New Toy

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Buckshot/Rick Tunell abducted me yesterday afternoon just as the World Cup ended well for the USA vs. England. He wanted to gloat some more about the little Colt Police Positive he got at a local toy store last week, and confirm that it was indeed a 32 S&W Long caliber. To this end we brought along a few 32 SWLs I had on hand, loaded and ready.

These plunked into the chambers without a bobble, which was no surprise after reading the "32 Police" stamping on the 4" barrel. This one has the nice square sight set that my Police Positive in 38 S&W has. Cute little critter.

I have been palavering around for some months about getting a 22 Win Rimfire Magnum revolver to pair up with my CZ 455 Varmint bolter in that caliber. Being in a gunshop, it only made sense to check stock with the supplier to see if My Heart's Desire was available. Nicely enough--it was. Ruger Single-Six stainless #0662, the 7.5" barrel with dovetailed rib to mount a scope if so desired. It is a close match to the Ruger Bisley Hunter in 44 Mag that I snagged around Christmas 2018. It has the plow-handle grip, which will likely get replaced with a Pachmayr neoprene set so that my ring and small fingers have a place to go on the grip frame. I have a little time-in-grade with the Single-Sixes, and they tend to migrate away like the 10/22s do into the hands of daughters and nephews and sons-in-law. THIS ONE STAYS, you rotten kids--they are making enough coin now to be able to afford their own dang war toys. I spoil my wife and rotten children something awful. Where was I........oh, the new revolver. I doubt that the new gun will ever see or use its 22 LR cylinder--this one is all about the 22 Magnum.

Another long-delayed purchase was 500 each of "unleaded ammo" in 22 LR and 22 Magnum. Lead ammo for hunting went the way of 8-track tape decks as of 2 days ago in Kalifornistan. When in Rome......now I can hunt legally with the rimfires. The shop owner mentioned that Cal-DFW--at least locally--were not enforcing the lead ban for hunting ammo, per the local warden. That is nice enough for local hunting, but these are the sorts of arrangements that can vary by district IME. I am not going to lose a firearm AND 3 years of hunting and fishing rights for a chicken---- ticket that is 100% preventable. When in Rome.......I don't like it, but it's not a mountain worth dying on either.

Rick brought me home after I depleted my disposable income in this profligate manner, all in a lather to get online and order components from Graf's for his new-to-him Colt PP. I kinda created this monster, his late-in-life attraction to (as he calls them) "revolters". It only seemed right that I supply him with enough RCBS 32-98-SWCs to get him good and hooked on the caliber and mould design. This casting has been the most predictably accurate 32 caliber revolver bullet I have ever owned. I have owned the mould since c. 1985, and I have no idea how many bullets I have cast with it. LOTS would be my best estimate. He is already plotting a campaign of pin-gauging and bore slugging within an hour of the little wheelgun clearing the DROS process.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
It will come home on 7/19. As usual, the Single-Six OEM grip frame is a bit small for my big old paws. The Pachmayr neoprene Presentation sets for S/S and BH grip frames fit my hands pretty well, but they seem like a bit much on these smaller-framed 22 rimfires. That is NOT the case on this 7.5" heavy-contour barrel--the Pachs or one of the Hogue neoprenes will feel right at home. Like my 6-shot S&W Model 617, this one is kind of a "chunk" for a 22 rimfire handgun, but I adore that 617--and I see the Single-Six getting similar affections.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
The New Toy came home yesterday afternoon. I am very happy with it, and look forward to some trigger time with it quite soon.

Its sights are interesting to me. The rear sight blade is a shallow V-notch much like an express sight, and its front post-and-bead is easily replaceable with the Ruger dovetailed spring-detent arrangement like those seen on the Redhawk and No. 1. The thin contour of the front post and the shallow-V get along with my eyes pretty well so far, better than the Mauser-esque "barley-corns" on my G98/40. I can make most sighting systems do good work, and this one has scope rings if worse comes to worst. The rear sight blade is cranked fully to the right, I hope this is an oversight/anomaly rather than a sighting adjustment from the factory based upon firing tests. We shall see.

The hammer spring is STALWART. I don't think ignition will be an issue with this little monster. Trigger let-off is decent. The grips are--as predicted--way too small. I am not one that is fond of using my small finger as a shelf for the revolver/pistol butt to rest upon. Gotta check the spare grips box on the shelf in the garage to see what is already in inventory that fits. I surely wish this variant came with an OEM Bisley-form steering apparatus. Those work very well for me--plow handles DO NOT. The current panels are NFL players--Not For Long.

OK--now for the "Clockwork Orange" segment of this process. I mentioned having ordered some unleaded rimfire ammo to hunt with in 2 calibers, and that picking it up on the same day as the revolver's pickup would save a $1 fee and a 2nd background check. This did NOT save any paperwork, however. I had to sign SIX copies of a new form that looks much like the CA DROS firearms sale/transfer documents in order for the dealer to make the delivery of the ammo. Small wonder that reloading is exploding in growth in California. I think I'll just travel to Sprague's Sports in Yuma for my ammo in the future. What a PITA. I'll put up with the BS for the Condor Cuddler Rimfire Chow, because no place else on earth requires it--so shops won't bother to stock it outside the PRC. Oh, how I despise .gov do-gooder apparatchikikh.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I have some sights like that on my Freedom Arms Model 86 in .44 Mag. I will be replacing them with
normal sights. They seem fast but my experience with a S&W 329 and S&W 317, which both came with that
type of site is that for accurate shooting they are dismal. Your eyes may work differently with them. I have
had zero luck shooting any sort of a decent group with them. the 329 and 317 have had the sights replaced
and it was a massive improvement. The FA is next.

