Revolvers

Lieutenant Blowers carried nothing more than his six-shot Webley revolver as a personal defense weapon. Crawling through fetid German trenches stacked deep with corpses both fresh and otherwise, Blowers and his crew picked their way across the most dangerous terrain on earth.

The M1911 was the finest combat handgun at the time of the World Wars. For close range firepower and reliability, nothing beat the M1917 revolver.

Then Smith produced the Model 640 Pro Series, perhaps the best J-frame ever! The Model 640 Pro is a Performance Center pistol that reminds me of the Smiths of old. The 640 Pro is based on a Model 640, stainless, five shot .357 Magnum, with a 2.125” barrel.

The Victory .38 was a wartime version of the original Smith and Wesson Model 10 first introduced in 1899. The gun was variously known as the S&W Military and Police or the S&W Hand Ejector. Total production exceeded six million copies. While civilian variants typically sported a deep blue finish and a variety of barrel lengths, the Victory model was bred purely for combat.

Kimber America, however, seems like the most unlikely company to be in the revolver market. Yes, the same Kimber famous for their 1911s.

Over the last couple of years, Taurus USA has hired a handful of experienced engineers from around the firearm Industry. To complement the new talent, Taurus also opened a state of the art manufacturing and R&D facility here in the United States.

Overall the Colt 1917 is a very interesting revolver. It was a stop-gap sidearm that ended up with American troops in two world wars. 1917 revolvers, both Colt and Smith & Wesson, can usually be found for reasonable amounts of money (especially in comparison to other US military revolvers, or WWI 1911s). They are not difficult to find suitable ammunition for, and they’re strong enough to enjoy some range time with. So if you’re looking for a WWI handgun to add to your collection, consider one of these old Colts.

Taurus has come on with a vengeance in revolvers this year. The 692 is a full-sized revolver in .357 Magnum and .38 Special. Big deal, you say! Every .357 revolver also shoots .38 Special. That isn’t what we meant by multiple calibers. With one press of a button, the cylinder is removable, and in its place? Taurus has provided a 9mm cylinder. One wheelgun = three calibers. Now, we’re talking.

Kimber has been making waves with the K6s revolver line, which are words I never thought I would be typing. From the introduction 2 years ago, they have been steadily growing the line with more and more offerings. This year, three new models are set to debut.