canoeguy
US Veteran
Took a few weeks off and towed my camper to Florida, what a great time! Sunny and 70 degrees in Central Florida, while it was snowy and 20 degrees in Virginia when we left.
While in Florida, we saw a rocket launch from our camp site in Titusville, visited my Sister in Melbourne, took in the Melbourne Gun Show, and visited probably 50 pawn and gun shops. Full on shortage at most, crazy expensive ammo, a few ho-hum guns, nothing great. But at a pawn shop in Orlando, what did my eyes behold? A 4" barrel, .22 caliber Colt Diamondback, priced "Moderately", still expensive but approachable. The pawn shop guy made it easy, agreed to ship to my FFL back home, took a little off the price, threw in a Remington Camp "Bullet" knife, no tax. Pretty painless.
The interesting thing was the reaction of my wife to the deal. In 1983, our first year of mairrage, she expressed a desire for a Colt Diamondback, but they were too expensive for an E-5 Navy guy, like $400. No one wanted to do layaway for one back then, so she settled for a Smith & Wesson Model 15. When she saw this Diamondback, she was the one who started the haggling, so the hard part of talking the wife into buying a Diamondback was never an issue!
Got home and picked it up, and immediately took it home and shot it. There are some handling marks on the grips, some hints that it had been cairried and shot before, so I wasn't performing some sacrilege by shooting a pristine example. I'd say this one is 97%, and what a great shooter it is! With a little more practice, this one could probably be my most accurate .22 hand gun.
Here's some pics, with the Remington Bullet knife the pawn shop guiy threw in:
12 rounds, standing two hand hold, single action at 50 feet, Nine out of twelve rounds into a 1 3/4" aiming black:
I do have a similar vintage Smith & Wesson Model 18-2 4", so I'll do a head to head comparison shoot-off and let you guys know how they compare.
Now to find a decent holster. If I can't find a nice tan leather Bianchi or Safariland, I'll order one up from El Paso Saddlery......
While in Florida, we saw a rocket launch from our camp site in Titusville, visited my Sister in Melbourne, took in the Melbourne Gun Show, and visited probably 50 pawn and gun shops. Full on shortage at most, crazy expensive ammo, a few ho-hum guns, nothing great. But at a pawn shop in Orlando, what did my eyes behold? A 4" barrel, .22 caliber Colt Diamondback, priced "Moderately", still expensive but approachable. The pawn shop guy made it easy, agreed to ship to my FFL back home, took a little off the price, threw in a Remington Camp "Bullet" knife, no tax. Pretty painless.
The interesting thing was the reaction of my wife to the deal. In 1983, our first year of mairrage, she expressed a desire for a Colt Diamondback, but they were too expensive for an E-5 Navy guy, like $400. No one wanted to do layaway for one back then, so she settled for a Smith & Wesson Model 15. When she saw this Diamondback, she was the one who started the haggling, so the hard part of talking the wife into buying a Diamondback was never an issue!
Got home and picked it up, and immediately took it home and shot it. There are some handling marks on the grips, some hints that it had been cairried and shot before, so I wasn't performing some sacrilege by shooting a pristine example. I'd say this one is 97%, and what a great shooter it is! With a little more practice, this one could probably be my most accurate .22 hand gun.
Here's some pics, with the Remington Bullet knife the pawn shop guiy threw in:
12 rounds, standing two hand hold, single action at 50 feet, Nine out of twelve rounds into a 1 3/4" aiming black:
I do have a similar vintage Smith & Wesson Model 18-2 4", so I'll do a head to head comparison shoot-off and let you guys know how they compare.
Now to find a decent holster. If I can't find a nice tan leather Bianchi or Safariland, I'll order one up from El Paso Saddlery......
) for $400 in about 2010. I have both sets of original stocks as well.
