For Such A Rare Model, My LGS Surely Has A Bunch Of ‘Em

[Bergeron]

If one is willing to brave the journey, and buy in person, Collectors Firearms will usually deal. The journey is a bit safer, now that they moved away from the Fondren Road @ Richmond Avenue location. Using S. Voss, from Interstate 10, to its intersection with Westheimer Road, takes one through the Memorial Villages area, parts of which are independent municipalities, which have notably lower crime rates.

OBEY those speed limits, along Voss, of course, but, that is exactly why those small villages have low crime rates, as the police will stop everything that moves. The way to catch felons is to make lots of traffic stops.

Collector's Firearms is the best gun show in Texas, open 7 days a week. It's hard to get a below-market-deal, but amazingly easy to get your hands on the widest varity of guns I've ever seen under one roof. When I lived in Houston, it was a fun way to burn some time, and I did end up with a few neat guns.

[Wheeler]

Fit into a smaller holster and offering better grips while handling loads that will cause a N-frame to go out of time.

You mean to say a GP 100 will handle heavier loads than an N frame in .357?

[Tod-13]

If one is willing to brave the journey, and buy in person, Collectors Firearms will usually deal. The journey is a bit safer, now that they moved away from the Fondren Road @ Richmond Avenue location. Using S. Voss, from Interstate 10, to its intersection with Westheimer Road, takes one through the Memorial Villages area, parts of which are independent municipalities, which have notably lower crime rates.

OBEY those speed limits, along Voss, of course, but, that is exactly why those small villages have low crime rates, as the police will stop everything that moves. The way to catch felons is to make lots of traffic stops.

We like Collectors Firearms a lot -- no matter who helps us, when my wife asks about a gun, they hand it to her, not me.

Coming from the other direction, I see Westheimer as worse than their old location. The old location was a few blocks off the toll road -- maybe a low income neighborhood, but the folks there were working. The new one -- miles of and herds of bums on Westheimer.

[jh9]

Fit into a smaller holster and offering better grips while handling loads that will cause a N-frame to go out of time.

Better grips is subjective

I've found the Ruger "capable of handling nuclear loads" thing to be overrated. If I need something hotter than a Keith load (13.5gr 2400 / 158gr cast) then I need something bigger than a .357 magnum.

I've got a pair of Ls-- one with 7800 and the other with roughly 9k on the clock-- that have needed nothing but a new hand each. No noticeable frame stretching, no egging out of the center pin hole, no cracked forcing cone, etc. Fitting a new hand to a post-92 CNC machined extractor (no fitting required on the six shot L or N extractors) isn't that hard. But then I haven't ever loaded anything hotter than the aforementioned 13.5gr of 2400.

That's not a knock against the GP-100, but handling heavy loads as a reason to go Ruger over Smith is a stretch. Silhouette shooters and people that want to flirt with how hot they can load something before the cylinder lets go are a small segment of the population. For everyone else, you may as well pick based on aesthetics, grip choice or astrological sign.

[JRB]

My favorite N frame is a Highway Patrolman from the first year of production. That first year actually spanned the course of two calendar years, from 1954-1955. Those guns are, in my opinion, magnificent.

Those guns really are something special. There's no empirical way to show how they're better than a GP100, but having one holstered in good leather on your hip feels 1000% better than a GP100 somehow. I'll never be able to explain it.

[Rex G]

The GP100 factory grip is perfection for my hands, and the reach to a GP100 trigger is just-right for the length of my index fingers. I looked down my nose at the “ugly” GP100, from its 1985 introduction, until the day I handled one, in about 1990 or 1991. The GP100, of that day, looks pretty good, now. (The newest ones, made today, well, uh...)

I love the feel of an N-Frame, with the Magna stocks, as delivered on the Model 520, which I do not own, and the Model 58, of which I do own a now-retired sample, but getting enough finger on the N-Frame trigger, with my K/L/GP100-sized hands, is problematic. The 58 was delivered with S&W narrowest trigger, and my 58’s trigger face was shortened and smoothed, for/by a previous owner, which shortened the LOP, so, with the skinniest grip/stock panels, I can hold it properly, and get enough finger on the trigger, just barely, if I am not wearing gloves.

Edited to add: I can, of course, cock any N-Frame, to get the trigger within reach, while maintaining an ergonomically-favorable/proper grip. So, yes, I am susceptible to buying an N-Frame to have as a fun gun.

[farscott]

You mean to say a GP 100 will handle heavier loads than an N frame in .357?

Oh yeah. I have had the old 180-grain Federal CastCore loads cause a cylinder of a N-frame (M27-2) to unlock and rotate so that when the trigger is pulled again the fired case is once again inline with the bore. The S&W "Endurance Package" was needed on more than just the M29/M629. The GP100 can handle pretty much any load whose bullet does not protrude from the cylinder face. The GP100 does the rear lock up on the crane while the older N-frames do the rear lockup on the extractor rod. That difference keeps the cylinder on the GP100 locked when a N-frame will become unlocked.

The other issue with the N-frame in .357 is that the revolver is prone to battering the cylinder notches and bolt when shot rapidly in DA. The heavier .357 cylinder stresses the cylinder notches and bolt more than the lighter cylinders of larger diameter cartridges in cylinders of the same diameter (25, 29, 57). More inertia for the bolt/notch interface with the heavier .357 cylinder.

[OlongJohnson]

I've found the Ruger "capable of handling nuclear loads" thing to be overrated. If I need something hotter than a Keith load (13.5gr 2400 / 158gr cast) then I need something bigger than a .357 magnum.

For now, I have a 7.5-inch large frame Blackhawk in .357. It weighs 52.4 oz. I reckon it will handle anything a sane person would ever load into a .357 case. I do recognize that flame cutting doesn't care how beefy the structure is.

I got it just to try the SA thing. Not in love so far, but need to spend more time with it. I may just decide to pull the chute and stick with the GPs, though.

[oregon45]

If you really feel the need for more power in the .357 bore, there's always the .357 Maximum:



Also, flame cutting can often be mitigated by using a powder like H4227 in place of W296 or H110, along with heavier bullets.

[OlongJohnson]

Also, flame cutting can often be mitigated by using a powder like H4227 in place of W296 or H110, along with heavier bullets.

Fully understood.

Also, by shooting a Contender with no cylinder gap.