Which revolver and which calibre? Good luck!

I take it you don't live in Florida. Or Ohio in the summer for that matter. I'm sorry but no one I know of would give any thought to toting a concealed Redhawk around in these parts-and I do carry a SIG Model 227 concealed on occasion. My Redhawk is carried when I'm in bear country but never "hidden" under my t-shirt or sport coat-way too many other more viable and practical options for carrying a handgun concealed than a Redhawk revolver with a 7.5" long barrel.

But, each to his own is my mantra. ;)
 
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Well.... The sole Ruger stockist that I knew of no longer sells Ruger!
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So, basically your only option left for revolvers is Taurus? In that case, my first choice would be to scour the collectors market (if there is one in Estonia) for a used S&W L-frame (or maybe a 3" N-frame) or the used market for a used Ruger (preferably an old Speed or Security Six, if not, a GP100). If you can't find something used in your time frame the Taurus Tracker may meet your needs, assuming you get a reliable one. Ported (not my 1st choice, but it makes the heavier calibers more bearable), relatively light for a medium frame revolver, on the small/thin side for a medium framed revolver (I don't think they still do, but Taurus used to call this frame their compact frame), and available with 7 rounds of .357mag or 5 rounds of .44mag (a much better caliber for large bears than .357mag).
 
TBH, if I can't find another Ruger, I'll fight tooth and nail to keep the Redhawk....

I'll certainly look into the Tracker series, but I've been so happy with my Ruger... and I've developed so many decent loads for it!
 
"...GP100 in .44 Special..." Can you get .44 Special ammo or brass at the top of the Baltic? Isn't always easily found here.
Avoid Taurus if you can. Their reputation for customer service in North America is exceptionally bad.
Don't worry about bears. They're not interested in you. Your garbage, maybe, but if you leave them alone, especially Cindy's kids, they'll leave you alone.
"...Finnish jails or Estonian ones are better..." Kind of suspect the Finnish jails would be better if you get a choice. The Estonians were trained by Russians. snicker.
 
If this is an ultimatum from the wife, I suggest keeping 3 guns, but making sure they are all either blued or stainless and all have similar looking grips. I know my wife isn't observant enough with guns to know that they aren't all the same gun.
 
Hmm, ultimatum from the wife...Negotiate..."You are right honey, I should sell some guns to pay off bills. I will only keep one. Now, which pieces of jewelry do you want to sell and which one is the one you are going to keep?" I bet that will work, or, can you tell I've never been married? :D
 
Mr Pond,

The following advice is worth exactly what you are paying for it! (smile)

Now that we've gotten the disclaimer out of the way...since you have been pleased and successful with your Redhawk I would recommend you keep that one.

I personally would not trust my life to an Astra unless I had no other choice. So, I would recommend you try to find (although it sounds like that has gotten much harder now) a 3" SP-101 and trade off the 9mm and the Astra. If your woods and competition gun is a Redhawk the rather heavy (by most 5-shot 38 cal standards) SP would seem light to you. It would give you a similar gun in design and execution to the RH and I think you would adapt to it quit well.

My deepest sympathy for the restricted circumstances in which you find yourself. Best of luck from the Arizona desert,

Dave
 
I personally would not trust my life to an Astra unless I had no other choice. So, I would recommend you try to find (although it sounds like that has gotten much harder now) a 3" SP-101 and trade off the 9mm and the Astra. If your woods and competition gun is a Redhawk the rather heavy (by most 5-shot 38 cal standards) SP would seem light to you. It would give you a similar gun in design and execution to the RH and I think you would adapt to it quit well.
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Well, I will leap, firstly, to the Astra's defence.
It's actually a really nice revolver. The fit is good, the lock up too. Accuracy is there as well as a crisp trigger. DA is not bad, but SA is the best I have. There is actually an active thread right now about an acquired 4" Astra 960 (mine is 2.25") and the OP there seemed impressed too.

I've also handled Astra Constable, A60 and A70 autos and they were all really nicely built!

Having said that, I've always liked the SP101 and 3" in a carry revolver is a nice length.

I'd only wonder if the trigger would be as good as the Astra's...
 
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I personally would not trust my life to an Astra unless I had no other choice.
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I think it's safe to say that you don't know that much about certain firearms.
To make a statement like that means you must have some first hand experience with an Astra revolver.
Astra made a very nice revolver. Much better quality than Taurus and Charter Arms as well as many other brands. I would and do trust my life to an Astra without a second thought.
 
Astra made a lot of nice, well-made firearms; autos as well as revolvers. They lasted for almost 100 years (1908 to 1998) before having to close their doors. Kind of sad, really.
 
I think it's safe to say that you don't know that much about certain firearms.
To make a statement like that means you must have some first hand experience with an Astra revolver.
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For ten years I ran my own firearms training business. I taught well over 1000 people (quit keeping track after 1000) and I had a number of students show up with Astras, both revolvers and semi-autos. The revolvers all had terrible DA triggers (I shot a number of them) and the autos were not very functionally reliable, mostly FTF problems.

The OP is fortunate in having a good, reliable Astra. More power to him. I still would not choose an Astra for self defense unless there was no other option. That is based on my own, personal experience.

Dave
 
Even out of a thousand people I find it incredulous that a "number" of students showed up with Astra revolvers and semi-autos. I attend many shooting events and have done some instructing myself over the past fifty years or so and, maybe because I didn't look hard enough, I cannot recall ever seeing an Astra firearm "on the line" or in the class. Do you live in Spain? :)
 
A lot of people (not saying this is true about Dave T) mix Llamas up with the Astras and Star pistols. Maybe all came from Spain about the same time but there is a big difference in quality. The Llama was the "bargain basement" of the 3. They put out a lot of decent pistols but their share of duds certainly earned them a bad reputation. The Star and Astra pistols can hold their own in the gun world.
 
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