Closing out the year — and decade — we looked at revolvers for home defense, a trio of Lipsey's Exclusives from Ruger and how to select and care for sixgun stocks. Read what you may have missed in our Wheelgun Wednesday newsletters this past month and have a happy New Year!
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Perfect Ruger Packin' Trio
This Lipsey’s Ruger GP100 is offered in three chamberings. At first glance all the models look the same. They’re all blued, with the custom stocks and the 5" barrel, and even though it’s a Half-Lug, it’s a bull barrel style. Looking at the very pleasing outline of this revolver drummed up memories from 50 years ago. I was still relatively young when Skeeter Skelton designed his “Dream Sixgun.” He took the best features of several revolvers of the time with his choice of caliber being .357 Magnum and a barrel length of 5".
These are all double-action sixguns with of course the ability to be fired single action. They are all steel and have excellent sights, with an adjustable rear sight mated with a post front and gold bead insert. In a word they’re excellent for a sixgun like this.
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Revolvers And Home Defense
In the “old” days almost everyone had a “wheel gun” sitting in the sock drawer at home, carried in a leather holster — or sometimes just shoved into a pant’s pocket. It was what was most available then. But revolvers for defensive use are not for beginners — and if you want to learn to shoot a revolver start with a .22. Revolvers seem simple, but are more challenging than autos in almost every aspect. Most new shooters are recoil sensitive and almost all of the revolver’s recoil is absorbed by your hand. With an auto a lot of recoil is soaked up by the operation of the gun.
There are many reasons revolvers are ideal for home defense. “But,” you say, “they’re old and ‘famous’ for their lack of stopping power.” Yes, they’re old, production on what we know as the DA revolver seriously began in the early 1900s. The fact they are old is precisely why they’re still in use today — it’s a proven design.
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Selecting Sixgun Stocks
Handgun grips can be crafted from a myriad of materials such as ivory, ram’s horn, stag, plain or fancy woods and a whole gamut of synthetics from micarta to various polymers, even plastics. The selection of material is normally governed by the purse and/or purpose. If money is not an issue, ivory or ram’s horn can easily be chosen. If strength and durability is the number one factor, then the synthetics come into play. For my personal use, sixguns are equipped with ivory, ram’s horn, stag, fancy walnut, exotic woods, both ivory and black micarta and ivory polymers. I am very protective of those wearing the ivory and ram’s horn stocks, normally known as Bar-B-Q Guns, while the micartas or wood mostly get the nod for hunting sixguns.
Today if you’re looking for special grips, a custom stock maker is the answer. Skeeter used to say his holster maker was as important to him as his doctor. Well, my grip makers are as important to me as my doctors; one group keeps me shooting, the other keeps me alive. It’s a rare sixgun that does not have the stocks replaced when it comes into my hands, and the stocks on double-action sixguns are especially offensive.
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More Wheelguns
Read December 2019 Wednesday Wheelgun features from GUNS Magazine and subscribe to receive revolver-related content, including editorial, videos and news, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.
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Previous Month: November 2019
