Interarms Virginia Dragoon?

[Blank Stare 73]

Anybody here know about or heard of this gun/manufacturer. I saw one at the gun shop today, it's a SS 44Mag with 7 1/2" BBL. It looked pretty nice, but the guy said he really didn't know anything about it. It cost $350.

Any info would be appreciated

 

[james rogers]

stainless

I have one in stainless,

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Well, do you like it? Is it a good shooter? Etc. Etc. INFO MAN!!


I'm trying to decide between this gun or the Ruger Bisley in 45 Colt, so info and opinions would be apreciated. The Ruger Bisley is $100 More than the Virginian incedentally

 

[Maia007]

I have had a blued one for about three months. Built in the mid-70's. Well made, tight, a good reputation, comparable to the Ruger SA. I don't believe it has a transfer bar. It is heavy, about 50 oz. Google it. There is a website out there somewhere that I found when deciding to buy mine that tells you all about it.

I haven't shot it a lot with the .44 mag. With the .44 specials, it is a tack driver at short ranges. For me, it is a range toy that I am still trying out. So far, I like it a lot.

 

[DMZ]

I had one 20 years ago. It was a blued 71/2" .44 Mag model. It was a great shooter, that is used to hunt mule deer with. It brought down 3 bucks using my own loads. I hated the "Swiss Safety" it had, but liked the solid, heavy frame and bought it because it was stronger than a Super Black Hawk.

I fell on hard times and had to sell it. Wish I would have kept it.

If it is in good shape, $350.00 is a good price for one.

 

[PRM]

Dragoon

I had one back in the late 70s - great gun, wish I had it back.

 

[loneviking]

Very good, heavy reliable gun. They are bigger than the SAA Colts, and the grips are bigger and longer. I'd sure buy it at $350!

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Maia007

Google it. There is a website out there somewhere that I found when deciding to buy mine that tells you all about it.

Yeah I did Google it, but I wanted to talk to people who actually have one so I can have real time feed back. The more knowledge the better when spending my hard saved money. I want to make sure I'm not buying a lemon, which I was a little concerned about because it is relatively inexpensive when compared to the Ruger Blackhawk. I do like the Rugers, however if this gun is solid and dependable I can't see a good reason to pass over it and save $100 dollars in the process.

Thanks for all the input: loneviking, PRM, DMZ, Maia007, & james rogers: Your comments are appreciated.

 

[james rogers]

Sorry for not including info but I dont remember all of the details I learned when researching mine. Here goes what I do remember.

Interarms imported many arms back in the 70s among the them the Mauser X action. There were Virginian Dragoons made like mine that said SIC SEMPER TYRANNUS on the bottom below the grips and pat Apr 16 1974 on the side. Mine has a 6 inch barrel.

I saw another pistol marketed by Interarms as a Virginian Dragoon that is not the same at all. I think those are an import from Spain and for some reason I remember the kind I have was built in the USA.

One of my grips was damaged and it took me 4 years to find a nice set of replacements for it. They are pearl. I feel like a pimp for buying those, but they are what I could find and they really do look good on a stainless gun.

The gun shoots well, it is a heavy gun so the recoil is moderate. Its a little bit of a chore getting the cases to extract.

If you start at close range and move back 10 ft at a time you will be surprised at the 20 yard groups you can get. To me its hard to see the line up on the sights, I used some paint to help me with that, but of course it won't stick to the stainless very good

I thought I wanted to scope it and after 3 years of looking I found a mount for it...in Kodiak Alaska. Now that I have it I don't know if I want to put a scope on it at this point or not.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Contact Interarms first to see if you will be able to get parts should you need to. There is an article in the January 1982 issue of Shooting Times, by Skeeter Skelton. If you contact them you might be able to get a back issue. Regardless they were/are good guns. I used to see them from time to time, but most any single action gets snatched up quickly anymore. The early ones were made by Hammerelli, who is famous for their target guns. More recent ones [relatively] were made here. They are good quality, strong [like a Blackhawk] and load in the traditional manner ala Colt SAA. The Swiss Safety is designed to keep the gun from firing by blocking the hammer from falling all the way. If I recall you had to pull the hammer back to the halfcock notch, then you could turn and slide the center pin in farther toward the hammer appr. 1/4". They had a reputation for moving at the wrong time, preventing the gun from firing. Any good gunsmith should be able to fix it up so that, that feature is disabled.

