tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post5606359635741044671..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Because I hate using good material at an away game...Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-79158760669350371862014-04-12T17:29:18.016-04:002014-04-12T17:29:18.016-04:00What are these model numbers of which you speak? ...What are these model numbers of which you speak? ;)staghoundshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05976667812875074135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-64427632358262682672014-04-12T16:46:03.205-04:002014-04-12T16:46:03.205-04:00Gotta love them Model 14 & 15 Smiths... My ...Gotta love them Model 14 & 15 Smiths... My buddies Diamondback doesn't impress me as much as a Combat Masterpiece does. 38 Special still does the jobJimBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05200736126653935817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-73734873411960148432014-04-12T16:40:20.366-04:002014-04-12T16:40:20.366-04:00Tam,
Yes, like that one. Good decision and great p...Tam,<br />Yes, like that one. Good decision and great price! Thank you for the link.<br /><br />I purchased a 4 inch barreled Colt Diamondback new in 1978 because it was heavily discounted by a local high sales volume gun shop and was less expensive than a new S&W model 15-4 Combat Masterpiece. Both are good revolvers, but one is more favored now by collectors than the other. I sold the Colt several years later because I was not shooting it much. Why? I discovered the lower cost per round and higher performance of 9mm Luger rounds, plus magazine changes were much quicker and less frequent than using speedloaders or speed strips when reloading:<br /><br />http://www.ballistics101.com/9mm_vs_.38special.php<br /><br />If I needed to buy a new comparable revolver today, the S&W 686 would probably be my choice. The 686 has a MSRP of $829, much less than what I paid for my Colt Diamondback when adjusted for inflation. Plus, the 686 is constructed of stainless steel and can handle both .38 Special +P loads and .357 Magnum rounds. Ballistics By The Inch shows that the S&W Model 686 has better performance than a Colt Diamondback with the .38 Special round:<br /><br />http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/38special.html<br /><br />http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_764964_-1_757787_757787_757787_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y<br /><br />Ballistics By The Inch also shows that a 4 inch barreled S&W 686 has better performance than a 6 inch barreled Colt Python with the .357 Magnum round:<br /><br />http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/357mag.html#RW<br /><br />BTW I still have my J-frame stainless steel S&W Model 60 snubbie despite owning 9mm Luger pistols.<br /><br />Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-91646341674607349712014-04-11T23:46:27.600-04:002014-04-11T23:46:27.600-04:00Ed,
"If you want a good shooter instead of a...Ed,<br /><br />"<i>If you want a good shooter instead of a safe queen, purchase a used S&W Model 15-4 K38 Combat Masterpiece instead of a Colt Diamondback.</i>"<br /><br />What, like <a href="http://cosmolineandrust.blogspot.com/2007/11/sunday-smith-21-model-15-4-1980.html" rel="nofollow">this one</a>?Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-16555164855073509732014-04-11T22:58:20.957-04:002014-04-11T22:58:20.957-04:00Sigman I've owned two of them the first was ac...Sigman I've owned two of them the first was acquired in 84 right after I got out of the army in AK but got sold or traded the current one I bougght when I started shooting again after deciding race cars ate too much of my money and this one is going no where. It's a very comfortable gun to carry and with a couple speedstrips and maybe a Model 36 in my offhand pocket I feel suitably prepared for pretty much anything short of a war zone and as a plus I can shoot it more accurately than this damnedable M&P 9. <br />I'm also very pleased at the way it's appreciating. I bought it in it's original box with the cleaning kit even for 275.00 eight years ago and it's just about doubled since. Now I just need some better grips. I would have preferred a square gripped gun but the choices at auctions are limited. Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03625557682819115254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-63855730298922412552014-04-11T19:11:57.592-04:002014-04-11T19:11:57.592-04:00Yes, old world craftsmanship created many wonderfu...Yes, old world craftsmanship created many wonderful things. How 'bout the more recent offerings from Colt and Smith, specifically the Gold Cup and the M69? Have you had an opportunity to evaluate either of 'em/heard good or bad things from your friends in the biz?<br />rolandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-67918778659149107012014-04-11T19:10:25.390-04:002014-04-11T19:10:25.390-04:00If you want a good shooter instead of a safe queen...If you want a good shooter instead of a safe queen, purchase a used S&W Model 15-4 K38 Combat Masterpiece instead of a Colt Diamondback.<br /><br />Adjusted for inflation alone, what sold at a certain price 35 years ago would cost four times as much today. The increased cost of labor is offset by the savings incurred by the use of CNC machining which also yields tighter tolerances.