Any OTHER revolvers you like?

skimmer

skimmer

Regular
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Location
Central BC
Hello fellow CGNers

Everyone talks about the GP100 and 686. There must be more out there. I'm looking for something like what a CZ is to a Sig - just as good, arguably better looking, but a few hundred cheaper.

Who has a revolver they would consider comparable to the two crowd favorites, but is actually cheaper to buy (new or used)?

I'm looking into a .357/.38spl revolver and as we know most of the information is from Murica and talks about concerns relating to carry. Reviews only ever say X is accurate, or X is dependable but this is expected. What makes your alternative worthwhile?
 
You may want to check out Alfa-Proj Revolvers. They are new to Canada, made n the Czech Republic. I've only handled them, not shot, but I was quite impressed with the build quality and they get good reviews. Very affordable too!

I THINK Wanstalls has them, and RustyWood Trading Co. does as well.
 
Lots of used Smith 'K' frames around. Model 19's or 66's. You must try any handgun on for size before you buy it though. The fit to your hand is essential. A 'K' frame may not fit your hand. Too big can't always be fixed by changing grips either.
Don't get to thinking that cheap always means lower quality or the reverse.
CZ vs Sig is an apples and oranges comparison. Cost of a Sig has more to do with where it's made than anything else.
 
johNTO said:
Will you also be considering Single Action Only? Opens up a lot of options.....
Click to expand...

Single, double and even top break are all on the table.

I don't want to be buying a bunch of these things right away, so looking for the gun that will satisfy.

Also, I think it will be helpful to have a good discussion of revolvers in which the GP and SW aren't allowed to come up,. They dominate the boards too easily.
 
Phat Eagle said:
You may want to check out Alfa-Proj Revolvers. They are new to Canada, made n the Czech Republic. I've only handled them, not shot, but I was quite impressed with the build quality and they get good reviews. Very affordable too!

I THINK Wanstalls has them, and RustyWood Trading Co. does as well.
Click to expand...

Wolverine is stocking as well. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing one in person yet. Reviews seem good.
 
Taurus 500- 700 range. Can't forget the colt phythons and cobras either. Pythons are a considerable step up (in terms of lock work etc) from cobra and quite expensive these days. Cobras are the SW and Ruger equivalents but will like go for 1k I'm thinking? You may also hear about llamas - 500 range.
 
First, here is a link to the thread i started regarding my new toy for this weekend. No, I haven't shot it yet as the weekend has not yet arrived... and the week keeps slowing down.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1060180-New-toy-for-the-weekend

Kinda looks like a smith to my eye, although I'm sure the S&W aficionado's will disagree. It's an Alfa-Proj 3551C in .357Mag and will shoot .38Spec. Just sitting around the house with it, I like it. But I'll know more after I've shot it. I do like the SA trigger pull, it does break cleanly, but could probably be a pound or 2 lighter.

Edit: The wood grips were an extra $45, but all in I paid less than $650 for it.
 
Pretty much every Smith out there is 'on the list' but I do like the K/L frames. Love to get a model 27 for example. A 6" model 29 would be cool - I know N frame but what are you gonna do. K38....and Im not even a revolver guy!
 
skimmer said:
Single, double and even top break are all on the table.

I don't want to be buying a bunch of these things right away, so looking for the gun that will satisfy.
Also, I think it will be helpful to have a good discussion of revolvers in which the GP and SW aren't allowed to come up,. They dominate the boards too easily.
Click to expand...

instead of buying a cheap one now and trying to sell it later to afford the real deal, just save up and get a 'real' gun the first time. As my wife tells me... "don't buy cheap tools"
 
skimmer said:
Hello fellow CGNers

Everyone talks about the GP100 and 686. There must be more out there. I'm looking for something like what a CZ is to a Sig - just as good, arguably better looking, but a few hundred cheaper.

Who has a revolver they would consider comparable to the two crowd favorites, but is actually cheaper to buy (new or used)?
Click to expand...

Probably not what you are thinking, but I bought a new 586 last year. It was about $150 cheaper than the otherwise identical 686 next to it, and in my opinion, much nicer looking. I also have a 66-1 that I bought used that is very nice to shoot.
Kristian
 
While usually not cheaper, I much prefer the Colt revolvers myself. I own several Colt revolvers, but no S&W's and only one Ruger (a Redhawk).

For quality, fit and finish, the Colt's can't be beat.
 
