A nicely-engraved single action revolver, not necessarily Colt, and not necessarily full-coverage, has been on my mind, lately. Partial coverage would be nice, of a type/pattern that would look “right” on a Colt SAA. I would not really want gold inlay; that is too fancy. This may not quite be a “grail,” in importance; more like a slight, occasional itch. I have a USFA Single Action, finished by Turnbull, so can already tell myself that I have an absolutely beautiful, top-tier SA revolver. (USFA = U.S. Firearms, a company that scared Colt into upping the quality of the SAA.)
In 2020, I finally located two samples of a grail-quest revolver, that I had been seeking for a number of years, a nice S&W Model 64 2” snub-gun. I found a quite good 64-3 early in the year, and a notably nicer 64-4 in December. I had not wanted to settle for a police trade-in/surplus Model 64, bought sight unseen, so waited for well-preserved samples to appear locally, so I could inspect them. These are carry guns, for me, not collectibles. There is something “just right” about a K-Frame .38 Special snub-gun, for my aging right hand, as many compact handguns have become painful to shoot, and I can no longer count on my right thumb, wrist, and hand to provide a stable platform for reliable function of an auto. (I traded my last two G19 Glocks*, for the second of these two snubbies.) I had long liked the visual appeal of a K-Frame snub-gun, and already had a blued 2”pre-Model 10, but stainless is better for a carry gun, here in hot, humid, coastal SE Texas.
*I can still shoot larger G17 and G19x/G45 Glocks, which have longer “orthopedic-length” grips.