Colt detective special/Walther Ppks

[The Doc]

Taurus pt -138 ,12 shot with 3 additional magazine is for sale with one of the dealer.
The caliber is 380 acp.
Yes dear very much in India...

This piece would probably cost an arm, a leg and both the kidneys !!

best,
Rp.

[grewal]

This piece would probably cost an arm, a leg and both the kidneys !!

RP you missed the balls.

[thebrowningeffect]

with Doc

[Ganesh TT]

looking as smart toy.....

[airguns]

As Capt. Sharma and others have pointed out, look for condition first. 95%+ Arms you will essentially find in two conditions, unrepaired arms in good working condition and those that have been butchered by gunsmiths and carry unknown internals. NIB means nothing. So forget external cosmetics and look for a unrepaired piece in good working condition.

Best bet would be a Smith 31 or a genuine Webley (heavy though and many counterfeits floating around). Colts are harder to find, as they stopped making the Detective Special .32, 2nd series around 197X (few were imported seems most people were fans of Webley in the old days and only imported Smiths when the Webley ceased production). I got my licence in 2008, 6 months of searching, only saw one nickel plated Colt in good condition, ran into several good Smiths, Webleys, H&R and Arminus. In 2008, I was quoted prices starting at 1.5 for Arminus to all the way around 4-6 for Smiths. Have to be higher these days.

Getting a new IOF revolver (if you don't mind keeping it for the factory delivery no-sale period) and having a competent gunsmith rework it is another option and should not be overlooked. There is no denying that as delivered from SAF, it is rough and poorly finished. Most of it's defects can be rectified. It essentially needs, light stoning of internals, maybe a spring change, to improve the mechanism (smooth the working) and a little work at the barrel and cylinder juncture (both timing and misalignment could need rectification). External factory fit and finish is tolerable and durable, though the grips might need replacement.

I would stay away from a pistol, unless you are very mechanically inclined and lucky to run into one in good condition (very expensive, heard people asking upto a Mil). Look for a .380 ACP, if you want to go the pistol route, hard to find but a lot cheaper than .32's.

BTW, with my budget I could not buy any of the weapons, I previously mentioned and had to settle for a Llama IIIA, .380 ACP, Brigadier's widow sold it for 1.375, early 60's aquisition by that fellow when he was stationed in Poonch as a Captain. Unrepaired and well maintained, though lot of holster wear and no bluing left. Ammo is hard to find, have to look for and stock up when available (100-250 a pop, depending on vintage). Will look into the procedure of taking 50 rounds with me when I go back in a few months.

[james]

Hi Doc , Jokes apart but what one should pay under India condictions . Regards James..

[captrakshitsharma]

The LLama .38 short is easily available in Merrut with most of the dealers on PL Sharma road. Its a good honest pistol not the best quality or top manufacturer but reliable and rugged , plus a serious man stopper. Good powerful cartridge plus tried and trusted 1911 design. Medium frame but very slim profile , easily concealable and wearable. I almost was sold over it had i not found myself my S&W snubbie in time. Good mechanicals make it reliable rugged and good pistol /sidearm for anyone on budget.
Anyways sorry about getting carried away i think our friend here should have a fair amount of suggestions for making his decision . Again buy the gun in better nick and secondly its your personal choice.
I vote for revolver for simplicity to operate and reliability to go bang on every shot and god forbid if u have a faulty cartridge u just squeeze again and the next shot goes bang. No re cocking slides no jamming problems no cycling and feeding problems. Exactly what u need in a self defense situation. For the first six shots a revolver is the best. Remember if ur cartridge fails or pistol jams the magazine capacity is of academic interest only or the time it may take to fix ur jam /misfire situation the remaining shots may not be able to save you. Ideally i would love to fire my first six shots from a revolver in.357 magnum cal and have a nice semi auto like a glock/beretta 92fs, or a kimber 1911 as a back up with high capacity magazine and a spare mag. But considering my present scenario and situation in which i am only allowed one gun i opt for a S&W snubnose revolver.Like a wise man once said "If you need more than 6 shots you are in a bigger gun fight than you ever want to be in" I get opportunities to fire pistols owned by my father and other family members but every once in a while one of em jams or has some small problem or complexity which makes me love my revolver all the more.

[cottage cheese]

...just a small thought- all Gunsmiths in India are not butchers. True, while most are, some actually do decent work. In fact, pretty good work considering the circumstances in our country. The problem I see is, often, they attempt to produce cheap and shiny stuff at the cost of rudimentary internal work....at times even due to fanciful and less than well informed preferences of 'customers' . In any case seeing some of the refurbished /customized pieces around the country, I can only say that we Indians for most practical purposes have lost our aesthetic sense ages ago.

Refurbished arms, as long as their critical parts are intact and 'safe' should be ok from a very dispassionate and practical point of view. The only other thing that matters thence, is the integrity of the 'smith/dealer.... you know... brand new...'Mint' (ugh) condition....only 7.8 L for you saar.

regards,
cc

[The Doc]

The only other thing that matters thence, is the integrity of the 'smith/dealer.

There isn't any !

Rp.

[captrakshitsharma]

i agree and by condition i do not mean that a refurbished or reblued gun is bad. infact id prefer a reblued gun than let the metal get rusted and pitted. it needs a keen eye and experience to make out a damaged and then repaired weapon as compared to a repaired/blued/maintained weapon. i like people who reblue guns to preserve them. Good bluing lasts 10-15 yrs if weapon is cared for.

[winnie_the_pooh]

The only other thing that matters thence, is the integrity of the 'smith/dealer.

There isn't any !

Rp.

There are some good gunsmiths around.However gun dealers who honestly describe their wares and are fair to both the seller and the buyer,are almost non existent.

Agree with CC that there is an acute shortage of aesthetics when it comes to the Indian gun owner. Looks are what concern them but what they conceive and get executed is hardly an improvement.

[Colt_1911]

Thanks a lot friends finally after reading my all IFG friend's suggestions I decide to go for revolver. I saw one colt & turus today price is around 7 for turus & 7.5 lacs for colt detective special. Both are in very nice condition. Now friends please suggest me which is best revolver????

[to_saptarshi]

Both are equally good and reliable , where colt is a bigger name than in compare to taurus. Now it depends which one you feel better , after all its you who will be shooting it and NOT us. feel both the revolver , their feel, grip, handling etc etc and find out which one suits you better. BTW what model of Taurus you are getting .

[jpinakin88]

Good decision brother revolver is best choice for self defance but if you can find any good revolver in .357 than go for it I saw your post you don't have any problem for money so go for that. I am also looking for .357 magnum revolver but still dint saw a single revolver in good condition....

[winnie_the_pooh]

Both are equally good and reliable

The older Taurus revolvers are not very good.I would not buy one.