Korth

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What I am driving at, is that there are plenty of reports in Germany from unhappy Manurhin MR73 owners, both of Mulhouse and Chapuis Armes manufacture. At the same time, the old Korths keep on going like the energizer bunny.

Interesting info, PzGren. (The rest of the post as well — I knew German handgun owners had to belong to clubs, but I didn’t know about the 18/12 requirement.) Do you happen to know what the most common problems are that they report with the MR73?
 
Having never seen one of those revolvers in person, do any of you folks ever shoot them?

I certainly do. I bought most of mine as unfired, new-in-case collectibles, and I don’t shoot those, but I do shoot a couple of others.

My volume shooter is a late-1980s 6” blued Sport. It actually looked unfired/NIB when I bought it, but I got it for a great price, and the Korth revolvers I prize most are the full-underlug guns (especially Combats) made during the original Korth production run, which ended in 1981 when Willi sold the company. I was happy to feed it what were likely the first rounds it‘s digested since leaving the factory, and I’ve had a hard time leaving it at home during range trips since I bought it last fall.
 
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The Manurhin MR73 is legendary.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-manurhin-mr73-sport-357-revolver/

Made for use by the French special forces (GIGN). Designed to withstand hundreds of thousands of rounds of maximum power .357 mag. Based on a Smith & Wesson Model 13 but with everything beefed up and strengthened to provide a far longer service life. Factory-tested to be capable of a minimum 0.8" group at 25 meters.



Cool info about that sniper revolver. I never realized such a gun existed that wasn't specifically a hunting revolver.
 
Interesting info, PzGren. (The rest of the post as well — I knew German handgun owners had to belong to clubs, but I didn’t know about the 18/12 requirement.) Do you happen to know what the most common problems are that they report with the MR73?

ATX,

the first MR73 I shot in the early 1980s. It was owned by a doctor in my pistol club and I was present when the piano wire of the trigger rebound slipped and rendered the gun useless. The problems and complaints with MR73 that I am aware of are mostly about lock up.

As to the question if anybody shoots Korths and MR73s, I do, I have shot every gun in my safe. I shoot a 24 series rimfire Korth since about ten years and it is almost always in my range bag. My favorite .357 is a 5-shot 26 series Sport that I shoot with stout .357 Magnum reloads.

My Mulhouse MR73 is working well, so far, but I am not shooting it as much as other guns.

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Nice, how does it shoot?
Unfortunately, I got it right before all this Covid crap and the state park that is the only place to legally target shoot is closed. It figures, but I will have to wait for a while longer to find out. The double and single action trigger pull is very smooth and crisp at the break. The revolver feel excellent in the hand and I have little doubt that it will be a nice shooter. I have owned quite a few other .357 revolvers and I am expecting this one to easily be the best. Here are the two that I owned previously to this Korth.

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Nice, how does it shoot?

IMHO there is no magic gun that shoots so much better than another comparable gun in size and set-up, that even a shooter in marksman class or above will notice a big difference. The main difference that I found in practical accuracy can mostly be attributed to trigger, grips and sights. The rest is personal preference and appreciation of quality.
 
ATX,

the first MR73 I shot in the early 1980s. It was owned by a doctor in my pistol club and I was present when the piano wire of the trigger rebound slipped and rendered the gun useless. The problems and complaints with MR73 that I am aware of are mostly about lock up.

View attachment 916140

Got it. Thanks.

The MR73 was definitely a work in progress for a while. The one I shoot the most is a later Mulhouse 6" Sport with the late-pattern hand and ratchet (and the revised springs, of course), and it's been stellar. The other one I shoot on occasion is a later 1970s 6" Sport. I've never had the sideplate off, so I don't actually know if it was made before or after the spring revision. My earliest ones just sit unfired like they have for the last 45 to 47 years, and thus give me no trouble at all either. :) As for my shooters, I'm not doing any ultra-fast DA shooting with them either (nor with my Korths), so I probably won't ever see the problems that some German competitors have had.

Great shooting, as always, by the way.
 
ATX,

the first MR73 I shot in the early 1980s. It was owned by a doctor in my pistol club and I was present when the piano wire of the trigger rebound slipped and rendered the gun useless. The problems and complaints with MR73 that I am aware of are mostly about lock up.

View attachment 916140

I've never had any issues with my MR73, but it is a fairly new model and only has a few thousand round of .357 through it. I run it hard, with lots of fast double action.

The piano wire design was replaced with a flat spring in the 1977 (you have to take off the side plate to see what style you have) . The ratchet was changed in sometimes in the 80s. Both changes were to address issues when firing very rapid double action.
 

