tj3006
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,958
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Post by tj3006 on Mar 28, 2020 9:57:18 GMT -5
It seems to me , we are back where I started ! None of have been in the revolver game since the start, we all jumped on the merry go round at different times. I am Talking work horse .357s.
I became a gun nut all of a sudden in about 1978, or 9, I was 20. My then Brother in law took me shooting with a savage 99 in .308 and a Ruger Six Inch Security 6. I remember thinking the .308 kicked like mule ! We had 2 boxes of 38 special Aluminum case cci. There was a pop can about 80 yards away, i missed it 3 times with the rifle , got mighty pissed about that, picked the revolver, fired 1 round and when that can jumped about 3 feet in the air, I was hooked. I jumped up and down like i had won the supper bowl, and did not calm down for hours, Pure luck that I hit it at all let alone on the under side to make it jump so. I started reading about Guns like a nut , always had a magazine. in the bathroom at home and at work. Talked with lots of guys i new, Most notably a great but crazy guy known around portland as Dr, Dave. He was my sister Partner Working for a local ambulance company. Biker , and he got his nick name sewing up out law bikers in the camp trailer he lived in. Flew Slicks in nam and left The Medford Or Police Department after Killing a guy with a Revolver He called Baby, a model 28 with a after market heavy barrel. So after gaining Knowledge by the page and word of mouth, I came to the conclusion, That the 3 American Revolver Makers Colt Smith And Ruger, All Had loyal followers. The Ruger Security 6 and it,s offspring was know as a Tank, for rugged dependability ,Less expensive then the others too. But the trigger was a heavy and harder to master, The Colt Python was Elegant easy to shoot and refined, And while pretty darn reliable, They had way more failings that the Ruger. Cost was prohibitive for me as i was young and poor like most, And my band cost me more money than it made me by a long shot ! S&W , was middle of the road Cost wise and ruggedness, (except with the k frames) and they had 3 distinctive Frames , So i went with A 6 inch 686. ( not sure that model was around in 79, so my years may be off, hell i am getting old and #$%^ happens). Well it seems to me we are right back there now. I have A GP 100 5 inch that is Rugged as anything, And has much smoother action than That the old model Rugers, to me it is just a great revolver, I don,t think it would wear out in my lifetime if i shot it every day. Smith still makes Guns that are middle of the road, I really don,t fault there Quality , That damn lock bugs me more than it should but if John Taffin likes them, (nuff said ). And now Colt is in the Revolver game again. I do not think much of the.38 special Cobra , But the King Cobra Strikes me as a fine Revolver, nice trigger , and the gold bead front sight is great ! Its to early to tell how reliable it is, but i think just because of the light weight , and small frame, it is not one i would expect to hold up to a lifetime of hard use. (but i Could be wrong). The new Python, has had problems. But it,s been beefed up a bit, and when (or if ) the problems get worked out it should be just what it was before, Elegant Expensive, And with the reshaped main spring , it should last longer than the old ones did, But it still has that bend in the corner , and i am no engineer , but i did work in a spring shop for a few years, When you bend a chunk of steel into a u shape , i don,t see how it can help but weaken it. Again i could be wrong. But just like before , If you want A rock solid Dependable revolver ! Ruger , If you wand Elegance and extreme accuracy get a python. If you want to split the difference get Smith ! But i think all are very good ! ...tj
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Post by oddshooter on Mar 28, 2020 11:13:49 GMT -5
