By R.K. Campbell
Contributing Editor
As I get older my bucket list gets shorter and perhaps my expectations are more realistic.
There are a couple of handguns that I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to obtain and use. I am not a collector but a shooter. This results in an accumulation of handguns, seldom more than one of the same model, heavy on .357 Magnum revolvers and 1911 autos.
There have been pistols I looked for and found but they are pretty common. The Springfield Ronin, for example, is an interesting new pistol but not exactly the Holy Grail of firearms. There have been high end 1911 handguns, Colt Single Action Army revolvers, and the occasional Combat Magnum. But there were a couple that I had on the list that seemed made of unobatanium, the fictional mineral found on the fictional moon of Pandora. These are not guns I saw in the shop and swooned over but rather firearms that I knew would provide excellent performance. They are also quite expensive.
My plan was to spread the purchases out a bit. After all I had been on the lookout for years for guns. What are the chances to find them all within a few months during the craziest shortage and gun panic of all time? Slim to none I figured so there we are with all of them in the gun safe. As a result, I will be working past the planned retirement age to pay back the retirement account as a result of my good fortune.
Some of the guns you see in the gun books are not common. As an example I had looked for a Les Baer Stinger ever since I first saw the pistol in print some years ago. I never handled one, did not even see one in person, and counted it a lost cause. Then I walked into a shop and a pristine but used example presented itself. You don’t have to slap me in the side of the head with a flat iron to get my attention. I obtained the Stinger and recounted the pistol’s performance in these pages a few weeks ago. There is nothing to be desired.
Another pistol that called to me was a full size Government Model Les Baer. This isn’t a stainless pistol but a hard chrome handgun. The pistol features DuPont coated controls and sturdy G10 grips. The color scheme of the Les Baer 572 Hemi doesn’t appeal to everyone but I find it boldly attractive. This is a used gun purchased for about sixty per cent of the Les Baer’s hefty price tag. Performance has been exceptional. Les Baer guarantees a three inch five shot group at fifty years. I cannot shoot that well but I have come very close. With Black Hills 230 grain JHP loads the pistol has turned in a five shot 1.25-inch group at 25 yards so maybe one day I will do the business at 50 yards in the right manner. At one time I owned many more 1911s than are presently in the safe. Quantity has given way to quality and this pair of Les Baer pistols are at the top of the heap. I carry and fire them often.
As a young man I was excited at the news of new handguns and most often had to trade most of what I owned to obtain the newest piece. Sometimes the gun I traded in was the better gun! A few decades ago I thought the Colt Python, at five hundred dollars or so, was expensive. Today a vintage gun brings several thousand dollars. When the new Python was introduced I examined the controversy concerning the pistol. In short everyone doesn’t know how to handle the Colt double action trigger. It is easy not to allow the pistol’s trigger to reset and lock the action up. A shooter that masters the Colt action has a very smooth and accurate revolver. The six-inch barrel Python proved superbly accurate. It is the better gun than the original. However- I really wanted a new four-inch barrel Python. I did some shuffling around and gave my sons the original 1969 Python and new stainless six-inch barrel Python.
I heard through the gun grapevine a stainless steel four-inch barrel new model Python was in the case at a shop an hour away. Two days after I laid away the Stinger! Not one to duck a blessing I made a trade and went home with the four-inch barrel Python. I fired the revolver extensively. A complaint came up I did not realize with the muzzle heavy six-inch gun. The factory Python grips allowed my hand to slip during extended firing strings. I purchased a set of Hogue rubber grips and put them on my $2,000 Python. This made things right. The tacky rubber features the ideal balance of abrasion and adhesion. This is easily the most accurate revolver I own. I carry it often under appropriate covering garments in a Lobo Gunleather pancake style holster. The revolver rides high and offers a fast draw. I am much happier with this pistol than the six-inch barrel Python.
The final handgun on my bucket list was there the longest. The Colt Three Fifty Seven was Colt’s original deluxe Magnum, somewhat more nicely finished than the Trooper and strengthened compared to the Official Police. Only about 30,000 were made and production ceased in 1963. They are rarer than the Python but command a fraction of the price. In common with the Official Police and Python the Three Fifty Seven is built on a .41 frame.
The Army Special was chambered in .32-20, .38 Special and .41 Colt among other calibers. The Official Police frame is slightly larger than the Smith and Wesson Military and Police but smaller than the N-frame Hand Ejector. The result is a well-balanced revolver that handles well and has proven robust in service. While the Colt action is smooth the nature of the action also transfers more recoil energy back to the small parts. In hard use in competition involving thousands of rounds the Colt went out of time more quickly than the Smith and Wesson. That doesn’t mean the Colt won’t keep running for decades. I had wanted to find a good belt gun for years but the six-inch barrel Three Fifty Seven is far more common. Finally, I found a four-inch barrel revolver at Ocala Armory in Florida. The Three Fifty Seven is in remarkable condition. The action actually had packing grease inside! I don’t know if it were there since the gun left the factory in 1959- but maybe so.
This is a fast handling revolver with a different character than the Python. I have carried this revolver when hiking with the grandchildren. The primary lookout is dangerous animals such as feral dogs. There have been unfortunate incidents on the Appalachian Trail and on one occasion a bobcat went on a biting spree and injured seven people. A .357 Magnum just seems right- especially loaded with the Black Hills Honey Badger load.
These are first class handguns. As a result of filling my bucket list my collection is smaller but tighter, with better firearms and more useful handguns I enjoy. I will still obtain firearms as they are introduced and evaluate and report. The bucket list guns, however, are not going anywhere and are among my most used firearms. Despite a general shortage of quality firearms some of the high end and collectible firearms are as available as every- catch as catch can but no worse. Think hard about your own bucket list and start filling in the blanks. There is no time like the present.
