looking to get into the big bore game (double action/single action revolvers)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Bones741 said:
Despicable Craig, how dare you post pictures of such a vile contraption.
Click to expand...

I've always thought the super redhawks with the longer barrels were a little goofy lookin', barrel-wise. Kinda like someone had a gun with a 3" barrel and didn't think it was long enough and welded another 5" on from a different gun. :D Yes, I'd buy one if the price was right, but they're still weird looking. Wouldn't mind one in 454 Casull/45 Colt although I'd probably shoot 45C out of it most of the time. :)

ETA: And, yes, the quality of trolls on the board has definitely gone downhill in recent years. They're not even trying to pretend to seem slightly reasonable. Back in my day you really had to work to figure out if someone was a troll but that's when we had to mail messages back an forth to each other. It took forever. :neener:

Matt
 
Last edited:
morcey2 said:
I've always thought the super redhawks with the longer barrels were a little goofy lookin', barrel-wise. Kinda like someone had a gun with a 3" barrel and didn't think it was long enough and welded another 5" on from a different gun. :D
Click to expand...
I did too. And then I started using one. The beauty of the SRH is not in its pure aesthetic appeal but in its utility, accuracy and shooting comfort, as a pure hunting sixgun.
 
Well a Stainless Ruger Redhawk in 44 mag would have been my 1st suggestion.
But seeing as to OP is non Ruger. Plan B would be:
S&W model 629-2 or model 624-2 in 44 mag/44 special. (6in bbl)
 
BACA154B-54EF-4583-A0F9-3D8D0CBB155C.jpeg 1BEAF425-E269-4B5E-9D02-7AF44127FD51.jpeg I have always loved revolvers chambered for the .44 special. If you can find a Smith and Wesson 624 or even a model 24, S&W made back in the 80’s in good condition. It would be a fine revolver for you, even better if you reload. The 4” 624 just has a look no other smith can match in my eyes. The tapered barrel just gives it a classy look. They balance like a dream and point naturally. Unlike the 629’s with the straight, heavy barrel. You don’t want to hot rod the 624. Loads in the 900-1000 FPS will handle most chores and are very pleasant to shoot. The ultimate .44 special is the Freedom arms model 97. It is a single action though. I like the 4 1/4” barrel in a cross draw holster for being easy to carry. All though I do think and feel the 5 1/2” barrel has a little better balance. I load for mine and keep it at 1200 FPS or lower. 1200 FPS with a good hard cast, 250-260 grain bullet, will handle all but the largest situations out there. I agree on Rugers, it is a dice roll on the quality. I have some that are well fitted and finished and have seen others that look like a monkey assembled them. I have one of the newer RedHawks in .41 magnum that looks and shoots really well. I changed the rubber Hogue grips out for a set of the older, real wood grips and it made a nice woods bumming revolver. It is a bit on the heavy side though. .357’s are fine but they don’t have the ump of the bigger bores. To me the .44 special is a good do anything round. It can be loaded to target and plinking velocities or loaded up just a bit more and be a good defensive round and it can be loaded up hot and heavy for a good hunting or backup round. A lot of people will ask why not just get .44 magnum, because you can shoot both special and magnum in it. Well you gain weight and loose portably and if you shoot hot specials, it will erode the cylinder over time and make it hard or even to the point magnums won’t chamber. I shoot specials in specials and magnums in magnums. A magnum does have it’s place and should be used for the really heavy stuff. Magnums will handle loads and pressures that will send a special to the graveyard. Do no more than what a given revolver is meant to do and use the right one for the job. Carrying a long and heavy revolver makes no sense to me. It wears you down and it is in the way, you may as well carry a rifle. More than a 6” barrel is too much for a field or backup revolver. A 8 3/8” looks like.a walking cain. That is getting to the point of defeating their purpose. The big .500s with long barrels are not something I would even consider. I have seen them with sling swivels on them. That just totally defeats the purpose. Also in my opinion, the new Smith and Wessons with locks, the Hillary hole, just doesn’t seem the same. The lock just turns an otherwise revolver into something that is ugly. I just seems like it doesn’t belong. They are fine guns as far as shooting and I have one, it is far from my favorite. It is one of the recent model 21’s that came out a few years back. I bought it to have a fixed sight Smith and Wesson .44 special in my collection. I just can’t make myself come to like it. I would try to find one of the prelock Smiths. If you treat it right and shoot loads it will handle, it will serve you well.
 