TJ, I find myself reminiscing about bygone days and wondering what has changed. I think you found my sixgun preferences when you wrote Colt, Smith, and Ruger. However, I found different answers than you as to why. My Colts are dripping with history in your hand. Like Smith, that means they are carrying a lot of baggage from the past. It's hard to get away from the manufacturing machines you've got and the people running them. Ruger on that scale, is a relative new comer with new manufacturing processes. History aside, Colts offerings have suffered as the company has suffered through changes of ownership and philosophy. I love my Python, Diamondback, Official Police, and of course the SAA. Their finishes can be like liquid Blue. But nothing in 40 years has excited me about Colt. Mores the pity. Ruger's are tanks. Tanks are heavy and kind of chunky beasts. My Blackhawk, SRM, Buckeye, Single Six, and Security Six have squarely found a spot in my heart and my vault; my GP100 and the SP101 are just tools to me without sentiment. I just broke my 30 year dry streak and bought a new Ruger, a Single 7 in 327fedmag. To say I was disappointed is the understatement of the year. Back to the mothership. Smith & Wesson has a permanent lease on more than half of my psyche. The 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 48, and the 57 are just all as sweet as they can be. Add their stainless steel counterparts or the scandium feathers and you have a lineup that could not be beat. The triggers are in a class by themselves. But once again I find myself not buying new sixguns from Smith either. In the past, a human being touched every sixgun made. Today, manufacturing doesn't want a human hand touching anything. Machines making machines; the "Terminator" is with us. Can machines do the same job; or maybe even better? A great cook puts the secret ingredient in all they make; LOVE. You can taste it. A great machine just puts parts together. No caring. No soul. (I'm betting geeks from Google are working on that ) So the only change this old fart can see is that I am still living in the past. The good old days are just that; gone. Prescut
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Post by dobegrant on Mar 28, 2020 12:02:42 GMT -5
Seems to be in the air, started with a Blackhawk .357 then a security six, then traded thru the colts, Smith’s, short barrels long barrels then off to big bores for many many years but been doing a lot of .357 shooting and loading lately. Only have 3 .357’s right now, ruger gp100 7 shot 6 1/2”, ruger Blackhawk tall 5 1/2” and a smith and wesson 4” 686
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Post by ezekiel38 on Mar 28, 2020 12:23:01 GMT -5
Started out with the USAF and the Model 15 Smith, then onto the Ruger Blackhawk 357, Entered law enforcement in 1970 and it was the start of a long road of Smith&Wessons, the first was a 4" Model 19, and hundreds more have come and gone, including 27s, 24s, 29s, and 640s. Picked up a few Colts along the way: My favorite Colt was a LW Commander customized by Ikey Starks and a Colt Cobra 38, the Commander was in the Colonels caliber 45. Did many prisoner transports back in the day of the Commander and Cobra. We hauled interstate prisoner in automobiles in that day and usually one Deputy and two or so prisoners, in the back with cage and belly chains and leg irons. The Commander rode in a vertical Jackass rig pointed to the rear and I'm left handed. The Cobra was carried in an Apache ankle rig and was very handy, when seated.
I'm in my 70s now and my primary carry guns are: Kimber K6 2" DAO 357, Colt Night Cobra 2". Both have night sights and after 45 years of DAO only shooting with SD guns I am quite comfortable with these two companions. In the field I either carry a GP Match Champion or a Smith 29-3 3", just depends where the field is. Constantly at the bench reloading 38s. Full circle.
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tj3006
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,958
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Post by tj3006 on Mar 28, 2020 16:52:47 GMT -5
I am surprised that you were displeased , with a Single .327, i bought one in the Bisley model and i just love the darn thing. And while i can understand the thinking that the SP101 , (mine is a target in .327 ) and the GP-100 are like tools, Just last weekend i shot my 5 inch GP100 , And while not a great shot at all, i was knocking the crap out of fairly difficult targets. So I Held it at my right side, put a new target on the card board box that i brought along for the purpose ,walked 15 paces away, Focused on the bullseye And Squeezed off six rounds DA and Had a group only slightly bigger than the ones i got single action. I can learn to love a really good tool ! I only have 2 smiths, both pinned and recessed, a 29-2 4 inch and a 34-1 also 4 inch. And i am hankering bad for a 6 inch 19-4 or older. I have had some newer smiths and they shot great. I still like the old ones better. It,s been years since i owned a Colt Revolver. But i had a few Pythons D Backs and detective Specials, I got too good a changing that main spring. Never had a main spring break, or ware out on a Ruger or a Smith. But the Python blue was something to admire . And they shot well !