<br />Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-4355713791622652442014-04-11T18:48:51.205-04:002014-04-11T18:48:51.205-04:00OK then, about a hundred and a half 2014 dollars f...OK then, about a hundred and a half 2014 dollars for a cheapie.<br /><br />Still within today's price range.<br /><br />I think the issue here would be changes in what is cheap, and what is not.<br /><br />Competent labor and materials are dear today. Automation and some outsourcing does seem to be holding down inflation adjusted costs, albeit at the expense of detailed workmanship.<br /><br />( And the evil comment was just anti-marxist sarcasm ... and no, you are not a marxist, unless we are talking about Groucho Marx )Kristophrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370888276707569365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-18433642549970966892014-04-11T17:14:32.731-04:002014-04-11T17:14:32.731-04:00I've heard we have Rick Grimes to blame for th...I've heard we have Rick Grimes to blame for the skyrocketing prices of Colt Pythons.Overload in Coloradohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11277277751144486368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-50806654066804594222014-04-11T14:39:53.792-04:002014-04-11T14:39:53.792-04:00Bubblehead Les, my price point is $200 but I'm...Bubblehead Les, my price point is $200 but I'm cheap and influenced by the very conditions Tam has blogged about.Scott Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-13509401752344212752014-04-11T14:31:01.141-04:002014-04-11T14:31:01.141-04:00If only Gun-Futures were sold on the commodities m...If only Gun-Futures were sold on the commodities market. "The latest crop-report on excavated Mosin-Nagants is in, and prices are going up!"NotClauswitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14358707844087117280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-14259239115459580322014-04-11T14:08:19.667-04:002014-04-11T14:08:19.667-04:00Oh, and...
"Employers were not particularly ...Oh, and...<br /><br />"<i>Employers were not particularly evil back then.</i>"<br /><br />Did I say they were?Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-18905407340393343502014-04-11T14:05:46.864-04:002014-04-11T14:05:46.864-04:00"A typical cheap revolver in 1900 cost about ..."<i>A typical cheap revolver in 1900 cost about $20 ... </i>"<br /><br />Yeah, no. <br /><br />In the 'teens, a Colt 1903 Auto, not a low-end piece, went for a hair over $20, while $16 would buy you a Remington 51. The Smith & Wesson New Century "Triple Lock", arguably the Cadillac of handguns for its age, cost $21.<br /><br />A Hopkins & Allen pocket revolver ("The Kind Cops Carry!™") was <a href="http://twowheeledmadwoman.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-christmas-gun.html" rel="nofollow">nine and a half bucks</a>.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-10232105089786547782014-04-11T13:40:26.703-04:002014-04-11T13:40:26.703-04:00All I know is that if I can find a Smith K-Frame i...All I know is that if I can find a Smith K-Frame in Shooter Grade for @ $400, I tend to buy it. They just work.Bubblehead Les.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00730873284089958084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-85585001896781408902014-04-11T13:29:17.591-04:002014-04-11T13:29:17.591-04:00"Colt deserted the civilian market in favor o..."<i>Colt deserted the civilian market in favor of govt. Contracts in the 70's.</i>"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.colt.com/" rel="nofollow">Um</a>...Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-71842910716867332052014-04-11T13:29:07.938-04:002014-04-11T13:29:07.938-04:00Employers were not particularly evil back then. Bu...Employers were not particularly evil back then. But they could fire people who annoyed them without being punished.<br /><br />A typical cheap revolver in 1900 cost about $20 ... which would be 15.47 ounces of silver ( each 90% silver dollar had .7736 troy ounces in it ).<br /><br />At today's quote, that would be $309.44.Kristophrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370888276707569365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-7652838385205097822014-04-11T13:27:40.468-04:002014-04-11T13:27:40.468-04:00There's a great bit from "How Green Was M...There's a great bit from "How Green Was My Valley"-<br /><br /> "But in those days money was easily earnt and plenty of it. And not in pieces of paper either. Solid gold sovereigns like my grandfather wore on his watch-chain. Little round pieces, yellow as summer daffodils, and wrinkled round the edges like shillings, with a head cut off in front, and a dragon and a man with a pole on the back. And they rang when he hit them on something solid. It must be a fine feeling to put your hand in your pocket and shake together ten or fifteen of them, not that it will ever happen to anybody again, in my time, anyway. But I wonder did the last man, the very last man who had a pocketful of them, stop to think that he was the last man to be able to jingle sovereigns.<br /><br />There is a record for you.<br /><br />It is nothing to fly at hundreds of miles an hour, for indeed I think there is something to laugh about when a fuss is made of such nonsense. But only let me see a man with a pocketful of sovereigns to spend. And yet everybody had them here once. "<br /><br /><br />Labor was cheap, and yet well paid. <br /><br />Certainly all the semi-socialist stuff we have today adds to the cost of employing labor, but then in the old days those costs went into the pay packets of employees instead. There was nothing to socialise the workers' risk, so they had to plan on it and cover it themselves. And they did- savings banks, mutual aid societies, insurance, Elks and Woodmen of the World.