joe S.
.401 Bobcat
Posts: 2,517
|
Post by Joe S. on Oct 13, 2017 17:03:56 GMT -5
I have had a couple of the 44s. They are huge. Feel bigger than the Super Blackhawk to me.
How large is the 22? Much smaller i hope. Ha
I think Lee has an article on the Virginians on this site.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ken O'Neill on Oct 13, 2017 18:42:55 GMT -5
In that article, Lee reports that the .22 LR and .22 convertible versions were made for Interarms by Uberti, beginning in 1983. Production of all the Virginians ended in 1984 I believe.
|
|
|
|
Post by rjm52 on Oct 14, 2017 8:09:05 GMT -5
Thanks all for the information...
And no, this is not built of the centerfire frame but is more like a case hardened Single-Six or Colt New Frontier...
Hope to shoot it sometime this week...
Bob
|
|
|
|
Post by bradshaw on Oct 14, 2017 8:47:08 GMT -5
In that article, Lee reports that the .22 LR and .22 convertible versions were made for Interarms by Uberti, beginning in 1983. Production of all the Virginians ended in 1984 I believe. ***** This raises an interesting point. Sam Cummings, whose gun running career started on the battlefields of World War II, wanted to sell arms, not manufacture them. Thus, Interarms started with surplus, then branched into the distribution of new firearms, mostly European. Manufacture, of course, requires a huge commitment to product lines and heavy machinery, design and execution. In that regard, no one in the Twentieth Century excelled Bill Ruger. Sam Cummings hired Rod Sward to implement manufacture of the Virginian single action in Cummings’ headquarters state, Virginia. Operating in a small plant in Midland, Virginia, Rod Sward produced the large frame, Peacemaker-style Virginian Dragoon with investment cast frame and lockwork in blue and stainless steel. The Silhouette Dragoons with 10-1/2” barrel were made in .357 and .44 Mag specifically for IHMSA competition, with pull-through button rifled barrels. To make a single action .22 Long Rifle would have required a major expansion in machinery and labor, all the while having to compete with Ruger’s massively successful Single Six. As it was, the Silhouette Dragoon had to go up against Ruger’s “Silhouette Super,” which basically took over the firing line in late 1979, so much so that Smith & Wesson had no answer for it. (For durability reasons the seesaw between the Super Blackhawk 7-1/2” and S&W M-29 8-3/8” had been tipping in favor of the Ruger. Had Bangor-Punta not owned S&W at that time, Smith & Wesson might have listened to the thunder from IHMSA and made a tougher .44 Mag.) To make an accurate .22 revolver one must pay attention to dimensions, as the soft little .22 bullet is intolerant of any misstep between departing the case and entering the barrel. On top of which, it is better to lightly squeeze a bullet than to rattle it. David Bradshaw |
|
|
|
Post by needsmostuff on Oct 14, 2017 9:38:50 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by bobwright on Oct 14, 2017 9:46:46 GMT -5
I have had a couple of the 44s. They are huge. Feel bigger than the Super Blackhawk to me. How large is the 22? Much smaller i hope. Ha I think Lee has an article on the Virginians on this site. I believe the gurn your are referring to (a .44 Magnum) is the Virginian Dragoon, which was made in Alexandria, Virginia. The Virginian (center fire, .357 and .45 Colt, maybe a .44 Special) were made initially by Hammerli of Switzerland, and were near duplicates of the Colt Single Action Army. Some of the later guns were made my Uberti, as were the rimfires. I have only seen one or two Virginians as they were made only a short while. The Dragoons turn up now and then, but as you say, they are bigger and more robust. Also they were made in stainless. Interarms advertised that the Dragoon was the "first revolvers made in Virginia since the Civil War." Bob Wright |
|
|
|
Post by bobwright on Oct 14, 2017 9:47:57 GMT -5
I have had a couple of the 44s. They are huge. Feel bigger than the Super Blackhawk to me. How large is the 22? Much smaller i hope. Ha I think Lee has an article on the Virginians on this site. I believe the gun your are referring to (a .44 Magnum) is the Virginian Dragoon, which was made in Alexandria, Virginia. The Virginian (center fire, .357 and .45 Colt, maybe a .44 Special) were made initially by Hammerli of Switzerland, and were near duplicates of the Colt Single Action Army. Some of the later guns were made my Uberti, as were the rimfires. I have only seen one or two Virginians as they were made only a short while. The Dragoons turn up now and then, but as you say, they are bigger and more robust. Also they were made in stainless. Interarms advertised that the Dragoon was the "first revolvers made in Virginia since the Civil War." Bob Wright |
|
|
|
Post by rjm52 on Oct 14, 2017 18:37:13 GMT -5
WOW..that is a lot of information....
Can someone tell me what the three shallow drill holes are in the .22 cylinders? Some kind of proof tests?
Bob
|
|
va357
.30 Stingray
Posts: 110
|
Post by va357 on Jan 1, 2018 16:44:43 GMT -5
|
|
va357
.30 Stingray
Posts: 110
|
Post by va357 on Jan 1, 2018 16:53:11 GMT -5
|
|
va357
.30 Stingray
Posts: 110
|
Post by va357 on Jan 1, 2018 18:35:44 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by sackpeterson on Jan 2, 2018 10:43:18 GMT -5
The Interarms Virginian .22 is the Uberti Stallion of that era just with a private label. The only twist there is for Interarms, Uberti offered it in stainless steel.
Good guns. Since that tome they've changed the sights a little and made it a ten shot.
|
|
va357
.30 Stingray
Posts: 110
|
Post by va357 on Jan 9, 2018 20:34:29 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by warhawk on Jan 10, 2018 2:39:25 GMT -5
|
|