I had my heart set on a S&W 625 (45 colt) and along came a Dan Wesson 744 at a good price. I bought it and never looked back! They are as strong as a Ruger and have a trigger every bit as good or even better than a S&W. The 8" barrel is great fun at the range and the 4" barrel is great for carrying around.
 
MaxP said:
Here's one of my crappy .45 Colt Ruger Bisleys.....:D

View attachment 843916

And another crappy custom Ruger...

View attachment 843917
Click to expand...
Ruger makes good revolvers, I own and use several. I just said I would not buy one unseen. Rugers are far from crappie. You can buy one new, change the grips and have a fine revolver and be tough as nails. One can send one off and have it customized, as you did, and have one of the finest revolver out there. I was not running Ruger down. When you are in the gun shops, notice how the quality varies from gun to gun. Some are just fine, some are so poorly fitted, that you can get the edge of a nickel in the gap where the grips meet the frame. One maybe we'll polished and finished another right by it in the case may pass as a used gun. You have a fine revolver but you have had a lot of custom work done on it. Ruger does not put anything from the factory, like your gun out. Other makers do. Colt's single action armys coming from the factory new, now are not as high quality as you would think they should be for the price they are selling for. Freedom Arms puts out one of the best finished revolvers from the factory out there and some of the most accurate, short of a custom. They are pretty much fitted by hand, even the cylinder is line bored to the frame. You can spend big money on a full blown custom and get more but to just be a factory gun, they are one of the best for the price. I know nothing about the bfr's. I was not putting ruger down, l was just quoting my experience with ruger guns from the factory. They are good firearms, even better if one customizes it.
 
Gary, another poster long before you weighed in made some disparaging remarks about the quality of Ruger revolvers that a number of us have been posting about in jest. Hence the crappy revolver theme. That was not directed at you. The top revolver is stone stock and quite good out of the box. I have an FA 83 and frankly, for what FA charges for a premier grade revolver, I would rather have a custom Ruger. But the third option, and best option in my humble estimation is the BFR. Not quite the fit and finish of the FA, but close, with a number of features I prefer (to include price), plus, I have yet to meet on that doesn’t shoot.
 
Frank Trabel said:
as the title states I'm looking to get into the big bore game, want something between 41 and 45 caliber
whats out there good on price and the eyes and can stand up to the swamp and the deserts? the mountains and the beaches? from plinking at the range to backpacking in the woods?
won't buy another ruger handgun sorry, would rather just throw the cash in the trash for the coons who live under my porch
Click to expand...


Yo Frank,

You're an a- (Oh, wait... this is THE HIGH ROAD?)

Never mind.
 
dickydalton said:
They take a licking and keep on ticking!
Click to expand...
My Security Six is from 1972, which I do believe is the first year of production. Only thing I am not in love with about this gun is the sights.
Let's see, that's over 45 years old. How long before a .357 can collect social security?
My Marlin .44 lever is the same age. I like old things cause I'm old, too..
 
