So I actually called KorthUSA today
- Thread starter Sig_Dude
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Let's not BS ourselves here...despite the fact that most of us including myself have never handled one, you know the thing is absolute perfection bar none. OK the cylinder is in a weird spot...or is it? Maybe OUR cylinder release is in the weird spot.
If you're a serious gun guy, like most of us are, and you could easily afford it, you know you'd love to show up to the range with one or heck, to just own it. Nothing wrong with a safe queen if that's what makes you happy. I think a lot of the replies are bashing Korth because we, including myself, are nowhere near and never will be near affording one.
I mistakenly thought they were $5,000 and was, I guess just for fun, toying around with the idea. $15,000-$18,000? No way. If I was Bill Gates, sure. But not me, that would be insane. But you can bet your first born that the Korth is one SICK gun.
If you're a serious gun guy, like most of us are, and you could easily afford it, you know you'd love to show up to the range with one or heck, to just own it. Nothing wrong with a safe queen if that's what makes you happy. I think a lot of the replies are bashing Korth because we, including myself, are nowhere near and never will be near affording one.
I mistakenly thought they were $5,000 and was, I guess just for fun, toying around with the idea. $15,000-$18,000? No way. If I was Bill Gates, sure. But not me, that would be insane. But you can bet your first born that the Korth is one SICK gun.
Embedded in this thread is a certain amount of irony. Regularly on this forum and on other forums (S & W, for example) we see posters complaining bitterly about the "loss of quality" at Smith & Wesson because the company's replaced many of its hand fitting processes with computer controlled processes and because Smith has replaced forged parts with MIM parts.
Well, Korth is an example of what would have happened had Smith not modernized its operations. Revolvers that cost a $1000 today or a couple of hundred dollars less than that would be advertised at several times the current price. Or, alternatively, Smith would have gone out of business.
The point is that hand made guns are expensive guns. Those who lament the good old days when guns were hand made need only look at niche manufacturers like Korth -- or, if you're a 1911 fan, Wilson Combat -- to comprehend why a mass producer like Smith has eliminated most of the hand fitting that used to characterize their handguns.
Well, Korth is an example of what would have happened had Smith not modernized its operations. Revolvers that cost a $1000 today or a couple of hundred dollars less than that would be advertised at several times the current price. Or, alternatively, Smith would have gone out of business.
The point is that hand made guns are expensive guns. Those who lament the good old days when guns were hand made need only look at niche manufacturers like Korth -- or, if you're a 1911 fan, Wilson Combat -- to comprehend why a mass producer like Smith has eliminated most of the hand fitting that used to characterize their handguns.
Steve,
Do you really think that S&W quality has gone down? I am not picking on you, I only ask because you seem to know what you are talking about. I can tell you for certain that the quality of my three Smiths is just fine.
637, 686P, and 629 PC
CNC does not mean less accurate, in fact it usually means a lot more accurate. MIM...is it that bad? Technology evolves...people are just not used to the terms yet.
Do you really think that S&W quality has gone down? I am not picking on you, I only ask because you seem to know what you are talking about. I can tell you for certain that the quality of my three Smiths is just fine.
637, 686P, and 629 PC
CNC does not mean less accurate, in fact it usually means a lot more accurate. MIM...is it that bad? Technology evolves...people are just not used to the terms yet.
ScottRiqui
New member
My 80-year old S&W is sturdy, reliable and a great shooter, but I think that anyone used to modern revolvers would be aghast at the number of factory machining marks visible in the finish (and not just in hidden places behind the grips and sideplate.)
I have a 629-6 that I purchased last year, and my Grandfather gifted me his 27-2 that was made in 1977 during the Bangor Punta years when many would say quality was down.
I can honestly tell you that there is a clear difference between the two. The 27-2 locks up tighter than my 629-6, does not have a hammer lean, and it's rear sight blade isn't loose. The finish on the 27 is a whole lot nicer than the 629. You can also feel the quality difference between the older, forged hammer and trigger and the newer MIM pieces. The forged parts have sharper checkering, and just plain feel stronger and beefier than the MIM pieces. That being said the new S&W is still a nice gun. It shoots great, has a nice trigger, and the fit and finish is still pretty nice compared to other offerings out there.
