Mega Rad Gun Thread

Any particular reason to avoid the Smiths?
The ones made back when they were insanely popular and thus became very collectible had small parts that were...less resilient than one would want for running full power .44 loads. Not a dealbreaker or anything as they were very well made revolvers otherwise (pinned and recessed barrels, carefully hand fit, carefully timed, etc.). That and their incredibly inflated resale price make it hard to recommend them unless you simply have to have one. The more contemporary models have that fucking gay trigger lock and S&W noticeably cut costs in the production of all their revolvers. One can find decent examples floating around but it's time and effort that I don't think is worth the end product.

Current Colt and Ruger put out stuff that performs as advertised, can run loads that even Elmer Keith would approve of, and has excellent customer support.
 
The ones made back when they were insanely popular and thus became very collectible had small parts that were...less resilient than one would want for running full power .44 loads.
This stems from the fact that the N-Frame has it's roots in the 19th century. the modern S&W action was developed from the US Army in 1899 as a supplement to their Colt M1892 .38 Long Colt revolvers. all S&W's since have been variants of this action in different scales.

The N-Frame came along in 1908 with the triple lock .44 Hand Ejector 1st model new century. AKA the "triple Lock". often considered the finest revolvers S&W built along side the registered magnums. The Triple lock was offered in .44 Special primarily, but some in .455 Webley were made for the British Empire during WW1. during the war they took out the 3rd lock on the cylinder crane because it was unneeded for .44 special and .455 webley pressures.

When the .44 Magnum was being developed they did some special heat treating to the cylinder and frame to make the gun withstand the pressure but that was about it. The action just wasn't designed for the kind of recoil .44 Mag generates. they go out of time, shear pins in the action etc. That 3rd lock from the Triple Lock was never brought back either, for some reason. now, in the 80s (?) S&W came out with the "endurance package" which did a lot to make the guns stronger but the fact remains that the Model 29 is a marginal .44 and will wear out far before the Colt anaconda, Ruger Redhawk, Ruger Blackhawk etc.

If you just compare a Model 29 at a distance to a Colt Anaconda they both look like big .44's but when you get them in hand you'll find the model 29 is a much more trim and sleek revolver. a lot less meat in the frame and cylinder to soak up recoil. this slimness is also why the .45 colt Model 25 N-frames can't handle .45 colt +P like the redhawk or anaconda.

The Colt and Ruger also benefit from being clean sheet designs. The Ruger Blackhawk was designed in 1955 specifically for the .44 mag after Bill Ruger sent company agents to dig through Remington's trash to get .44 mag cases before the cartridges commercial debut. the Redhawk came along in 1979 and the Colt Anaconda is the newest .44 magnum, debuting in 1990.
 
As far as GLOCK mags for PCCs go, all the mags for my Vector have been great so far. I've currently got three of the 40rnd Vector mags, the ones with the extension added to them, and one 33rnd GLOCK OEM G17/G18 mags. All of them have been perfectly reliable in the Vector. The few feed issues I have had were nothing to do with the mags from what I could tell, and only happened the first time I shot the Vector practically right out of the box with no lube other than what it left the factory with. No issues since.

As for magnum revolvers: I absolutely love vintage S&W N Frames, ones made before the mid-70s. I personally believe they are some of the finest made revolvers to ever have come out of the US. I know the old Pythons get all the love, but I have to give it to the old N Frames. And even the old Pythons had their issues, like the cylinder going out of time when fed a steady diet of magnum loads, much like the Model 29 with .44 Magnum. The Model 27 of any vintage can eat .357 Magnum all day just fine, as it is basically a product improved 38/44. If you want a Vintage "dash 2" or earlier Model 29 because you want a piece of firearms history built the old way and don't plan to shoot it regularly with full-house magnums, I say get it. Those old Smiths have some of the nicest blued finishes you'll see anywhere and it's a damn shame S&W lost their blueing process in the 70s.

However, if you are looking for a .44 Magnum revolver that you want to shoot all the time with full-goose magnum loads, as others have said, get the Colt Anaconda/Kodiak or Ruger Super Redhawk. The Rugers are well built, if utilitarian tanks. They'll handle .454 Casull and .480 Ruger, so hot .44 Mag is nothing to them. The new Anacondas a much better looking guns and are basically the new Pythons scaled up and beefed up to handle the larger cartridge. When Colt decided to bring back their two most famous Snake Guns they did it right, kept them as true to the originals as they could while also making sure to address some of the known issues with the originals and beefing them both up to eat today's hot magnums and come back for seconds and thirds. With the Anaconda, they lengthened and beefed up the cylinder, so the new Anaconda will handle longer and heavier .44 Magnum loads that the Smith 29 simply can't. I especially believe the Anaconda/Kodiak make much better carry guns than the Model 29.

But if you gotta have the same gun Dirty Harry had, then nothing but a vintage "dash 2" or earlier Model 29 will do. There are some online gun shops specializing in vintage and collectable guns where you can find vintage Model 29s in great condition for a bit more than you'd pay for a new Anaconda. Simpson Ltd. is where I got my vintage Model 57 and they've always done right by me.
 
Brice update!!!!!
BSDAR.PNG

VSSAR.PNG

Its going to ship any-day now when B&TUSA totally pulls through and delivers those suppressors (just ignore the shit happening with them)
Notice no iron sights, allegedly "the suppressors will have the irons printed on them" It also has a side rail mount.
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A commenter pointed out a flaw in one of the videos he posted, I'm assuming its hammer follow
triggerissue.PNGraymond1.PNGraymond2.PNG
Next is an assortment of comments that I found funny, or insightful

iansaid1.PNGiansaid2.PNGcopear.PNGopinionconsidered.PNGperfecttiming.PNG
"circle 10 mags wont work" "your opinion he's been considered." "why would we use some billion year old technique" "our intent is to use modern manufacturing techniques to revive an older design" "don't lie to him it was as easy as folding paper. Now the wanna back track like lil bitches"
:story:
itsnotaclone.PNG

Nearly 1200 pre-orders for this btw
 
Decided I wanted to try the LEM triggerin my usp compact, holy shit, installing this crap yourself is like pulling teeth. I ended up losing the dog leg spring so now I've got to order a replacement. Wonderful.
 
Brice update!!!!!
View attachment 8937635
View attachment 8937638
Its going to ship any-day now when B&TUSA totally pulls through and delivers those suppressors (just ignore the shit happening with them)
Notice no iron sights, allegedly "the suppressors will have the irons printed on them" It also has a side rail mount.
View attachment 8937686
A commenter pointed out a flaw in one of the videos he posted, I'm assuming its hammer follow
Next is an assortment of comments that I found funny, or insightful

"circle 10 mags wont work" "your opinion he's been considered." "why would we use some billion year old technique" "our intent is to use modern manufacturing techniques to revive an older design" "don't lie to him it was as easy as folding paper. Now the wanna back track like lil bitches"
:story:
View attachment 8938752
Nearly 1200 pre-orders for this btw
Holy shit, these guys deliver (the lolz).

Even if they are legally allowed to manufacturer machine guns, their intended customers aren't legally allowed to get them. It will be the T-36 all over again but with junkies.
 
And even the old Pythons had their issues, like the cylinder going out of time when fed a steady diet of magnum loads, much like the Model 29 with .44 Magnum.
for similar reasons, seeing as the Gen 1 Python was largely just a variant of the Colt Army special of 1907, a .38 special.

(Imagine how bad the python's rep would be if they had went ahead and built it in .41 mag like Elmer Kieth wanted)
 
Brice update!!!!!
View attachment 8937635
View attachment 8937638
Its going to ship any-day now when B&TUSA totally pulls through and delivers those suppressors (just ignore the shit happening with them)
Notice no iron sights, allegedly "the suppressors will have the irons printed on them" It also has a side rail mount.
View attachment 8937686
A commenter pointed out a flaw in one of the videos he posted, I'm assuming its hammer follow
Next is an assortment of comments that I found funny, or insightful

"circle 10 mags wont work" "your opinion he's been considered." "why would we use some billion year old technique" "our intent is to use modern manufacturing techniques to revive an older design" "don't lie to him it was as easy as folding paper. Now the wanna back track like lil bitches"
:story:
View attachment 8938752
Nearly 1200 pre-orders for this btw
Why is this nigga flexing his super cool totally real shipping any day now ass valve when the dust cover is still in the white? Surely it's easy to just cerakote it or something real quick before taking a photo for the 'gram
 
I've found mine to be pretty reliable; I don't think I've had any malfunctions. They are definitely bulky. For me the main appeal is the ability to use a 9mm upper on an NFA AR-15 lower. Otherwise I would probably go with one of the more compact magazine types.


I guess it's the absolute fastest way hands down to convert a lower with standard magwell to accept a 9mm upper. I understand not everyone knows how to weld/machine do general gunsmithing. As I said in previous posts, there are maybe 6 different manufacturers at this point if you want to go either glock or Colt/UZI mags. It's my understanding the the better ones are tunable with a fully functional LRBHO.

If she can do it in 45 seconds with an Allen wrench tool and this one particular adapter MSRP's for under $200, I'd go this way so I could use slim Glock stick mags in a lower I had already invested a NFA tax in.


The only gripe I keep hearing is some need to be tuned for ideal angle and ideal height the magazine is lifted to. The better brands have set screws so you can play with them and find the sweet spot. Even if there were no set screws to tune if you know basic metal work you can always shave some metal off here braze some extra metal here.
 
for similar reasons, seeing as the Gen 1 Python was largely just a variant of the Colt Army special of 1907, a .38 special.

(Imagine how bad the python's rep would be if they had went ahead and built it in .41 mag like Elmer Kieth wanted)

Yep. Instead of widely being considered one of the best American revolvers designed it would have been considered one of the worst.

As a big .41 Rem Mag fan, I would love to see Colt offer it in the new Anaconda or even the Kodiak. Likewise, I'd love to see the new Ruger-Marlin 1894 SBLs in .41 Mag as well. I highly doubt it'll ever happen, but if it did I'd have to find a way to own one of each.
 
all the mags for my Vector have been great so far. I've currently got three of the 40rnd Vector mags, the ones with the extension added to them
Seconded - once I got a couple hundred rounds through my Vector they have worked perfectly well. All the malfunctions I experienced were stovepipes anyway.
 
Decided I wanted to try the LEM triggerin my usp compact, holy shit, installing this crap yourself is like pulling teeth. I ended up losing the dog leg spring so now I've got to order a replacement. Wonderful.
Should have gotten a gray guns short reset instead, night and day difference in reset got one in mine and its the best investment you can get.
 
The big one is Ukraine. We're going to get the most diverse supply of surplus in history once the war is over.
Assuming the war ends in a reasonable timeframe, it’ll be a schizophrenic mix of combloc stuff, NATO stuff and Chinese stuff. I hope they manage to dig some North Korean gear out of the piles of captured equipment too.
 
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