Nick96
Member
Okay - this coming from a die hard Ruger fan back to the 1970's. The perfect .357 revolver of the day has to be the S&W 686 4" barrel - 6 rounds. Yes, the "Six Series" Rugers were fine pieces - but they are no longer in production. Too bad - probably the best examples of high quality, competetivily priced, utilititarian revolvers ever made. But it seems to me that the 4" - 6 round S&W 686 is the current king of the .357 revolvers. I'll not go into all the reasons why. Suffice it to say I've considererd all the available options - and the S&W 686 comes out on top (forgive me Ruger GP100 fans - but the S&W simply wins this one out).
So, tell me where I'm wrong - with the condition that we are talking about a revolver that will be used by a typical citizen - no hot hand loads - maybe a thousand rounds of factory loadings per year through it - and little interest in modifying it from out of the box.
My thoughts on some other perfect handguns for their respective "popular" calibers:
* .22 LR Auto - Ruger MK III - Yes, the new one. Slick, good looking & good handling. Competetivily priced. Based on a proven design. Will likely out sell all other .22 Autos (just like all the other Ruger .22 Autos have for the last 50 years).
*.25 ACP - Beretta BS 950 Jetfire. Sadly, dropped from production. Too bad. Although a decades old design, still the perfect combination of reliability, accuracy, safety and ease of carry & use of any .25 Auto ever made.
* .32 ACP - Kel-Tec P-32. Small, light, cheap, acceptably reliable & accurate. What's not to like?
* .380 ACP - Sig P-232. The ultimate refinement of the .380 Auto. Currently an in between caliber between the .32 & 9MM - this platform offers the maximum in compactness, accuracy, reliability & durability of all the curent .380's. Yes, I hear you Bersa fans. But a Bersa is no more like a Sig than a Ford Taurus is like a Jaguar X-Type.
* 9MM - Sig P-239. Safe to carry concealed, compact size, light weight- but ample enough for effective handling - adequate power. Of course it's utterly reliabable & accurate. Second place has to be the Glock 19. It would be first - except for the fact that the operating system is such that some jack ass's handle them improperly & still insist on carrying without proper holsters - and thus consistently put holes in things that were not intended to have holes.
.38 Spl. - S&W 642 Centennial. The perfect evolution of quality, price, compact size, light weight, accuracy, reliability, ease of maintenance and adequate knock out power. Yes, there are some fine old S&W M-10's, Colt Diamondbacks & Dective Spls. out there. But if you need to put your hands on a new .38 Spl. right now - the S&W 642 will likely fill all your needs.
.357 - Already stated - S&W 686. Second place - Ruger GP 100.
.45 ACP - Ruger P-90. I know - ugly, bulky, heavy, etc. But it's priced right, easy to operate, always sends a bullet out of the muzzel when the trigger is pulled and puts that bullet where it's pointed. Second place is of course the Colt 1911. Actually, the Colt 1911 is superior to all .45 ACP's - but the fact is it's an "experts only" type pistol. Too many AD's among those who do not have an appropriate respect for the operating system.
.44 Mag - S&W 629. Need I say more? Close second is the equivilant Ruger. But the S&W just has so much more "curb appeal".
Sorry if I missed your "pet caliber". I just covered the most popular in my opinion. The .40, 10mm, .500, .454, .45 Colt, .44 Spl, etc. are all fine - but not particularly those that come to mind amond the average "Joe Six Pack" in "fly over" country.
So, tell me where I'm wrong - with the condition that we are talking about a revolver that will be used by a typical citizen - no hot hand loads - maybe a thousand rounds of factory loadings per year through it - and little interest in modifying it from out of the box.
My thoughts on some other perfect handguns for their respective "popular" calibers:
* .22 LR Auto - Ruger MK III - Yes, the new one. Slick, good looking & good handling. Competetivily priced. Based on a proven design. Will likely out sell all other .22 Autos (just like all the other Ruger .22 Autos have for the last 50 years).
*.25 ACP - Beretta BS 950 Jetfire. Sadly, dropped from production. Too bad. Although a decades old design, still the perfect combination of reliability, accuracy, safety and ease of carry & use of any .25 Auto ever made.
* .32 ACP - Kel-Tec P-32. Small, light, cheap, acceptably reliable & accurate. What's not to like?
* .380 ACP - Sig P-232. The ultimate refinement of the .380 Auto. Currently an in between caliber between the .32 & 9MM - this platform offers the maximum in compactness, accuracy, reliability & durability of all the curent .380's. Yes, I hear you Bersa fans. But a Bersa is no more like a Sig than a Ford Taurus is like a Jaguar X-Type.
* 9MM - Sig P-239. Safe to carry concealed, compact size, light weight- but ample enough for effective handling - adequate power. Of course it's utterly reliabable & accurate. Second place has to be the Glock 19. It would be first - except for the fact that the operating system is such that some jack ass's handle them improperly & still insist on carrying without proper holsters - and thus consistently put holes in things that were not intended to have holes.
.38 Spl. - S&W 642 Centennial. The perfect evolution of quality, price, compact size, light weight, accuracy, reliability, ease of maintenance and adequate knock out power. Yes, there are some fine old S&W M-10's, Colt Diamondbacks & Dective Spls. out there. But if you need to put your hands on a new .38 Spl. right now - the S&W 642 will likely fill all your needs.
.357 - Already stated - S&W 686. Second place - Ruger GP 100.
.45 ACP - Ruger P-90. I know - ugly, bulky, heavy, etc. But it's priced right, easy to operate, always sends a bullet out of the muzzel when the trigger is pulled and puts that bullet where it's pointed. Second place is of course the Colt 1911. Actually, the Colt 1911 is superior to all .45 ACP's - but the fact is it's an "experts only" type pistol. Too many AD's among those who do not have an appropriate respect for the operating system.
.44 Mag - S&W 629. Need I say more? Close second is the equivilant Ruger. But the S&W just has so much more "curb appeal".
Sorry if I missed your "pet caliber". I just covered the most popular in my opinion. The .40, 10mm, .500, .454, .45 Colt, .44 Spl, etc. are all fine - but not particularly those that come to mind amond the average "Joe Six Pack" in "fly over" country.
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