• Possible Downtime Alert

    I am working to migrate THR from the current cluster to a new one. I would like to get this done before the weekend, but it's unclear what the timeframe will be, as testing is still ongoing. As I am writing this the new (rebuilt) host is doing a burn-in to ensure that everything will keep running under load.

    When the migration happens users will see a Cloudflare message indicatating it cannot connect to the server. This is expected, and depending on how the migration goes this may last from 30 minutes to 3 hours - I won't know more until testing the various migration options is complete and I have finalized the plan.

    More information is available in this thread.

    As always, thanks so much for your patience.

Handguns you cherish

My bought by mistake (I didn't know CZ didn't make a pre-B SS gun) CZ75 in NP3. Trigger overtravel screw added, action job, and the NP3 makes it smooth as glass.
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My Dan Wesson 715, first gun I ever bought on GB in 2006. Hard to believe I've had it over about 19 years at this point:
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S&W 629-1. I always wanted a 29, but the right gun and the money to buy it never synched up. When the 629-1 came along, I had the money and went for it:
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1. Ruger GP100, stainless, adustable sights, 4” barrel, .357 Magnum. See my avatar image. The original-pattern GP100 factory grip is a custom-level best fit, in my hand. A GP100 points, for me, as if divinely guided. I bought this one in the early Nineties, and, it was in my duty holster, one night in 1993, when I used it to fire the thus-far only defensive shot of my life. That shot stopped my opponent, which may well have saved my life, or the lives of my colleagues, who were with me.

2. S&W Model 58, 4” .41 Magnum. I bought this one in 1985, and it soon became my duty handgun, until 1990. Eventually, I realized that my hands were better-served by K/L-Frames, the GP100, and single-column-mag .45 autos, but, this was the weapon that was with me, during some wild and wooly moments, so, is cherished. I do not shoot it, anymore, because some of its parts are a bit loose.

Nothing else comes anywhere close, to the above two. The best that anything else can be is a far-distant third, but, so very many can be seen as being “tied for third place.” So, almost at random, #3 is:

3. Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special, a Government-sized 1911 pistol. I bought this one about the year 2000, too late to “grandfather” it as a duty pistol, due to a change in the PD’s firearms policy, but, I have carried it during personal time, off and on, during personal time, since then. Later, a change in duty pistol policy enabled me to carry it as a duty pistol, on police patrol, in the twilight of my LE career, 2016-2018.

Accuracy was a factor. My consistent accuracy potential, with the GP100, is exceeded by no other handgun. Among autoloaders, a good 1911 is as good as it gets, as good as a GP100, on a good day, but less consistent, if I am not having a good day. I could shoot the Model 58 quite well, but the fixed sights limited my accuracy potential. Plus, it shot low, with its fixed sights. A previous owner had tried to remedy that, by filing-down the front sight, to the point that there was barely enough left, for a decent sight picture. So, I shot good groups, but beyond just a few yards, had to hold high. At the 25-yard line, on the qual course, I held level with the B-27 silhouette’s shoulders, perching the B-27’s head on the front sight, to put shots into the 10-ring.

”Life experience” was a factor. I carried each of the above, openly in my duty holsters, and concealed during personal time. Felons got to see the business ends of each of them.

The Model 58 had been a San Antonio, Texas PD duty handgun, from the time it was made in 1974 or 1975, until SAPD sold them off, about a decade later, to go with all K-Frame duty revolvers. So, my Model 58 did duty with both San Antonio and Houston PD, in Texas. (Houston PD required us to buy or otherwise furnish our own duty firearms.) Such history is, well, “cool.”
 
Outside of it being a SAA in .44 Spl… what is it ? USFA, Standard Mfg., what ?
AFAIK its the only .44 special Standard Mfg has ever made, and i looked. They made 1 or 2 more on flattop frames, but this is the only one on a standard frame.
 
I have sold off most of mine; I still have a few that I am attached to...not sure that "cherish" is the right word.
A couple that will be among the last to go would be a 5" M-27 and an alloy-framed Les Baer 1911.
 
1. 1971 Browning International Medalist (favorite of all to shoot, much admired for quality)
2. 1982 S&W 686 6" (I like shooting it, admire it for quality, most sentimental value)
3. One of my several CZs, but it'd be hard to decide which one (every 75-based and 97 CZ is excellent, especially with some CGW parts added)
 
I don't ownany mechanical devises that fits the definition of cherish but I take good of everything I own be it guns, tools, automobiles, whatever. I do have more like for some guns than others, SA revolvers and 1911 pistols for example, but every one I own gets the same good care.
 
For me?

CZ 75B - No other handgun fits my hand better! Yes, ‘old school’ metal slide and frame. But they are sooooo accurate, even with the hand-fit Kadet 22LR Conversion Kit … that it honestly surprises me that everyone doesn’t own one!

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And a CLASSIC! S&W 44-Magnum - An ‘S’ serial#, 6–1/2” barreled, pre-model 29.

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I have others & like them all too, but I’d say this one below is a classic for shooting practice.

IZH/Baikal 46M - Competition grade single-pump .177 air pistol.

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Can't be done I tell you.
I can't even tell you what my go-to gun would be, I guess whatever's closest.
So many guns, so little time.
 
Can you tell us more about that Pardini?
You can find my review here with alot of detailed pics and informations:
 
My dad had Colt 4" Python and as a kid I loved that gun so on my 21st B-Day I got the 6" Python. As time went on I wanted a Beretta and It happened a few years ago with a 92X.
 

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If I were to choose three handguns, that'd be somewhat hard. But for sure, these are the top of the list.

1. A S&W Model 64 snub-nose. It was my Grandfather's piece that he carried daily throughout my entire life. My Father purchased it for him back in 1975 when he was a cop. Back then handgun ownership in South Florida was very restrictive.

2. A Manhurin made Walther PPK MKII in .22LR. It belonged to my Granduncle. He carried it daily throughout my life. He got he on the CIA's dime during his time with them, after the Bay of Pigs invasion.

3. A Browning Hi-Power MKIII in .40 S&W. My Father got it for me as a surprise gift, while he was battling cancer. He knew I always wanted one, and he found one for him.
 
“Cherish” can have so many meanings but narrowing it down-

This 1918-made 1917 because it’s got it all. Looks, history, function, power. How could I not value it?
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Haven’t had it long but I really like this 1964 EG Mak. A beautiful, reliable, gun and an icon of the Cold War world I grew up in.
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We cherish the practical as well (anybody have a favorite shovel or hammer?). This M&P has been my bedside gun for a long time know and will probably continue to be for as long as I need one.
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I’m fond of Smith’s Model 17 &14 and Colt MkIV in 45 acp of course. These will be the last to leave my possession.
 
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