Great Western Revolver

[vonfatman]

Just curious....

Do many of you have a G.W.??

I'd enjoy seeing some pics. I kinda think I have an itch to buy one. They are not real common but I do recal passing on one a couple years back (sound of pain as I kick myself in the butt again).

Anyway...would you folks who have one (or more) care to share. I am in the learning stages (I never seem to get past that stage) and want to learn about these neat old SA Revolvers.

I have been to the GW Collector's Forum: gwcollector.proboards.com/index.cgi?

I just thought some of your folks may have a comment or a picture you might share.

Thanks.

Bob

[cubrock]

I had a NIB .22 once. Wish I'd kept it. It was very well made and come out of an estate, unfired with box, papers, and matching test target. When I sold it, I got something like $400 out of it after several shows. I haven't seen another NIB package like mine for any price since then. Stupid me.

I also very STUPIDLY passed up a .44 Special 5.5" GW in 2009 at a show. It was $600 and had been someone's using gun for a while. I wanted a nicer one, even though this one wasn't a dog. If I had only realized how rare .44 Special GWs are, I would have snatched it up. Same seller had several others in the $550-$600 range. Live and learn.

[sackpeterson]

The GW forum has been a project or me and a friend / collaborator / partner of mine. Some of you - Lee, Stephen - have inspired on how scholarly efforts are led on more niche subjects like that.

I have 8 now, something like that. I'd have to go count. Theyre pretty neat, and very robustly built. There's sort of a general GW quality anecdote that gets passed around, and its entirely devoid of context.

[CraigC]

Still crying about the two I missed several years ago. A pair of 5.5" guns, one a .22LR, the other a .38Spl, in the neighborhood of $300 each and in good shape.

[Lee Martin]

Here's my favorite Great Western (357Atomic with factory matte finish):



-Lee
www.singleactions.com

[heyjoe63]

Early on they got a bad reputation for quality, but they are a lot nicer than people realize.

I have been trying for ages to buy a .44SPL with little success. Anyone who has one, please feel free to drop me a line.

Lee - what a beauty! Desirable caliber and hard to find finish.

BTW: Link to Great Western forum, hope it's OK to post it:

gwcollector.proboards.com/index.cgi?

Joe

[vonfatman]

Thanks for the replies. NICE gun Lee! !
Bob

[Lee Martin]

Thanks guys. I stumbled upon that Atomic 8 or 9 years ago. Only paid $275 and it's like new.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com

[dmize]

How long was Great Western in business?
l just remember reading how badly Keith slammed the early ones in his book,and then later said that later models were pretty good sixguns.

[Lee Martin]

1953 - 1962. Just over 20,000 were produced.

[sackpeterson]

This is part of the context problem I mentioned earlier.

All of Keith’s comments on Great Western appeared in Sixgun’s first printing in 1955.
So basically, he receives a Great Western in early 1954. It’s a poor gun, and Keith says as much in Sixguns, which he has just started writing. Later that year or in early 1955 Keith received another one. It’s great, and he says as much in the book, which he’s just finishing up and sending to print. But he never went back and revised his early comments. Keith wrote on a typewriter. When a page was done, it was done. No revisions.

I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist of it. The Great Westerns he reviewed were all from early production - the dog, and the subsequent perfected production example. It isn’t that the ‘later production’ revolvers were much better, because they weren’t all that much later. It was merely that later in the book, which was written pretty much chronologically over some months or a year, he had more flattering comments.

[vonfatman]

Mr. Keith's words carried a big stick! Still do.

Bob