My thinking has always been if you can afford it, and want it, go for it. All the rest is BS after that. Don't be insulted because others do not feel the same, it is called preference.

OTH I am just as afraid of having a Hi Point pointed at me as I am a Korth.

I don't agree about these opinions. Of course there is a big difference between USA citizens and Old Europe people, all of us know it. Even in the same Country: I don't know the caracteristics of single American States, but it's evident that things are in that way.
I'm italian, a northern italian, and I can assure that southern italian people is absolutely different . I can't say worth or better (......I'm lying....) , just different.
In the same way , me too I lived in Paris at The Cité Universitaire when I was young, and I very often travel in France: there is a huge competition between our Nations, and broadly French people see italians as poor cousins. We see them as conceited people. However there is a massive difference, as I told, between Paris citizens and the whole French population, who hate them for that.

I tought this was a forum about guns.It looks more like a sociologic study to me.I must have dialed a wrong number here!

OK, Korth and Manurhin are quality, durable, firearms with a hefty price tag. Now, seriously ... how much better than a Ruger GP100 that is is worth 5 to 8 times the price tag ?

I've been ragged on by some fellow members for my affection of certain Ruger revolvers but here goes, anyway.

I'd like to see the meltdown test on a stainless Ruger GP100 against ANY other .357. I've put 150 .357 rounds through a GP100 in one sitting and it barely got "warm" and never malfunctions nor got stiff to cycle.

If the shores of Florida were being invaded by terrorists, besides whatever else I'd take, the Ruger GP100 would be in the first batch chosen.

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

I agree. The topic will finish here from me. Btw I don’t write “americans are ... - whatever you think about-“

I think I had explained in a previous post that I also have a Ruger GP100. I also have shot several other GP100s and own a Ruger SRH. I can do a direct comparison from experience and the Ruger GP 100 just does not compare to a Korth or MR73 when it comes to fit and finish. I tried to explain that the double action pull is transferred by a roller bearing and the results should be easy to understand; a much smoother and much more consistent pull. On top of that the stacking can be changed to the shooters liking by changing the bearing.

The glass smooth finish in the chambers of the MR and Korth will make ejection of expanded cases a whole lot easier but all these advantages will only be fully comprehended in a direct comparison - and most likely be not appreciated by everyone.

How much better is a Korth than a Ruger? Four times better, five times better? That does not matter to me. I have the GP100 in my safe with impractical but pretty Nill grips and while I like my S&W M65 better than it, the GP100, the S&W M65 and M19s, the Python, and the Korths all have a place in my small armoury and are all appreciated and all guns I kept have to be good shooters.

I'll certainly give you that the GP100 is a durable and strong revolver, but also crude and unrefined with a lousy trigger. Comparing it to a Korth or MR is really two opposite ends of the spectrum. Not sure I can measure how much better they are in terms of price, but I don't look at things in that fashion.

I have Rugers myself and they are solid revolvers, but they are what they are...tough, rugged, crude, and ugly. Whether or not they're as tough as a Korth or MR, I don't know. If they were, I'd be extremely impressed. I have my doubts about that.

They are ugly and overpriced. My American revolvers can be had in LOTS BIGGER calibers that those only in 357. So I yawn, turn the page and move on..........

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S&W Accumulator

How are they “overpriced”? They sell at those prices and continue to go up and up year after year.

Check GB for current and past auctions of uses Korths and Manurhins and let me know what you see. The market commands these prices. Hardly overpriced.

Also, get back to me when American revolvers built at any point in the last 40-50 years are even in the same ballpark in terms of build quality, durability, fit and finish, refinement, and most times accuracy.

I've never owned Korth or Manurin revolvers. I did own Colt
Pythons, Diamond Backs and other top of the line Colt DAs.
Way back in 70s I decided the S&W a superior design.

Same thing with SAs, the Ruger ( old models ) Blackhawk series
was a better design than Colts.

Any gun is overpriced if the potential buyer decides it is overpriced. OTH a value whether high, or low is also determined by the potential buyer. Everybody else who has no skin in the game other than being a fan of a particular brand has no bearing.

If a person who has zero clue what they're talking about thinks its overpriced, so be it. That does not mean they are overpriced in the market. The market determines the selling prices on Gunbroker.

That's how the collector's market works.

What I find funny is that some people scream out that they're overpriced when they likely never even saw one in person. Sounds like jealousy to me, but whatever.

Brian,

we both probably spend more time at the gun range and work on our skill levels than the majority of people that hang out and are posting at gun forums and are saving on ammo cost. This helps us to assess firearms and their potential accuracy better than all the folks on gun forums that will never have the skill level to appreciate a great firearm.

While the majority of gun forum members does not have any problem with a $5,000 customs 1911 ( and I know that you have dozens of them ), ignorance runs rampant when it comes to revolvers like Korth and Manurhin.

It is ignorance to make a statement on anything that one does not know. We had great examples in this thread.

