The 'other' revolvers
- Thread starter rwsmith
- Start date
Thuer
Member
I own a lot of revolvers, mostly S&Ws (around 20 of those in my collection, all .38s and .357s). That's what I generally carry, too. But I have quite a few other revolvers that might interest you so I'll comment.
NAA .22 Short mini-revolver - A cute gun, I had to have it, hard to cock, but easy to drop into a vest pocket (I used to; I don't anymore).
Husqvarna Nagant – weird gun, had to have it, have never fired it or bought the odd ammunition for it. I use it as home decoration on my hearth. Probably sell it one of these days but I had to mention it.
H&R breaktop pocket revolver – it's a .32, I think, might be .38 Short. Good for the late 1800s/early 1900s. It's a great gun for Cowboy Action Shooting side matches, the real reason I acquired it.
Speaking of Cowboy Action Shooting ("CAS"), I have had several Ruger Vaqueros:
.45 Colt Vaqueros – 4 5/8' barrels. A matched set of the Old Vaqueros, tuned and perfectly balanced and deadly accurate. My best shot with one of those was at a steel plate at 140 yards. A little Kentucky windage (actually elevation, not windage) and 1 hit on 1 try. People watching; I was done. Good is good, yes?! These are great handguns.
.44-40 Vaqueros – also 4 5/8". I sold them about a year ago to a friend because I was tired of playing with 2 calibers at CAS matches and when I get back to that game the .45s will do. The .44s are NOT as accurate as the .45s, and VERY finicky about the brass that fits into the cylinders (Starline only!). Still, very nice handguns.
.45/c Vaquero – 5.5". Also a very nice gun, accurate, but easy to liquidate since it couldn't compete in a match with 2 precisely the same guns in the same caliber. No thinking required when the 2 guns feel the same!
Among my other Rugers:
Bearcat – an original with a brass frame/.22 LR caliber. With stag grips in a shoulder holster it's a great barbecue gun!
Single Six - .22 LR – original, unmodified - a nice .22 plinker and great for CAS .22 caliber side matches.
Single Six - .22 WMR – a fun larger caliber .22
Security Six .36 Magnum – 2.5" barreled snub nosed revolver that for some reason after I acquired it quite some years ago I stocked with Hogue target grips. It's a little hard to conceal, but not impossible, and it is a wonderful, very accurate revolver. With those oversized grips it's easy to handle, too. It has accompanied me on many a hunting adventure because I trust it and it was easy to have with me in the field. When I travel to bear country this summer I'll probably take this with me, mostly because of its size and because if it is stolen from the airplane I won't care as much as if I lose my snub nosed Model 19 or 686+ or other S&W .357s.
Single Six .357 Magnum – 4" barrel - just a gun I had to have, not attractive, not special, just rugged and reliable. I kept it in my office for years. A hardy specimen you can count on.
Now, having told you of those guns, let me tell you of some that when I was very active in CAS and writing routinely for the national newspaper that I got to test as part of my writing career, such as it was:
Beretta Stampede - .45 Colt – a beautifully crafted replica Single Action Army ("SAA") revolver. It had wonderful balance and was fun to shoot. As I recall, it was a little fussy about the ammunition and the trigger and hammer cocking were not the smoothest things in the world out of the box. However, had I kept it I would have had a trigger job done and it would have been very competitive and the shooter who bought it probably did just that.
Charles Daly - I had 2 of these to test, one was short barreled and might have been a Sheriff's model or Storekeeper, I forget the name for sure, but the other was a 4 5/8" Bisley-style SAA replica. They were both excellent guns, had two of the finest factory triggers I ever encountered on a revolver, SAA replica or double action. I wish I still had them but some guns come and some guns go…..
Sidebar on SAA replicas – unless they are Rugers or Freedom Arms, don't ever shoot them with CorBon heavy duty or similar ammunition. They will not withstand the pressures and something will break. I won't say which ones I broke or didn't but trust me on this…..
***GRJ***
NAA .22 Short mini-revolver - A cute gun, I had to have it, hard to cock, but easy to drop into a vest pocket (I used to; I don't anymore).
Husqvarna Nagant – weird gun, had to have it, have never fired it or bought the odd ammunition for it. I use it as home decoration on my hearth. Probably sell it one of these days but I had to mention it.
H&R breaktop pocket revolver – it's a .32, I think, might be .38 Short. Good for the late 1800s/early 1900s. It's a great gun for Cowboy Action Shooting side matches, the real reason I acquired it.
Speaking of Cowboy Action Shooting ("CAS"), I have had several Ruger Vaqueros:
.45 Colt Vaqueros – 4 5/8' barrels. A matched set of the Old Vaqueros, tuned and perfectly balanced and deadly accurate. My best shot with one of those was at a steel plate at 140 yards. A little Kentucky windage (actually elevation, not windage) and 1 hit on 1 try. People watching; I was done. Good is good, yes?! These are great handguns.
.44-40 Vaqueros – also 4 5/8". I sold them about a year ago to a friend because I was tired of playing with 2 calibers at CAS matches and when I get back to that game the .45s will do. The .44s are NOT as accurate as the .45s, and VERY finicky about the brass that fits into the cylinders (Starline only!). Still, very nice handguns.