I don't think that's quite true. S&W has always been a mass producer of guns, even when they were assembled and fit by hand back in the day. Korth is more like the Rolls Royce of revolvers. They only produce a limited number of guns, build them with extreme precision, and have a very high price tag. They are not a mass producer, and they don't offer near the diversity that S&W does. Even if S&W's were still being built by hand with all forged parts, they wouldn't cost as much as a Korth. Sure, they would cost more than $1000, but they prices would probably be closer to what you see their Performance Center guns going for.
Sig Dude. No, I emphatically do not think that Smith's quality's gone down! I regularly post on this forum in response to those who make that claim. Several of my handguns are recent vintage Smiths, and their quality is equal to or superior to the the older Smith products, IMO.
My point was that people complain about Smith because it no longer uses the hand fitting that all manufacturers used 40 and 50 years ago. They gripe endlessly about the use of modern manufacturing techniques without ever considering what it would cost to manufacture guns the "old way". Never mind that the old way wasn't necessarily the best way, but that it did involve a lot of hand fitting.
Korth is a manufacturer that still makes everything by hand, or so it seems. And, their product is correspondingly more expensive because of that. If Smith or any of the other major manufacturers continued to make guns the way they did in the 1950's, their products would cost multiples of what they cost today.
My point was that people complain about Smith because it no longer uses the hand fitting that all manufacturers used 40 and 50 years ago. They gripe endlessly about the use of modern manufacturing techniques without ever considering what it would cost to manufacture guns the "old way". Never mind that the old way wasn't necessarily the best way, but that it did involve a lot of hand fitting.
Korth is a manufacturer that still makes everything by hand, or so it seems. And, their product is correspondingly more expensive because of that. If Smith or any of the other major manufacturers continued to make guns the way they did in the 1950's, their products would cost multiples of what they cost today.
I am not personally in a position to buy one. However, I am friends with couple people that are that fortunate. One actually looked REAL hard at them. Decided that it was nice but not worth the extra money it cost over the PC gun he bought instead. There is a limit to how much you get for your money. Is it a little nicer? Yeah. Is it THAT MUCH nicer? Not really.
Go handle one. See what you think.
-EdInk
P.S. I still don't think Herr Geezer and Herr Alzheimer's arthritic hands arent hand-making more precise parts and stuff in that surplus machinery (shown on that website) better than people in the US with state-of-art CNC machines that are then hand-fitted. Get real. To each their own, I guess.
Go handle one. See what you think.
-EdInk
P.S. I still don't think Herr Geezer and Herr Alzheimer's arthritic hands arent hand-making more precise parts and stuff in that surplus machinery (shown on that website) better than people in the US with state-of-art CNC machines that are then hand-fitted. Get real. To each their own, I guess.
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Rampant_Colt
New member
There was a trap shooter at our local club who frequently used a $30,000 Ivo Fabbri O/U▬i even got to shoot it once! 
The trigger was smooth, wood was phenomenal, balance was perfect... Korth, Fabbri, H&H, Purdey, Perazzi, Blaser, etc; these are all luxury items to be certain.
The trigger was smooth, wood was phenomenal, balance was perfect... Korth, Fabbri, H&H, Purdey, Perazzi, Blaser, etc; these are all luxury items to be certain.
stronso210
Inactive
Why??
Why do so many people have so many 'opinions' about something they have no experience with? If you have never shot one or at least handle one, it is hard to talk about it in any meaningful ways. To compare quality of Colts and SW to Korths is to show that you have no experience with it.
Opinions are cheap and a dime a dozen, it is experience which really counts.
By the way, my friend is picking up one in stainless steel!
Can't wait to take it out for a test drive!!
Why do so many people have so many 'opinions' about something they have no experience with? If you have never shot one or at least handle one, it is hard to talk about it in any meaningful ways. To compare quality of Colts and SW to Korths is to show that you have no experience with it.
Opinions are cheap and a dime a dozen, it is experience which really counts.
By the way, my friend is picking up one in stainless steel!
Can't wait to take it out for a test drive!!
CarbineCaleb
New member
Well, they may be very finely made, but when it comes to aesthetics... as the old saying goes - there is no accounting for taste.
Have you ever used a made to order Performance Center gun?
I have and it's great. I've only dry-fired a used Korth at a gun show and while nice, I think anyone who'd pay the asking prices should research what else is available for the money. In other words as good/better for less.
I don't think it's going to far out on a limb, saying that it is regarded as more of a novelty for the wealthy than something owned by a serious handgunner of any walk of life. Quality not is being debating just the value for the money.
