Which revolver to purchase?

[Dagga Boy]

Smith 586. Because Tom Threepersons didn't carry stainless.

He likely carried this in his early years....Canadian Nothwest Mounted Police Colt 1909 in .45 Colt converted from .455 Eley.

[Robinson]

A nice 4" 586 would also fit the bill.

You don't say...

[Nephrology]

Take that Model 19, put some stellar stocks on it and house it in some custom leather and enjoy it for exactly what it is. Get an SSR and beat it like a Glock. The Ruger triggers can be done well, but will always be different and stack different. Being you already have a 19, stick with the Smith action. For someone like Hizzie who has unloaded his Smith's (to a very good home) and gone Ruger across the board is a very smart move and he has no issues with the triggers and running them. I found recently with the Service Six I grabbed that has a good trigger that it was a little tougher for me to run consistently good as I spend a ton of dry practice time on my SSR or some other Smith revolver. That Service Six is capable of extremely good accuracy, but I would have to dedicate myself to it to capitalize on it.

I have a pair of tung oil finished moradillo Ahrend stocks on the 19 - looking into a Milt Sparks PMK for leather so I am right there with ya. I also gave the internals a polishing with emery cloth and the trigger is smooth as butter now. I think you are right - I am going to go with the 686 SSR and love it for what it is. Definitely not going to baby it. Hoping to give it enough character for my (future) grandkids to appreciate when they learn to shoot with it.

[GlockTard]

Well, you want a quality revolver, that leaves Ruger out! Older S&W N frame, Colt Trooper!

[JDM]

Well, you want a quality revolver, that leaves Ruger out! Older S&W N frame, Colt Trooper!

Ruger revolvers are of poor quality?

[Chuck Haggard]

Well, you want a quality revolver, that leaves Ruger out! Older S&W N frame, Colt Trooper!

No, it really doesn't.

Back up your statement with some facts or cease and desist.

[Robinson]

Well, you want a quality revolver, that leaves Ruger out! Older S&W N frame, Colt Trooper!

I am a big fan of 4" S&W revolvers but I have owned a few Rugers and I never viewed them as being of poor quality. Good grief.

[pblanc]

To say the Ruger GP100 is not a quality revolver is pure silliness to be disregarded.

GP100s are ultra-durable, reliable, and accurate. The Match Champion looks like a very nice revolver. My choice would be to buy a NIB stock GP100 .357 Magnum in stainless with adjustable rear sight and 4.2 inch barrel. They can be had for around $550-575.

Switch the front blade sight out. This can be done in your bedroom in under 2 minutes using nothing more than a chopstick. Hi-Viz sights are popular.

Use the rest of your budgeted money and have a good smith do an action job on it and camfer the cylinder if you desire. You might also wish to change the grip. I do not like the Hogue grip that the GP100 currently comes with but some people love it. My GP100 has the old style Lett grip that Ruger had to stop using when Mr. Lett died. Fortunately, a very good approximation to the Lett grip can be purchased from Altamont or from Ruger: http://www.altamontco.com/experiment...uger_gp100.php

Or you could just replace it with the hardwood grip that comes on the Match Champion: http://shopruger.com/Ruger-GP100-Mat...uctinfo/19944/.

If you go this route I believe you can stay within your budget and have a revolver with a very nice action. Ruger triggers are better out of the box than they used to be. GP100 with tuned actions are every bit as smooth as a high-quality Smith IMO although the DA trigger pull might still be just a touch longer than on a 686. The gun will outlast both you and your offspring. And it won't have that damnable stupid lock.