Ruger/Colt hybrid revolver? What do you think?

" If it's absolutely cherry and well-fitted inside in addition to the barrel mod, that is MAYBE a $700 gun. Tops. $2k? Somebody is dreaming. "

It's called creating a market. If the gun sells great, if it does not it makes other similar guns seem like a good deal even if overpriced on their own.

Remember, for one off sales, it doesn't matter what most people say a object it worth. It only matters what the person with $ in hand to make a transaction thinks the object is worth.

Some years ago, a person placed a ad ( in the NY times if I remember correctly ) selling some " Billy Beer " at a astounding price. The intent was to later place ads under a different name selling the same beer at a less than astounding but still too high price. The marketing worked and the stuff sold to the collector market.
 
Bill Davis was/is a world class revolver smith. He was seen in the second season of Top Shot as one of the experts. From what I understand, he does more with crossbows these days, but that is just rumor.

Back in the 80's his guns were highly prized. Like a Wilson, or Baer 1911 would be today.
I have held one of these Cugers. Very nice revolver, and they were not simply swapped barrels. The whole gun was gone through. Until I handled that Cuger, I didn't know a -Six series action could feel so good.
I have two friends who each own one of his Smolts (sometimes called Smythons). Both are built on M19s with recessed chambers. One is blue 2.5", the other is a 6" Nickel. Both feature incredible smooth actions and are extremely acurate shooters.
As to what one is worth today, well, a real Colt Python would be worth more to most people, however to some who are familiar with Bill Davis and his work, I would think a Cuger or Smolt would bring the higher $$$.
 
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Got a Taurus Raging Hornet with a custom barrel & a Dan Wesson barrel shroud grafted on... this gives me something different that anything else available...

swapping another barrel on another frame is done all the time by my retired gun smith buddy... but he's usually taking a broken or bad gun & making it shootable... IMO in todays day & age most guns are going to shoot similar enough ( except for maybe bullseye shooting ) that swapping one brand of barrel for another is probably more work than just fixing the one that's already on the gun...,
 
Well, I have certainly learned more about this type of gun and Bill Davis than I knew before. I figured that this was a whimsical project that resulted out of some excess down time. Apparently not.

For someone who REALLY wanted a particular gun as a base for his revolver, and was obsessive about the differences in barrels, I suppose that something like this could be justified. And, it would certainly be an interesting project for the pistolsmith.

I'm a fairly decent pistol shot, but I doubt that I could tell that a Colt vs. Ruger vs. S&W barrel was more accurate in my hands. So, paying the tab for a gun like this would be a silly thing for me to do. Still, I'd like to see one that had been done by a 'smith as talented as Mr. Davis must've been, if for no other reason than simply to admire the craftsmanship.
 
Supposedly the Python barrels had better rifling and held tighter tolerances than that of the Rugers.
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It was the twist. The Colt was 1 in 14 which made it better suited to full wadcutters, or so it was believed at the time.
 
Ihave a "Smithon" on a M19 in .44 SPL with a 4" Python barrel and the original 2-1/2" (also sleeved). You couldn't come close @ $2k. :>)
 
Just depends on what you want. I would love to have a Mod. 19 with a Python Bbl. It would look good on me.
 
from what I remember reading in a Mas Ayoob book about the pythons, the conversions were done supposedly to increase accuracy, as the python barrel was .001 smaller at the muzzle..also possibly barrel twist, something other barrels were not.. he goes into the cougars,smythons,and smolts, and some of the smiths that did it back then, but I don't have it in front of me..

I believe it was in the greatest handguns of all time.. it was a interesting read..
 
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mrbro--
It was the twist. The Colt was 1 in 14 which made it better suited to full wadcutters, or so it was believed at the time.
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I collect gun magazines and have hundreds dating back to the 60's.
I just pulled out my August 1979 Guns & Ammo. Interesting Bill Jordon article.
Bill Jordan had them build him a Smolt (Model 19, Python barrel).

I Learned some interesting facts while reading this article. The Smiths, with their clockwise bullet spin, turn their cylinders counter clockwise, while Colt is just the opposite. Theirs is counter clockwise bullet flight and clockwise cylinder. Now on the Smiths the bullet makes a full rotation in 19 inches and the colt in 14 inches.

They tested the Smolt next to an unaltered 19 and the Smolt proved more accurate on the slower moving bullets, but no less accurate on the magnum loads. They detected a slight wobble on the slower bullets with the Smith. They figured this was due to the less aggressive twist of the Smith on slower bullets. The conclusion was made that the Smolt with it's one to 14 twist Python barrel proved to be more accurate on average, under the same conditions with magnum and wadcutter loads.
 
The concept was to combine the dependable Ruger Security Six action with the heavier (and more accurate) Python barrel. It worked, but it was neither fish nor fowl. Still, I'd be happy to carry one over a Python.
 
There are two Bill Davis'

If I remember right one is on the East coast. The Bill Davis that was in the Sacramento area was originally on the CHP and was on the national championship team sometime in the 60's. He left the CHP and opened a gun shop. I met him in 1967 on the firearms range at the Academy where he was the instructor. In fact I traded a jar of molybdenum disulfide for a trigger job on my brand new 6' python.

Here's a S&W forum thread on what you may have bought.


http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1961-1980/247783-dads-bill-davis-s-ws-others.html
 
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