THE SIXGUNNER

My first “pair and a spare” was carried out with the S&W .357 Combat Magnum. For the past 20 years, something very important has spurred me on to gather...

Ken Wegman, a Handgunner reader, asked about using black powder and substitutes in modern pistols, comparing their characteristics in velocity, energy,...

The Very Special Specials, .38 and .44, both arrived in the first decade of the 20th century before WWI. The S&W revolver was originally designed to fire...

Eddie Janis of Peacemaker Specialist, has long been known for producing exquisitely tuned Colt Single Actions as well as beautiful restorations. Eddie...

In 1814 we took a little trip along with Col. Jackson down the mighty Mississipp”; so sang Johnny Horton in his hit recording of “The Battle of New...

After offering the Single-Six for all these many years, someone at Ruger caught the same skill at reading the public pulse and came up with an alternative...

A Perfect Packin’ Pistol — Beater Gun style.

In 1836 Sam Colt came up with the first truly practical and workable revolver, the Colt Paterson. This revolver was a five-shot affair with a revolving...

With such a long career it’s easy to categorize John Wayne’s Western films in many ways. One of the easiest divisions is made by looking at the Colt...

With all the grand handguns currently offered, why would anyone want to spend the money to build a custom sixgun?

Hamilton is as responsible as anyone for bringing custom revolvers to a high art form. In fact many of his creations would be right at home in an art museum.

Tom Beaudette leads Trapper’s Guns, not to be confused with Trapper Guns — quite prominent in the 1970s and 1980s and operated by Lin “Trapper”...

It is no secret that my passion is big bore sixguns. For most sixgun applications we can get by quite well with the old-time, pleasant shooting .45 Colt or...

The original 1911, just as my 1914 Commercial version, had very small sights, at least for my eyes, a hammer that would quite often bite the area of the...

The .44 Special is definitely inherently accurate as is every other sixgun cartridge.

Call it fate, destiny or it just had to be. Whatever your choice, it was meant to happen. My favorite sixgun all these many decades has been a 7-1/2" Single...

A look at Taffin’s Top .45 Colt DA sixguns.

The Freedom Arms Model 97 is a natural for the .32 Magnum and my first is a 7-1/2″ version with the added versatility of a .32-20 cylinder.

The .32 Magnum begins with the .32 S&W Long and is nothing more than an elongated .32 Long — a most pleasant shooting and accurate cartridge especially...

In addition to .44 Russian/.44 Colt/.44 Special and .38 Long Colt/.38 Special in several variations, Cimarron also offers both a .45 Colt and a .45...

John Taffin's dream 1911 pistols in .38 Super from Volkmann Precision. Those two Luke Volkmann .45 ACP pistols were the Combatant Carry and the Custom...

During the Roaring 20s, police were armed primarily with .38 Special revolvers whose ammunition would not penetrate car bodies. Colt’s answer to this...

As shooters, we’re fortunate to be living in a time when the most talented gunsmiths, grip makers and leather workers are plying their trades.

The 1950s were a great time for sixgunners. During those few short years, Colt resurrected the Single Action Army and introduced the .357 Magnum and the...

Most shooters, especially if they began at a young age, started by shooting .22s.

When it comes to sixguns, the 1950s were not just magnificent, they also seem to be magical. In the beginning of the 1950s S&W introduced the first J-Frame,

The 1950s were a great time for sixgunners. During those few short years Colt resurrected the SAA, introduced the .357 Magnum and the .357 Python;

I’m taking advantage of my advancing years and looking at my favorite handguns — an admittedly subjective exercise.

Sam Colt started it all. In 1836 his Colt Paterson became the first truly workable revolver. Chambered in both .36 and .40, it was a smallish, somewhat...

One question often arising from handloaders has to do with the use of short brass and long chambers. Cartridges like the .38 Special in .357 Magnum and .44...