Good revolver in the $500 range
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quicktoevil
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early S&W K frame preferably a 'long action' or S serial or Colt Official Police in that order
JustACowgirl
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Isn't that a good reason to buy another gun?
I definitely suggest a used K-Frame!!! I own both a K-Frame (nickel 15-3) and a GP-100 and the K-Frame is a much nicer gun IMHO. .38 out of a 4" barrel is more than enough for your stated purposes and it is SO MUCH FUN to shoot! K-Frames RULE!!!
harmon rabb
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reliability, durability, then looks? you just spelled ruger. take your pick, because $500 will get you any of a GP100, SP101, or the old school security/whatever six.
i own a GP100 and a SP101. between the two of them, the GP has a better trigger (MUCH better in DA), and handles recoil better... but it's a huge b!tch, so if you want to carry it, the SP is a far better choice.
i honestly can't think of a reason to even look at a smith if looks are #3 to you. in theory, they have better triggers. in my experience, though, that's garbage, because my GP100 has a trigger on par with the old school from the good old days k-frames i've shot, and my SP101 has an infinitely better trigger than the j-frame I owned. i think the awesome smith trigger lives only in the mind of those who think they look prettier than rugers.
edit: i'll note that if you have small hands, you may like the SP101 better than the GP100. my wife prefer my SP101 because of the smaller reach to the trigger. she has pretty small hands though. to me, the whole point of the SP101 is that it's the smallest 357 that's actually a 357. comfort has nothing to do with it.
i own a GP100 and a SP101. between the two of them, the GP has a better trigger (MUCH better in DA), and handles recoil better... but it's a huge b!tch, so if you want to carry it, the SP is a far better choice.
i honestly can't think of a reason to even look at a smith if looks are #3 to you. in theory, they have better triggers. in my experience, though, that's garbage, because my GP100 has a trigger on par with the old school from the good old days k-frames i've shot, and my SP101 has an infinitely better trigger than the j-frame I owned. i think the awesome smith trigger lives only in the mind of those who think they look prettier than rugers.
edit: i'll note that if you have small hands, you may like the SP101 better than the GP100. my wife prefer my SP101 because of the smaller reach to the trigger. she has pretty small hands though. to me, the whole point of the SP101 is that it's the smallest 357 that's actually a 357. comfort has nothing to do with it.
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jbr
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2nd the taurus 66
C5rider
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I agree with MES227,
I found good deals on Dan Wesson .357s and I'm VERY happy with mine. The nice thing about them is that if you want a snubby, simply locate a barrel and you can change them out yourself. A long-range tack driver? Find an 8 or 10 inch barrel and you're good to go. I've found good, complete guns for half what you're looking to spend and, guns with a 2, 4 and 6-inch barrels for the same price as what you're looking to spend. Good guns for the money. Just my .02.
I found good deals on Dan Wesson .357s and I'm VERY happy with mine. The nice thing about them is that if you want a snubby, simply locate a barrel and you can change them out yourself. A long-range tack driver? Find an 8 or 10 inch barrel and you're good to go. I've found good, complete guns for half what you're looking to spend and, guns with a 2, 4 and 6-inch barrels for the same price as what you're looking to spend. Good guns for the money. Just my .02.
oerllikon
Member
Ive got a ruger GP100 in 6". Gotta love the big iron!
After careful comparison, I think the DA trigger is almost equal between my 686 and GP100. I actually prefer the DA pull of the GP. BUT, the Smith action feels slightly shorter and I like the reset better. The GP100 reset is weak, and at the 95% mark, there's a small hitch and it gets even weaker. This is where you can short stroke it. After a couple thousand dryfires, my new GP100 actually stopped resetting all the way until I opened it and lubed it. At first, I thought a spring broke, but that was not the case. The Smith goes forward well enough the first 1/3 the way, then it sproings forward like a race horse. It's fairly impossible to short stroke.