<br /><br />Look at the houses they built. Working people today can't put up places like that.<br /><br />And the employers didn't think the labor cheap either. They were constantly trying to eliminate hands with mechanism. Even then, men were more costly than machinery.<br /><br />The modern stuff, all the costs you talk about, bear on the worker much less directly than they did then.<br /><br />The parasites' cut is the real cost. The workers then weren't keeping 20% of the population for nothing, or a vast government to administer it. One way or another, that third comes out of the workers' paycheck and the boss has to cover it nowadays too.<br /><br />staghoundshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05976667812875074135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-20363553967623919082014-04-11T13:11:22.383-04:002014-04-11T13:11:22.383-04:00I know how you feel. My Bullseye coach had a 4&quo...I know how you feel. My Bullseye coach had a 4" blued Python that was a joy to shoot, even w/magnum loads. But Colt would never be able to make them again, the hand-fitting is a skill that takes decades to master, and Colt deserted the civilian market in favor of govt. Contracts in the 70's.JohninMd.( help?!??)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-70511581457080522542014-04-11T12:54:06.472-04:002014-04-11T12:54:06.472-04:00And they are well built guns, to boot. Most med. f...And they are well built guns, to boot. Most med. frame revolver fans who own the Rugers, hang on to 'em.JohninMd.(help?!??)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-48915188392958748982014-04-11T12:48:08.265-04:002014-04-11T12:48:08.265-04:00On the lock/no-lock issue with 642s, I had heard t...On the lock/no-lock issue with 642s, I had heard the other rumor, "S&W is going to stop making them with a lock". And yes, I heard it in a gun store.ASM826https://www.blogger.com/profile/04017388670319590449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-53880529232051308212014-04-11T11:09:54.543-04:002014-04-11T11:09:54.543-04:00My introduction to the Colt Python was back in the...My introduction to the Colt Python was back in the 80s, a co-worker had one. One pull of the trigger was enough to make me fall madly in love with it. What a joy to shoot. If I could own any single pistol, with money no object, that would be it. Of course, money is the stumbling block, so I will just have to continue to dream, and pray every night that Colt decides to start making them again. They are missing out on a gold mine there. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436128056031782564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-75939101819497666242014-04-11T10:36:31.795-04:002014-04-11T10:36:31.795-04:00Found a beautiful condition 29-3 83/8th for sale a...Found a beautiful condition 29-3 83/8th for sale at my local gunnery. Went back the next day and bought it. I've seen some nice S&W's come and go. Problem in NJ is the wait between finding something you want and getting a permit. Supposed to be a 30 day wait.. more like 12 to 18 weeks. Some day I'll live in a free stateJimBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05200736126653935817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-44861336073958195212014-04-11T10:35:12.525-04:002014-04-11T10:35:12.525-04:00About the hand fitting. Most of the big manufactu...About the hand fitting. Most of the big manufactureres then valued their workforce. Often you didn't get a job making products until you had apprenticed and worked your way up. My Granfather worked at Colt's between WWI and WWI. When working on the gun floor they found out he was allergic to the oils and grease used on the guns. Made him quite ill. Colt's did not fire him and hire the next guy in line. They valued their employees. They trained him to run and maintain the trains that moved materials back and forth between the various building of Colt's plant.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18176167494666126324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-32343652908804499532014-04-11T10:30:04.005-04:002014-04-11T10:30:04.005-04:00Only a certain amount of old smiths, or old anythi...Only a certain amount of old smiths, or old anything, were made. As collectors buy them and put them on shelves, the market naturally becomes smaller and what people can get for the few remaining goes up. <br /><br />we will see a "collectors" market for pre-internal lock guns starting soon. I don't see how the lock makes them inferior unless the lock signifies lower overall quality of the product. <br /><br />If S&W doesn't want to make 2.5 inch barrel K-Frames, I am sure Taurus and other revolver makers will continue to fufill that market niche.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18176167494666126324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-22931763216439331612014-04-11T09:54:07.179-04:002014-04-11T09:54:07.179-04:00Bob,
" I recently purhcased a 642 without th...Bob,<br /><br />"<i> I recently purhcased a 642 without the lock, and the sales guy said that S&W was going to discontinue the practice of selling the lockless version because it makes the lock version look like inferior product.</i>"<br /><br />Yeah, that sounds like gun store gossip to me.Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.com