What is your favorite CAS pistol and why?

[Takoda Ray]

I can't just pick one.I love my Ruger New Vaqueros and my Uberti Smoke Wagons. They all shoot good and they all feel good in the hand.None have bad points.Ruger puts out a very good product from rifles right down to the single actions.

[Rye Miles]

I like my Smoke Wagons by Taylor's in .44-40 w/4 3/4" barrels. They are slick and smooth outta the box and have run without a hitch fer 3 years now using nothing but full loads with BP. Other than having the cylinder to barrel headspace brought out to .008 I have done nothing else to these guns.
I like the checkered wood grips, the slightly lower hammer, the wider ramp on the top frame and a thicker front sight. They're a joy to shoot.

  Rye

[cpt dan blodgett]

Tested my 44 Russian extra long with a good amt of FFg schuetzen and a billy bullet 245 swc moly coated hand lubed with my homemade hp lube. Shot ok from rifle and my 7.5 vaqueros. Need to work a shotgun load for fc. Eventually may shoot a litter frontiersman have pr of 1858 new army piettas and a mixed pr of 1860FFg army one inertia one pietta

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[Steel Horse Bailey]

Tested my 44 Russian extra long with a good amt of FFg schuetzen and a billy bullet 245 swc moly coated hand lubed with my homemade hp lube. Shot ok from rifle and my 7.5 vaqueros. Need to work a shotgun load for fc. Eventually may shoot a litter frontiersman have pr of 1858 new army piettas and a mixed pr of 1860FFg army one inertia one pietta

Yeeee-Hawwwwww!

Good on ya, pard!  Are you gonna load BP in brass shotshells?  I've had a ball with mine and have developed a simple way of reloading them.  But it is time-consuming.  (It's all done by hand, except for the re-capping operation, and that COULD be done by other hand techniques.)


My Tula shoot-gun is not my favorite CAS pistol, (or a pistol at all) but I do shoot it one-handed somoetimes at CAS matches!
 

[cpt dan blodgett]

Initially grey AA as I will not cry if they get stepped on

[Texas Lawdog]

SHB, You are a MASTER BLASTER!

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Thank you very glad, Tex Lawdawg!  Brother, it's good to hear from you again.

[Grapeshot]

Describe your favorite pistol.. why do you like it so..
If you're an other, then tell us all what it is..

I'm trying something, you get 2 votes.. we'll see how it works.

After trying Remington 1858's and 1875's as well as Schofields and New Model Russians I went back to the Colt Style Clones.  My favorite revolvers are my 7.5 inch barreled SAA's.  One is an old EMF Dakota with an 1860 Army Grip frame mounted on them and a set of Tru-Ivory grips.  My second is a Great Western 2 outfitted as the Dakota.  Those 1860 grips fit my hand like a glove and are the best shooting of any of the previously mentioned firearms.  Don't get me wrong, I am not bad mouthing the others, it is just that they did not trip my trigger like these SAA clones do.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

After trying Remington 1858's and 1875's as e=well as Schofields and New Model Russians I went back to the Colt Style Clones.  My favorite revolvers are my 7.5 inch barreled SAA's.  One is an old EMF Dakota with an 1860 Army Grip frame mounted on them and a set of Tr-Ivory grips.  My second is a Great Western 2 outfitted as the Dakota. Those 1860 grips fit my hand like a glove and are the best shooting of any of the previously mentioned firearms.  Don't get me wrong, I am not bad mouthing the others, it is just that they did not trip my trigger like these SAA clones do.

Howdy!

Although I have medium to small hands for a man, I have found that the 1860 Army grip on my old Iver Johnson marked C&B gun has the most comfortable grip that is on most of my guns.  (I say most because I have a Hogue grip on my Python - named "Monty," oddly enough    that is the MOST comfortable grip of all the handguns I own, but since it's NOT of the Olde West era, my 1860 gets the nod.)   I have an 1871/2 Open Top I got 'thru Cimarron that has the1860 Army grip as well.  BOTH guns are made by Uberti, but the C&B gun fits my hand better.  The wood is thicker on the O/T and I have sanded it down some, but I'm not very confident and don't want to ruin the already excellent wood-to-metal fit that it came with.  I WISH I could get it even closer and also thin it some, but I don't have a lot of confidence in myself when working with wood.  I guess I'm not patient enough, because I have taken too much material off before, and as you know, once it's gone you can't get it back.  Oh, well.  It fits fine, I just know that it can be perfect (if I knew what to do) because it is just right for most folks and would be VERY close to a perfect fit in the right hands.