Is there some prestige to it? I guess. But it's not like a Bentley or Maybach to were you can instantly notice the quality and luxury of it. It's just not THAT much nicer. Go shoot your friends when he gets it.
Now, a Purdy shotgun is a high dollar gun that you can feel and see craftsmanship that is second to none. The Korth revolver... not so much.
I have and it's great. I've only dry-fired a used Korth at a gun show and while nice, I think anyone who'd pay the asking prices should research what else is available for the money. In other words as good/better for less.
I don't think it's going to far out on a limb, saying that it is regarded as more of a novelty for the wealthy than something owned by a serious handgunner of any walk of life. Quality not is being debating just the value for the money.
Is there some prestige to it? I guess. But it's not like a Bentley or Maybach to were you can instantly notice the quality and luxury of it. It's just not THAT much nicer. Go shoot your friends when he gets it.
Now, a Purdy shotgun is a high dollar gun that you can feel and see craftsmanship that is second to none. The Korth revolver... not so much.
It's not "made to order" like a suit.
but all you do is call and tell them
whatever the hell you want (frame, barrel style, cylinder, options, etc) you pay a large deposit and when they are good and ready you'll eventually get it. Just like when you get a true custom 1911.
Now, if you have your heart set on one go buy it. Don't worry about what people on the web tell you.
but all you do is call and tell themwhatever the hell you want (frame, barrel style, cylinder, options, etc) you pay a large deposit and when they are good and ready you'll eventually get it. Just like when you get a true custom 1911.
Now, if you have your heart set on one go buy it. Don't worry about what people on the web tell you.
oneounceload
Moderator
If it was ONLY 30,000, that must have been the purchase price from a few decades ago. You need to add a "1" in front of that for the basic model today..........and their new titanium one starts with a "2" in front of your price.......
I had visited the old Korth factory in Ratzeburg, Germany and it was more of a custom shop than a factory. Each gun was meticulously handfitted, the grips are made by Nill, the blueing was contracted out to a company in Hamburg.
Korth closed their old shop late in 2008 and reopened it in Southern Germany a few months later. Just like Hämmerli, the prices have become unaffordable.
Probably the price of a new Korth is far higher than the utility value of the gun. I am probably one of the few guys that own and shoot a Korth and would not compare it in any way to a Python and consider it a much finer gun than my nicest S&W revolver, even, and I am quite a fan of older S&W revolver.
Korths underwent some changes in production and I prefer by far the older models without a barrel sleeve that were built when the founder Willi Korth was still alive and the factory was thriving. The prices were reasonable in those days and I was lucky enough to find a 1969 revolver for a reasonable price. While I cherish my Korth much more than my Python, I would not spend even five times as much for a Korth as for a good S&W M14 or M19, but neither would I ever spend again twice as much on a Python than on a S&W.
We all have opinions and preferences and it is always good when those are founded on first hand experience, isn't it?
Korth closed their old shop late in 2008 and reopened it in Southern Germany a few months later. Just like Hämmerli, the prices have become unaffordable.
Probably the price of a new Korth is far higher than the utility value of the gun. I am probably one of the few guys that own and shoot a Korth and would not compare it in any way to a Python and consider it a much finer gun than my nicest S&W revolver, even, and I am quite a fan of older S&W revolver.
Korths underwent some changes in production and I prefer by far the older models without a barrel sleeve that were built when the founder Willi Korth was still alive and the factory was thriving. The prices were reasonable in those days and I was lucky enough to find a 1969 revolver for a reasonable price. While I cherish my Korth much more than my Python, I would not spend even five times as much for a Korth as for a good S&W M14 or M19, but neither would I ever spend again twice as much on a Python than on a S&W.
We all have opinions and preferences and it is always good when those are founded on first hand experience, isn't it?
Earl's shop is just up the road from me here in Massachusetts and I stop in there from time to time, occasionally leaving a good deal poorer than when I walked in. He is a "character" in the best sense of the word, and (as an earlier poster noted) well-known to those of us who shoot Walthers in competition. He's also got some really eye-popping hardware sitting around, accompanied by more than a few interesting stories. I don't know anything about Korth revolvers beyond the name and reputation, but I certainly wouldn't put it past Earl to have a bit of sport with someone he chose not to warm up to for whatever reason.
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