MaxP said:
Gary, another poster long before you weighed in made some disparaging remarks about the quality of Ruger revolvers that a number of us have been posting about in jest. Hence the crappy revolver theme. That was not directed at you. The top revolver is stone stock and quite good out of the box. I have an FA 83 and frankly, for what FA charges for a premier grade revolver, I would rather have a custom Ruger. But the third option, and best option in my humble estimation is the BFR. Not quite the fit and finish of the FA, but close, with a number of features I prefer (to include price), plus, I have yet to meet on that doesn’t shoot.
Click to expand...
Good deal. Everyone has their preferences. What works for one, doesn't work for all. What is pretty to me, my not be to you. Also when one gets to smart to listen to another's point of view and ideas, one is probably missing an opportunity to learn and gain more knowledge. Your Ruger revolver is a very beautiful gun. Ruger revolvers are all tough, be it double or single action. They are just not as pretty and refined as others, but in the end, pretty and refined is not what sends bullets out the barrel. You have to admit, when you are in the woods hunting, not seeing game, it is nice to just look at and admire a fine looking firearm and think I am no doing any good hunting but it is sure nice to be out here doing this, with this fine firearm. Rugers may be rough around the edges but they what it takes inside to make them work. I would love to have a Super Blackhawk done with a really nice case hardened frame, 4 5\8" barrel, express sights, with a fancy set of desert iron wood grips, with red medallions. That would be the ultimate backup revolver. None of the firearm manufacturers out there are putting the best quality in every gun that leaves the factory. They all slip from gun to gun. I am glad you didn't take my remarks as putting Rugers down. Ruger is doing something right or they wouldn't be sell so many and there wouldn't be so many in use. I have run across a good many of your posts and your options and ideas on handguns, on big bore revolvers especially, are all spot on and I take you to be very knowledgeable in the subject.
 
Last edited:
CraigC said:
For the last ten or fifteen years, the Colt SAA has been the best they've ever been.
Click to expand...

I bought two of the New Frontiers that Colt made a shot run on. I waited over a year for both after ordering. The bluing and case harding is good, as is the firing for the most part. The grip frame and frame are just a bit uneven where the grips meet the frame. This is about the same in both. The grips on one, the right grip is completely square, the left grip is rounded off at the bottom, where it meets the frame and grip frame. This leaves about 3\8" of a pointed edge exposed. The other is the same on both the right and left grips. The grips on both are both not well finished. I believe Colt is capable of doing much better on the New Frontier grips. I am on the waiting list now to have grips made and fitted to both. The new regular SAAs doesn't have this problem, with the hard rubber eagle grips. I have a few of those also. Colt bluing has always been top notch. Nobody does it better than Colt. My thing with Colt on the New Frontiers is in the grips and just little things in the newer government model 1911s. For the price Colt charges for the name, they could do much better in the fine detail department. On the older Colts, you see didn't this type things. One has to look pretty hard to find any flaws. US firearms were priced about the same and didn't have these issues. Freedom Arms single actions are priced somewhat more and they don't have these issues. It just feels to me like Colt is depending on the name to sell their firearms now. I love Colts and will continue to buy and use them but one should not have to work on the action to slick it up, square up the frame and grip frame or replace the factory grips, unless they just want fancy\custom grips on the gun. I like to keep my Colts all factory original because they are Colts. That is how I feel Colt is slipping on quality. I have a Python, Diamond back, Trooper mkiii, Series 70 Government models, older Series 80, and Woodsmans. That are all too notch. They could put out the same now with the new machinery and cnc technology we have. Colt of yesteryears were verging on custom guns now the are more of a High end factory gun. That has become the norm now no different than what Winchester did in the pre 64 and post 64 error. Colts are good firearms but they could be better for the price.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Obturation
  • Locked
  • Poll
Poll: what's the ideal big bore revolver cartridge?
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
167
Views
9K
kevincallahan
K
mikemyers
  • Locked
Single Action vs. Double Action, Part II
2 3 4
Replies
93
Views
5K
mikemyers
mikemyers
Y
  • Locked
Big back country revolver
Replies
11
Views
1K
WT
W
G
  • Locked
levergun-revolver combo
2 3 4
Replies
92
Views
5K
mjsdwash
M
D
  • Locked
She's got guns, she's got game.....
Replies
4
Views
834
Preacherman
P
Back
Top