Like you, Grapeshot, I prefer the Colt fit (especially the Army grip) but I DO like the Remington fit almost as well.  I had a pair (now just one) of 1875 Remington Army models (the ones that Uberti stupidly markets as the "Outlaw") as well as an 1858 NMA Remington Cap & Ball.  The NMA grip shape and feel (mine is a Pietta) is so-so, but the 1875s came with some hand-made thick grips that had a laser-carved tombstone and different initials on the outside panels of both grips.  One was marked RIP, the other LIP.  If you wore them in a double holster rig, each "engraving" faced outside.  I thought of each as meaning "Rest In Peace" and "Live In Peace."  It was pretty cool when I first got the guns, but I didn't care for the thickness of the grips, plus the laser engraving looked too modern.  (I know, it's just me!  Some years later I sold one of the 1875s and put both of the laser-inscribed panels on it.  Then, my bud Jed Cooper gave me a very nice set of old Uberti factory grip panels he had from a gun he no longer owned.  Surprisingly, they fit very well.  I say surprisingly because Larry "GripMaker" sent me (OK, I bought them) some VERY nice stags that I really wanted on my Remington.  But alas, the frame is shaped oddly, and not like the newer models, so they will NOT fit.

     (Anybody want to buy a "never-been-worked-on" set/kit of stag grip panels for an 1875 Remington?)

If this is the worst thing that happens to me this week, I guess I'm in pretty good shape, eh?!

 

I do love those long 1860 grips!!

[HogDoc Olliday]

My pair of Ruger New Vaqueros, 357 mag.
Just love 'em! 

[fowler]

  Merwin &Helbert is my favorite and this year I will get the new made Merwin &Helbert. I will be able to use it and shoot it. Mine will be a 45colt Opentop. The finest western sixgun ever made!! This year! The factory has contacted me and said soon.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

That's great, Fowler.  A lot of folks have been biding their time to see whether the new M&H revolvers will actually be made.  It sounds like they have finally gotten their act together!

Good on ya, pard!

[buckshot dan]

first handgun i owned was a old 3 screw ruger blackhawk in 357[ bought back in 1975 or76].  have owned about 7 or 8 ruger sa since then  along with with a bunch of other single actions  in 22lr and mag ,357,41mag,44 spc and mag 45lc 454casull  had a old german made nickle plated with ivory grips  44-40 but back in the 70's ammo was almost imposable to find and sold that one for that reason  still have a 71/2"41 blackhawk thats been 1 of the most accurate handguns i've owned.for cas  i like my uberti hombres they just fit my hands a little better . i shot another shooters 2nd gen colt ssa in 357 that was tuned and engraved that was the nicest shooting sa i've shot going have to save some coin to get a pair of old colts to be happy now   the 1873 colts and it's clones are the classic cowboy guns that i grewup watching on tv as a kid and are what i like to shoot in cas

[Storm Crow]

Another vote for Ruger.  I've got a stainless Bisley .357 new Vaquero.  It's the only single action I've got right now.

I had a Taurus Gaucho with case hardened frame in .45 Long Colt, but the ejector rod was plastic, and the grips were ugly black plastic, too.  I know now that I could have traded the grips, but at the time I just couldn't find any information on what grips would fit it, as the Gaucho was (is?) out of production.

I traded it in for the Ruger, and have never looked back.  I'm very new to the sport, so there may be something I set my hand on that I fall in love with at some point, but it hasn't happened yet.

Storm Crow

[MUD MARINE]

My Vaqueros are like the Everready bunny, that just keep shooting on and on forever.  :-)

[Ghostface Charlie]

I went through a few guns before I found two I REALLY like, and they DON'T MATCH...both are Uberti's from Cimarron, my left side pistol is an 1872 Army Open Top with 7.5" barrel. I have several cut & repaired tendons in my right hand dating from the 1980's...it's not as strong or flexible as the left hand. On the right side I use a Model P Jr. The smaller size works well with my right hand infirmity. Both are .38 Special. Sure glad I'm lefthanded

Charlie

[Garand]

Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

Ruger "Old Style" Vaqueros in .44 & .357 Magnum, all with 4.62" barrels. They are very durable and reliable. One of my .44's had 20,000 rds through it before a part (transfer bar) broke. You get your moneys worth out of them.

The girly guns (SASS Vaqueros) belong to the wife!

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Ruger certainly IS "durable."   They're Hell-for-stout.  And you'll be able to pass 'em on to your kids for sure.  And they'll pass 'em on to their kids.  And those "kids" will ... you know.  Ruger is, in the world of guns, a synonym for "strong."

[flyingcollie]

Colt Peacemaker for authenticity . . 

"Other" is my Schofield . . . actually easier to point well than the Colt, I bought it because top-breaks are just 'way kewl !!

[Slowhand53]

Taylor Uberti Cattleman in .357 4  3/4. Found the standard wood grip too slippery so I changed out with a black gunfighter style grip. Works for me.