What does "the ultimate revolver" look like to you, and who makes something close?

6 shot .45 Auto with moon clips. 4 inch bbl, tuned action work at 7 pounds, my preference for a carry gun.
Hogue rubber grips.
Fully adjustable rear sight and fiber optic front sight.
Completely honed and smoothed. Hammer bobbed.
Action changed from flat mainspring to coiled spring.

It's already made, S&W 625 Performance Center. I've owned a few of them hated to get rid of them but at times I needed money.

The "ultimate go anywhere do
everything combat revolver"
could easily be the GP100
or 686. (The Korth or M73
could be included.)

Look at the Match Champion
as an example of seeking the
"ultimate go everywhere do
everything combat revolver."
Ditto for the Smith SSR.

Take out the concept of "combat"
and then the choices really widen
as to size, caliber.

Something close to this.

Ruger is so very close, already, with the GP100. Six shots will do. I would rather have the original-profile GP100 grip, NOT any of the Hogue grips, please. I am taking “Combat” to mean a fightin’ revolver, rather than a game gun. I would take a vetted GP100 into the Valley Of The Shadow Of Death, as-is, but the following would make things better:

1. UP the QA/QC. I see too many anecdotes, posted by reputable folks, regarding sloppy work, requiring a return. Excellent Customer Service, after the sale, is NOT the best remedy for poor QA/QC. It is especially bad when a CUSTOM SHOP firearm requires a return, for something that any trained eye would have seen.

2. Resume the manufacturing step of machining the grooves, under the extractor, to “eat” unburned powder, and other debris. This existed, as of the early Nineties. Two of my GP100 revolvers have this desirable feature. Why did this important feature disappear? (If this feature has been resumed, well, I stand corrected.) Notably, One of my GP100 revolvers, that does not have these grooves, seems especially sensitive to unburned powder debris, and can start becoming sluggish to operate, after a very few reloads, requiring the toothbrush-in-the-pocket fix, to complete a 60-round qual, if using dirty-burning “range ammo.”

3. A better rear sight would be helpful. Bowen Classic Arms sells two, a Target, and a Rough County, so, could be the vendor.

4. Machine the top strap, and/or the barrel, to accept a quick-disconnect optic mount, that allows the use of optics as heavy as the Aimpoint Micro T-series. I do not want to have to remove the rear sight, to mount the optic. The Hunter versions of the Super Blackhawk, and the Super Redhawk, have set the precedent, but, scope rings, and a conventional pistol scope, are not very “Combat.”

4a. A GP100 Hunter, that uses Ruger scope rings, would be nice. This is not very “Combat,” so this is a separate, lower-case “a” request.

5. Machine the under-lug to accept a section of rail, or at least thread for a stud, to enable attaching a bipod. If GIGN found a bipod useful, at times, well, so might we.

6. The OP mentioned an enlarged trigger guard, to accommodate gloves. I almost never wear bulky gloves, here in southern Texas, but support this idea, for folks who have the need to wear thick gloves.

7. The OP mentioned a target hammer. The GP100 has a relatively small spur, which suits me, as I see “combat” as meaning DA shooting, but, in severe winter conditions, that necessitate bulky gloves, a longer spur, to facilitate single-action shooting, would be helpful. It would not be exceedingly difficult to fit both a low-profile hammer, and a target hammer, allowing the user to change the hammer, with the seasons. Or, there is that bespoke concept, allowing the buyer to choose, at the time of ordering.

The Manurhin MR73 may well be a perfect combat revolver. I have no experience with them, so, can only hypothesize, based upon available information. I try to avoid creating a “bucket list” of firearms, or having any more grail-quest guns, at this late stage in my life, but, an MR73 is becoming a grail-quest sixgun.

Some folks are posting very favorable reports, regarding the 2020 version of the Colt Python. It checks the box for a target hammer, and its rib could provide a substantial base to support an optic mount, that would not require removing the rear sight. I will be paying attention.

The MR73 has been brought up alot lately here on THR. They are out of the reach for most of us however.
The feature of the MR73 that intrigues me the most is the grip.
My realistic ultimate combat revolver would probably be along the lines of a 4-5 inch K or L frame with fixed sights and a grip modeled after the MR73. I think even a GP100 5 inch half lug with that grip would work well, but I have no experience with the Ruger.

As a side note, does anyone know of an MR73 style grip available for S&W K or L frames?

AzShooter1 said:

6 shot .45 Auto with moon clips. 4 inch bbl, tuned action work at 7 pounds, my preference for a carry gun.
Hogue rubber grips.
Fully adjustable rear sight and fiber optic front sight.
Completely honed and smoothed. Hammer bobbed.
Action changed from flat mainspring to coiled spring.

It's already made, S&W 625 Performance Center. I've owned a few of them hated to get rid of them but at times I needed money.

Click to expand...

Here is my version of that revolver, with my preference for sights. Flat mainspring because that is what I learned to make work.



Kevin

Ruger nailed it with the Speed Six series. I prefer stainless.

Smith & Wesson would be a dead tie if not for the internal lock.

I don't believe there is any "perfect" anything. Sometimes I want a snub nose and sometimes I want a 3" barrel and other times something longer so my fantasy gun would need to be a line of revolvers with lots of options.

I have repeated this here several times in these types of thread.

S&W fixed sighted L-frame, round butt, Hogue rubber grips, 4 inch full under lugged barrel, chambered in 10mm Magnum, 6-shot. Moonclips rule!

Nothing wrong with the 4" bbl'd round butt gripped model 29 I carry (3 t's).


