I like how you think. I agree with you about the new Ruger Montado. It's a rather unique single action revolver at a very reasonable price. I think a single action revolver is also a terrific choice.
For actual shooting (because you will shoot it with your heirs to help make that personal connection - and take lots of photographs too!), an adjustable sighted Ruger might be a good thought. Everyone sees the sights differently and adjustable sights are also bigger and easier to see and therefore easier to shoot accurately. Having fun shooting to solidify those family heir inner feelings means hitting what you're aiming at. You sure wouldn't want your offspring to every say, "Yeah, but I could never hit anything with that dang gun. I'm selling it!" But on the other hand, the fixed sighted Montado has that cowboy appeal so do whatever your gut tells ya!
Check out this engraved Ruger for ideas:
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=65846
I currently have a Ruger Lipsey's Exclusive New Model Blackhawk .44 Special in Michael Gouse's hands right now. It's being engraved as a Skeeter Skelton tribute with 75% American Scroll to match my S&W 624 .44 Special that I had engraved several years ago.
These are my family heirlooms. My dad sold a birdseye maple stocked Winchester .22 pump rifle back around 1986. It was a very valuable rifle and I loved the factory birdseye maple stock. But it was truly too valuable to shoot. I had just bought my 624 so my dad offered to pay for a pair of Deacon Deason's Skeeter Skelton style Bear Hug grips in my favorite wood. That set of grips (made to a tracing of my right hand) started me down the road to turning my 624 into an heirloom. That connection with my dad and the fact that we both shot the revolver together in the Wisconsin woods that was my parents' log cabin's back yard really made me want to create something special.
I had Gouse (
www.mtart.com ) include Skelton's cattle brand on the backstrap of my double action .44 Special. He is doing the same thing on my new Ruger.
I bought a 1950's silverware box off Ebay for $29 and refinished it and relined it to hold my two revolvers. The Ruger sports birdseye maple grips from Cary C (
www.clccustomgrips.com ) and if you go to his website, you can spend hours soaking in the shockingly beautiful handles he makes for Ruger single actions. He even finishes the end of the screw and provides an aluminum spacer that fits between the grips so you can't overtightened them and crack the wood.
Here is a photo essay on my heirlooms (before I sent the Blackhawk to Gouse):
Good luck with your project and be sure to share pics here when you're done!
-Steve