Last edited:
I have some preferences, I do like my 1950s era Colt Model 357 & I have one Anaconda. Myself I think both S&W and Colt had thier good and bad years of quality assurance. I think taste & personal preferance is a more accurate question here. But the majority of my revolvers are S&W brand made from 1938 to 1993. Just for the fact of warranty and qualified gunsmithing alone, that is available in this country.
I have two Ruger Old Armies as well, both in stainless steel. One is the 1976 made Liberty model the other the shorter and more recent Vaquero model. And one lonely Dan Wesson Model 44 of Monson manufacture. My best target shooting included this last one, also neck & neck with it, the previously mentioned Colt Model 357, along with 38 Special ammo & a 1985 made S&W Model 624 in calibre 44 Special.
 
Last edited:
For somethig unique there's the Ruger Blackhawk in 30m1. Got one myself recently and there's a whole lot of bark with relatively little bite. Fun gun.

I'm sure I'll end up with a .357 one day. Might go Blackhawk, and I might go Alfa Proj. I'm not sure yet
 
The difference in fit in the hand between the S&W K and N frame isn't that big. And it's easily corrected with the right handgrips. For myself I'm a K frame guy. I have big hands but I just put on bigger grips and this smallest of the full size frame guns fits like a glove. And thanks to the right sort of grips I don't find any difference in hold or use going between my N frame 28 and my smaller body K frame guns.

As for quality vs price that is another story. We see dealers carrying Charter Arms guns. But reading a lot of reviews and user reports of issues shows that these are guns best carried a lot and used only moderately at most. Higher round counts seem to bring out wear and failure issues in CA guns. The reports I've read are also indicative of a lesser degree of accuracy then the S&W's. Yeah, yeah, I know it's the interwebz where everyone is an instant X-purt. But when you see enough smoke you pretty well can figure there's a few fires.

Taurus reviews seem to indicate that once the guns are working that they work for many years reliably and shoot quite well. But Taurus guns seem to require warranty work a little more often than some other brands. In the US this is an issue because there's LOTS of horror stories of dealing with the warranty center. Up here in Canada I understand that the previous warranty center was a similar disaster. But for a few years now the importer and distributor and I assume the warranty center has been Freedom Ventures who has turned the bad reputation for work around and is far more responsive and timely. At least the complaints in that regard have dropped a lot. And in such cases no news is good news. So Taurus is a better option these days than it used to be a few years back.

Alpha Project is a new option. And as with anything firearms related new is automatically bad, right? :D Well, I jumped in and I'm glad I did. Initial impressions and results are excellent. Overall build quality both externally and internally is on par with a mix between Ruger and S&W for surface finish on the frame barrel and parts. Lockup on mine is good but it does have a very slight shake instead of being bank vault tight. But my present and recently sold Ruger have/had more shake than this gun. So it's well within acceptable limits. The gun comes with a rather stout mainspring. But Rusty Wood has come up with a replacement spring that reduces the trigger effort in DA mode to something similar to a S&W K frame that has been set up with a Wolff spring kit. And that is DARN NICE by any standard. SA trigger pull is very Ruger'ish rather than the "breaking glass" feel of a S&W in SA mode in that there is a slight creep before you feel the hammer break. The amount of creep is very similar to the Ruger DA guns or most SA revolvers. I only mention it because there IS some instead of the locked then break feel of a S&W SA trigger. For accuracy my AP started out a little sloppy for groupings. But my first targets were shot on a cold blustery day where I was shivering a little despite being bundled up. Along the way I replaced the mainspring with the RWT spring and used some bicycle bar tape to shim up the upper rear grip area to fill in a hollow in my grip. Between the spring and the better fit and a couple of hundred rounds to get acquainted it is now shooting as well as my S&W's. So now the only question is the longer term reliability. And for that I just need to shoot it a lot more. At this point I'm only waiting on the shipment to arrive that has the extra moon clips since mine is one of the 9mm models.
 
The Alpha's do look pretty nice. I handled a few at the Chilliwack show and I can see one in my future.

I didn't try the trigger so I can't comment on the feel, but I must say most of my Ruger's break clean in single action without a hitch including my new SP 101 .22lr right out of the box.
 
BCRiders comments reminded me of a destroyed newly made CA revolver at a nearby gunshop. No details were forthcoming. The barrel was ruptured for about 1 inch just ahead of the frame & on the lower part. It's not fair pose much more comment without any facts.

sucks for previous owner.....
 
I looked around for a while and ended up with a 686 6 inch.

I recently fondled a buddies Dan Wesson and was kinda impressed. Might go that route next time the revolver bug bites.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom