"Best" antique handgun?

SuperDerpBro

SuperDerpBro

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My brother and i go shooting from time to time. Mostly shotguns/SKS. He owns a few Glocks but I hate going to the range (he doesn't mind, obviously heh). We would really like to legally shoot a handgun in the bush. Didn't think that was possible until i happened across a youtube vid of some guys doing it.

Looking around i see that Antique firearms are pretty expensive :/. Rather spend less but my budget is around $2000ish if needed. I honestly don't know a lot about Antique firearms. I didn't know until very recently that they were legal and you don't even need a PAL to own some of them. Still researching about them but it looks like the Colt 1982 .38 special is the "best"? .44 Russian? Any tips or reading links from people more informed than I are very welcomed. I don't want to end up with something that might be illegal due to lack of knowledge.

Thanks :)
 
1892's are a tad unreliable as far as lockup goes I've found ( I saw the one you are referring to for sale...a few questions need to be asked about it...but commonly available ammo is nice ).
The Colt SAA are the 'Holy Grail', but expensive.
Some of the European offerings are really nice; French 1892 comes to mind, but reloading is required.
A dozen or so fellows should be along to champion their own personal piece soon.
Whether you can / will reload and how much pocket you have is the bottom line.
 
What is your definition of antique? 100 ears old, 80 years old, 50 years old, or 25 years old? And must it have been made that long ago or designed that long ago?

If using year of manufacture, 50 years would be 1966 or before, 80years would be 1936, and 100 years would be 1916. In any of those years you have 1911 semiautos. For 80 years or older you can add the P-08 and C-96 Broomhandle Mauser. Revolvers you have a greater selection that fall into the 80 year old or older range. Colt single actions, Colt's New Service including the 1917, Colt's smaller framed double action revolvers. Smith and Wesson also offered a plethora of revolvers. Don't forget Webley's from Britain either.
 
So antiques aren't restricted ???? Don't know much about antiques but I believe if you get caught walking around the bush with something that shoots projectiles and has a 5" barrel you wont be leaving in the vehicle you arrived in.
 
aragorn1 said:
So antiques aren't restricted ???? Don't know much about antiques but I believe if you get caught walking around the bush with something that shoots projectiles and has a 5" barrel you wont be leaving in the vehicle you arrived in.
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The bush? lol are you from the UK/Aus?

First of all, you'd be lucky to see anyone in the true bush in a year.

Second, given that and the number of bears, they'd at most just check you out. Since taking that gun away from you would be endangering your life unless they also escorted you back to your car/town.
 
GLS_1956 said:
What is your definition of antique? 100 ears old, 80 years old, 50 years old, or 25 years old? And must it have been made that long ago or designed that long ago?

If using year of manufacture, 50 years would be 1966 or before, 80years would be 1936, and 100 years would be 1916. In any of those years you have 1911 semiautos. For 80 years or older you can add the P-08 and C-96 Broomhandle Mauser. Revolvers you have a greater selection that fall into the 80 year old or older range. Colt single actions, Colt's New Service including the 1917, Colt's smaller framed double action revolvers. Smith and Wesson also offered a plethora of revolvers. Don't forget Webley's from Britain either.
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In Canada it must be manufactured prior to 1898 in a non-specified caliber. Then you get a loophole, so to speak. Generally the calibers are a little obscure, but they missed a few of the more common ones.
In 'merican think C & R.
 
tokguy said:
1892's are a tad unreliable as far as lockup goes I've found ( I saw the one you are referring to for sale...a few questions need to be asked about it...but commonly available ammo is nice ).
The Colt SAA are the 'Holy Grail', but expensive.
Some of the European offerings are really nice; French 1892 comes to mind, but reloading is required.
A dozen or so fellows should be along to champion their own personal piece soon.
Whether you can / will reload and how much pocket you have is the bottom line.
Click to expand...

Def not set up to be reloading :(. Colt SAA would be cool but im guessing WAY more then i'd be willing to spend.

ygong said:
Colt 1860 respec'd to 44 Colt.
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Thanks, i'll take a look at those.

ygong said:
Second, given that and the number of bears, they'd at most just check you out. Since taking that gun away from you would be endangering your life unless they also escorted you back to your car/town.
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We never go THAT far out hehe. But yea that would be a pretty cruel thing to do.
 
