Early thoughts on the Open Top...........

B

Bob Wright

New member
A few folks have asked me my thoughts on shooting the Cimarron Open Top, and I'll gladly oblige. Mine is .38 Special, 4 3/4" barrel, here compared to the Model P .44 Special:



For starters, I was a little surprised at the weight of the gun, somewhat heavier than I thought. This because its a .38 Special, and because of the extended web under the barrel at the front of the frame. But the gun feels good in the hand, just nicely balanced and a trifle muzzle heavy, which I prefer anyway. The forward weight is nicely balanced by the flare at the butt, which sort of "hooks" the gun to your (my) hand. Birdshead grip here is definitely out.

The lack of a topstrap makes the sighting plane very low in the hand, and the gun is a natural pointer. I no longer have a safe place to practice aerial shooting, but I think this would be a natural for that.

The gun and its grip seem somewhat petite in the hand, again no detriment to its handling. Certainly no +P gun, standard target or very mild handloads are called for. I'm not yet over 500 rounds fired through the gun, but it is a
fun gun. I didn't buy this for precise shooting, nor long range hunting work, just a fun gun to shoot. And there it seems to fill the bill most handily.

And, its a pretty gun, to boot.

Bob Wright
 
Those are both lovely revolvers Bob. I really dig the look of the open top. Any difference in the way it recoils/feels when firing compared to the model P? What price range was the open top in your neck of the woods? Thanks.

Sig
 
I just got the Man With No Name® Conversion one. Gave it to my dad for Christmas. He loved it. I quite enjoyed playing with it before I gave it to him. I'd love to get some trigger time on it.
 
With Tennessee sales tax and background check fee, price was even $500.

Cimarron advised me that if I ordered direct from them, they had to charge MSRP + shipping, + any fee charged by me FFL.

A couple of dealers refused to order direct from Cimarron, but the pawn shop around the corner did that for me. They did ask $100 in advance, and the balance on receipt.

As I have said, I'm shooting moderate .38 Specials,so recoil is negligible, think Ruger Single Six.

When going back to a Blackhawk, that front sight blade seems HUGE! And the top strap seems very high.


One negative comment I've heard is "You can't see the sights when the hammer is not cocked."

Why would you want to?

Bob Wright
 
I no longer have a safe place to practice aerial shooting, but I think this would be a natural for that.
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Were you able to hit flying targets?

I don't have anyplace to try that, and I'm sure I would stink at it anyway.

I usually use a shotgun for flying targets.
 
I had a safe place many years ago, but lost it. I started by throwing up gallon sized paint cans or those old one pound coffee cans. I got to the point I could hit with some frequency, but only if I threw the can up myself. Was wanting to get to hit smaller objects but never made that far along.

This after once seeing Ken Maynard hit aerial targets with a rifle.

Bob Wright
 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Bot. It is a nice looking revolver. I have several of the Uberties - a 45 Colt 7 1/2" Cattleman and a 357 Bisley 4 3/4" - both well made and excellent shooters. I keep looking at one like yours and like you refer to it - I want one just for a "fun gun"

I only shoot reloads and cast. I love playing with 38 Colt Short, Long and 38 special. One of these would be great fun with all three of those cartridges in both smokeless and BP.
 
My old man was a (rifle) trick shooter for a carnival after WWII. He would shoot aspirin tablets from the air with a .22, trace the Calumet indian in sheet metal, light matches, snuff candles.

Many years later (the late 90's) I taught myself, getting good pretty good at thrown pennies (actually once you can hit a salt shaker sized target, it all seems the same).

ANYHOW, long story short, I was just starting to have some degree of success with a handgun on pop can-sized areal targets, when I started raising my daughter. Those skills ARE perishable, and even with a rifle I'm not consistent anymore...but the notion of attempting it with a low sight line pistol like the Open Top...well it seems like it would be a natural for it.
 
Several years ago I met a 16 year old kid who, if you were willing to bet a couple of bucks, would show you he could hit a thrown dime with a 22 rifle. Cost me five bucks to see it. Much later he told me how he did it.

While holding a dime in his support hand, he’d raise the muzzle straight up and throw the dime at the same time and quickly shoot. He didn’t actually see the dime but had taught himself to throw the coin so that it was in the line of fire. It was sort of a trick but still something that took him a lot of time to learn. Another thing. I went dove hunting with him once and he used a .410 to great effect.

Kid was an outstanding wing shooter.
 
Your conversion is a right handsome firearm. Mine is not so good-looking - I call it my "Colt Cantina Conversion". My Dad bought it in Monterrey, Mexico in the '60s.
Seems some backroom "gunsmith" down there sloppily cut down the factory conversion to 5", removed the ejector housing mechanism, filled in the lug holes with pewter, and nickeled the whole thing (with some nickel remaining on the grip frame & forcing cone).

Also the .38 rimfire pin was removed and a center fire pin stuck on the hammer. Matching serial #173 stamped in the usual places. I think Colt used up a bunch of Navy parts after the War to make these conversions and they had their own serial number run. Or so I guess.

Those wood grips were made by a Mexican blacksmith's 13 year old son. They replaced the ill-fitting & poorly repaired ivory one piece grips, which I still have.

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My old man was a (rifle) trick shooter for a carnival after WWII. He would shoot aspirin tablets from the air with a .22, trace the Calumet indian in sheet metal, light matches, snuff candles.

Many years later (the late 90's) I taught myself, getting good pretty good at thrown pennies (actually once you can hit a salt shaker sized target, it all seems the same).

ANYHOW, long story short, I was just starting to have some degree of success with a handgun on pop can-sized areal targets, when I started raising my daughter. Those skills ARE perishable, and even with a rifle I'm not consistent anymore...but the notion of attempting it with a low sight line pistol like the Open Top...well it seems like it would be a natural for it.
Click to expand...

I have read that during the filming of Winchester '73, during the shooting match where Jimmy Stewart and Stephen McNally are shooting a coin out of the air, a trick rifle shooter was actually shooting the coins out of the air from off camera. Dunno why the movie producers thought they needed to do that, who is going to know if the coin that falls to the ground was actually shot out of the air or not? Maybe on the big screen you could tell.

In that film in the final showdown a trick shooter was also shooting live rounds against the rocks near the actors. Jimmie Stewart complained about getting sprayed with rock fragments.

Today they would use squibs planted in the rocks.
 
Armybrat,
Just for the heck of it, the '71/'72 Open Top wasn't a conversion. It was the first true cartridge revolver designed to be a cartridge shooter from the get go, offered from Colt.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
 
That "trick shooter" was Herb Parsons, exhibition shooter for Winchester. Not only was Parsons a great shot, he was a fine gentleman (from Tennessee, no less) and gifted showman.

He is acknowledged to be the originator of the slogan:

"Take you boy huntin'
and you want have to go huntin' for your boy."

I had the pleasure of seeing him one time at a sportsman's show. One of his really amusing routines was making a tossed salad, with the usual ingredients and a Winchester Model 12 shotgun.

Bob Wright
 
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