What are your three finest shooting revolvers?

I've got a bunch that shoot really well (or I send them down the road).

First up is "Lucy," my end-shake queen of a .454 Ruger Bisley. Sporting a prototype Weigand no-drill, no-tap base specifically for this application, and a Bushnell Elite 2-6X scope.



Next up is my "buffalo gun," a BFR with a 5 1/2-inch barrel in .500 JRH. Up top it's sporting an Ultradot Four. This revolver has accounted for a number of large bovine including Cape buffalo.



This is another great shooter, a BFR with a 6 1/2-inch barrel in .454 Casull. In this photo it was wearing a Leupold fixed 4X scope. I used this on plains game in South Africa.

Thank you very much @460Shooter, very nice of you...

About 9 years ago I bought a S&W M&P made in 1949 from an old Constable who told me it was his service revolver while serving for 35 years. I know his daughter so I know it's true. The revolver is old, not 100% and for sure carried all that time but it shoots like a laser. The trigger is so smooth it really does feel like glass.

Here it is with a Chief's Special I own.


I guess next is a Colt Detective Special that was given to me. There is a good amount of pitting on the side plate and probably 40% of the bluing is gone but boy is it fun to shoot. It is more accurate than I am and I'm always surprised at how little felt recoil there is from a small frame short barrel revolver, much less than from a Chief's Special.





I can't forget my SA revolvers. I have a few I really like but I think my original Ruger Bisley Vaquero in 45 Colt is my favorite. It too was bought used for a good price and even though it's not the smaller frame of the New Vaquero it still feels great in my hand. Being on the bigger Black Hawk frame allows me to occasionally shoot loads that are a little heavier than normal.





Just a note: Honorable Mention goes to my M686-2. It's a very rare range trip when it doesn't come along. Sorry the pictures are not that great.





It's hard to choose between your children but I think those three are my best shooters.

Yeah I know it's 4 revolvers but I couldn't make up my mind so I'll ask forgiveness instead of asking for permission.
I have a .500 S&W bone collector with a scope where I can get 4-6 inch groups from a bench at 100 yards but I'm honestly not sure if that's all that great. (I'm sure it's the shooter's fault).

These are my 4 best:

1. Freedom Arms .454 Casull
2. Freedom Arms .45 LC
3. Freedom Arms .357 Mag
4. S&W model 17 .22 LR

460Shooter said:

You pull the trigger and the target has a hole where you wanted it.

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So...without some targets, this thread is just another "gun porn" thread. Just sayin'

No pics, but my 66-2, 19-3, and M&P pre 10 currently. Before that I had a rare I-frame 32SWL R&P Target version that even with SWC in lieu of WC would cut a nice ragged hole.

MrBorland said:

So...without some targets, this thread is just another "gun porn" thread. Just sayin'

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So, what's your point? You don't like gun porn?

Hmmm... EMF Buntline is most accurate, and with the 16” barrel it has best sight radius and should be easy to get hits.

Ruger single six is also very nice, especially in 22 mag. I have tweaked the trigger, but even before it was great.

And for DA, my smith model 10-6 is incredible because of its unbelievable trigger.

Close runner up is my smith 30-1 as it is a small gun that is plenty accurate with a good trigger.

Most fun is the little colt new line POS special but only due to its age and price. It’s actually junk, and unsafe, but it’s nice to lay down hits with a gun 145 years young.

The most exciting is the one I haven’t shot yet, but I can’t tell what it will be like. I doubt it’s pleasant as it’s a wolf in a sheep sized frame.

Was I supposed to stop at 3?

MrBorland said:

So...without some targets, this thread is just another "gun porn" thread. Just sayin'

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Sooooooo I've gotta spend an entire afternoon at the range to generate some targets? Drat what a hardship.

Rockrivr1 said:

So, what's your point? You don't like gun porn?

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meh. To me, guns are tools. I like nice tools as much as the next guy (or gal), but "beauty is as beauty does".

More to the point, though, @460Shooter asked about guns that put "a hole where you wanted it". Without the target, it's just fish stories and gun porn. 'Course if that's what the OP wants, carry on ...

MrBorland said:

So...without some targets, this thread is just another "gun porn" thread. Just sayin'

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

I have a few .44 Special SA's and they all shoot very well, but an accurate 45 Colt has been very elusive. Earlier this year I found a Uberti Frisco at a gun shop that was nicely discounted because someone had mishandled it and scratched a ring around the cylinder. I got it home and shot it a little and it showed a lot of potential, so I cut the forcing cone out to a consistent 11° and replaced the trigger/bolt spring. I've now put a few hundred rounds through her and am constantly amazed. Everything from 250 gr. plinking loads to 290 gr. hunting loads shoot wonderfully.I relocated my shooting range but haven't moved the bench yet, so all these groups were fired with the revolver rested over my knees and me leaning back against a mesquite trunk.

