Jcon72
Member
I used to consider the .357 to be my favorite cartridge, but several years ago I got the itch to find a model 57 since everyone extolls the virtue of the .41 Mag.
In our area it's quite rare to see any gun of that chambering show up at a gun shop, but one day I stopped at a LGS on my lunch break and someone had just traded in a 5.5" Ruger Redhawk. Even though a 57 or 657 was what I truly wanted, the shop owner cut me a deal that I couldn't resist and I figured the Ruger would at least scratch the .41 itch until the right deal on a Smith showed up. Well, in fact it did, and the .41 became my new favorite cartridge.
A year or two later while perusing G-Broker I lucked into a decent deal on a 6" 57-1. It came with Pachs, but a member here on the forum was very kind to cut me a deal on a nice set of combats which dressed it up quite handsomely. I finally had my long-awaited 57!
The 57-1 barely had a chance to cool off from the drive home from the FFL when a 6" nickel 57 no-dash then showed up on G-Broker, catching my attention. While it didn't appear to be in too terrible of condition, the poor quality pictures suggested that the nickel finish might be less than desirable, not to mention the fact that the smooth targets had quite an ugly finish. After messaging the seller, on a hunch I went ahead and bid, winning it for what I figured was a safe amount for the condition it appeared to be in.
The several-day wait between my bid and the drive to my FFL to pick it up were long, and to be honest I was having some buyer's remorse out of concern for the nickel. Upon walking into his shop and pulling it out of the shipping box, however, I was most pleasantly surprised to find the finish to in fact be very nice. Score!!!
After taking it home I pulled the stocks off and went to work stripping them since someone had slathered on some nasty, dark stain and varnish. After the varnish was removed it took a couple of days soaking them in acetone, dumping and changing it out for fresh acetone several times to leach the dark, nasty stain from the wood. Finally they were clean and--score again-- smooth rosewood targets!!! Several coats of Tru-Oil (with no stain) gave them the look that I wanted, and although I've never been a big fan of nickel guns this one soon became one of my very favorites.
Since then it has been my good fortune to pick up a nice 6" 657-2 (seems like I can only find the 6-inch Smiths), followed later by a 4 5/8" Ruger New Model Blackhawk. Then a year ago--while again spending my lunch break at the same gun shop that had the Redhawk--I ran across a brand-new-in-box, 6.5" unconverted 1970 Blackhawk. A guy certainly doesn't get that opportunity very often, so of course it ended up joining the gang.
Someday it would be nice to find a deal on a nice 58, not to mention a 657 Lew Horton, but it will truly be a good day if/when one of my grail guns finds its way to me--the Marlin 1894 in .41. Maybe if the planets and stars align properly Ruger will bring it back.
In our area it's quite rare to see any gun of that chambering show up at a gun shop, but one day I stopped at a LGS on my lunch break and someone had just traded in a 5.5" Ruger Redhawk. Even though a 57 or 657 was what I truly wanted, the shop owner cut me a deal that I couldn't resist and I figured the Ruger would at least scratch the .41 itch until the right deal on a Smith showed up. Well, in fact it did, and the .41 became my new favorite cartridge.
A year or two later while perusing G-Broker I lucked into a decent deal on a 6" 57-1. It came with Pachs, but a member here on the forum was very kind to cut me a deal on a nice set of combats which dressed it up quite handsomely. I finally had my long-awaited 57!
The 57-1 barely had a chance to cool off from the drive home from the FFL when a 6" nickel 57 no-dash then showed up on G-Broker, catching my attention. While it didn't appear to be in too terrible of condition, the poor quality pictures suggested that the nickel finish might be less than desirable, not to mention the fact that the smooth targets had quite an ugly finish. After messaging the seller, on a hunch I went ahead and bid, winning it for what I figured was a safe amount for the condition it appeared to be in.
The several-day wait between my bid and the drive to my FFL to pick it up were long, and to be honest I was having some buyer's remorse out of concern for the nickel. Upon walking into his shop and pulling it out of the shipping box, however, I was most pleasantly surprised to find the finish to in fact be very nice. Score!!!
After taking it home I pulled the stocks off and went to work stripping them since someone had slathered on some nasty, dark stain and varnish. After the varnish was removed it took a couple of days soaking them in acetone, dumping and changing it out for fresh acetone several times to leach the dark, nasty stain from the wood. Finally they were clean and--score again-- smooth rosewood targets!!! Several coats of Tru-Oil (with no stain) gave them the look that I wanted, and although I've never been a big fan of nickel guns this one soon became one of my very favorites.
Since then it has been my good fortune to pick up a nice 6" 657-2 (seems like I can only find the 6-inch Smiths), followed later by a 4 5/8" Ruger New Model Blackhawk. Then a year ago--while again spending my lunch break at the same gun shop that had the Redhawk--I ran across a brand-new-in-box, 6.5" unconverted 1970 Blackhawk. A guy certainly doesn't get that opportunity very often, so of course it ended up joining the gang.
Someday it would be nice to find a deal on a nice 58, not to mention a 657 Lew Horton, but it will truly be a good day if/when one of my grail guns finds its way to me--the Marlin 1894 in .41. Maybe if the planets and stars align properly Ruger will bring it back.
