Ultimate long term durability revolver

[Crow Hunter]

I'm WAY past approaching the half century mark, so I have already scratched my head over the points you enumerated. One of the problems I have run into a lot is that theorizing does not necessarily work out so well in the real world; I have dropped some serious coin on guns and accessories that might be the cat's azz (so to speak) for someone else, but did not work out for me despite my due diligence. Another problem is that aging is a work in progress- what you think you may have nailed down at 50 may be untenable at 60 or 65... with or without some damnable "curveball of life" like a retina problem or a car accident that leaves your range of motion limited.

I opted for a 4" GP-100 as explained on an older thread, but despite all my rationale for it and my present satisfaction with the choice, I do wish it had a better setup for mounting an optic.* In the end, nothing is going to be perfect, the perfect is the enemy of the good, there are no free lunches, and the grass is always greener "over there."

*Why in the hell Ruger can offer a useful and intuitive optical sight mounting solution on the Super Blackhawk Hunter but not do likewise at least on something like the GP-100 Match Champions baffles me. (Think Foghorn Leghorn saying: "Match, I say, MATCH Champion, son. Why, that shootin' iron is just a-hollerin' for an optical mount you can use easy-like. Pay attention to me, Ruger, I'm talkin' to you.")

Thank you. What would your advice be? Just keep using my glocks until I can't or maybe something else? Like don't worry be happy?

[Rex G]

@Rex G


Did you carry your GP100 in a Safariland 070?

Yes. It was issued to me, by Supply Division. I later exchanged it for the K-Frame version.

Edited to add: It is not easy to find 070 revolver holsters, anymore. This was causing problems for some of my colleagues, who were carrying “grandfathered” duty revolvers, at the time I retired, in early 2018. Safariland does not make a 6360 for revolvers, and PD policy specifies the 070 or the 6360, for uniformed duty carry. One officer had taught himself to make quite decent repairs to the retention straps, on 070 holsters.

[Rex G]

How many full spec .44 Magnum press level .44 Specials have you put through a Model 69 L-Frame?

How many .44 Magnum Pressure Level .44 Specials have you put through a GP-44?

How many full spec .357 Magnums have you put through an L-Frame?

How many full spec .357 Magnums have you put through a GP100?

?

Is this inane prattle supposed to mean a GP100 frame is as strong as a L-Frame? LMAO!

Seriously, gentlemen, I believe, that in the context of this post, long-term durability, and user-serviceability, is more about the parts not wearing to the point of uselessness, and wear parts being readily replaceable, than what it takes to catastrophically split a cylinder or barrel, in either a Ruger GP100, or S&W L-Frame revolver. I cannot speak for the OP, but personally, I only want to shoot within-spec ammo in my .357 revolvers, and really do not care to own a .44 Special GP100, much less Magnum-ize it.

I have detail-stripped both S&W and Ruger revolvers. Lord, how I hope it is never again necessary to detail-strip an S&W K/L-Frame! Lining everything up for re-assembly is especially vexing. For reference, it is MUCH easier to detail-strip a 1911 pistol.

I am not trying to “play” moderator. I am “just sayin’.”

[BobM]

Seriously, gentlemen, I believe, that in the context of this post, long-term durability, and user-serviceability, is more about the parts not wearing to the point of uselessness, and wear parts being readily replaceable, than what it takes to catastrophically split a cylinder or barrel, in either a Ruger GP100, or S&W L-Frame revolver. I cannot speak for the OP, but personally, I only want to shoot within-spec ammo in my .357 revolvers, and really do not care to own a .44 Special GP100, much less Magnum-ize it.

I have detail-stripped both S&W and Ruger revolvers. Lord, how I hope it is never again necessary to detail-strip an S&W K/L-Frame! Lining everything up for re-assembly is especially vexing. For reference, it is MUCH easier to detail-strip a 1911 pistol.

I am not trying to “play” moderator. I am “just sayin’.”

That’s why I’ve given up on tracking down Security Sixes for users. I have one identical to the one I was issued in 89, but I don’t plan on shooting it that much. I have GPs in 4” and 5” and eventually want to get a 3”. I figure it will be a long time before GP parts are unavailable.

[jtcarm]

#WANT

Seriously, why the hell doesn’t Ruger build the revolvers people want?!

I’d say they do a better job than Smith PC. Some of the whacked-out designs they produce cannot have a significant market.

I can’t help but think the resources spent on that silliness would be better directed to some standard models with broader appeal, like concealed-hammer, no-lock K-frames, a 315, a 3” 64.

[gato naranja]

Thank you. What would your advice be? Just keep using my glocks until I can't or maybe something else? Like don't worry be happy?

Well, I don't know if I'd go that far, but if I had some good Glocks and used them well, I would keep doing so until I was forced to do otherwise. In my own case, I only got another revolver after having abandoned them for the most part, and some of your thoughts echo some of the reasons why I dipped my paws back into that water; it sounds like you are another shooter that considers a 3" to 4" .38/.357 to be be a good thing to have on hand in addition to the Glocks. No one handgun is going to do EVERYTHING, and there are times when a wheelgun is going to be the better hammer for a particular nail.

