International Competition Quality Repro percussion pistols

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Hawkeye748

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I have been lurking for a few weeks and there seems to be quite a bit of interest in the percussion historically correct Revolvers. To Date, I have not seen any mention of the best out of the box Revolvers.

I know I will ruffle a few feathers, but if you have the bucks, these can't be beat. They will out shoot the ROA. :what: Essentially, if you shoot in international competition, you shoot these or a custom built piece or a restored original.

Hege out of Germany makes a super 1858 Remington. It costs, last I checked, $1500-2500.00, depending on the exchange rate. Here is their website. I wish I had the money for one.

http://www.waffen-hege.de/

The best Rogers and Spencer is made by Feinwerkbau. As I understand it, they have a US distributor located in Texas. The US distributor is Brenzovich Firearms Training Center in Ft. Hancock, TX.

I have been told that this dealer frequently stocks them as well. Here is a web site address.

http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com/specials.html

If I could afford either, I would buy them. I have two pretty good customized Italians, one Remington and Rogers, that I shoot reguarly. Both were done by the late Tom Ball who was an expert at this. They will hold a one hole group at 25 yards if I do my part.:rolleyes:

I am curious if anyone on here has shot them.

The Hege link, when I tried it, did not go to the really good hand built ones I am refering to in this post. I will try to get a better link.
 
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Apparently you were posting when I was editing. The link goes to the everyday tuned guns they sell which are made with Italian parts but fitted in their own shops. They are good but the ones they make solely in their own shop are the ones that are super. They will be a minimum of $12-1500.00.
 
I don't see this 'ruffling anyone's feathers'. I don't know of anyone who would reasonably claim a $250 gun would compete equally with a $1500 gun. Many will say they don't need to spend that much money to enjoy shooting percussion revolvers, and still others will point out that they do not have the skills to justify such an expenditure (in my hands a $1500 revolver's extra capability is wasted), but I've never seen anyone say that in the hands of an expert shot their Uberti will shoot as well as a Hege.
 
I own three Hege-Remingtons Army Match Maximums, one FWB R&S. They are superb guns. Ready for competition right out of the box. No fussing around with trigger jobs or reboring chambers, just sight the gun in and go hunting medals.

That being said, a Ball-tuned gun is quite capable. Tom could build an accurate gun...you don't want to know just how much work went into them. His triggers were hit-or-miss, though. If you've got a good one, you have a gun good enough for the Great Big Dance.
 
$250.00 ??

"I don't see this 'ruffling anyone's feathers'. I don't know of anyone who would reasonably claim a $250 gun would compete equally with a $1500 gun."

I certainly agree with the concept of this but will add that if you can still find Old Army revolvers for $250.00 you best buy all you can. A few years ago I would rarely consider paying more than $250.00 for a clean used ROA in stainless. Today I would be shocked to find one for even close to $250.00

I wish there were more makers of high quality percussion revolver replicas. It would be worth some extra cost to know you were getting a gun with a cylinder that isn't so soft it is dented by the latch. I don't think I am ready to spend $1,500.00 on a target grade percussion replica but I would think that replicas of steel equal to that found on the ROA could be made and sold for around half that $1,500.00 figure.
I have paid over $600 for a stainless steel Colt signature series 1860 Colt replica only to find that the cylinder was soft enough to be badly dented by the latch. They did at least pay attention to the fit and finish of the gun. It will be the last time I shell out that kind of money on an Italian replica until the quality of the steel they use gets better...NUCH better.
 
E.N. Santa Barbara 1858 Remingtons

To Date, I have not seen any mention of the best out of the box Revolvers.
Click to expand...

You din't mention the most popular and sought Revolver in Western Europe...The E.N. Santa Barbara from it's Arsenal in Spain. Without going into too much detail they are made from steel ever so much harder than some of the standard reproduction Remington Revolvers. I have been told by Spainish and German shooters that these hold the same grandure that the Hedge holds. If you can get one in like new condition as these are about 28 years old and since have not been manufactured bring a price range to collector, or shooter ranging from 600 to 1200 euro...not much is know about these except by those fortunate enough to have um.
I am the proud owner of three of these models, fully Engraved, semi engraved, and plain wrapper...haven't shot the plain one yet but the other two shoot 3" groups at 25 yards. All iIhave thought about doing is maybe lightening the mainsprings some... steel and bluing is hard as a diamond and engraving even prettier.
PHTO0032.jpg
PHTO0036.jpg
Did I pay 600-1200 Euro for each, nope... :O)
 
E.N. Santa Barbara 1858 Remingtons ??

Smokin_Gun,
I have never heard of them. The hardened steel would be a plus to me. I have always been disappointed in the soft steel used in most Italian replicas. The engraving looks very nice too. Is the right grip panel on the lower picture an original part?
 
Good morning..Well, I could say a lot but I'm not. Except just a couple of things here. The gunsmith (a good friend) who done all that work on my '58's and my carbines was married to a girl whose parents lived in Germany. My friend and his wife went to Germany for about 4 years because the girl's mother was dying from a terminal illness. While he was there he attended some post graduate gun smithing school. I don't think it really consisted of very much engraving, because when he and I and his wife were sitting around their supper table he asked me in a very concerned voice. "Now are you going to want these weapons engraved?" I told him no, that I wasn't much on engraved pieces. That I put up with the scroll work on the cylinders of the Colts because it was there from the beginning and sort of belonged there. I told him all I wanted was the best and most accurate and most dependable God****** '58's and carbines in the whole world period. He went to work the next day. He worked on them to some degree or the other every day for over 3 years. His wife helped him every day. She went to a gunsmithing school to but she's not in his class. He tested each piece thoroughly in my presence (I trusted him but he wanted me to be there) short range, intermediate range and long range. (believe me, very long range for a percussion revolver) He cautioned me even though he knew he didn't need to, and told me that certain people in this world would break into my home and even murder me to get their hands on these guns. He grinned when he told me that. He know's that if someone break's into my little place they'll get a gun alright and they'll get it in a hurry to. Chances are just as good they'll walk into my '47 as they will a '58 or a carbine. (May I add here though that they certainly will not be walking into an roa)
Well, anyway, good morning to all of you. I'm just sitting here drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and smiling while I read all of this thread and some of the posts on a couple of other threads..Good reading by the way....Great White Hunter....
 
