I need a LOT more money.

S&W 25-5 & 625-6 Mountain Gun 621.jpg

In 1979 I wanted a pair of 29s for some overseas assignments. Thanks to Dirty Harry and greedy S&W distributors they were available only at ridiculously inflated prices.

I had not considered the .45 Colt. Old, 19th Century CE you know.

A colleague disabused me of my ignorance and I bought a pair of 25-5s, six-inch barrels. I was perfectly happy with the combat accuracy and never saw a reason to cut cloverleafs with them, so I couldn't tell you if they could.

Years later, after I heard about this controversy I tested mine. A 452 bullet will drop through all chambers of both guns, slowing in some. A 454 bullet will not drop through.

These were the first large caliber revolvers I owned, and I hated the grips. I was given a couple after-market ones that served me very well. As others have said, the .45 Colt does not have the recoil of the .44 Magnum, but exhibited substantial penetration and hit very hard. John Taffin later explained why, and I have had greater respect for the caliber ever since.

The only downside at the end of the '70s, early '80s, was the lack of really good ammo. I carried exclusively the handloads a colleague made for me. I don't have any more so I can't give performance data. I just remember they would pierce a car door and other sheet metal when a .45ACP would not.

In '97 I saw my first 625-6 Mountain Gun and had to have it. It has been one of my day-hike and backpacking trailguns ever since. As with the 25-5s, I hated the grips. About that time Jerry Miculek was offering his custom grips so I ordered a set. The fit was terrible, the oversize backs that extended past the grip frame cut my hands. The four-inch barrel made it a decidedly different gun.

I wound up sending the gun to Clark, who emailed me to say Jerry personally selected the grips that were fitted to the gun! One of my FAVORITE stories!

I haven't bothered to try the bullet drop test because it is as accurate as I can shoot if off-hand.

I shoot exclusively handloads, except when I use one for a CCW gun. Modern commercial ammo is, in my opinion, better than I can make. For all other uses I load 200- or 260-grain bullets to exit the 6" barrel at about 800fps or so. I just don't need more.

I am long retired from any task where I might use them in employment, and have been toying with putting a "special" barrel on one to make a blue Mountain Gun look-alike. Seeing the custom guns posted here, I'm even more tempted.

Bluntly, they are not my favorite carry guns. Among revolvers, too many others serve me better. I day-hike with the 625 only when the others I might carry instead, have been appropriated by my hiking companions. I keep the -5s out of nostalgia. They don't get to the range often, but if I'm taking one of my Colt SAA's, one of them will go along.