Virginia Dragoon, any exp?

1

1911steelplate

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I just got a V. Dragoon (well 3 to be honest) a 44 mag adj sights 7". a 45 colt same set up and a 45 colt 5 1/2" brl.( like the vaquero). Does anybody have exp. with these? Anything to be aware of?
 
Sorry my post is of no value. It's just that I bought one of these in 1981 and it's still new unfired in the box. Including a box of Rem 44Mag. 31 years now. Have not seen it in decades. Tucked away somewhere in Dad's house. As I recall, it was heavy and a solid firearm. Naturally I cannot comment on performance if never fired.
 
I bought one at an auction a year ago...NIB, unfired, 7.5" bbl, 44 mag, SS for $300.

Sold it to my S-I-L a month later for what I paid for it. He has fired about 350 rounds thru it and loves it. He says it is the most accurate Single-Action gun he has ever shot. He prefers it to his Taurus Tracker 44 mag for woods-carry during hunting seasons in Wisconsin.

So, That may be second hand testimony, but the kid (40+) knows his guns, and if he says it is good, then it is.

Here's a photo of the revolver
11458.jpg
 
As Bill said the first ones were made by Hamerelli but then I believe they built a plant in Virginia. Don't quote that. So far they shoot really well, and they have a great fit and finish, action is smooth also. After I put more rounds through them I'll repost.
 
I have had several. They are good, rugged guns, and thicker than Rugers. The only issue I had was trying to locate replacement grips, which can be a challenge. But they are accurate, quality built weapons.
 
I had a 5.5 inch stainless one for about 3 years.
it ran equally as well as my Ruger SAs at the time for about a
3rd of the price of the Blackhawks and Vaqueros.

only problem was a chip in the grip, and they were soon replaced by
Ajax grips.

Buy one if the price is right.
 
I believe that the first ones were made by Hammerli.
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The Virginain was made by Hammerli. (Colt SAA size) The Virginian Dragoon (Blackhawk-ish in size) were all made in the U.S.

The one and only one I've ever handled was quite nice.
 
One of the first new revolvers I ever bought (around 1982) was a 7.5" SS Virginian Dragoon in .44 mag. It was built 10% heavier than the Super Blackhawk, and had the patented "Swiss Safe" hammer block ingeniously engineered into the cylinder pin. With the hammer at half cock, push in the detent and slide the cylinder pin all the way back to lock the hammer block in place. Mine shot 200 gr. Speer Lawman JHP's into 3" groups at 50 yards with fatory sights. I put new Pachmayr Decelerator grips on it. It was phenomenal.

-7-
 
I had one back in the early 80s in 45 colt with a 51/2 in barrel. It shot well but I didn't handload back then though. I ended up trading it for a Ruger bisley. It was a well made revolver that I liked but wanted the ruger more.
 
I've been going back and forth about buying one I found locally for a couple of weeks now.

Finally sucked it up and went down and bought it this afternoon.

Fit , finish, action, lockup etc. are all outstanding. Way nicer than the price would suggest. Build quality really puts my NM Blackhawk to shame.


Here's a quick pic I took when I got home with it.
484542_4525220217456_1822588521_n.jpg
 
The Virginian was made by Haemmerli, is a Colt SAA clone, the Virginian Dragoon was US made and scaled up-as others have noted, Ruger Black Hawk (Old Model) vs. Ruger Super Blackhawk. Some have reported poor accuracy due to oversized throats.
Here is a link to an excellent article about them-
http://www.singleactions.com/VADragoons.pdf
 
My uncle has a blued one that was in terrible condition• He had bought it along with a sks from a guy at work, he gave it to me to try to salvage when I got it it had the cylynder out and had surfuce rust with patches of pitting all over it, long story short I repaid it the best I could removed all the rust and some of the pitting and resembled ( not bad for a 14 year old) and it is very accurate• The most accurate single action 44 I've shot besides my ruger super blackhawk
 
One caveat on purchasing a Virginian Dragoon is that replacement parts are EXTREMELY hard to find. Gun Parts Corp lists a trigger guard-that's it.
 
For whatever its worth, the Virginian Dragoon has two stab points on the side of the cylinder. These are supposed to straddle the empty chamber, then index the cylinder so that, when looking down on the top strap, the punched points are on either side of the top strap. If done correctly, the empty chamber is under the hammer.

The original Virginian was a very close copy of the Colt, except for a little less curve in the backstrap, and did introduce the "Swiss-Safe" safety, utilizing the base pin to block the hammer.

The Dragoon always seemed to have a "mushy" feel to its action, and I didn't think it was as sleek looking as the Ruger. But what little I've shot in them, they put the bullets where they were supposed to go.

They are somewhat collector's pieces today.

Bob Wright
 
well I got out and shot them. They all shot great, I dont have any issuses with them. They grouped good. They do seem to be a touch larger than the rugers or colt (grip area anyways). But Im very happy with them, and at a good price too. The only thing I guess is resale will be less then the colts or rugers
 
The Dragoon always seemed to have a "mushy" feel to its action, and I didn't think it was as sleek looking as the Ruger.
Click to expand...

That's about the exact opposite of my take on them.

The action is far crisper than my Blackhawk, even after a sweet action job, and the Ruger is positively blocky in appearance IMO compared to the Virginian, which has lines more similar to a SAA (i.e. Sexy!)
 
They do seem to be a touch larger than the rugers
Click to expand...

Tried putting mine in a holster for a Blackhawk, and it was a tight squeeze. I'd say they are just a tiny bit beefier.

Just got back from shooting mine for the first time at the indoor range today.

First five shots without touching the sights off hand unsupported at 30 ft.

375943_4546360665954_723650882_n.jpg


Made a quick adjustment, and sent the target out to 50 ft, and threw one away in the 7 ring , 3 just barely out of the black in the 8 ring centered nicely , and the rest in the black.

I'm pretty happy with that off hand unsupported shooting range reloads.

Going to get a set of dies soon and work up a nice load for this one.
 
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