SuperDerpBro said:
Def not set up to be reloading :(. Colt SAA would be cool but im guessing WAY more then i'd be willing to spend.



Thanks, i'll take a look at those.



We never go THAT far out hehe. But yea that would be a pretty cruel thing to do.
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I dunno. I mean you gotta go where the gold is right? Speaking of which, what is the gold prospecting situation in BC right now?

edit: And red diamond situation?
 
My suggestion would be for a single shot flintlock or percussion pistol in shooting condition. With a bit of luck you might find one at a gunshow or occasionally in the EE in the $600 to $800 range. There are a couple of wrinkles however; first is that you will probably have to replace the nipple of a percussion gun, with a custom hand made nipple and before that have the threads chased out to fresh metal. On european guns the thread pitch is often 26 per inch. Second provision is that you would be wise to chose a gun that uses #11 caps as, at least in BC, musket caps are hard to find. Final one is that the bore needs to be reasonably clean or alternately thick enough that the worst of the pitting can be reamed out.
Also worth mentioning that if you go to a commercial machine shop, the above repairs will quickly put the price of the gun in the range of the shootable cartridge revolvers on the EE

cheers mooncoon
 
GLS_1956 said:
What is your definition of antique? 100 ears old, 80 years old, 50 years old, or 25 years old? And must it have been made that long ago or designed that long ago?
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Being as the OP is is BC, Canada; I will guess that he is referring to 'antique' as defined by our Canadian firearms regulations, so that he can fire it on Crown land. Here is a useful Flowchart:



My personal recommendation would be the Colt 1860 Army Cap'n'Ball Revolver.
 
The best bang for the buck in legal antique pistols is the French M1892. But you basically need to reload because loaded ammo is only available sporadically at best.

A S&W in 45 Schofield or 44 Russian would be about the most practical in terms of possibly finding commercial ammo but these pistols start at $2000 plus, and in good shape are substantially more.

Colt SAA in 41 Long Colt is a good choice but expect $4000-$5500

German Reichs Revolver and French M1873 in good condition are usually priced +/- $1500 but ammo is basically reloading only.

Webley MKI and MKII 455 service pistols are $1500-$2000 and some of these were converted to 45acp BUT you still need to reload lighter ammo because regular 45acp factory ammo is more powerful than these old guns were designed to handle.

There are several other varieties of antique pistols available but the sstory is the same. If you aren't a reloader then the choices are limited.
 
jethunter said:
The best bang for the buck in legal antique pistols is the French M1892. But you basically need to reload because loaded ammo is only available sporadically at best.

A S&W in 45 Schofield or 44 Russian would be about the most practical in terms of possibly finding commercial ammo but these pistols start at $2000 plus, and in good shape are substantially more.

Colt SAA in 41 Long Colt is a good choice but expect $4000-$5500

German Reichs Revolver and French M1873 in good condition are usually priced +/- $1500 but ammo is basically reloading only.

Webley MKI and MKII 455 service pistols are $1500-$2000 and some of these were converted to 45acp BUT you still need to reload lighter ammo because regular 45acp factory ammo is more powerful than these old guns were designed to handle.

There are several other varieties of antique pistols available but the sstory is the same. If you aren't a reloader then the choices are limited.
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spasiba
 
Really like my Webley RIC in .455. Ballistically similar to .45acp, factory ammo available from Fiocchi. Lots of fun. It's the bottom one in the photo below. Top one is a Bulldog, which is also a really cool little gun.



 
The RICs are good, solid revolvers. .450s seem to be more common than .455s. Nothing wrong with .450, just one extra step for first loading, .455 dies work fine.
 
I have a couple of R.I.C.'s in .476, .455 brass with hb cast 265 boolits work great. They are quite compact compared to most antique revolvers.

I have a bunch of Hornady marked brass, it seems to be pretty rare now.
 
For repeated shooting, there is little contest ( in my mind.) The Webleys are a good action for a bit of fast reload shooting but for long term, trouble free shooting with a big bore, the French 1873 chambered to 45acp or .455 will still be tight for another hundred years. The expensive Colts will still be sitting in their velvet cases and the Webleys will be shot loose - but the 1873s will still be crisp. : )
 
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