[Peter M. Eick]

I am coming up on a major birthday and was thinking about getting a pistol/revolver to commemorate it. I am down to 3 ideas and was curious about your comments.

Option 1) 6" python from my birthyear. About $1500 and appears to be in good shape. Have a python worked over by Teddy Jacobsen and a few Pre-2* 5-screw S&W's. This is probably my lowest choice but parts are easy to come by.

Option 2) 44 Automag shooter. About $2500. I have a 44 automag safe queen that has never been fired, but I have always wanted a shooter. Downside is parts are expensive and dang hard to come by. Only about 9,000 of them made so not a lot of upside here for a shooter. I would baby it but who knows.

Option 3) Nice Broomhandle Mauser, About $2500 again for a nice Mauser version. Lots of options here more just pick a good one. Parts are hard to come by but not impossible. Since I am going for a shooter I do not care about matching parts #, but I do want a nice "looking" gun. I believe about 1,000,000 made so there should be plenty of parts around for the future. Downside is if the bolt lock breaks, I could need serious help.

Bailout option is another 210-6. I have a 210-6 light frame fixed sight and want a 210-6 heavy frame adjustable to go with my 210-5 heavy adjustable.

Ok you have read my piece. Any thoughts or comments? I have time, I am not in a rush....

[P95Carry]

Probably not much help but - in this situation and with your apparent budget .. a good .... and I mean really good ''Broomhandle'' would be just dandy!

Very desirable piece and a good investment (well, Python wouldn't be bad either I guess).:)

[Peter M. Eick]

That is sort of where I am leaning. A really nice broomie as a shooter. There seem to be a lot of them out there, but most are 30 mauser which would mean a new caliber for reloading which I do not really want to do. I guess I will look at 9mm's only.

[Sean Smith]

Having a birth year Python would be cool, but $1,500 just for that distinction when you can get a nice Python for <$750 seems sort of pointless, especially since it is getting an action job anyway. Still, I'm hard pressed to argue against getting a Python, especially since I'm getting mine back from Marty Cutrell at Yost-Bonitz this week. I'll post a review of the action job he did on it when I get it back.

The Mauser would be cool, and have the upside that you could actually afford the ammo for it. The Automag is cool too, but just seems woefully impractical.

[burrhead]

9MM Mauser
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=15130243

[Jim K]

Since the Mauser C96 with shoulder stock is no longer an NFA firearm, plenty are coming out of the woodwork, plus there are good reproduction stocks out there. The entire kit makes a neat package and is fun to shoot (ear protection DEFINITELY required).

There are some genuine Red 9 (9mm Luger) around, but most are Chinese guns that have been rebored and re-rifled or even rebarrelled by drilling out the old barrel. There is nothing wrong with one of these, per se, but some are being passed off as originals with price to match. If considering one and an original is wanted, learn enough not to be fooled by one of these.

Jim

[WhoKnowsWho]

I can't even fathom how choosing something with a budget like that is fun! :what: You Oil Baron! :D :evil:

I suppose of the 3, the Mauser since it has such a history.

[tc300mag1]

All 3 :) i really want a python but i think the broomhandle mauser would eb a excellent choice

[cratz2]

All I know, Peter, is I wish I had your budget when it came to these matters.

And I'd really like the Mauser... But, if I had an Automag that I couldn't/didn't shoot staring at me every time I opened the safe, I might want a shooter to play with...

[Peter M. Eick]

After a lot of thinking (I have a nasty cold so not much else to do), I am leaning toward the broomie.

The reasoning I am using is just plain parts. Right now for my current automag, a bolt is running about $700 if you can find one. Bolt ears are about $400 and mags, well lets not go there.....

On the other hand, I can buy beat up Broomies for less then $500 around town and nice ones for around $1000 and really show pieces for around $2500. (Collector pieces go up from there!)

Ok, so I buy a broomie and go out and the first month I break a bolt, big deal t worst case I go buy another beater and trash it out for parts. I am out $500. The automag, if you break a part, now you got to find one, and then you got to pay for it. Bolt ears and bolts seam to break the most from what I can find on the net and then the frame breaks where the spring guide rods screw in. Not much fun. So the automag is most likely out of the picture.



