If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that question…!

On every forum, in my daily email, and in the phone calls I receive is a common query: “of the revolvers available at a dealer, which one should I buy?” These folks are looking for some guidance beyond the simple choice of caliber and barrel length – this is more along the lines of “who makes the ‘best’ revolver?”

The answer I give? Ruger. This, from an admitted revolver snob ...

Well, the guns are certainly real, in the sense that they were made by Colt. What’s not real, though, is they way they came from the factory!

With the prices of collectible Colts going well north of a grand (editor’s note: when this was written in 2006; they’re much higher now!) some unscrupulous sellers have taken to faking the rarer, and more valuable, variations. The most commonly faked is certainly the 3″ Python.

A number of years ago, Colt sold off their ...

Many people talk about the Colt Detective Special using the term “generation.” I get emails asking which “generation” is best or which should be purchased. I recently got a nasty email from a potential client who asked if I could work on a certain “generation”; when I replied that I wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘third generation’, he decided that I wasn’t qualified to work on his guns because I “obviously don’t know anything about Colts!”

Folks, here’s Fact #1: ...

There is an assertion that comes up with surprising frequency, particularly in the internet age where everyone is an expert: the Colt Python (and all other Colt revolvers) are “delicate”, “go out of time easily”, or “not as strong/durable as a S&W.”

Let’s start with the construction: a Colt revolver, for any given frame size, is as strong as any gun with that frame size. Their metallurgy is absolutely the best, and their forged construction is of superior quality. They are ...