 

[Liberty1776]

had one - .44 Mag, same bbl length. Great quality and accuracy. stupidly sold it...:banghead: would buy it back in a second for $350...

 

[Kruff]

Bought one NIB in the late 80's for $175.00 in 44mag, 8 3/8" barrel but didn't really care for it. The grips would not stay put and would move on recoil.

I shot some pretty hot 44 loads back then (240 gr bullet w/ 24 gr W296) and while it was pretty accurate it spit burning powder back at me. This is one gun you don't want to shoot without eye protection.....not that you would want to do that anyway.

I assume the timing was off a bit but decided to sell it instead of dumping money into it to make it right. Sold it back to the guy I bought it from for $125.00 so I was only out 50 bucks.

Bought a Smith Model 29-2 instead which I still have.

 

[theNoid]

I have shot a few of them, great guns over all if you were to ask me. I feel the same way about the United Sporting Arms pieces as well, such as the Abilene that I have shot. Check out this for some good reading on them... http://www.singleactions.com/articles.html ... and a few other "rare" good guns. I call them rare as they just aren't as well-known as the Colts, Rugers, etc...

Noidster

 

[Blank Stare 73]

Thanks for all the replies and information. I went yesterday and looked at it very closely. I noticed a few dings and what not that I hadn't noticed the first time. Anyway to make a long story short, I ended up getting a Ruger Bisley instead. I put about 60 rounds through it today, and I'm impressed with it's/my accuracy.

I may end up buying the Dragoon anyway, it's probably not going anywhere I know it's been sitting on the same shelf for 6 mos. So I figured I'd snatch the Bisley up first.

 

[[email protected]]

I own 2 interarms dragoons. 81/2 inch ss 44mag and a 71/2in blue in 45l.c. Cal. The ss is very well constructed and that appears to be a good buy, especially if it has orig case.

 

[bannockburn]

Blank Stare 73:

The original Virginians were made by Hammereli, imported by Interarms in the mid 1970's, and were basically fixed sight copies of a Colt Single Action Army. The later version, the Virginian Dragoon, which you describe, was produced by Interarms in their own factory in Virginia, sometime around 1977 or 1978. The design itself was much stronger than the Colt SAA, with a larger frame and cylinder for the .44 Magnum cartridge; and the addition of a ramp front sight and fully adjustable rear sight. Initailly offered with a blued and color case hardened frame finish; within a few years stainless steel models were being made as well. The last catalog listing that I could find for them was in 1987. It was a very well made gun, using a spring loaded firing pin design, the Swiss Safe hammer block, along with a coil mainspring. If it's still there, I would definitely consider it a good buy at that price.

 

[Hutch]

The Dragoon was my firstest ever .44 Mag revolver. While it may have had the heft to handle recoil, for some reason it would punish my right middle finger with the back of the trigger guard. A day after shooting 20 factory rounds, that middle finger was bruised blue in the middle. Ah, the things we recall in our dotage....

 

[nsauceman]

Ohhhh yeah

I have a pair of the 1974 Interarms Virginia Dragoons blued in 44 mag... They sure are sharp. I really like them...Every time I pick one up I feel like John Wayne just handed it to me...Just feels like the Man's Man pistol from way back when...
Another company, "Hammerli" made them but very few and an even shorter time...They are very rare.

I paid $150 for my first one )was missing shell ejector kit) and $300 for my second one...

 

[nsauceman]

Sorry

I apologize "bannockburn", I did not see your reply until after I sent mine.