I keep wondering about the python though. It would be neat to have an early one (obviously I am tipping my age here.....)

Editted to add: I see a few comments about my budget as an oil exploration worker. Next time I am freezing my butt out in Siberia in January, or facing down a Sumatrian Tiger in the Jungles in July or riding the boat trying to outrun Hurricanes in the Gulf, I remember those comments and chuckle....

Just kidding, and yes I have done those things and many more. Life in the seismic exploration business is rarely boring!

[rock jock]

What year Python do you need? I have a 1962 version that is 99%. The Royal Blue bluing will blind you it is so shiny.

[Peter M. Eick]

Hate to say it but 62 would not work...

[mustang45]

Peter,

You got too much money, my friend. Can you share some of that wealth to the generation X who just started this expensive hobby.

[Bill Hook]

Can you share some of that wealth to the generation X who just started this expensive hobby.

I'm sure he would, if you want to share the tigers, hurricanes and freezing blizzards. ;)

[mustang45]

i'll share those things with him. he can keep all those fun parts whenever i go backpacking. ;)

sometime, i feel envious of folks that can popping new gun purchases like Hugh Heffer popping viagra. i have read about folks getting nice Kimber, Ed Brown, Les Baer, and Colt while i still handle Taurus, surplus SKS, and hand me down AK. the most expensive gun i own is a Desert Eagle and i got that for a song because someone wanted to sell it for half a song to the store and i just offer twice as much for it. i wouldn't be able to afford it at regular store price because 1k is a lot to newby.

[rock jock]

Hate to say it but 62 would not work...
Need a younger model, huh? ;)

[Bill Hook]

I'd sell the DE first chance I got. Take the offer, as it is probably the most useless handgun out there for anything other than Hollywood shoot'em-ups and the gee-whiz factor.

[mustang45]

The main reason I have it because it is super cool. It is a head turner and isn't it a reason why folks have Ed Brown, Les Baer, Colt, or Wilson Combat when a nice Kimber is pretty good and a Springfield is even cheaper. Of course, those custom guns have more to give, but I am sure the bragging right has a lot of do with the purchase also.

The second reason I want to keep it is because I know I can't afford one later and I actually like the thing. According to the gunsmith I talked to, this gun have seen probably less than 100 rounds of .44 magnum prior to me buying it. My assumption is that the owner bought it as a first gun because of the Hollywood effect, then sell it as fast as he can because he can't handle it.

[Bill Hook]

I'd rather "gee whiz" with a custom that is highly accurate and reliable, than something known for it's starring role in many movies, particularly since a custom 1911, etc. could be carried and used. I also think all the right people at the range would admire that you had a SIG P210, Les Baer or HK P7, more so than the infamous "deagle." However, if it blows your skirt up....

[mustang45]

I got it for 400 bucks and this is why I keep it.

I am not a 1911 fan, yet. If I become one, I will get a SA Mil Spec for 400 brand new at the store. However, I am a big revolver fan. Honestly, I rarely shoot the DE. It is not even loaded 99% of the time. I just like playing with it. It is the gun that all my friends and co-workers recognize whenever I try to get someone into the shooting sport. I whip that thing out and people like "wow. I want it." I usually trick them into shooting my old Taurus 608 with cheap reload .38 special. Somehow, new peole love big guns and people get crazy about the giant 608 too.

I got tons of other hobbies to support, so no Ed Brown for me in a super long time. The P4 Sony laptop at best buy has been calling me for 3 weeks and I don't even answer it. Unlike Ed Brown, this Sony has dropped over 200 bucks in price and will continue to do so for awhile.

[JohnKSa]

According to the gunsmith I talked to, this gun have seen probably less than 100 rounds of .44 magnum prior to me buying it.

Yeah, a LOT less...

Since according to this post it's chambered in "500 AE"

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=698403#post698403

desert eagle in 500 AE
This is the gun I have one my as a BUG gun. If I have to use it while working on the farm, things are not looking very good for both me and whatever I am facing.

[Bill Hook]

I think we're having our legs pulled between this post and the one about open carry.

[BluesBear]

Thank you JohnKSa,

I am so glad I am not the only one who has been noticing the inconsistancies in someones posts.