(Same with knives. I habitually carry a Victorinox alox "Swiss army knife" when I am out and about. Sometimes I add or substitute an ESEE Izula. If I am going to do some special "outdoor thing," I might take something Kephart-esque instead.)

In the spirit of the "proverbial pistol in Texas" ("I may not always want it, but when I do want it, I want it damned bad!"), I decided last year that at some point down the road I might have use for a revolver. I won't restate things here, but post #20 on this thread begins to show how my feline brain was firing and some of why I ended up with what I did: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....+Simply+rugged

I'd recommend getting the right Ruger or Smith that checks off the most boxes for you, and then don't REPLACE the Glocks... just AUGMENT them. That way, if the time ever does come when the Glocks become unuseable or unavailable, you may already be golden by way of having a revolver that gets the job done. In my case, the Ruger checked more boxes.

[03RN]

I have detail-stripped both S&W and Ruger revolvers. Lord, how I hope it is never again necessary to detail-strip an S&W K/L-Frame! Lining everything up for re-assembly is especially vexing. For reference, it is MUCH easier to detail-strip a 1911 pistol.

I dont really mind k frames after the first 2 times apart.

A winchester m92. Now that is scary

[BillSWPA]

I agree. But let me explain my rationale for the question.

I am approaching the half century mark. I have found that the recoil of various firearms is beginning to cause me hand pain and I have noticed that sometimes my finger joints hurt. My fear is that I am developing arthritis.

After my father passed away my mother decided she wanted start using a firearm. Initially she had a Taurus Beretta 92 clone that belonged to my father. She liked it and ran it fine, but as time progressed she found that she began having trouble running the slide and loading the mags due to arthritis in her hands. Through experimentation my brother and I found that a med frame revolver worked great for her.

I am projecting that I may have a similar future. While I have owned and used glocks primarily since 1998, I want to "future proof" myself.

I am concerned with the state of future gun laws. I am afraid that there will be legislation coming that will make it difficult to buy spare parts or ship guns back for repairs, so I want to get a durable revolver that will be as unlikely as possible to go out of time or need spare parts with a reasonable firing schedule.

I also wanted to get something that was a size that was reasonable for me to conceal so it would have some uses today.

In my opinion this is pretty much the premier resource for all things involving actually shooting rather than theorizing, so I figured I would ask.

Dealing with diminished dexterity is a very individual thing, and I have sometimes been surprised by what works for different people.

Two older female friends have hand/wrist issues, and prefer the way a revolver recoils. However, one of them shoots her revolver using both index fingers on the trigger simultaneously.

Loading a magazine can be simplified, for example, with one of these: https://www.maglula.com/product/uplula-9mm-to-45acp

Racking the slide can be done by placing the entire weak hand across the top of the slide (thumb is towards the left rear of the slide), bringing the gun in close to one's chest (we are all stronger closer to our body), and pushing with the shooting hand while also pushing with the weak hand.

Working a DA trigger usually means doing all the work with a single finger, unless one wishes to use my one friend's two-finger solution.

Re: pistol selection, this one is hard to beat for diminished hand dexterity: https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/mp-shield-ez-0

RE: long term durability: As a general rule, the parts that make a revolver run are small, and relatively delicate as compared to the parts that make a semiauto run. While some really good choices for durability have been discussed in this thread, if long-term durability is a concern, that would make me lean towards a semiauto. We have some really knowledgeable revolver people here, who teach others how to shoot, and who had careers carrying revolvers into harm's way. Some of them have described having armorers at the range on qualification day due to the likelihood of a revolver going down.

[03RN]

Yes. It was issued to me, by Supply Division. I later exchanged it for the K-Frame version.

Edited to add: It is not easy to find 070 revolver holsters, anymore. This was causing problems for some of my colleagues, who were carrying “grandfathered” duty revolvers, at the time I retired, in early 2018. Safariland does not make a 6360 for revolvers, and PD policy specifies the 070 or the 6360, for uniformed duty carry. One officer had taught himself to make quite decent repairs to the retention straps, on 070 holsters.

Was there a reason the 6280 wasnt allowed?

[WDR]

Purely for scientific inquiry, what makes it go out out time quicker? Inertia of the cylinder or something else?

I'm not jetfire, but I believe that is the case. Moving the cylinder faster (chasing splits) makes it smack into the cylinder stop harder and eventually wear occurs. Weight of the cylinder (and its inertia) comes into play. I remember some discussion about N frame .357's vs K and L frame guns, and how cylinder weight seemed to matter when running the guns hard and at speed. I'm no revolver gunsmith, but that is my understanding of that specific issue.

I'd like to hear what he's ( @jetfire ) got to say about it too.