But if I accidently picked up my l-comp instead. I wouldn't feel under gunned.

When it comes to speed loaders
for revolvers and the different
types of bullet configurations,
a look at the HKS site might
be helpful.

HKS makes "A" models to
eliminate cartridge wiggle.
These are mostly for the
major mid bores, .357 and
.38 Special.

And then HKS recommends
its "M" line where wiggle is
preferred, such as big bores
like the .45s.

As far as I know, moon clips
generally all have wiggle/jiiggle
room in them.

Safariland is fairly limited in
offerings.

I love my S&W 327 Night Guard, but I think a 4” barrel would be better for a “combat revolver”. Though I wouldn’t be too concerned about barrel length if I needed to use my 327.


I think a model 627 PC would do nicely for me. I like the 8 round feature - by the way, concealment isn’t what I would consider important for “combat”. At least it wasn’t mentioned in the parameters. It’s not in mine, in this regard.
https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/model-627

Also, I would definitely consider an S&W L-Comp as well.

Well, just for the heck of it, the thread "title" flagged me lol so without the combat aspect I would think the "Ultimate" revolver would need to be one that would work under extreme conditions, be suitable for hunting as well as small enough for carry ( no 10"+ barrel lengths) and, can handle heavy loads as well as be viable during times of very limited ammo.

To me, that would be a Ruger Old Army (with or without adj.sights) with a Kirst conversion cyl. That gives you everything mentioned plus the ability to revert to cap and ball if cartridge ammo/components gets scarce (since you stashed some powder and balls away when you got this brilliant idea!! Lol!!)!!
To make things even easier, the ability to use a gate to load and unload the Kirst cylinder would be a slam dunk!! If there's no cartridge ammo for any of the revolvers mentioned already, they are mere paper weights!!

Mike

I was about to post a photo of my Super Blackhawk then reread yore post to include "combat." I'm not really a fan of smallbore revolvers for defense/combat shooting, but I reckon this from my battery would suffice:



It's a S&W Model 586 in .357 Magnum. I did carry it for awhile loaded with .38 Special +P with 158 gr. Nyclad hollowpoints. But with my Blackhawk have stepped up to .45 Colt caliber.

Bob Wright

Kimber K6S in 10mm

Mainsail said:

Kimber K6S in 10mm

Click to expand...

That would be cool but probably not enough room. The K6S cylinder is slightly smaller than a S&W K-frame. Not enough room for a 6-shot for sure as wall thickness between chamber and chamber and OD would be on the order of .03 inches thick. Even a 5-shot probably would not work due to interference in the center of the cylinder (axle, star) and cylinder to OD would still be pretty thin. 10mm really needs a medium framed revolver. GP100 or S&W L-frame or similar.

mcb said:

That would be cool but probably not enough room. The K6S cylinder is slightly smaller than a S&W K-frame. Not enough room for a 6-shot for sure as wall thickness between chamber and chamber and OD would be on the order of .03 inches thick. Even a 5-shot probably would not work due to interference in the center of the cylinder (axle, star) and cylinder to OD would still be pretty thin. 10mm really needs a medium framed revolver. GP100 or S&W L-frame or similar.

Click to expand...

2500psi makes that much difference?

357 Magnum - 35,000psi
10mm Auto - 37,500psi

Mainsail said:

2500psi makes that much difference?

357 Magnum - 35,000psi
10mm Auto - 37,500psi

Click to expand...

Some but not as much as the chamber diameter going from ~.381 to ~.429. Combine those together and your going to have issues. Hoop stress in a cylinder wall goes up as the diameter increase even if the pressure and wall thickness remains the same. In the case of putting 10mm chambers in the place of 357 Mag chambers not only do we have slight increase in chamber diameter, we have a increase in pressure and a reduction in wall thickness. Combine those three factors together and there is probably not enough material to do this safety (I would need more dimension from a K6S to make a better analysis). Also looking at the barrel shank through the frame it would be pretty thin when we go from a .357 grove diameter to a .400 groove diameter bore. There unfortunately does appear to be enough room to make it work in my best estimation.

ETA: I am a S&W Fanboy by most definitions and own a 10mm S&W revolver but if I wanted a 10mm revolver right now I would be looking at a GP100 in 10mm. It's the right size revolver for the cartridge. If Ruger would figure out how to use moonclips correctly I might be tempted.

I have a few:

-A S&W Model 15 2” with a round butt, no lock, basically a 2” model 10 with adjustable sights. I would carry this gladly.
-A Charter Arms Bulldog with a 2” Pencil Barrel, not ported like the Boomer with a real front sight. Can be DAO or with hammer. Would be the perfect pocket revolver for me. A real Bulldog Belly Gun

Either of the above can be in stainless but no dual tone, that makes me nuts.

For me it would be a 5" barrelled N frame in 45 Colt, adjustable sights. I don't even think S&W made that configuration.

Smith 19, or 65 with a 4" barrel.

This is a Redhawk given the "1917" treatment by Hamilton Bowen. It is chambered in .50 AE, which is a little more horsepower than absolutely necessary for me, so I probably would have mine made up for a "wildcat" which would just be the same cartridge shortened to 1.16" (or even .898!) and roll crimped.

The gun is a bit bigger than is ideal for IWB carry, but as long as we're daydreaming I'll just assume I've moved to a state where I can open carry it in a big old flap holster.

What does the "ultimate revolver" look like to me?

It looks like a Colt SAA, .45 Colt caliber, 5 1/2" barrel, color case hardened.

Who makes something close?

Colt.

That's it. End of story. No sequel.