Torn Between Two Options

[JHC]

The front edge of the cylinder rubbing against my sternum, combined with @JHC's horror stories about his fall while wearing an HPG. There isn't much padding between you and the gun in one of their bags. If I carry it in the bag with the grips up and outside the zipper, not so bad. Totally concealed, not so much.

I laughed heartily with the old man walking by and with each telling of my mishap.

[4given]

I love my Lipsey Ruger Flat Top 44 Special and it goes with me into the woods all the time. Accurate, great fit & finish and all steel. You will like the 45 colt if you buy it. If you find a Flat Top - Even better

BTW I tried chest carry and it did not work well for me.

[Hambo]

I laughed heartily with the old man walking by and with each telling of my mishap.

Wisdom is learning from the pain of others.

[spinmove_]

The front edge of the cylinder rubbing against my sternum, combined with @JHC's horror stories about his fall while wearing an HPG. There isn't much padding between you and the gun in one of their bags. If I carry it in the bag with the grips up and outside the zipper, not so bad. Totally concealed, not so much.

Hmm, we don’t do a ton of walking to and from our blinds when we go hunting, but we do go through some tall brush that can get tricky to walk through. Perhaps a flat gun (semi-auto) might be a more prudent sidearm in this role. I specified a revolver because I don’t have one and the HPG bag because with the cold weather gear we wear it’s rather impractical to have an OWB holster on.

All of a sudden I hear that SA Mil-Spec calling my name again...


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[Bigghoss]

^^^^^^ So much this.

[JonInWA]

Great dilemma! And CERTAINLY none of us are, ahem, enablers...

Ok, my take: I'd go for the 4" GP100 and the Blackhawk. I've had multiple 4" and 3" GP100s, and while the 3" is nice, frankly I think the 4" is more versatile and will eke better ballistics out of it's longer length, and I've never found it onerous to carry or all that slow to draw, either. I definitely agree with re-gripping with Altamont or Ruger grips-especially the Compact grips.

The Blackhawk is just a hell-for-sturdy practical and fun gun. There's just something quintessentially "American"/Old West and just flat-out pleasurable in shooting them. .45 Colt is a great chambering; on mine, I went the stainless/.357/38 convertible route, also in 4 5/8 length and I carry it in a Tactical Tailor custom tanker-style shoulder when hunting.

So-I'd recommend going for 2 of the 3. If push REALLY came to shove, and I had to pick only one, the 4" GP100 would probably get the nod, but I'd be yearning for and eventually get the Blackhawk, anyhow-so why not just acquiesce and do it in one fell swoop?

Or, to throw a wild card into the equation, a 4" stainless Security Six might nicely bridge the size/weight/utility differential between the 4" and 3" GP100...

Best, Jon

[JHC]

All of a sudden I hear that SA Mil-Spec calling my name again...


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As I say accusingly to Kevin B . . . "Always an enabler, never a disabler."

[Stumpnav]

I have a 3" WC GP-100 and absolutely love it. Ruger makes a smaller set of grips that make it easier to conceal and to me just feel better than the originals. They are called the Compact:
http://shopruger.com/Rubber-Grips-wi...uctinfo/70084/

I love single action big bores, but those plow handle grips tear me up...I really prefer the Bisley grips.

[Jim Watson]

I haven't shot my single actions since I got out of CAS.
Autos and double action revolvers for me.

[Rex G]

I am biased, as I bought a 4” full-lug GP100 about 1990, bought my 3” WC edition in late 2017, and, accumulated several more, in various configurations, up to 6” in barrel length, in-between. The original-pattern GP100 grip, which is the type shown on the WC, is absolute perfection, for my hands. I carried my first GP100, on duty, patrolling the mean streets of Houston, from ‘93 to ‘95 as my “primary” handgun, and was kept in a case or emergency bag for many additional years, after I switched to lighter-weight primary duty handguns.

I am also biased, in that I love “real” single-action sixguns; the traditional-pattern, operating in the traditional way. Something about the Blackhawk grip frame and hammer does not quite feel “right.”

So, my admittedly biased suggestion is one of the GP100 options.