I lucked into a good deal this morning. Last night, while idly scanning the local Armslist, I noticed a gentleman in a town not too far away had just listed three revolvers for sale, including one that I've been trying to find for years: a Smith & Wesson Model 625-6 Mountain Gun chambered in .45 Colt. It's basically identical to the pictures below.
The seller was asking a fair price, so I contacted him right away to say I'd take it. It's a good thing I did - he said he had five calls within an hour, and I just squeaked in ahead of everyone else! Miss D. and I drove down to collect it this morning, and it's on the desk next to me as I write these words. It's one of the last of the pre-'Clinton lock' models, and in really minty condition. The seller, a retired gentleman, said he'd only put a dozen rounds through it since he'd bought it many years ago. After looking it over, I believe him.
I won't be shooting it right away, thanks to waiting for my kidney stone problem to be dealt with; but as soon as I'm over that, this baby and I have a range date in store. I think either a Dragon Leatherworks Flatjack or a Simply Rugged Sourdough Pancake holster is in its future, too; and I must find a source for 250-260gr. LFN or WFN hard-cast gas checked bullets loaded to a velocity of 900-1,000 fps from a 4" barrel. That should take care of anything I'm likely to have to worry about. I have a friend who reloads, who I'm sure will be happy to put some together for me, or I might talk to Tim Sundles over at Buffalo Bore to see what he can do. (If any other .45 Colt fans would like to come in with me on a group buy from BB, drop me a line - my e-mail address is in my blog profile.)
This Mountain Gun will make a great stablemate to my regular 4" Model 625 in .45 ACP. Now, let's see if I can find another pre-lock Mountain Gun in .44 Magnum to complete the troika . . .
Peter
15 comments:
Congrats on the find!
I've been looking for one like that forever. Congratulations....and now I'm jealus
Oh, wow. I've been looking for pre-lock 625s in both .45LC and .45ACP forever. You must be living right.
Well done, sir. I would love to find one to go with my 5" 625-4 in 45acp.
The Mountain Gun is a true classic. Never sell it, they are hard to find for a decent price anymore.
Great find!
Ashley Emerson over at Garrett Cartridges just put out for sale the exact load you're looking for. 265gr penetrator at near 1000fps (he says 930fps from a 4" Smith). He and his wife Deanna make and sell a quality product.
I've spent many many happy hunting trips with Ashley out on the Ranch shooting big wild pigs with various types of firearms, and he says that load will handle anything in North America, & I believe him.
Try Garrettcartridges.com.
FormerFlyer
Your reloading friend highly recommends you selling that 625 in .45acp to him! You know I want it.
You lucky dawg - nice find ! It pays to be at the right place at the right time. I'm also a fan of big slow bullets, they are much more fun to shoot than the magnums.
The Sourdough Pancake is a good one, I carry one of those Lew Horten S&W 3" .44 Specials in it, simple and elegant. I just wish .44 Special was easier and less expensive to shoot.
Good shooting.
@FormerFlyer: Great! That's exactly what I was looking for. I'll order some right away. Thanks!
Great score!
I think you will find that what are commonly referred to as cowboy loads will be a joy to shoot.
By all means shoot those hard cast gas check slugs, but sparingly. N frame Smiths can suffer considerable wear and tear under heavy use. I had to completely rebuild the crane of a M-29 stainless that had been fed a steady diet of very hot .44 mag loads. Actually a great deal for me as I bought it off the guy with the cylinder locked up, so really cheap. Under repeated heavy recoil the fine threads on the ejector rod had stripped which turned out to be an easy fix with a replacement rod and some minor adjustment. Now I mostly shoot mild .44 specials in it.
Once upon a time when I was shooting in PPC matches I used a 625 in .45 acp to win a few trophies. With full moon clips that gun is faster to reload than an 1911. I believe Jerry Miculek set a few world records for twelve shot strings with one of those guns. But then Jerry is a true freak of nature with any handgun.
As to the cost of ammo, you can pick up a complete basic single stage reloading setup for right around $200 still which lets you load up a couple hundred rounds of an evening. As the brass casing is about a third of the cost of the round and there are other ways to economize you can usually expect a savings of around 50% on factory ammo. And too you have the satisfaction of knowing that each and every round you shoot was created by your own hand.
@Uncle Lar: I used to reload back in South Africa. I haven't done so since coming to the USA, because I haven't had enough free time to devote to it as a hobby. I have a few components here and there, but no "man cave" in which to set them up. If I tried to take off enough hours to do it properly, my readers would scream at me to stop playing around and get back to writing!
Simply Rugged is good for holsters. I highly recommend you check out Lukas Adams' wares at adamsholsters.com; I can personally vouch for the Crossroads OWB rig. Luke's holsters are hand-made and fitted, and he stands behind every one. And he's a genuinely decent, down-to-earth person.
Goatroper
Peter, I fully understand. I load for about a dozen close friends, and have managed to keep them in practice and meat getting ammo for these last few years when finding anything good on the shelves was problematical. It does take considerable time, even with a couple of Dillon progressives. That would be the good sort of progressive for those unfamiliar. Lucky for my buds I retired almost four years ago, so that and a few other hobbies serve to keep me occupied and out of the bars at night.
I no longer have the physical stamina to hunt, but oddly enough those ammo sucking buds of mine will swing by on a semi regular basis and put the occasional grocery bag of elk, venison, or feral hog in my freezer, so I generally don't lack for meat these days. Yet another side benefit to my reloading hobby.
Shiny!
You might take a look at Littlestone. I have put a fair amount of their +P 45 LC loads thru a RBH and shoot their lighter stuff for fun:
http://www.littlestonesrus.com/45-Colt-265-Grain-Cast-Performance-Wide-Flat-Nose-Gas-Checked-Box-of-20_p_1133.html
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