The two S&Ws had a relatively narrow V, but the FA has a very wide, very shallow V. All seem equally
imprecise to my eyes.
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Amazing how different people have different preferences.
The Single Six grip frame is fine for me. I don’t have real beefy hands so I can easily make it work.
The v groove sights are not for me. I want a standard square U groove rear and a front blade.
 
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CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Well, lemme run some rounds through this little beast with the OEM parts in place, and we will see what works and what needs changing. I think the grip set upgrade is a "given", though.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I'm sure that some folks like the V type sights, and can make them work well - or they wouldn't be on the
factory guns, right? I find the stad Colt SAA grip frame too small for me, changed one for a 1860 Colt
Army BP grip frame, which feels much better to me.
 
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Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I'm sure that some folks like the V type sights, and can make them work well - or they wouldn't be on the
factory guns, right? I find the stad Colt SAA grip frame too small for me, changed one for a 1860 Colt
Army BP grip frame, which feels much better to me.

I would suspect they are on the guns out of tradition more than . . . "works". :rolleyes:
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I would suspect they are on the guns out of tradition more than . . . "works". :rolleyes:

This variant is a "Hunter" series revolver. The open irons are probably an after-thought, given that scope rings come with the dove-tailed barrel this model features. The shallow-V rear blade is not a sight I would have chosen, nor is the beaded/narrow-post front sight either. I prefer square-form notches at the rear and blocky Patridge front posts.....but I wasn't consulted. Changes to these seem easy enough to make, but finding the parts will be the real hunt. Ruger's online catalog doesn't show much along these lines. Who knows? I might be able to drive tacks with the OEM sighting gear. I like open irons, and have done well with them for a long time. I can still see them quite well, so they aren't inherently impossible at present.
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I'm with you on the SA plow handles Al. Never could get used to them. My hands aren't particularly large but they are wide and, well, they're farmer hands- beat all to heck and getting crooked. XXL gloves fit good, with a little finger tip left over. Trying to find grips that really fit the individuals hand is a often a multi-year (multi-decade?) exercise. I have yet to find anything in the SA that I really like.

She sounds like a gun with possibilities. I'd ask why you remain in Ca, but that's like asking me why I'm still in NY- it's home. I get it.
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
"I'd ask why you remain in Ca, but that's like asking me why I'm still in NY- it's home. I get it."

Bret,
I know it was written to Allen, but it applies to me, too. Thanks for understanding -- so many don't.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I've got a different take on it. Home is where you make it and some things warrant making home somewhere else. I escaped from CA as soon as I qualified for my pension and have no problem or regrets calling AR home.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
There are fewer reasons for me to stay here now than 5-10 years ago, and I am 7 months away from applying for Medicare. That was called a CLUE at my old job site.

My family has lived in this area for almost 155 years. None of our girls reside here now, and I don't see them ever returning. They had to leave in order to build good careers and/or afford to buy property. 4 out of 6 of the kids are in the Pacific Northwest, 3 in WA's Sea-Tac area. NO THANK YOU. Somewhere between Wenatchee and Yakima might work in WA, but to be frank Yuma AZ has a lot more that we like.

On 8/7 I start the process for the permanent prosthetic device. Things are moving right along.
 
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Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
We're sort of thinking of moving to southwestern Vermont. That's the old ancestral stomping grounds from way back anyway, and if I have to live in a blue state, then I'm better off in a blue state with lower taxes and actual gun rights. That will get SWMBO close to her sisters, (eeehhhhhh!), and me to some trout fishing. Plus, I might suddenly discover a number of guns I had previously not realized I owned, much less had made any state agency aware of. Nothing illegal mind you, just things that would normally be handed down that now remain sort of in limbo due to a ridiculous mandate by a certain state. My genealogy searches would certainly be easier being in driving distance of about 150 dead relations I know of, that for sure. But I can certainly understand sticking to your guns and toughing it out even in a state that has gone to the devil. Darn shame that it seems to be happening more and more.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Gave up everything in the place , or within 100 miles , that I'd lived more or less my whole life . Seeing what the last election brought makes it easier to have done so . On the other I'm only about 100 from where my grandmother was born and about 4-5 generations before her . So I guess I've just come home .
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
I'm a first generation Californian -- Mom was born in Washington State, Dad in Oklahoma. Mom's grandparents immigrated from somewhere in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire that is now Czechoslovakia, and Dad's father immigrated from Southern Italy. My American roots are not very deep.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
On my dad's side we are 5th-generation San Bernardino CA residents. That family can be traced back to at least 1725 in the Virginia Colony. Mom's dad is from Dinuba in the San Joaquin Valley, they were there in the late 1890s prior to his birth. Mom's mom was an immigrant from Freiburg, Germany (c. 1911) whose family settled in Martinez, CA.