Sidearms & Scatterguns New camping “side arm” SP101 4.2”
- Thread starter Bender
- Start date
Very nice. I think wheel guns are a disease of aging. I never was interested in a wheel gun when I was younger. Preferred SA/DA semis with exposed hammers, yet the older I get the more and more I want a wheel gun just because. I know the next step of the disease is to get a matching lever action and I don't believe there is a cure once you get bit by the bug. Haven't acquired a wheel gun yet, but mostly due to lack of knowledge about them. So many options, calibers, makes. Do I get a 4" or 6", stainless or blued, .357 or .44, Ruger or S&W, etc.
Funny you should mention that, I am now looking for a stainless steel lever action in .357.
Wheel guns are not necessarily a sign of advanced age.
In my mid twenties, a local gun shop owner showed me a one hole group shot with a scoped S&W 629 6" at 25 yards. After being offered to take the revolver to the range, I returned with another one hole target and traded my H&K P7 M8, a tack driver in its own right, for the Smith and a Savage 24f in 20ga over .22Mag.
Both guns joined me for two summers in Alaska and put plenty of food on the table. If I had to leave the O/U behind to carry canoe and fishing gear, the 629 still went along.
Fortunately, I never had to use "the cannon" against the many bears I saw but any game that I decided to eat fell to the first round of the full house Hornady XTP loads. Rabbits and "fools hens" just got head shots so there would be something left to pick up.
Many other guns came and went since then and the 629 is still here. It continued to fill the freezer with deer meat and never failed to put a big smile or any other expression of awe on the face of anybody who shot it.
The double action is now butter smooth and other than some flame cutting on the top strap, that S&W deemed insignificant, this wheel gun is still as accurate and reliable as it was when I bought it over 30 years ago.
It is not my EDC hand gun as defensive scenarios in today's "civilized" world often involve multiple assailants. But it is a formidable rifle substitute that I can easily and even discretely carry on my belt.
It could very well be the gun they have to pry from my cold, dead hands.
In my mid twenties, a local gun shop owner showed me a one hole group shot with a scoped S&W 629 6" at 25 yards. After being offered to take the revolver to the range, I returned with another one hole target and traded my H&K P7 M8, a tack driver in its own right, for the Smith and a Savage 24f in 20ga over .22Mag.
Both guns joined me for two summers in Alaska and put plenty of food on the table. If I had to leave the O/U behind to carry canoe and fishing gear, the 629 still went along.
Fortunately, I never had to use "the cannon" against the many bears I saw but any game that I decided to eat fell to the first round of the full house Hornady XTP loads. Rabbits and "fools hens" just got head shots so there would be something left to pick up.
Many other guns came and went since then and the 629 is still here. It continued to fill the freezer with deer meat and never failed to put a big smile or any other expression of awe on the face of anybody who shot it.
The double action is now butter smooth and other than some flame cutting on the top strap, that S&W deemed insignificant, this wheel gun is still as accurate and reliable as it was when I bought it over 30 years ago.
It is not my EDC hand gun as defensive scenarios in today's "civilized" world often involve multiple assailants. But it is a formidable rifle substitute that I can easily and even discretely carry on my belt.
It could very well be the gun they have to pry from my cold, dead hands.
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Lmao!
I’ve liked wheel guns way before long range stuff. In fact, I have owned 6-7 wheels before I ever bought my first AR. Even then, it just sits. Shot 20rds through it. But there is just something about a pile of reloads at a 3hr Range session with a few wheel guns..... way more interesting than a 30rd mag dump in neck-beard fashion.
Had an sp101 that I carried for years...great little guns and rock solid to boot.....
I’ve got a 5 gallon bucket filled with brass that was fired through mine....
The only downside is the weight.... for a carry gun, there are lighter options, higher capacity options, and more powerful options.
They are great guns.... but I really find they struggle to fill a niche that isn’t better filled by other options.
Personally I like revolvers much better than autos...... as revolvers are actually made to fit in your hand..... swapped my carry gun from a G17 to a SW 69 for that reason
I’ve got a 5 gallon bucket filled with brass that was fired through mine....
The only downside is the weight.... for a carry gun, there are lighter options, higher capacity options, and more powerful options.
They are great guns.... but I really find they struggle to fill a niche that isn’t better filled by other options.
Personally I like revolvers much better than autos...... as revolvers are actually made to fit in your hand..... swapped my carry gun from a G17 to a SW 69 for that reason
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