.45/c Vaquero – 5.5". Also a very nice gun, accurate, but easy to liquidate since it couldn't compete in a match with 2 precisely the same guns in the same caliber. No thinking required when the 2 guns feel the same!
Among my other Rugers:
Bearcat – an original with a brass frame/.22 LR caliber. With stag grips in a shoulder holster it's a great barbecue gun!
Single Six - .22 LR – original, unmodified - a nice .22 plinker and great for CAS .22 caliber side matches.
Single Six - .22 WMR – a fun larger caliber .22
Security Six .36 Magnum – 2.5" barreled snub nosed revolver that for some reason after I acquired it quite some years ago I stocked with Hogue target grips. It's a little hard to conceal, but not impossible, and it is a wonderful, very accurate revolver. With those oversized grips it's easy to handle, too. It has accompanied me on many a hunting adventure because I trust it and it was easy to have with me in the field. When I travel to bear country this summer I'll probably take this with me, mostly because of its size and because if it is stolen from the airplane I won't care as much as if I lose my snub nosed Model 19 or 686+ or other S&W .357s.
Single Six .357 Magnum – 4" barrel - just a gun I had to have, not attractive, not special, just rugged and reliable. I kept it in my office for years. A hardy specimen you can count on.
Now, having told you of those guns, let me tell you of some that when I was very active in CAS and writing routinely for the national newspaper that I got to test as part of my writing career, such as it was:
Beretta Stampede - .45 Colt – a beautifully crafted replica Single Action Army ("SAA") revolver. It had wonderful balance and was fun to shoot. As I recall, it was a little fussy about the ammunition and the trigger and hammer cocking were not the smoothest things in the world out of the box. However, had I kept it I would have had a trigger job done and it would have been very competitive and the shooter who bought it probably did just that.
Charles Daly - I had 2 of these to test, one was short barreled and might have been a Sheriff's model or Storekeeper, I forget the name for sure, but the other was a 4 5/8" Bisley-style SAA replica. They were both excellent guns, had two of the finest factory triggers I ever encountered on a revolver, SAA replica or double action. I wish I still had them but some guns come and some guns go…..
Sidebar on SAA replicas – unless they are Rugers or Freedom Arms, don't ever shoot them with CorBon heavy duty or similar ammunition. They will not withstand the pressures and something will break. I won't say which ones I broke or didn't but trust me on this…..
***GRJ***
Thuer
Member
I love revolvers. I can not get enough of them. I do write artickles about them in two Dutch gunmagazines. I am really amazed of the technical aspects of the revolver. I still learning a lot of the subject. There is so much I do not know about the revolver.
Double-O-Dave
US Veteran
My only non-S&W revolvers are a Rossi Model 720 in .44 Special, and two Ruger Security Six revolvers (.357 Magnum) one in blued steel, and the other in stainless. Sorry, I'm not able to upload photos of the blued one - the Ruger Security Six is my favorite 4.0 inch barreled .357 Magnum revolver.
Regards,
Dave
Regards,
Dave
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Anybody have one of these: a Modell 1879 Reichsrevolver? This one was made by Mauser and issued to an artillery unit in the Bavarian Army. That's the holster for it, too. The BE on the right grip means Bavarian something-or-other; a Bavarian civil guard unit formed after WW I to keep order in the state. One Herr Heinrich Harder, [email protected] has written a book on the Reichsrevolver, in German. He has the original engineering drawings for the revolver and can make any part you need. I had him make a hand spring and it works fine.
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Or this: a Mauser zig-zag revolver. They were made in a top break model in three calibers: 10.4mm, 9mm, and 7.65mm. Solid frames like this one were only made in 10.4 and 9mm; they are very rare, and this one, a 9mm is the only one I've found in that caliber. It's serial number 4, and it's missing the ejector rod. They also made a revolving rifle, in 10.4mm, which is pretty rare also.
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bmcgilvray
Member
Can't forget Webleys!
Gotta have 'em!
Gotta have 'em!
I agree. I love my 2 3/4" security six
Thuer: in your second thumbnail, my guess, clockwise from 6 O'Clock:
Nickeled spur trigger, possibly S&W.
Webley 38.
Colt Python.
S&W. (Model 10?).
French Mle 92.
Colt.
At 12 O'Clock: another Colt?
Nickeled or bright european revolver of some kind.
S&W 32 hammerless lemon squeezer.
Colt SAA.
M 1883 Reichsrevolver.
In Center: Swiss or Sweedish Nagant?
US solid frame revolver, pssibly US Revolver Co.
How'd I do? I can't even attempt a guess on your first two thumbnails.
Nickeled spur trigger, possibly S&W.
Webley 38.
Colt Python.
S&W. (Model 10?).
French Mle 92.
Colt.
At 12 O'Clock: another Colt?
Nickeled or bright european revolver of some kind.
S&W 32 hammerless lemon squeezer.
Colt SAA.
M 1883 Reichsrevolver.
In Center: Swiss or Sweedish Nagant?
US solid frame revolver, pssibly US Revolver Co.
How'd I do? I can't even attempt a guess on your first two thumbnails.
