Revolver / pistol choices

Now fellas I usually think about something a year or two before I buy it so I'd like to start discussing pistols.

    I've only got a 22 right now, I sold my Tracker 41 mag because it was ported, and the last time I shot it without protection (3 years ago).. well lets say my left is ringing went up a notch.

     Anyway, I'm thinking a 45 is probably the ideal plinking and defense pistol.  Lets start there, I'd like to get a unported 41 or 44, or maybe even a 50 for pack/hunting revolver but right now I'm looking for feed back on a 45.   Kimber.

Thanks,

Spot

Nix the Kimber, For what you want, a Springfiled 1911 will do just as well, or look at the new Smiths for about $1k. They are really nice, and that would be my next purchase on a semi, although 40 S&W is geting to be easy to find brass for cheap. There must be +5000 rounds laying out at the range now. Jerks won't police there own cases.

With the 45's the closer tolerance they are made to equates to longer break in to preclude jams and failures

Revolvers, I would go with a .357, 4 " barrel for carrying, but 6" mostly for plinking. I have a light .357 load that a person can run 400 rounds thorugh and not feel bad. My 1st choice ( double action)would be a Smith 686, then a Ruger old style Security Six. ( I have both). Deer can be taken witha .357, but a person need sto work alittel harder at it.

 I would go for the 44 mag in a Ruger Black Hawk, 4 5/8 " barrel. A full size 6 ' barrel goes 4 lbs, and they ain't easy to cary around on your hip. I know I have bought and sold  3 of them. Now I have the 4 5/8 barrel in stainless, but it is still heavy. The 45 Colt is darn close to equal to the 44 mag. Riding, the old Ruger Security Six, .357 seems to always end up on my belt. The shorter barrels don't interfere with the saddle cantle either. Trouble with the 45 Colt or 44 mag, it's darn hard to tame down the loads enough for a lot of fun shooting. With my loads, I can run about 200 through, then I have to switch to the .357 target loads. Of course, I'm just an old wimp though.

Generally the .357 is cheaper to load and shoot if you plan to do a lot of it.

It gets to be tedious chasing brass with a semi, and it's lot easier to dump cases from a revolver into a can. 9mm and .380 are to darn small to reload for. A pain inthe butt

For defense, anything from 38 Special +P up will work.

You know , once you get into handguns, they are as addicting as rifles. I have a 44 mag, a 45  Colt ACP, a 9mm, a 38 special, 3 ea  22's, 4ea .357's, and probably a couple I have forgotten.

Spot;

You don't say as to which you'd prefer, the .45ACP or the .45 Colt, sometimes referred to as a 'long Colt'.  The first is, of course, mostly the semi-auto round & the other is the revolver cartridge.

I've had a couple of .45 ACP platforms & currently have a Kimber classic.  It's been a very fine gun & I have no plans to replace it, ever.  That being said, it's an early one that I bought before they figured out how high they could jack the price.

I'm also contemplating getting a large bore revolver for hiking/hunting.  The type of thing commonly called a bear gun.  If I were rich & therefore famous, I'd have a Freedom Arms .454 5.5" barrel premire.  But reality keeps intruding, so it's most likely gonna be a Smith 629 4" barrel.  However, if a good deal on a .45 Colt were shoved under my nose, I might very well bite.  There's no real preference on my part for either the .44 mag or the .45 Colt.  It's just that it seems that there's more 629's running around on the used market than anything else. 

I understand that there's scads of Ruger Blackhawks in .45 Colt out there, but I'd prefer to have a stainless gun in this application, & most of the Rugers are blued.

Now if Kahr would just make a small gun with a hammer, I'd have to get one of those too.

900F

Spot;

If your just plinking, etc. here's a trick to help with the pistol brass clean-up.  Get a 12' X 12' blue poly-tarp & shoot off the left front corner.  They're cheap & you'll keep a lot more brass when all you have to do is pick up the corners of the tarp & empty it into a 5-gallon bucket. 

I've shot a 686 6" that had Jim's Custom Gun Shop in Butte do an action job on it.  Very sweet unit.  Also a very light trigger, not really a carry unit, but perfect for load development & such.  A model 66 4" barrel makes a right nice carry gun for hiking, but the K-frame units won't take a steady diet of full-house bear stopper type loads.  However, they're hell on wheels with 125 gr HP defense loads.

Just wondering, why are you so set on a .41 instead of the .44?

900F

Saddlesore,  a 44 Mag revolver can be a pleasure to shoot all day long.  Just use 44 Spcl brass, a mild charge of Unique or HP38 and some 240gr cast bullets.  Even with a 200gr JHP over 10&1/2gs of Unique is pretty easy, and accurate.  With the 45 Colt use Unique and 250gr cast.  Heck of a lot of fun, even for women and young teenagers.

A S&W 629 or 625 in Mountain Gun configuration would make an easy to pack revolver, with it's tapered 4" barrel.  In 45 ACP the Kimbers I've shot have been real nice.  I've held a S&W 1911 and it felt real good.  Now I just need to shoot one.  Then buy one.  

Spot, stop buying handguns with ported barrels. 

Gunrunner. I use 8 gr of W231  with a 240 gr bullet in my 44 for target. It's ok, but I can run +400 rounds though my .357, 686 in a session.. That load is 4.6 gr of  W231 , and a 158 gr cast.

To shoot that many 44's will get my right arm tired holding up the 4lb Blackhawk. I have had 3 surgeries on my right hand, and one on my right elbow. It isn't up to snuff anymore.

I had a 44 mag Mountain Gun , N frame Smith. That frame is too big for me. Full 44 mag loads would tear about 1 square inch of hide off the web of my hand, even using gloves, in about 20 rounds.

CB,

    If i wait a year I may forget the tarp trick... i.e. you may have to remind me about that one.

Spot

SS,

   It's on my list for christmas..  or maybe next spring.

Wish they made a titanium version..

Spot