Choosing a gun is a lot like choosing a girlfriend or a wife. We want one that we consider to be attractive and we want one that will perform all the functions required, flawlessly. Beauty, of course, is an individual definition and a plain lady can be totally satisfactory when it comes to performance.

The discussions of revolver vs auto loader are endless, on the Glibs site as well as in every gun magazine and all the other outdoor media. For years and years the police carried a .38 caliber revolver and the military used a 1911 auto loader, it seems both did the job intended. Then they all changed, technical improvements, manufacturing techniques and politics, yes, politics, found their way into the decision making.

My close friend has both, I mean he likes and shoots both – but not too well as far as accuracy goes. But he still can enjoy both types. Some time back, I’m guessing close to forty years now, a friend showed me his new gun, a single shot, well made, looked good and he could hit stuff with it. I admired it from afar, held it close and I was infatuated. It was close to love at first sight but the romance faded a bit when he told me the price. It wasn’t terribly expensive but my resources were limited at the time. I put it on hold but never forgot. Some day, some day.

 

 

Time passes and my financial situation improved. I finally decided I’d look around and see what was available. I had decided a long time before that that I wanted a Ruger Red Hawk, 41 Remington Mag. Why a .41? There were fewer around and the difference between a 44 and 41 was recoil and I thought I could learn to shoot the 41 better. Now back to the story. I was living in Texas at the time and working in Waco. On the way home from work one day I stopped in a pawn shop and lo and behold, there was the gun I had admired from afar. Not a Red Hawk, but a Thompson Contender, the beauty I had held a few years earlier. The one in the display case was a .45 Winchester Magnum, with a 14 inch barrel. I’ve forgotten the price but it was about $200, used but immaculate. Next to it in the display case was a .41 Remington Mag with a 10 inch barrel priced about $90.The barrels are interchangeable so I asked the clerk if he’d swap out the barrels for me. No was the answer. I went ahead and bought the .45 Winchester and the .41 Remington barrel, ending up with essentially two guns. One frame, two barrels. I forgot the Red Hawk, that’s another story with a happy ending.

 

 

For those unfamiliar with a Contender they are a high quality American made gun with the unique capability of changing barrels and calibers in about a minute flat. Only tool needed is a quality screwdriver and a flat surface so one doesn’t lose the screw or the pin. So simple a cave-, oh, not going there. Anyway, easy to change barrels for those of us with lesser mechanical skills. Now I had a frame and two barrels, what’s next? It came with black rubber grips but I’m left handed and decided I needed the left hand walnut grips. You know, to sort of dress it up a little. Original equipment includes an adjustable rear sight but I wanted a scope. Seems like the grips were about $35 and the Thompson scope was near a Benjamin.

 

 

I was ready. I already had reloading equipment and I needed the reloading dies. I bought those and started reloading and shooting. .45 Winchester brass is hard to find, I happened to stop at Cabela’s in Owatonna and they had two bags @ 100 for seven dollars a bag on sale so I bought the two bags, usually they would have been about $20 a bag.

 

 

I bought another TC at McGuire’s in Austin, 30 Herrett caliber, with a 10 inch barrel. 30 Herrett is a shortened and reformed 30-30 cartridge, a true wildcat, slightly less power than a 30-30 but don’t tell the deer that. Now I had two frames, three barrels. The new one got the walnut grips and a scope as well. Now I had to make my own ammo and this added a new dimension to reloading.

I moved to the Twin Cities in ’95 and found a store in Mendota Heights, south of St Paul. Bill’s had a large inventory of barrels, I ended up with a .223 14 inch, a 6.5mm X .223 14 inch and a .22 cal 10 inch barrel. On these I only added a scope mount, ’cause I could swap out a scope from another barrel. Now I had 2 frames, 6 barrels so 6 different guns to choose from as needed.

Over the years I’ve hunted deer with a rifle, after I had a deer I’d start carrying the pistol, partly for fun, partly to show off. About 20 years ago I did take a second deer with the 30 Herrett. This year, because of circumstances I carried the .41 Rem Mag from the getgo. I would have trouble going up a ladder quietly with a rifle. On the morning of the second day I was challenged by a spike buck and he lost.

Many years ago I read an article by Elmer Keith, a guy who touted a .44 Mag revolver as a hunting gun. Elmer said if you could hit a pie plate at 50 yards that was good enough shooting for deer. Using a rest and scope I can do that but I only get one chance before the deer or pie plate starts laughing at me. A pistol scope has a long eye relief, like 20 inches. You have to hold the gun out at arms length and try to find the target through a one inch pipe. The field of vision is pretty small, even at 50 yards, then hold steady enough to find the right spot on the deer. The good part though, for a geezer, is the gun is a lot lighter. I wear a shoulder holster inside my coat to keep the gun from banging around. For fun and excitement I’ll stick with a Thompson Contender, I may see a few deer run off but that’s what tomorrows are for. It’s a great teaching tool for youngsters. Break open barrel, safe and teaches ammo conservation.

I never looked again for a Red Hawk but somehow I pulled a big boy Smith 29 out of the lake but it fell back in. I marked the side of the boat so I’ll find it the next time I’m fishing. There are only two people in the world that have .45 Win Mags and the other guy thinks a Model 94 Winchester 30-30 is superior to a Marlin 336 30-30 but I know better, I’ve had both. We are both lucky. Now I have to convince my wife that she won the lottery too.