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Messerist, yeah, he does have some nice pieces there. He should be proud of them. He told me one time before on here that he liked engraving. (I guess it's more than one piece there. May be one piece from different angles. Dosen't matter. He's got something he likes. That's what counts)..ADD ON, yeah, I can see a couple of revolvers in one frame now that I scrolled back and took abother look..Great White Hunter....
 
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They're handsome, for sure, but I can't bring myself to own a gun that I wouldn't shoot at least occasionally, and I'd be too neurotic to subject something that expensive to something as corrosive as black powder. With those things in mind, I'll stick with the cheap Italian replicas.

If I did have one of those pricey guns, I'd sell it here and use the money to buy old Remington pumps and Ruger revolvers. Gimme something that's finely crafted, but that I won't hesitate to shoot the hell out of.

THAT SAID, I can completely understand owning one of these revolvers--it's something you either appreciate, or you don't, and I could just as easily be on the other side of the fence. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.
 
Hawkeye, I have a revolver that is built by "Lewis" out of Ohio. About the only
thing stock on it is the frame. It is a Pietta. Last I checked, they go for about
700.00 Might be more now. They are guranteed to shoot dime size groups at
50 yds from a Ranson Rest. The barrels are a 9mm and they shoot a .360 ball.
The cyclinder chambers are line bored from the barrel. I won the 50 yd pistol
match at Friendship last year with it. This thing will shoot.
0012_filtered.jpg
 
Beagle-Zebub,,,I don't shoot real black powder. I shoot Triple Seven..But all of that aside. All you have to do is clean the piece. Clean all of it but make really sure that you scrub the bore out good. (barrel)..There's plenty of like .32 and .36 rifles out there that belonged to people's grand-daddy or great grand-daddy and the inside of that bore is still just as clean and shiny and ready for business as you could wish for..There's all kinds of ways to clean a piece but I still think that the best way is the way the Marine Corps taught me. Just take the rifle or side arm into the shower with you. (not the wood of course) Take your cleaning rod and your bore brush and maybe a couple of old toothbrushes in there with you and scrub your piece with plenty of hot soapy water....Great White Hunter....
 
kwhi,

Very nice weapon and I am sure it shoots great, but that revolver is not historically accurate either. Just from the picture, the sights are wrong. The front sight is of a modern type and the rear is an adjustable sight. The guns I am refering to are identical in every respect to the originals.

There are some folks that make custom reproduction guns all around the country that are great guns. The Hege guns are production guns, and the best out there for historically correct pieces.
 
Why would anyone get their feathers ruffled because a $1500 - $2500 revolver out shoots a $400 revolver out the box. Don't we all kind of expect that?
 
Ruffled feathers comment

Folks, I made the ruffled feathers comment because reading some of the posts on here, I have come to the belief that Some of you would MARRY your Walkers or ROA's if they could say "I DO":D Just didn't want to provoke any one.:)

No matter how good the gun, the man behind the gun and his training are more important.:)
 
Hawkeye brings up a good point. I know a lot of shooters that don't have the skill to take advantage of the best match revolvers - let alone the average out-of-the-box guns, and for most who are more competent a good, used Ruger O.A. will more then do.

But if you're the kind where only the very best will do, then by all means spend the money and buy the best. But in and of itself, buying "the best" won't turn you into an international class shooter. That takes a lot of practice.

Regarding soft steel, especially in cylinders. The complaint is usually centered on dinged-up bolt notches. This isn't caused so much by soft metal as improper fitting of the lockwork, especially the hand. I have examined numerous original 19th century revolvers that have seen much use (and sometimes abuse) that don't have dinged bolt notches, softer steel not withstanding. The reason is that the final assemblers knew how to do it right. That's not always the case with run-of-the-mill reproductions.
 
Ruffled Feathers

Well Hawkeye, When you said it's the MAN behind the gun and HIS training,
My little woman's feathers got fluffed a little. You see, everytime I buy a new
pistol she wants a 10 shot 50yd match with me to see who shoots it the best. Her way of thinking is that who ever shoots the gun the best, it should be theirs. I will tell you that over the years, I have bought several custom
made pistols for me and you know what? I don't own any of them now. As a
matter of fact, I don't think I own anything any more. Those of you that are
married will know what I am talking about. Anyway it's FUN! And just think, I
have a 11 year daughter comming on strong that's just like her. Woe is me.
 
"No, '58. Stay in your holster. I don't want you or your 4 sisters right now. WHAT?!! Hey, you'll do what the the hell I tell you to! I spent a lot of money on you and when I buy a parrot By God I want it on the perch!!.. Co'mere '47. Immn Imm! You sweet little ol' thang you. I could just hug you to death. Give me sugar..Iimmnn.. (kiss kiss) I just love your nipples to death!"...Great White Hunter....
 
Appologies to your wife and other ladies out there!!!

Sorry about that! I don't want to offend the lady shooter's! Particularly those that can shoot better than I can!:uhoh:;):D
 
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