5 Most Beautiful Handguns in the World, Really?

hunter64

hunter64

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 98.8%
84   1   0
Have you seen the latest drivel from Guns & Ammo about beautiful handguns?

I remember a few years ago reading in one of there issues about the "most influential handguns of all time" or something like that. It was written with the usual bias and omitted the Colt 1911, like really, the most copied handgun of all time is omitted?

Anyway I get an email from them today and the headline asks what are the top 5 beautiful handguns. I looked thru and first thing I said was "Are you kidding me"?

1. Well it is nice but No. 1, honestly?
2. Looks nice.
3. Well ok.
4. Luger? WTF were you smoking? I have had 3 of the jam-o-matics and no way on earth would I consider it good looking or something I would bet my life on.
5. Really? One of the ugliest handguns ever.

So a Chrome Python would beat virtually all of those. A pearl handled chrome 1911 is certainly better than no 4 or 5. Any plain jane S&W pinned and recessed revolver would beat 4 or 5 for heavens sake.

So am I way off base?

ht tp://www.gunsandammo.com/2011/09/14/most-beautiful-handgun-ever/
 
chrome pythons tend to look "clubby " possibly the most elegant is a1911 amt HARDBALLER LONGSLIDE- so i also disagree with the article-second would be a devel, and third would be a 1860's TIFFANY COLT
 
Considering beauty is an opinion, why exactly are you freaking out? Personally, I wouldnt have a 1911 in my top ten, maybe 20. Just cause there awesome guns doesnt make em the most beautiful, even if you put a pearl handle on them. Kinda like putting lipstick on a pig.

Also, I agree with him on the Luger, thats perdy. (but the mauser is hard to choke down)
 
I stopped reading that ####e ever since I realized that all they EVER say is that they love "Brand X's newest offering". Never do they have any critical comments.
 
On the Luger pistol...

Machining w/ tight tolerances at it's best (that's why they jam !!) Fit & finish is 1st rate, DWM early commercial models are on par with the best firearms produced by big name European makers... Great natural pointability per a grip angle of 17 degrees, Glock 17 pistol designed with that 17 degrees grip angle...

Developped in 1900 when on this side of the Atlantic the US Army was using single action revolvers...Thus one of the first successfull military semi auto pistol.

Developped the 9mm Luger cartridge in 1902...Cant bypass this one !!

Most collected handgun in the world...(Yes I've been collecting them for a long time...)
Mk
 
Kidvett: Yes they are very collectible, in fact I have three in my safe all matching numbers. As far as reliable we disagree on that point. The ones that I have owned were far from it, my 300 buck Chinese 1911 is more reliable.

Off topic a bit:

I remember in 1979 I was visiting grandfathers farm in southern Alberta and his neighbor was over helping fix a combine. He was on the eastern front in Russia from 1941-43. I just happened to bring along my K98 for my uncle to see. We started talking and I asked him what part of the Wehrmacht he served in. He was in the artillery as a lieutenant and said that when he was issued a p38 he was really grateful as the Luger that he had was a pos. Constantly jamming with a tiny bit of dirt in it. The P38 never failed to fire even after being dropped in the mud.

His position was over run and the Russians took no prisoners so if you were on the ground they would either shoot you to make sure you are dead or bayonet you. Well he was wounded in the leg and played dead as they were being over run and he got the bayonet. He said if he even flinched that would have been it. After the Russians left he bandaged himself up the best he could and flanked them and found his own infantry. Spent the rest of the war in a hospital.

Kind of off topic but neat to hear a first hand account of the eastern front and see the bayonet hole thru his stomach and out his back.

If my life depended on a handgun the Luger would be the last one I would pick up but your luck might be totally different and I respect that. I paid 200 bucks a piece for the Luger's some years ago so for me they are an investment and that is about it.
 
kidvett said:
On the Luger pistol...

Machining w/ tight tolerances at it's best (that's why they jam !!) Fit & finish is 1st rate, DWM early commercial models are on par with the best firearms produced by big name European makers... Great natural pointability per a grip angle of 17 degrees, Glock 17 pistol designed with that 17 degrees grip angle...

Developped in 1900 when on this side of the Atlantic the US Army was using single action revolvers...Thus one of the first successfull military semi auto pistol.

Developped the 9mm Luger cartridge in 1902...Cant bypass this one !!

Most collected handgun in the world...(Yes I've been collecting them for a long time...)
Mk
Click to expand...

great comment X 2
 
Just to add a comment about Lugers. The grip angle influenced the Colt Government Model of 1911. The grip angle was much less raked on prior Colts. The Luger also induced the Army to request that Colt install a push button magazine release, again quite different from what Colt started out with. The Luger is full of problems as a military sidearm, but it sure is a beautiful piece of engineering and production, and was one of the most aggressively marketed handguns ever. At the opposite end of the scale, a small private enterprise effort in pre-WWI Germany produced the Jager, a 7.65mm pistol made almost entirely from stampings. It was a revolutionary piece of design and production, but looked somehow undependable, compared to the remarkable machining and hand fitting of other contemporary pistols, and was quite distrusted by the military. Although it cost only a small fraction of the cost of a Luger to produce, and was quite acceptable in terms of function, it was never adopted and is now a rare collectible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom