What is the 'best' antique status pistol you can buy in canada?

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gord1986

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In your opinion, what is the 'best' antique status pistol that you can buy in canada? I'm looking for something that I can take in the bush for bear protection as well as for plinking. I'm not into reloading, but its definitely something that I would like to get into. The criteria I am looking for is reliability, availability of ammo/reloading equipment, accuracy, stopping power and historical value.

Any opinions on this would be very much valued.

Thanks!
 
How long is string?

More importantly, what is the budget?

Short barreled, 12 gauge shotgun. ~$450. Decent Antique pistol, ~$4500, plus a bunch of hassles and headaches. And nowhere near as effective at motivating bears.

Cheers
Trev
 
trevj said:
How long is string?

More importantly, what is the budget?

Short barreled, 12 gauge shotgun. ~$450. Decent Antique pistol, ~$4500, plus a bunch of hassles and headaches. And nowhere near as effective at motivating bears.

Cheers
Trev
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I would also have a rifle with me if I was hiking in bear country. The antique would be just for a last resort
 
I have fallen for the French Military Revolvers - solid and dependable and still very reasonable in price. 1500 or so will buy a good one - which - in these times, is still something that a guy will carry in the bush. A Colt is all very nice, but few guys are going to carry a 3500 to 5000 dollar gun regularly. Webleys are claimed to take fairly high pressures, but some do seem loose after a while - and you will seldom find a loose French 1873. The French 1873 or 1874 double action works - they are easy to clean and inspect oil and .45 auto or 455 are good chamberings. I've run a lot of jacketed and lead through one that I carry, and have no reason to believe that it will not last another - uh - 140 some years.
 
anchor3593 said:
I have fallen for the French Military Revolvers - solid and dependable and still very reasonable in price. 1500 or so will buy a good one - which - in these times, is still something that a guy will carry in the bush. A Colt is all very nice, but few guys are going to carry a 3500 to 5000 dollar gun regularly. Webleys are claimed to take fairly high pressures, but some do seem loose after a while - and you will seldom find a loose French 1873. The French 1873 or 1874 double action works - they are easy to clean and inspect oil and .45 auto or 455 are good chamberings. I've run a lot of jacketed and lead through one that I carry, and have no reason to believe that it will not last another - uh - 140 some years.
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These french revolvers are chambered in .455 or .45acp?
 
They can be chambered for 45 acp - it takes very little out - the reamer mostly just cuts a little shoulder for the front of the case to bottom on - where the original 11mm french chambering had a taper. I load to about twice the power of the original 11 mm - which is still half of a full-power 45 acp likely - but it still is a respectable amount of power.
 
anchor3593 said:
They can be chambered for 45 acp - it takes very little out - the reamer mostly just cuts a little shoulder for the front of the case to bottom on - where the original 11mm french chambering had a taper. I load to about twice the power of the original 11 mm - which is still half of a full-power 45 acp likely - but it still is a respectable amount of power.
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How do you find the ccuracy?
 
Accuracy is just fine but I've shot six or more of them chambered in 45 acp and they all hit very high at 30 yards. It takes a serious effort to aim a foot or so low at 30 yards.
 
Oh - there was one the other day - but if I remember right, the cylinder or barrel or something was not the same as it came out of the factory - not that this would affect use or anything, but it would be worth a little less for resale ( and you would pay a little less to buy it).

Okay - I see three of them in the recent past on the EE
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...-Black-powder-and-Modern-Muzzle-loaders/page2
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...ch-1873-Chamelot-Delvigne-Revolver-PRICE-DROP
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1425112-45-acp-antique-revolver-(cheap)
 
gord1986 said:
In your opinion, what is the 'best' antique status pistol that you can buy in canada? I'm looking for something that I can take in the bush for bear protection as well as for plinking. I'm not into reloading, but its definitely something that I would like to get into. The criteria I am looking for is reliability, availability of ammo/reloading equipment, accuracy, stopping power and historical value.

Any opinions on this would be very much valued.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ah, good! An unabashed bear thread :)...love it. Brother; a bear (even a small one), is really beyond what the gun you're looking for can ethically accomplish. Look to magnum cartridges preferably that start with a 5 or 4...but I think a well placed .357 Rem Mag would effectively stop a bear.

Not only are the antiques under powered imho, even the most reliable of them are well over 100 years old...using it will break it, and if that 'ol f**ker Murphy has anything to say about it; it'll break when you need it most.

My advise, get the proper paper work for bush carry, buy a Ruger RedHawk or S&W reliable revolver and carry responsibly.

You asked about the old cartridges, and not knowing much about them, with some degree of hesitancy I would recommend looking at the ballistics of the .455 Webley (Ely), .45 Colt.
I think cartridges like the .44 Russian and those of it's ilk are out of the running.

YMMV.
 
Not that I'd do it, but why not a .44 cap & ball revolver? Good chunk of lead out the front. Dirt simple in design & a lot of them were built like tanks... And if the da bear shoves it up your arse it may not hurt as much do to fewer moving parts....:p;):d
 
As many mentioned, any antique pistol will not be a great choice for bear defence.
That said, I've rather have a antique pistol than shake my d*ck at it. (A reference to an older thread regarding this same topic.)

.44 special, 455 Webley , 44 Russian, and 45ACP. (under loaded and lead projectiles) Are probably going to be in the top of your searches.

I went the Webley in .45ACP route personally. This was the best, because, brass is extremely plentiful at my place. That said you still have to either reload, or have rounds reloaded for you, these will not tolerate a steady diet of even target loads. Since I got it a year ago it has eaten several hundred rounds, still going strong.

If it is needed, 265 gr hunks of soft lead going 600-650 FPS has to count for something, right?
 
Justins1877 said:
As many mentioned, any antique pistol will not be a great choice for bear defence.
That said, I've rather have a antique pistol than shake my d*ck at it. (A reference to an older thread regarding this same topic.)

.44 special, 455 Webley , 44 Russian, and 45ACP. (under loaded and lead projectiles) Are probably going to be in the top of your searches.

I went the Webley in .45ACP route personally. This was the best, because, brass is extremely plentiful at my place. That said you still have to either reload, or have rounds reloaded for you, these will not tolerate a steady diet of even target loads. Since I got it a year ago it has eaten several hundred rounds, still going strong.

If it is needed, 265 gr hunks of soft lead going 600-650 FPS has to count for something, right?
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I've heard you can shoot wolf LRN from them. Have you ever tried wolf LRN?
 
gord1986 said:
I've heard you can shoot wolf LRN from them. Have you ever tried wolf LRN?
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even in a French 1873 which is in antique terms very strong , I would be hesitant to put a steady diet of 45 acp that I didn't load through it .

also 45 acp with a jacketed bullet through a antique that hasn't had the throats properly opened up is the same as holding a grenade in your hand .

in terms of pressure 455 Webley when properly converted to psi is roughly 1/2 way between 45 colt and 45acp . I use this pressure as the safe max upper pressure .
 
gord1986 said:
I've heard you can shoot wolf LRN from them. Have you ever tried wolf LRN?
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It's true.
I wouldn't suggest it though, and there are several reason why.

- The lead used is too hard, and the projectiles are .452 dia. This means that they are quite under sized without the chance of it being able to be flattened out during firing. I had some horrendous strings fired at even 10 FT, with both the SWC and LRN bullets. One shot would be 4 inches high to the right, the next would be high to the center, it would just track all over the place. At one point I was about to sell it, as I had no interest in a gun that was key holing @ 20M.

- They are VERY dirty. I never got full powder burn off in my Webley.

- Some say they are unsafe to shoot. I tent to disagree based on the chrony readings I was getting, they are a tad high (710 FPS)
Based on the loose throat of the Webley, and the lack of powder burn off I was getting.


Honestly, it *CAN* be pretty cheap to reload, if you want it to be. I think everyone will agree when antiques and ammo for them are brought up.
In fact, I always wanted to get into reloading, but getting antique pistols is what sent me over the edge into buying a Hornady AP.

If that is the case, and you want to reload; I can put you in touch with two people I buy my projectiles with who do a fantastic job at it, both are members of this site.


Now that I make my own, it shoots very well. Was ringing my 4'' AR500 popper @ 60 yards constantly with a gun that is 100 years older than I am. Quite a feeling.
 
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