[Jeff Higgins]

Gotta love the old Automags, Henry. Very cool. The old 29 ain't bad, either.

I've got to say, however (and I know I've said it before many times), I was just never a fan of the double action. I own exactly three. I bought the 19 and the 29 more for "historical significance" than any real desire to shoot them - they have pretty much just sat, in deference to my beloved Peacemakers for the most part, and Blackhawks as real "working" guns. Funny, though, as I get older, I have come to appreciate them far more. I guess I never really appreciated how well made run-of-the-mill Smiths were in those days - it was just expected; taken for granted.

In the intervening years, though, I've handled and shot oh so many "modern" guns that are just so lacking. Lacking in fit, finish, smoothness of operation, and just any level of care in manufacture. The old Smiths and Colts just really shine against that background.

You younger shooters really owe it to yourselves to seek out the older revolvers like these. They hail from a different era, when even the "small" things really mattered. Having grown up through that era, I'm guilty of having taken it for granted. I thought that was just how it was. Well, I hate to say it, but - at least as far as firearms, that era is over. Now, just an average Smith from my younger years has become something really special. I never thought I would see that day.