Quote:
Originally Posted by Seahawk
I have a Ruger .45 Colt Vaquero because of your posts...
I'd like to thank you for that.
Just over 1500 rounds putting down various rebellions.
Best.
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Heh Heh... I don't feel the least bit guilty...
Quote:
Originally Posted by id10t
Never been a big fan of SA revolvers or lever guns, but have been considering one of the inexpensive Frontier 22 SA revolvers for just as a plinker.
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I've never handed anyone one of my Colts or Rugers who didn't fall in love after a cylinder or two of fun. They make great plinkers, and even if that is all you ever do with them, they are worthwhile to have around. The relaxed pace of operating them, with their painstakingly slow loading and unloading process, kind of adds to the relaxation of a plinking session. You go through a lot less ammo, and find yourself slowing down a bit to make sure every round counts, just because they are so slow to reload.
Beyond that, IMHO, they are the best sidearms for the outdoorsman or hunter. The smaller ones, like the Colt and Ruger shown above, are a joy to carry when backpacking, day hiking, fishing, and just generally bumming around the outdoors. Small and light, but packing a pretty serious wallop in either .45 Colt of .44 mag.
As hunting guns, the heavier framed, longer barreled examples excel over everything else, at least as far as I'm concerned. And I've killed a lot of big game with revolvers over the years. The single actions' grip shapes just seem to absorb the really heavy recoil developed by serious hunting loads better than double action grips.
Here is probably my "most travelled" pure hunting revolver. It's the long out of production Interarms Virginian Dragoon, this one in .44 magnum. It's too big and heavy for a general woods bumming gun, so I only carry it when hunting. I'll load it with one or the other of my favorite handloads, shooting either the 300 grain LBT (Lead Bullet Technologies) "LFN" (long flat nose) or the RCBS .44-250K "Keith" type semi-wadcutter, depending on what I'm hunting.
The grip on this gun is much larger than that on the Colt or Ruger. It really helps in absorbing the recoil of those 300 grain loads. The gun is also robust enough to shoot those loads as much as I want, unlike, say, a M29 S&W, where they need to be shot in moderation.
This is another favorite, and relatively new to the stable. It's a Ruger "Bisley" model in .45 Colt. It's built on the Super Blackhawk sized frame, so it can take heavier loads than the smaller Blackhawk or Vaquero. I use the .45 caliber version of the LBT LFN bullet in this one. I can actually safely
exceed the velocities of not only my 300 grain .44 mag load, but also the velocities of my 250 grain .44 mag load.
That's where its "Bisley" grip shape really shines. Some might find the recoil generated by a 300 grain bullet exceeding 1,300 fps at the muzzle to be a bit on the obnoxious side. This grip design really helps with that. It's much better than either a traditional single action shape, and especially a traditional double action shape. It actually makes it fairly comfortable to shoot long strings with these heavy loads, although I try not to have to do that all that often.
