A Few Insights

P

PzGren

New member
There are many different designs for double action revolvers and I opened a few up to give everybody a few insights.

Colt OMM


S&W MIM pre-lock


Taurus M86


Swiss 1882/29


MR73


Korth, Ratzeburg.


S&S, Eckernfoerde, Trophy


The S&S double action revolver line (Trophy & Medallion) was only imported in relatively small numbers by Hawes and when S&S became SIG Sauer, the machinery for the revolvers was sent to Italy and production continued in limited numbers. The guns were marketed under the Euroarms brand.



The finish and function is at least as good as on post-war S&W revolvers.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for posting this. That Korth is noticably much more finished with attention to detail. I guess that's what an additional $4k gets you. Interesting to see different approaches to accomplish the same function.
 
Thanks.
Willi Korth went his own way, while many others copied the great S&W design. The first revolvers Willi Korth built were gas and starter guns and then he went over to .38 Special when a police department had ordered the revolvers but had bought Walthers before the revolvers were finished and the order was cancelled.

He was a very detail minded person and was personally involved in the quality control process and from what a friend who knew him told me, Willi Korth was not the easiest boss to work for and paid miserable wages. When he started selling revolvers he was the underdog and competed with his hand built guns against S&W and Colt. He sold his revolvers for over a decade at the same prices that an imported S&W or Colt OMM did cost in Germany.
In 1969 he had completed the evolution of the trigger with the double action roller and soon took on the competition by adding a full underlug and building the .357 Magnum revolvers with a six round capacity. Originally .357 Korths had only a five round capacity, enough for the DSB discipline that they were designed for.

Having added the full lug, Willi was greatly annoyed when he was accused of copying the Python in the 30 series. He remedied that by flattening the sides of the barrel shroud.


 
I was just looking Korth revolvers over this morning--I was curious why Nighthawk replaces all the Korth markings with their's. Is it the same revolver?
 
Korth in Ratzeburg finally went out of business in 2008 and was bought up by a company that was manufacturing precision parts for cars, expecially Italian sports cars. The Korth, Lollar owners wanted to keep the name alive and not let the great design go to waste but had realized quickly that they would need to do some marketing changes, they came up with more "modern" revolvers. Nighthawk is only the U.S. distributor and service station, the guns are made in Lollar, Germany.

I do not like the way they look but a good friend of mine has won state championship after state championship with one and he also has a safe full of S&W and every other revolver manufacturer

 
Thanks for that--and the other great info. I was actually looking at similar to the one you posted--a .357 mag I assume?

edit--that looks more like a custom comp gun--I don't see the same model on nighthawk's site.
 
Last edited:
After looking at the fine display of innards here and
noting so many similarities, I marvel the Ruger GP100
design (not shown) is a real departure from all the others.
 
I confess my eye is not very educated on DA revolver design.
But looking at machining,edges,case hardening, etc, the Taurus looked pretty darn good.
Compare to the Colt
 
That .357 Lollar Korth is a model that was sold in Germany and not imported by Nighthawk.

The Taurus revolvers that were sent to Germany were usually undergoing better Q.C. than the average gun sent to the U.S. Hammerli Tiengen was the importer and they did not release faulty guns into the market. When you look at the Korth finish of the inside, it is clear where the high price tag is coming from. The smooth surfaces reduce friction. The springs have to overcome the friction before they can fulfill their intended function. The one second it takes to remove the cylinder makes cleaning more pleasant.
 
"After looking at the fine display of innards here and
noting so many similarities, I marvel the Ruger GP100
design (not shown) is a real departure from all the others."

I have a GP100 and Super Redhawk but find the refinement to fall back behind the Six series and lacking in double action.

Feel free to display a photo of the innards here.

The Speed Six is much slicker!


But the Ruger SRH and GP100 with Nills are not too bad, either.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top