SA trigger: dunno what yours was like, but my 686 trigger is beyond good. It's positively magical. In comparison, every 1911 trigger, every 22 target pistol, every RIFLE I've shot is total crap. I had to smack the hammer and even drop it onto the carpet while cocked to convince myself it's safe. There's zero pretravel/creep, and is has UNDERtravel. You put ~2 1/2 lbs of force on the trigger, and the hammer falls for seemingly no reason, accompanied by the trigger moving FORWARD. There's no perceptible backward movement of the trigger, whatsoever. So it really feels like the gun fires without even pulling the trigger. To be fair, it's a pre-MIM -1.
My GP SA trigger is very good, but it's not magic. If the Smith is David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear, the Ruger is Criss Angel pushing a nail through his cheek.
And for the record, I think my GP100 is better looking than any Smith I've ever seen. Except maybe the 629.
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Hondo 60
Member
Oh great!
Now I have to go to church to confess my sin (coveting)
See post 43 in this thread. M27
Now I have to go to church to confess my sin (coveting)
See post 43 in this thread. M27
Update...
After giving it some thought i decided to look at a gun show before making any decisions.I saw 2 ruger security six's going for $450 each,one blued and the other stainless.The seller wouldnt budge on his price at all and were at about 80% condition according to a friend that helped me look at them.So i decided to go with a GP100 4inch blued with an HKS speedloader for $508.Ill take her for a spin at the range tommorow.Again thanks from everyone for there advice and input as it greatly helped.
After giving it some thought i decided to look at a gun show before making any decisions.I saw 2 ruger security six's going for $450 each,one blued and the other stainless.The seller wouldnt budge on his price at all and were at about 80% condition according to a friend that helped me look at them.So i decided to go with a GP100 4inch blued with an HKS speedloader for $508.Ill take her for a spin at the range tommorow.Again thanks from everyone for there advice and input as it greatly helped.
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JustACowgirl
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Let us all know if you still like after a trip to the range! I'm only a little envious!
easyg
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GP100
You will not regret the choice.
You will not regret the choice.
bestseller92
Member
Ruger GP-100. Tough as a tank, and my 2008 model has the best DA trigger I've ever experienced out of the box.
Range report:
Since ive never owned let alone fired a revolver before i dont have anything to compare it to.I decided to shoot 12 rounds at about 10 yards to start with.Wasnt sure what to expect with recoil at first but was pleasantly surprised;i guess if i had to draw a comparison i would say more like a .45cal auto "push" versus a .40 cal "snap".Groupings where very good and i scored mostly in the 8 and under target area.Next,i took a new target and moved to about 25 yards and decided to go thru about 30 rounds of .357.Again, the first thing i noticed was i was getting very nice groupings with only 1 or 2 that went high and to the right.....think i was jerking the trigger on those.The rest stayed again in the 8 and under area on the targets.Grip was hogue and felt very comfortable in my hands.The GP never felt too heavy in my hand when shooting the whole time.After i was done i gotta say i was very happy with my purchase and impressed with how well i shot considering ive never shot a revolver before.Gotta say i love this gun.
Since ive never owned let alone fired a revolver before i dont have anything to compare it to.I decided to shoot 12 rounds at about 10 yards to start with.Wasnt sure what to expect with recoil at first but was pleasantly surprised;i guess if i had to draw a comparison i would say more like a .45cal auto "push" versus a .40 cal "snap".Groupings where very good and i scored mostly in the 8 and under target area.Next,i took a new target and moved to about 25 yards and decided to go thru about 30 rounds of .357.Again, the first thing i noticed was i was getting very nice groupings with only 1 or 2 that went high and to the right.....think i was jerking the trigger on those.The rest stayed again in the 8 and under area on the targets.Grip was hogue and felt very comfortable in my hands.The GP never felt too heavy in my hand when shooting the whole time.After i was done i gotta say i was very happy with my purchase and impressed with how well i shot considering ive never shot a revolver before.Gotta say i love this gun.
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harmon rabb
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Mine has a really good DA trigger too. I'm not sure why the 686 has a rep of having a better trigger. From what I remember from the 686 I shot, the SA trigger was a little better, but the DA trigger was a little worse.
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