I handled and almost bought one of those rabbit-eared Baikal Bounty Hunters mentioned in Boxcab's post. It seemed -solid. Very solid. Solid like a Soviet tank, and about as sophisticated. Very barrel-heavy for such a short gun (like the Stoeger Uplander I used to own) but it looked like it could go to Hell and back. If I had the money and inclination I'd swing for one of those Berettas that Jart teased us with. The Russian was about $300, roughly 1/5 what the Italian costs. These days, IMO, external hammer guns are best used at Vintager shoots and Cowboy-Action events. Anything else deserves a modern gun design.