[Wildalaska]

$2500 is a lot of broomhandle...for that $$ ya get maybe an early flatside that ya dont want to shoot...


WildsuspiciousAlaska

[Peter M. Eick]

Wild,

The problem is that here in Houston, most of the available ones are collector's pieces. You know, all matching parts etc. I am not a big gun show kind of guy, so I only hit the stores and around town I have two basic options.

One is Collectorsfirearms, which has a very nice 1930's commercial for about 1700$ as I remember it and then Fort Bend Armory which has a bunch of re-finished up for bid right now. I got in touch with Fort Bend and will drive down there next week and look over the stock. Most of what they have is right at $1200 or less. Finally as an alternative there is Fountain Firearms where I "tested" out a chinese broomie clone. It was neat, shot well and went full auto on me. Needless to say it went right back to the store and they gave me full credit for it. But the bug had bitten!

So here is where I am at now. I have decided I want a NICE looking (I really take care of my toys!) good Broomhandle for my B-day, but I must handle it before I buy it. I have not decided if I want a 9mm or 30 mauser yet (since I reload, who cares) but I am leaning toward the 30 mauser since I have read that the 9mm's sometimes do not feed well.

Any thoughts?

oh yeah, to the guys who want my job, I will think about you the next time I spend 2 weeks on board ship riding out 2 huricanes back to back. I should post my picture of the waves over my porthole and my cabin was toward the top of the ship....

[Peter M. Eick]

Wild, I do not think I am violating any copyrights by doing this, but here is a link to what I am looking at:

http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/pr2936.htm
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=15222587


Comments?

[Leatherneck]

Peter,
While I'm a big fan of the python (and am trying to figure out how to get back the one I gave to my soninlaw) I think double the price for a birth-year one is an awful lot to pay for something valuable only to you. But it's your money, and your birthday, so you should get what will give you the most pleasure. Just one further thought: as a CRUFFLER, I've been amazed at the recent increases in many WW II guns, especially those with a Nazi provenence. Good luck.

TC
TFL Survivor

[Peter M. Eick]

You are not kidding about the price increases.

In october of 01 I picked up my 210-6 for $1650 with 7 mags, now the same store has a similar gun (with adjustables) for about $2400

My first S&W N frame was $640 for a very nice 38/44 outdoorsman, 4 months later a very nice pre-27 was up to $743.

When I first looked at broomies about a year ago nice ones were less then $900, now nice ones (around here) are mostly over $1200.

Even plain jane pistols like my p9 ultra have gone up. Back in 6/95 I picked up a P9ultra for $585 NIB and I bought another P9 for christmas NIB $605.

About the only gun I see that does not hold its value for a long time seems to be my Dan Wesson revolvers. Once they walk out the dealer door they seem to have a fixed value.


That is part of the reason I am looking for a nice one now. I figure if I don't get it now, I probably never will.

[The Tourist]

Wow, you have a chance to re-live one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.

I had just gotten into firearms in the early 1970's, and a few years later I went looking for a Python. Evryone told me to just pay the $150.00 and just get the SW 19. I wouldn't hear of it. I was ready to spend the 200 to 225 bucks to get the Python.

I stumbled onto one of those basement FFL dealers, and he told me he could get me the Colt at my price. However, he did have a very unusal pistol, and he thought I might like it. It cost 350 dollars. I gasped, "What is the thing, gold-plated?"

"No," he shrugged, "It's a new thing called an AutoMag."

And I passed on it. Do you know how often I wish I could go back in time and kick myself?

[smithandwesson]

Hello Pe ter,
why not consult Lee Jurus about the AutoMag??!!
He checks in regularly at www.sixgunner.com forums

[Peter M. Eick]

Yeah I have a very fond spot in my heart for my automag. It is something I lusted after when they came out but could not afford it. When I could afford it, I jumped on one, but then times got bad and it could not be shot. Now many years later, I have one but cannot shoot it. It is just to "unique" to ruin it now.

Part of me says just buy another one and make it a shooter and another part of me does not want to break an Automag. Thus the reason I am leaning toward a broomie. They are neat and fun, but if I destroy it, big deal, there is only like a million of them, whereas how many automags are there, 8000 or so?