S&W vs Colt's

[evort]

I prefer the Smith, they fit my hand better, and they shoot better for me.

If I was a collector, I'd have old Colts, they are beautiful revolvers, just wonderful to look at.

[lotech]

One thing I've learned about Colt .38 Special and .357 Magnum revolvers - they generally shoot at least a little more more accurately with cast bullets smaller than .358". Some S&Ws will benefit from smaller diameter bullets as well. I've gone to sizing all bullets in a .357" die regardless of the gun I shoot them in.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

That's an interesting experience, lotech. Handguns can be individuals....

[Drm50]

I’ve found S&Ws to be extremely accurate with cast boolits sized for the particular gun. I have and have had many, many S&Ws. I had no interest in service revolvers of Colt or S&W. I had several Pythons in 60 & 70s. Very fine shooting and I never recall shooting a 357 in any of them, always 38sp loads in 357 cases/ WCs. Had a 4” that was my cruzin piece. Wasn’t worried about bad guys back then. More less targets of opportunity, varmits , ect. The Diamond back was the most comfortable revolver of all. A J frame was to small and K frame bigger than necessary, Diamondback was just right. Problem with them was they were built to light for 38sp. I ended up going S&W and only have one Colt DA today.

[robg]

started shooting with S&W 22 then S&W 38 then a 686 ,i would always go for a smith & Wesson in double action and a ruger in single action .thats my biased opinion.

[Winger Ed.]

Colts tend to have more sex appeal, but I'd grab that K38. You won't be disappointed.

[Kosh75287]

The best long-range (>100 yds) slow-fire shooting I've ever done with a .357 revolver was with a 6" Python, followed closely by a 5" S&W Model 27.
Four of us wrung out 4 different revolvers (we each owned one) in slow- and rapid- courses of fire. All but one of us shot best on the very long (for us) range slow fire course with the Python. The owner of the M27 shot best on the course with his own revolver, but the best score was shot with the Python (its owner, a notably fine long-range shot).
When shooting "El Presidente" runs at various distances, the Python came in dead last, even with its owner. At least part of it was the Colt's cylinder latch having to be manipulated with the other hand, rather than with the thumb of the shooting hand. It took up time that my Ruger PS-6 and the 2 S&Ws (the 5" M27 and a 4" M66) didn't require.

But even controlling for the time spent reloading, none of us could hit, under time pressure, with the Python quite as well. Scores were lower by 4% to 12%, depending on the skill of the shooter. I'm no engineer nor gun designer, but it felt to me that the mass of the Python's cylinder "torqued" the piece, therefore the sight picture, when rapidly double-actioning it. I don't think it had much to do with it's cylinder turning "the wrong way", or if it was possibly how the articulating parts moved the cylinder (unevenly). But try as I might, I couldn't shoot that Python rapidly as well as I could any other revolver present. Neither could the other three.

My yen to own a Python or any other Colt double-action revolver soon evaporated after that evaluation.

[Murphy]

Coming from a family of hunters, I had no input from any family or friends about what a good handgun brand was. Sure, I'd heard of Colt and Smith & Wesson for years (who hadn't?). I'd owned a few handguns and had worked my way up to a Dan Wesson Model 15 and the same version in .22 LR. It wasn't long afterwards, I learned about Ed McGivern and ordered his book. When I saw he mostly used Smith & Wessons to set the vast majority of his records, the deal was done. That's my story anyway. Colt makes a great product and I'll not be bashing them, I'm just a S&W guy at heart.

Murphy

[pull the trigger]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. Alot of great info, stories and opinions.

[rintinglen]

I carried a 4 inch Python for several years and always shot my highest qualification scores with it. I used a 6 inch in PPC competition in the late 70's. Why anybody has to use the left hand to actuate the cylinder release puzzles me. You snag the release with your right thumb pull it back and rotate the gun a quarter turn to the right while your middle and ring finger on the left hand force the cylinder out of the frame. You pivot the gun so the barrel points up, and jam the ejector rod with your left thumb so the empties kick out and down, while your right hand drags the speedloader out of the holder. The left hand pivots the barrel downward as the right hand aligns the speedloader, pushes the cartridges in place, activates the release and drops the speedloader to regrasp the gun while the left hand closes the cylinder. I could at one time do this in 3 seconds on demand, and in 2 seconds rarely. I could do no faster with any S&W or Ruger.
However, the downside of the Colt was the lack of durability. In 18 months, shooting about 600-700 rounds a month, my PPC gun had to go into the shop two times and was getting near a third, when I bought a S&W PPC gun, a K-frame model 14 with a 1" bull barrel and a custom sight rib. I ran 40,000 rounds through it over the next 5 years and it never saw a gunsmith. That was hundreds of dollars in savings in repairs. Rule of thumb was every 3-6,000 rounds, your Colt needed to be re-timed. That was 50-60 dollars at a time when $6.00/hr was a good wage. Now, I have many Colts, including my old blue 1976 Python, and a 6 incher, also blued, but my Rugers and Smiths do most of the shooting these days.

[hp246]

Owned both. My preference for DA trigger pull is the S & W, Firing SA is a tie. Colt is a bit more complex design and requires more attention and upkeep than the S & W. Every Colt I've owned has ended up with timing issues.

[Rick Hodges]

I earned my chops with a S&W. Every Colt DA revolver I have ever fired (Including the vaunted Python) had a hitch in the double action trigger I found objectionable. Those who stage triggers during double action fire seem to like this. I am from the school of smooth steady double action trigger strokes without the hitch in the giddy up. Back in the day you couldn't give me a Colt revolver, nor a S&W semi-automatic.

I have mellowed some since then....only some. I'll take the S&W, thank you.