Cold Steel
Active Member
Okay, I know what you're thinking. Not how many shots I fired, but what does ATM mean? It means "According To Me." It's not very accurate, either, since I have a mighty high regard for the S&W 686 and Korth revolvers, though, like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, I've never actually seen one of the latter. I've seen pictures of them and think that, if they were affordable and available, I would undoubtedly own one.
But, sadly, that's not the case.
Years ago, when I worked for the NRA, one of the tech guys wrote an article about .357s. On one page, he had a photograph of all sorts of .357s. There was a Taurus, a Llama, a S&W 19, one gun that was more of a Saturday Night Special than a serious gun and up there on the top left was a stainless steel Ruger Security-Six. This fellow wrote a little about each gun, but when he got to the Security-Six, he told of his problems with shooting full throttle loads out of his Model 19. This fellow liked shooting hand-wrenching loads, and after about 2,000 rounds of them he had needed to have the gun retimed. Most people with light bullets had forcing cone issues, but this guy managed to warp the frame. After another 2,000 rounds, it was so adversely affected that he had to retire the gun to shooting .38s.
His favorite gun at the time of that writing (late 70s) was the Ruger Security-Six, 4-inch, which was then as well as now was my favorite .357. He taught me two things. First, after replacing the mainspring with something lighter, find a good, long movie and dry snap the living daylights out of it. That way, it would smooth out the action until it was like glass. And two, get some Speed-Six grips, put them on the gun, draw lines tracing them on the gun, then use a grinder to round the grips. Then put Pachmayr Compact RB grips on the gun. This, he said, was how he did it, and it was this gun he pictured in the article (which I no longer have). So here's mine.
Purdy, huh? My primary gripe with .357 revolvers nowadays is that they've got too much steel in them. They're fine for the range, but for hiking, camping and fishing, they're just too heavy. I know many people like 'em like that, but I'm convinced that if Ruger or S&W put out a .357 like this that there would be a market for them.
Of course I have also a Speed-Six with a round-butt and, though I wouldn't want them on a 6-inch gun, on 4-inchers and less the round-butt configuration is ideal.
So what do you think? Is there a market for this type of gun and, if so, why are there so many underlugs? Do YOU like underlugs?
But, sadly, that's not the case.
Years ago, when I worked for the NRA, one of the tech guys wrote an article about .357s. On one page, he had a photograph of all sorts of .357s. There was a Taurus, a Llama, a S&W 19, one gun that was more of a Saturday Night Special than a serious gun and up there on the top left was a stainless steel Ruger Security-Six. This fellow wrote a little about each gun, but when he got to the Security-Six, he told of his problems with shooting full throttle loads out of his Model 19. This fellow liked shooting hand-wrenching loads, and after about 2,000 rounds of them he had needed to have the gun retimed. Most people with light bullets had forcing cone issues, but this guy managed to warp the frame. After another 2,000 rounds, it was so adversely affected that he had to retire the gun to shooting .38s.
His favorite gun at the time of that writing (late 70s) was the Ruger Security-Six, 4-inch, which was then as well as now was my favorite .357. He taught me two things. First, after replacing the mainspring with something lighter, find a good, long movie and dry snap the living daylights out of it. That way, it would smooth out the action until it was like glass. And two, get some Speed-Six grips, put them on the gun, draw lines tracing them on the gun, then use a grinder to round the grips. Then put Pachmayr Compact RB grips on the gun. This, he said, was how he did it, and it was this gun he pictured in the article (which I no longer have). So here's mine.
Purdy, huh? My primary gripe with .357 revolvers nowadays is that they've got too much steel in them. They're fine for the range, but for hiking, camping and fishing, they're just too heavy. I know many people like 'em like that, but I'm convinced that if Ruger or S&W put out a .357 like this that there would be a market for them.
Of course I have also a Speed-Six with a round-butt and, though I wouldn't want them on a 6-inch gun, on 4-inchers and less the round-butt configuration is ideal.
So what do you think? Is there a market for this type of gun and, if so, why are there so many underlugs? Do YOU like underlugs?