Virginia Dragoon 44 Magnum?

In their time they where a great six-gun, made in Switzerland and imported by Interarms , base pin was used as a second safety so to speak, could be pushed back and it would lock in a notch to hold off the hammer a tad, they where big revolvers and stout. came with adjustable rear slopping blade front. I ran what was consider then heavy Keith loads and some Super Vels when I could find them. Last time I saw a couple here in my area $4-500 was the asking price

I have two Virginian Dragoons, a 44 mag with an 8 3/8" barrel, and a 357 mag with a 12" barrel. I like the color case hardened frame and the old Colt-type action. The bluing is every bit as good as on my 10" Ruger SBH.

As was stated, back in the day they were really good guns for those who wanted a Colt-type SA without going to a Ruger Blackhawk/Superblackhawk. I shot one a friend owned several years ago and found the .357 model was a ton of fun.

If it’s still tight and mechanically sound that wouldn’t be a bad buy for a “different” .44. The DW will pretty much duplicate the .44’s you already have (unless you pony up for a variety of barrels and shrouds... which will get spendy).

Good luck choosing a new one!

Stay safe.

When I bought mine I just wanted a pistol with enough power to kill a bear, and the price was right so a win win....
Oh yeah
I haven’t shot it yet but I will soon and report back!
J

Have a 6in 44 in blued (case hardened) and a 357 Deputy SS. Just a few words for you.
Reliable
Built
Beautiful
Accurate
Perfection
I'd go with the Dragoon!!!!!

A very informative article on the Dragoon...
http://singleactions.com/files/VADragoons.pdf

IMO, if you already have a FA, a S&W, and a Ruger SRH, you will be disappointed with a Virginia Dragoon.
They are a good gun in their own, but are not in the same class as any of the aforementioned. They are about as well made as a Ruger SBH with a few unfortunate quirks that I couldn't get over with mine. I'd rather have the DW.
$500 is about $100 high IMO.

In a nutshell,
it shook screws loose until I loctited them down,
flipped the loading gate open under recoil with each shot,
had oversized chambers that swelled brass to the point it ejected with stretch marks and empties wouldn't chamber in any of my other .44's,
And shot so far from point of aim it was 6" off at 25 yards even with the rear sight at the limit of its adjustment

I have one.


Like silicosys4, said, "it shook screws loose until I loctited them down," but I find mine to be fairly accurate.
My problem is that there is one chamber that is a bit undersized but I still shoot it with no problems except for a bit of harder extraction on that one chamber.

On a side note, I was at a gunshow in Eveleth, MN today, spotted the same as shown in the picture above with a price of $375.00.
I passed, as already having one. Kinda wish I had picked it up now.
Oh well, my money was not burning a hole in my pocket today.............

I recently found out about these too and I was surprised to find out they were a single action revolver. I've long said if I were to get a .44 Mag, I'd prefer it be single action. The addition of an adjustable sight makes it even better, I can't stand fixed single actions that never shoot to POA.

I'll never see any of these Interarms in an LGS near me, nor for a price under $600, so when I see some online going for $350 or less, are they worth taking a chance on?

All I know is I like mine so far ( haven’t shot it yet) and for $399 I figured WTH

I had one of these years ago. I bought it cheep, because the grips were cracked. The only place you could get grips was from eagle grips. It had a 5 1/2” barrel in stainless. It was a fine revolver. I sold it to fund something else. I wish I still had it. I got it at a time money was short and it served the purpose well. I would like to find a nice one, someday. They are nice well made revolvers.

I have heard good things about the Virginia Dragoon.

Another oldie but goodie is the JP Sauer and Sohn(s). It was a decently made SA revolver made in Germany by Sauer. They made them in various calibers. I got a 44 magnum one for $299 and liked it. My FiL recalls them being for sale at stores in the 70's. After I got my SBH I gave it to the aforementioned FiL and he still enjoys shooting it. Mine had fixed sights. I don't know if any of them had adjustable ones. It's not the size or weight of my SBH and stout 44 magnums were no fun at all with it, but milder loads were just fine.

I have had no problems shooting 44 magnum with my 6" 629, 7.5" SBH, or 9.5" SRH, but they are heavy steel guns and I'm not recoil sensitive. It seems to me that longer barrels help with that, but maybe that's just me.

A side note on post #9.

That price would have been a bit high, IMO.
But when I told Mrs, Johnson
about it she was upset that I did not purchase it for her..........
I knew she liked to fire mine, just didn't know she enjoyed it that much!

Well, another handgun to keep eyes open for.
Is not that always the case? Doncha think?

Leadbutt said:

In their time they where a great six-gun, made in Switzerland and imported by Interarms , base pin was used as a second safety so to speak, could be pushed back and it would lock in a notch to hold off the hammer a tad, they where big revolvers and stout. came with adjustable rear slopping blade front. I ran what was consider then heavy Keith loads and some Super Vels when I could find them. Last time I saw a couple here in my area $4-500 was the asking price

Click to expand...

There were two Virginians, the Hammerli-made Virginian and the U.S. made Virginian Dragoon. Two different guns. The Swiss/Hammerli was a fairly authentic repro of the Colt SAA except for the "safety" feature. They had nickel plated grip frames, case hardened frames, blued cylinders and barrels and traditional fixed sights. They came in all three traditional barrel lengths in .357 or .45 Colt. They were really nice well made revolvers. As one would expect of Hammerli.

After importing those for a couple of years Interarms built their own U.S factory to produce the Virginian Dragoon which had adjustable sights and came in more calibers, like .44 Magnum. It was a completely different gun on a larger frame.