(Sorry about the steel targets, I'd go broke in a hurry if I used paper)









Next a recently acquired Flat Top 44-40 from Dixie Gun Works to which I fitted a new .44 Special cylinder.





Finally my old battered Uberti. Ugly as a mud fence but pleasingly accurate and has accounted for more game than all the others combined!





35W

Sort of partial to Stainless Steel N-frames:



Left to right: 610, 625, 627

My three best shooters, as in accuracy, aren't going to be extra large calibers. I'm going more off of anecdotal impressions than empirical evidence, but I'd say my three best shooting guns are among the following:

.38 Special Colt Diamondback
.38 Special S&W Model 14-3
.38 Special S&W K-38 Combat Masterpiece
.38 Special Colt Official Police
.357 Magnum S&W 586 Classic Series
.357 Magnum S&W Model 13

So, yes, that's more than three guns, but if I actually wanted to methodically determine which are the three most accurate, these are the revolvers I'd take to the range to find out.

460Shooter said:

at least no one will go blind

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Well, we hope not, at least...

MrBorland said:

So...without some targets, this thread is just another "gun porn" thread. Just sayin'

Click to expand...

You are correct, here you go.

Lucy - 360 grain .45 Colt +P load at 50 yards:



But the more important measure of accuracy (for my revolvers):



BFR .500 JRH.

50 yard five-shot group:



And the other type of target:



.454 BFR shooting Federal 300 grain Swift A-frame loads:

THREE. Three the man said. I guess the three I shoot the most lately.

My 4" & 5" 686s



And my 6", yes just 6 inches-I cut that stupid extra 1/2" off, 929

My three are:

Colt Officer's Model Target in .22 LR.
Colt M357 (same as the Python, but without the cosmetics)
Colt New Service in .45 Colt.

My best shooting revolvers:
A s&w 10-8, unmodified
A s&w 28-2
And a s&w 10-8 modified for ppc with a 6" slab sided heavy barrel, an aristocrat rib, and a buttery smooth action job

Hi...
I thought about this a little while but I didn't do look at any targets, so...
No.1...S&W 686 Silhouette Model 8 3/8" barrel, adjustable sights front and rear.
No. 2...Dan Wesson .44 Mag, stainless steel
I think the current barrel is 5" but I didn't measure it.
No. 3...Ruger SS SBH .45Colt with a red dot scope on a 7-1/2" barrel.

I have quite a few handguns and most of them shoot pretty accurately but when I want to get real serious about groups or hunting these are the ones I usually go to.

My three finest shooting revolvers:

1) S&W Model 686-no dash.



2) S&W Model 649.



3) Ruger Vaquero .45 Colt.

My 625JM, 29-3, and 617 are my 3 best shooters, and all wear Ahrends grips.

I don't get to shoot very much, so it's not really fair for me to judge. One thing I will say is that I am pretty sure they all will outshoot me...

None of them are particularly inaccurate, and the single actions all do as well as the double actions (if not better).



Another thing I will say is that my DA .22 revolvers are at the bottom of the list. Still better than me - they all just have relatively heavy triggers and tend to be harder to shoot well. In DA mode, anyway.

My K22 Masterpiece is just ridiculous. It must cringe every time I take it to the range (meaning pretty much every time I go) because I am such an unworthy shooter of it. My friend at the LGS tries to buy it from me almost every time he sees me. The trigger is superb.

My Super Blackhawk is ridiculous, too. It's an Old Model, so the trigger is very light. Maybe I'm weird, but I really like the balance of a 7.5" SA revolver.

Third place is a tie. My 625-2 fits my hand very well, has a great SA trigger, and is very accurate. The same friend mentioned above thanked me for buying it, because he had resisted temptation as long as he could and was about to bring it home himself. It's very accurate. I must admit, though, that the DA trigger is nothing to write home about.

This Taurus Old Model 66 is from around 1984ish, IIRC. It has some kind of hammer block instead of the transfer bar. Its SA and DA triggers are both great. The sights are very nice. It's probably as accurate as the 625, and the DA trigger is better, but it doesn't fit my hand as well and I don't think I can get different grips for it.