Now that this neat old thread is alive and kicking again, I've got a couple of questions and comments. First, to friend DCW, did you ever post a family portrait of the K-Masterpiece Troika you assembled way back in '09? I don't remember ever seeing it, but sure would like to.

Merlindrb, I haven't heard much from you lately, but if you're still around, a small correction to what you wrote back in '09... the 3 gun matches you referred to were for a 22, a centerfire pistol, and a 45. After Charlie Askins' venture with a custom centerfire 22 Woodsman, the rules were adjusted to have a minimum caliber of 32. Therefore, the "middle" gun could be a 32 or a 38, but there was no way you would be shooting both in the same event, so many folks went with the 38 and only the hard corps seemed to purchase the 32... it would have been redundant to have both. Of course the 45 leg of the match frequently involved an accurized 1911 of some stripe, and a lot of shooters found they could do just as well by shooting the same 45 in both the CF and the 45 legs, reducing the number of guns they had to buy, feed, and carry. This put more downward pressure on the popularity of the K-38, and the K-32 just fell away with it.

I hate to admit it, but the 38 Special has a lot more general usability for a variety of applications than the 32 S&W Long, at least from a practical standpoint, so when it came time to spend hard earned 1950s dollars, it just made more sense to buy a K-38 or a Combat Masterpiece in 38 rather than its "weak sister" 32. I don't want to give up my 32s, you understand, but I do understand the thought pattern!

Froggie