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Amazing information. However, my dilemma is to find a used one made in Germany. In so many words this threads speaks volumes about them and rates them better than NIGHTHAWAK ones. Spending 5k is not an issue unless you realize you are not spending on a gun worth it that is to say three times better than Python because both are now machine production handguns.

Then I am a bit confused on ULX as on one hand it is the top model yet it’s grossly RAILED.
 
Amazing information. However, my dilemma is to find a used one made in Germany. In so many words this threads speaks volumes about them and rates them better than NIGHTHAWAK ones. Spending 5k is not an issue unless you realize you are not spending on a gun worth it that is to say three times better than Python because both are now machine production handguns.

Then I am a bit confused on ULX as on one hand it is the top model yet it’s grossly RAILED.
Like this?
My b-n-l won this Korth at a big raffle that our local Masonic lodge held.
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I have yet to shoot it, but b n l and nephew have, and they say it's scary accurate.
This is a full blown target gun for sure.
 
Amazing information. However, my dilemma is to find a used one made in Germany. In so many words this threads speaks volumes about them and rates them better than NIGHTHAWAK ones. Spending 5k is not an issue unless you realize you are not spending on a gun worth it that is to say three times better than Python because both are now machine production handguns.

Then I am a bit confused on ULX as on one hand it is the top model yet it’s grossly RAILED.

The current Korth revolvers are made in Germany. They are just imported by Nighthawk Custom. My Mongoose was a bit over 2x the cost of a Colt Python. I owned two older Pythons and a few S&W 357's including a V-Comp and I rate the Korth far above any of them. Current Nighthawk Korths are certainly machined on production machine centers. But they are hand fitted at final assembly. I am a manufacturing Engineer and know quite bit about modern machining methods and equipment and the quality of machining today supasses that of the 1970's and 80's by a large margin. Believe what you want to about the difference between older Korth and new ones but I have seen both and the main difference is the finish. The old models did have a very nice blued finish that was equal if not better looking than the old Pythons. The new models have a flat black DLC finish which may not have the look / appeal of the old bluing but it is far more durable. I do agree that the railed Korths are kind of grossly over the top in appearance but some people need / or like that funtionality; I do not..
The modern Korth Mongoose is the best revolver that I have owned or seen in my 50 plus years of shooting. While it is very expensive, it was not $5K but just over $3k, although I did spend about $400 on a couple of wood grip sets from Nil and Hogue.
 
The current Korth revolvers are made in Germany. They are just imported by Nighthawk Custom. My Mongoose was a bit over 2x the cost of a Colt Python. I owned two older Pythons and a few S&W 357's including a V-Comp and I rate the Korth far above any of them. Current Nighthawk Korths are certainly machined on production machine centers. But they are hand fitted at final assembly. I am a manufacturing Engineer and know quite bit about modern machining methods and equipment and the quality of machining today supasses that of the 1970's and 80's by a large margin. Believe what you want to about the difference between older Korth and new ones but I have seen both and the main difference is the finish. The old models did have a very nice blued finish that was equal if not better looking than the old Pythons. The new models have a flat black DLC finish which may not have the look / appeal of the old bluing but it is far more durable. I do agree that the railed Korths are kind of grossly over the top in appearance but some people need / or like that funtionality; I do not..
The modern Korth Mongoose is the best revolver that I have owned or seen in my 50 plus years of shooting. While it is very expensive, it was not $5K but just over $3k, although I did spend about $400 on a couple of wood grip sets from Nil and Hogue.
How does the Mongoose hold up compared to the Sports models?
 
How does the Mongoose hold up compared to the Sports models?

I do not know. I have not seen one of them but as I said, I did not care for the style and I did not want the rails. I don't plan on scoping, lighting or lasering this revolver. I only plan on using it with iron sights. I will say this about the new Colt Python, I still plan on buying one of the 4" models whenever my dealer can get his hands on one.
 
There is a lot more difference than just the finish in between the Korth revolvers that were made in the old Ratzeburg facility and the new line of guns made at PTW Korth in Lollar.

There is a big difference in how a Ratzeburg Korth was prepared before it was being blued by a subcontractor and the way a Python was being prepared. All this has been discussed ad nauseam and Michael Zeleny has done an excellent job and invested a lot of time to explain the Ratzeburg Korths in English.
 
Added this ANIB 3" Korth Combat yesterday to complement my other (first-year) 3" Combat. Looks like it left the factory gates yesterday as well, rather than over four decades ago. This one has a ventilated rib, whereas my first-year Combat has a solid rib. And, as with all but one of my other Korths, this one has no import mark. :)

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Did Nils make the grips for those or were they fabbed in house by Korth?
 
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