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Post by wildcatter on Mar 29, 2020 14:50:12 GMT -5
I started with my Dad's 22's and dbl. brl. 20 ga. handguns were no more than toys in my Dad's view. But my first year out on my own, I hbought a Super Single Six from no other place than Western Auto! That lead to several other 22's over the years, and evolved into my favorite the MKII 5.5" after owning many different DA's and Semi's. With a lovely K17 Masterpiece, a 6" full Target I wish I had today! But the same year I left home I also bought an Arminus 45 Colt. Because of a Neighbor who got me into casting and reloading all at the same time. This was what led to many 44 mags and 357's. 454's 475's etc. I fell in love with the Blackhawk frame after ruining many 44's, from a very junk Lamma Comanche, I stretched the frames on a couple 29's trying to feed them what I was feeding my Supers. Some of those SB's were 7.5" I had a few I bobbed to 6" 5.5" 4.6". Same with my 357's. This was what really made the Rugers my handgun of choice, I have always loved heavy bullets and stiff charges of slow powders! I had a few different Security Six's, 2 3/4" 4" 6" as well as a couple Blackhawks, but the 6" big grip Stainless Security Six became my favorite, the K-frame 19 proved it would be ruined if I continued loading it with SS loads, heavy charges of 2400 and H-110 was all I knew back then, with my favorite 174 grain cast 358429 SWC. These loads also proved superior to any other 357 including the slow twist Python, which could only match the Ruger's accuracy with 110 and 125 grain loads, as target loads were to wimpy fer me in those days. Then I got into slamming steel, local matches fer a while which didn't last but two or three years around here. Then I had already been bitten by the long range handguns, XP-100's and Contenders, 35 Rems, 7BR, some TCU's Waters 44's till the hot loads from the 44's and 35 Rem along with a 430 JDJ started taking tolls on the contender frames. So the XP-100 started getting love, 308 Win., my first Wildcat a 308x1.5, 358 Win, and the factory offerings, even had a local Gun Smith do 17 machIV, hellova varmint round out to 250 to 300 if you could get a rest. That led to several rifles in Wildcat chamberings, along with more specialty tools for reloading. But in the mid 80's I bought my first 45 Colt in the Blackhawk, after a few years the 44's were gone, something about the 45, totally different than the first center fire revolver I ever owned brought that warm and fuzzy feel. Heavy bullets over 300 grains, and them same heavy H-110 loads and 2400 did everything that 44 did, except no one else was using it. Kinda like the boredom I had with rifles back about then. after owning most of the fastest big game and varmint long range factory offerings. I had started having some wildcats and custom rifles built, first ones were from Fred Sinclair, an old friend that belonged to the same gun club I did, and catered heavily to the Bench Rest community, that he and Ron Pence, another good friend, gun smith, and custom hand cut rifled barrel maker got me involved in. Yep those early days have evolved, the 454's I had are mostly gone but one, seldom used in favor of that 45 Colt, today my favorite is the 5.5" Stnl. Bisley, and the 357's Security Sixes and GP-100's are all gone, in favor of the 5.5" Stnl unfluted Bisley there as well, in fact the Super Singles are gone today a 6" Stnl. Bisley 22 lr only, has replaced them, and of course the main hunting 22 is still a Stnl 5.5" MKII bull barrel. I did own a 44 in a 6" Colt Anaconda that I probably woulda kept if it had been in 45 Colt, but Who knows if it could have stood up to standard loads? The Wildcats in the XP's are gone, as are all the ceterfire rifles and Wildcats, only a 460 Katahdin on a Encore, and a custom 580 Rem in 22LR sit in the safe with a few other revolvers and pistols getting little use. Of course the DW 1911 sees quite a bit of use today, but the 3 Bisley's in those first 3 calibers I ever owned are what I turn to for 99% of my use today, including all my hunting. Even the 480 I longed for fer years set's 99% of the time. I am guessing from here on out the 45 Colt, 357, and 22LR have proven to be my favorites, just as they were when I was young and just starting out, my first 3 calibers, who woulda thunk I had right clear back then! But all those in between were needed, not just for the experience they offered, but to prove how right I had it in the beginning, with my late choice (20+ years ago) of 45 acp for PP, 3 outa 4 ain't bad for first guessing! Oh as well as my choice in loads, as I have added some Bulseye and 231 with HS-6 to my routine for plinking. I still turn to them jugs of H-110, and 2400, with big for caliber hunks of lead most time's!,,,,,
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Post by 500fksjr on Mar 29, 2020 16:15:18 GMT -5
I was a 357 guy 45 yrs ago ...Then 45 1911's, then meet a single action and the rest is history! That said a 38 mod 10 and a bearcat 22 get a steady workout when the kids an grand kids are home...But the 32 bug hit 3 yrs ago I find my self playing and varmit hunting quiet abit with single sixes an 7...
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tj3006
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,958
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Post by tj3006 on Mar 29, 2020 20:36:49 GMT -5
I have one of the New Bearcats, with adjustable sights, I might go Bobby Tyler soon as i get my Bisley .41 back ! I could get my self in deep if i got , to many customs going at once ! i have a Blue MK 2 515 inch bull barrel. Man that,s a fun one. Think i will take it along on my next shoot. I have a fresh clear cut About 45 miles away where i can practice social distancing all i want. ...tj
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Post by foxtrapper on Mar 30, 2020 7:16:58 GMT -5
I have one of the New Bearcats, with adjustable sights, I might go Bobby Tyler soon as i get my Bisley .41 back ! I could get my self in deep if i got , to many customs going at once ! i have a Blue MK 2 515 inch bull barrel. Man that,s a fun one. Think i will take it along on my next shoot. I have a fresh clear cut About 45 miles away where i can practice social distancing all i want. ...tj I recently found that I absolutely love the Bearcat! Never seen one in person until I bought one online. It a ss adjustable sighted one that I sent off Clements for his trigger and accuracy pkg! Also wears one of Fermins front sights. When I get a chance i will send it out to have it round butted with new grips. There it will be perfect!
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