I recently bought a 6.5 inch stainless Blackhawk in 357. The only Ruger DA revolver I want is a 4.2 in sp101.Excellent choices. I’ve got Model 27s, 28s, 627s, and 686s and really like them all. Never warmed to Ruger DA revolvers, but their SA offerings cannot be beat.
Ruger still make these 6-shot .357 RedHawks ?
Perhaps a Mdl 27 ? I'd personally take a Mdl 27 over a Python any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Even the new 27 Classic and reintroduced Python.
For a *carry* gun, an every day; on the hip, carry; I would take a Mdl 19 or Colt Trooper Mk. III any day of the week. Preferably a Mdl 19. The half lugged 4" Mdl 19 (or most *any* 4" K-frame for me) simply points like the finger of God Himself. First DA center fire revolver I ever handled and shot was a '48 M&P .38 Spl. Tackdriver @ 20 yards or so.Since he said "the best there is" without any qualifiers, I was actually thinking along the lines of a Ratzeburg-produced Korth Combat or Sport, a Janz, or a Mulhouse-produced Manurhin MR73.
I do definitely prefer the Model 27 -- and especially its progenitors -- over the 586/686, however, since I come at all of this with a collector's perspective, with history and nostalgia weighing not insignificantly in my thinking. The L-frame has never really done anything for me. I'll admit that a 586 or 686 is a lot of revolver for the money, though, and the ones I've shot have all been great shooters. And they're really better suited for .357 Mag. than the N-frame, which of course was originally designed for a round .072 inches greater in diameter. The excessive angular momentum of the N-frame's oversized cylinder in .357 Mag. can be hell on the cylinder stop and the cylinder notches with regular fast DA shooting or fast hand-cocking; this is not really a problem with an L-frame. Even so, the L-frame leaves me cold. Just not enough history there, and a full-underlug barrel looks out of place on a S&W to my eyes.
It's a little more complicated for me with the Python, which I love. No post-WWII American revolver can compare to a 1950s (or early-to-mid 1960s) Python in fit and finish. (Fit and finish can too often be pretty deplorable on old-model Pythons made from the 1980s through the end of production, on the other hand.) Colt's metallurgy has generally always been superior to that of S&W, both with regard to alloy grade and heat treatment, and the major parts on a Python are considerably tougher than those on a Model 27. That said, the major parts are generally strong enough on a Model 27, and S&Ws aren't afflicted with the Python's comparatively delicate action -- owing to the overrated and pointless "bank vault lockup" involving the hand being stressed at the moment of ignition -- or the stacking of its DA trigger pull. I dearly love my early Pythons, but I prefer an N-frame .357 Mag. (pre-Model 27 or, especially, Registered Magnum) at the range. Hell, if I can make myself set aside the history/nostalgia fixation, I'd have to concede that I'd prefer a 586/686 to a Python at the range as well.
For a *carry* gun, an every day; on the hip, carry; I would take a Mdl 19 or Colt Trooper Mk. III any day of the week. Preferably a Mdl 19. The half lugged 4" Mdl 19 (or most *any* 4" K-frame for me) simply points like the finger of God Himself. First DA center fire revolver I ever handled and shot was a '48 M&P .38 Spl. Tackdriver @ 20 yards or so.
IDK there AustinTX, I see a 6 shot 357 Mag Redhawk as Ruger's take on a S&W's 357 N Frames.I've always thought the six-shot .357 Mag. Redhawk was just a ghastly, preposterous creation. From time to time, though, I think about finding one anyway.
Oh, for sure. My revolvers all fall into one of two categories -- unfired collectibles or range toys -- so I don't really weigh easy of carry in my evaluations. But thanks for reminding me that the OP did mention that he'd be carrying whatever he bought.
But on that point, I'll just note that -- despite being far, far stronger than any S&W revolver -- both a 4" Korth Combat and a 4" Manurhin MR73 weigh no more than a 4" Model 19. Still love the K-frames, though.
Go with the original
Find a Registered Magnum, preferably 3.5”
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Well it was more a joke, hence the wink.You guys are nuts.
I can't afford to have those nice guns as carry guns. Not that anyone in their right mind would want to anyways.
Hence the sub $1000.