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Post by ermont0825 on Jun 6, 2012 13:17:48 GMT -5
I was just over at the local gun crack house and found a GW 38 special. I just wanted to look at it but the actions was so smooth and the trigger so perfect I had to put it on layaway for a week or two. I know these are fairly rare. Any impressions from any of you who have owned one?
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Post by CraigC on Jun 6, 2012 14:42:23 GMT -5
All these GW threads remind me of the pair I missed out on quite a few years ago. Guy had a pair of minty 5½" models, one .22LR and one .38Spl and priced at $300 each. Still lamenting......
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Post by markggtp on Jun 6, 2012 16:08:12 GMT -5
Just got my first GW a few months back, 357 Atomic, one of the best shooting SA's that i own.
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Post by sackpeterson on Jun 6, 2012 16:40:10 GMT -5
I collect them.
There is a conversational anecdote among gunnies that they are afflicted by various quality problems. I think this is enormously overstated. GW’s are awesome(!). Real well built.
They made 22,000 revolvers, and these are pretty much sequentially serial numbered. The early ones had pretty stiff actions. The latter ones are often very slick as you describe.
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Post by ermont0825 on Jun 6, 2012 17:20:43 GMT -5
This one has a s/n in the high 14,000's.
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Post by sackpeterson on Jun 7, 2012 8:50:31 GMT -5
Yours is a late serial for all intents and purposes. And insofar as some Great Westerns are better than others, there’s a sweetspot range between say 11500 and 19400 where machining, fit, and finish is regarded as best. Regarded by some of the old time collectors as best.
You don’t get that many opportunities to buy decent centerfires. There just aren’t enough of them around. So if you have the single action aptitude, it’s a good to look over and consider buying any that you encounter retail.
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Post by Lee Martin on Jun 7, 2012 8:55:45 GMT -5
There is a conversational anecdote among gunnies that they are afflicted by various quality problems. I think this is enormously overstated. GW’s are awesome(!). Real well built. I agree. I only own three, but they range in number from 5,6xx to 19,4XX. I've handled countless other GWs over the years at gun shows. All were well built and as good as anything coming out of Italy. No doubt they had some bugs to overcome early on, but within the first year they got their act together. So don't buy into the quality myth too much. If you see a reasonably priced Great Western, drop the cash and shoot the hell out of it. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time" |
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Post by Lee Martin on Jun 7, 2012 8:59:39 GMT -5
And if you haven't seen this already, I highly recommend the recently published book on Great Westerns:  -Lee www.singleactions.com"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time" |
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Post by heyjoe63 on Jun 7, 2012 10:20:32 GMT -5
There's also a Great Western forum where you can get additional info. Hopefully it's alright to plug another forum, since I know Lee is a member there also! gwcollector.proboards.com/index.cgi? |
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Post by Lee Martin on Jun 7, 2012 11:11:57 GMT -5
Plug away. The Great Western Forum is an excellent resource. I've enjoyed being a member and recommend that others join. -Lee www.singleactions.com"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time" |
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Post by Frank V on Jun 8, 2012 20:39:36 GMT -5
Heyjoe63
Thanks for that link. I didn't know about it. I'm going to check it out though.
Frank
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Post by ermont0825 on Jun 13, 2012 13:51:41 GMT -5
I can't pick up my gun for a few days due to the 5 day between gun purchases BS. I am collecting brass and cast bullets. I have no need to try and turn this into a 357 magnum but am curious what to look for in performance. Anybody have an idea what kind of loads this gun can handle? 14k maybe 20k?
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Post by sackpeterson on Jun 13, 2012 14:10:36 GMT -5
The made the Great Western Frontier model in .357. You'll have wide latitude in .38 loads.
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