Alpha Project .357 6" SS

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OldNewGuy

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Anybody know much about these? I just got my RPAL after avoiding doing so for a few decades as my Club has a very active handgun section.

While I lusted after a 686-6 S&W, I can't ignore the price on the Alpha's. So, I have two questions:

1) Can anybody give a bit of a review on these Alpha .357's
2) I see mentions on the Interweb of "moon clips", which one post stated is not required for the firearm to work, but that if one wasn't used it becomes harder to eject fired rounds from the cylinder. Alpha's website is singularly unhelpful, unlike S&W/Browning etc., they don't have a "support" tab with downloadable owner's manuals or a Q&A for owners. Alpha's website does show the Moon Clips with their 9mm versions, but not with the .357 products. Can somebody supply information on these items - the Moon Clips, function/applicability/whether they're required, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help.

OldNewGuy
 
I can't really help with the .357 but i do have an Alfa 4.5" in 9 mm. I believe that is the only caliber that involves moon clips. The .357 would eject the spent cartridges normally.

Mine is a decent enough gun but it did benefit from having the Rusty Woods Trading (forum sponsor) spring kit installed. Having said that I bought mine primarily because it was a, on sale and b, in 9 mm. I think I would be more likely to look for a good used S&W .357 on the EE than put $6xx plus tax into an Alfa.

Just my 2 cents YMMV
 
It seems most people who have the alpha proj revolvers have em in 9mm.

Use the search function, and you should find some reviews and such.

And yes it's only the 9mm ones that need moon clips for ejection, because they have no rim for a normal revolver extractor to catch on. You can use it without them but reloading the gun would get tedious if you had to poke the didn't cartridges out with a stick each time...
 
Replies with good information from opposite ends of the country! I really like this forum!

Thanks to both of you - your observations and advice are appreciated.

I guess I will do a pro-and-con on the Smith, as I say I first had my eye on them but wanted to find out if there is indeed a value to the 50%+ price premium; and to be perfectly honest a bit of paranoia given the number of mentions of Smith & Wesson's very poor reputation for parts and service, both during the warranty period and post-warranty, in Canada.
 
OldNewGuy said:
Replies with good information from opposite ends of the country! I really like this forum!

Thanks to both of you - your observations and advice are appreciated.

I guess I will do a pro-and-con on the Smith, as I say I first had my eye on them but wanted to find out if there is indeed a value to the 50%+ price premium; and to be perfectly honest a bit of paranoia given the number of mentions of Smith & Wesson's very poor reputation for parts and service, both during the warranty period and post-warranty, in Canada.
Click to expand...

Take this for what it's worth but I own 4 Smith and Wesson revolvers and 2 Colts. The youngest is 33 years old and the oldest is nearly 100. My favorite, a 4 screw K-38 Target Masterpiece, will be 60 next year. The quality is superb. I can't speak to what they are building today but I will admit I've heard the same complaints about the more recent guns.
 
New Alpha Project 6" SS in 357 M, first shots

After a lot of thought, and internal debate, I did decide to go with the Alpha 6" SS in 357M. Picked it up, and after the usual rigmarole with transfers, etc. took possession and got it up to the range a week or so later.

I did find it is nicely balanced (at least to my mind, as I don't personally own anything to compare it with), it does seem to shoot fairly well as I got all of my first 20 shots on 8.5 X 11 paper target at 17 yards. I know that wouldn't impress too many on this forum, but as a handgun newbie, I was pretty happy with that original performance. It happened that another club member was up there who owns a Smith revolver, he tried it and pronounced it "nice" with the exception of the trigger, which in his opinion "sucked".

So far, so good. I'll post again once I've put a few boxes through it.
 
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