Why is this an issue? If you think the gun is worth it, that is all that matters. I don't have to have intimate knowledge to believe a Rollls Royce is overpriced for me. Because someone is not interested in a gun for any reason including price is not a reason to resort to petty insults.

This is beginning to resemble a Glock thread where fans go over the deep end because others do not share their love for them.

There’s no issue at all. I honestly don’t care.

I’m just trying to explain what overpriced means on the market. That’s all. Someone not being able to afford or not being able to justify the cost, does not make an item overpriced. It simply means it’s out of their price range.

Overpriced generally means an item costs too much for what you get and doesn’t sell. This is quite the contrary for Korth. Used prices of vintage models are nuts because there is enough demand for them to drive prices higher and higher.

The market is comprised of people buying, and selling a product. Those who are not, the market does not affect their life. It is like classic cars many go for 10 times their original price, or more. To those enthusiasts they are worth it. To those not interested may think they are over priced. It is not ignorance, or jealousy, nor is it an insult to the fans of those products.

Snipping in the gun community over such non important issues cause considerable damage to our solidarity.

You seem to be taking this very seriously. Its really not that serious. I guess we will just agree to disagree.

How someone can determine that a product is overpriced for what it is seems impossible to me without any experience with the said item. People may not be able to justify the cost, which is fine. Two different things.

However, they are extremely fine guns. I'd take one Korth Combat over 10 to 15 Rugers or whatever it comes to. Same for the MR 73.

Very true, Andy

The thread was doomed from the start since the OP had zero experience to begin with.

What is overpriced and what is not.Like the saying:''beauty is in the eye of the beholder'',I'd say that what seems a justifiable price to one might be overpriced to another one.
In 1988,S&W brought out their ''model of 1988'' serie limited to 5000 units.I got lucky and had one(.45 acp,5'' bbl,heavy underlug,stainless,the whole works!).A couple years after,a bubble went up my brains and I sold it.I traced it back 2 years ago and 2 days ago,I heard that the guy is about to sell his handguns...all of them.
May I tell you that I'm ready to pay what would seem to be ''overpriced'' for the wanted item!
Don't anybody tell him though...I will sue!

First off, let me explain that I can absolutely understand and tolerate everybody's decision whether he wants to buy Korth, a Manurhin, Freedom Arms Casull, or a High Point. On the other hand, I find statements that are not based on facts objectionable. I took offense in the OP's first post were he relegated Korth collectors universally as older guys that are new to collecting and obviously questioned their knowledge about firearms. I grew up around firearms and have a sizeable collection that I built over decades.

I shot military and civilian pistol state matches for about 4 decades, I was a shooting coach in several private gun clubs and helped many young shooters improve their skills and to enjoy handgun competitions, passing on my experience in the shooting field to others than direct family. I cast my own bullets, reload, including forming my own brass and go shooting on average more than once a week. I am well aware that a Korth - especially at current market prices - is out of reach for most shooters but so are the many custom or semi custom 1911 pistols, older Brownings, and so many other traditionally made guns.

Brian (BC1023), Michael Zeleny and I have probably helped to propagate the Korth revolvers with informative posts about the history and features of Korth revolvers. I did not pay market prices for my Korths but had imported them myself, as well as my Hämmerli 208 and I built the safety myself to comply with ATF import rulings.

As I take my hobbies very serious, I have visited both Korth factories, SIG Sauer and countless breweries in several countries. So what do you think about the new wave of craft beers? Are they worth $5 for a bottle of blueberry flavoured beer that the millennials are happily spending for them?

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Did you get your MR73 yet? Did you buy through Kebco? After shooting several MR73s I knew I had to have one and am sending my deposit to Ken for 5 1/4 in the next batch.

For those asking about durability, it seems like this sort of testing happens with revolver less frequently than autos, but the USBP did testing of the K Frame S&W vs the Ruger security 6 and ended up adopting the Ruger because it was good for around 20,000 rounds of .357, while the K Frames started having problems after only a couple thousand. All of us who collect S&W are quite familiar the the problems encountered with the K frame .357 revolvers and how the L frame was designed to solve the probelm.

For comparison, the GIGN did a durability test on the MR73 and ran 170,000 rounds of 158gn Norma 357 magnum before the stopped testing. No S&W, Ruger or Colt even comes close. hand fitting is superb and the lockwork is smooth and while the MR73 is based on the S&W, it has a shorter hammer travel and lock time. It's built with a tougher steel, which is one of the reason it costs more. Manufacturing tooling has to replaced more often.

Does the average shooter need this? Probably not. Most shooters will probably never fire enough rounds to wear out their revolver anyway. But if you can afford the cost and appreciate the manufacture, why not?

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Tod Glenn

I did receive it from Kebco, and I like it very much. The fit and finish is top notch, and I can see no difference in the quality or construction between it and my original MR73. The only thing I would change about it is that I would rather have the patridge style sight than the ramp sight, but I can always change that out at some point.

That's cool

To each their own. I've got multiples of each...

... and you are shooting them. That is giving you a very different perspective than the average collector of fine arms has.