Anaconda

[161]

Anybody have one? What are they like, good, bad? Found one for $1250 seams like a lot of money.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

They are the sturdiest DA revolver for a one-hand shooter out there. I have one of the very first ones made, four inch in forty-five Long Colt. They were sent out to half a dozen magazine writers for product review. By time I had the article written, Colt had decided not to produce the 45 LC in four inch.

They are spendy, quality is. Hold one and an N-frame S&W in your hand. Not much difference.
Swap the Smith for a Redhawk, and be surprised at how unwieldy the Ruger is.

Mine is not for sale.

Rich
Sua Sponte

[GabbyM]

I’ve a 6” model in 44 magnum. It will never be for sale either.
Trigger isn’t as nice in double action as a smith but it still works. I actually thought the DA trigger pull was great until I shot a S&W. If you are being charged by a Grizzly Bear you’ll not notice any difference. Not sure you could tell any difference on a paper target.

Fit and finish on mine is excellent. Only had the side pale off one time but it was perfectly fit. Bore was a little rough when new. They have a barrel liner of hard steel I think. After a few thousand rounds it’s smoothed out nicely and does not lead at all with full power or light loads.

They are in the hog leg category of hand gun. You’ll need to wear suspenders to carry one on a belt or your pants will fall down. They are however not to heavy for the 44 magnum round.

Don’t know what one is worth right now. Or even what a new S&W M29 runs. I may have paid about $850 for mine new 25 years ago. You might want to check with your local gun shop to see what you can actually buy a new M29 for. Since you can't buy a new Colt I'd say a used one in perfect condition is worth at least as much as a new Smith M29. Plus a littel if you have money to spend on collectibles or you want to shoot full power laods in mass. Personally I can’t tolerate very many full power 44 magnum loads anyway. So am sure a M29 is stronger than I am. Still keeping my Colt though.

My GF has a Colt 38 Special and a Colt Trooper 357 mag that I’m not all that impressed with. Compaed to my S&W's. My personal Anaconda at least is a far better made gun than either of those older Colts. Maybe even better made than any of my K frame Smiths. Newer design anyways. In short there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and there will not be in my life time.

[smkummer]

I like mine a 6 in. 45 Colt that I have fired ruger loads in it but usually only shoot Colt SAA loads in it. Comfortable and accurate with .454 diameter cast lead bullets but it did shoot the 452454 bullet sized to .452 well at 1150 FPS. The last retail in 2004 was $1100 and it appears people were able to buy them at about $900 at the time. Rumors abound that Colt is going to bring some double actions back but nothing so far.

[Larry Gibson]

Mine is a 4" in 44 Magnum and is not for sale. I replaced the 2 piece factory grip with a Hoque grip. If you have smaller hands you will appreciated the slightly shorter trigger pull, especially for DA. Mine is the most accurate .44 revolver I have ever fired.

Larry Gibson

[Grapeshot]

Anybody have one? What are they like, good, bad? Found one for $1250 seams like a lot of money.

I have a .45 Colt w/ a 4inch tube. It shoots Lyman .45cal 230 grain GC SWC slick a laser with a stiff charge of AA#9 behind it. The only problem I ever had with it was it would not shoot reloads reliably. I had to take metal off the the Hammer Nose so the Firing Pin would protrude more when I fired it double action. Even then, I sometimes had misfires that I had to rehit to fire.

When I got mine they were $500.00 No! I'm not selling mine. I do have a Colt New Service in .455 I'll let go for $800. It includes 200 rounds of brass.

[MtGun44]

I have a 6" Anaconda in .44 Mag, have not shot it a huge amount, and it has been OK but I
have not found a super accurate load for it yet. Not a slam on the gun, just that it has not
yet become the primary gun that I am working with, so I haven't really spent the time
fitting a boolit and finding out what works best.

Nice, stout, well made gun, but a bit heavy - of course, that dampens recoil nicely with hot
loads. I can't really make a fair comment on the actual accuracy, since I haven't given it
a really thorough workout.

Bill

[Walt]

Anybody have one? What are they like, good, bad? Found one for $1250 seams like a lot of money.

PM sent.

[mike454]

They are nearly as heavy as a redhawk. I have a 6" and it weighs 50 oz a 7.5 redhawk will go 53 oz. A S&W tapered barrel 5" will go 40 oz and a full underlug S&W 5" gun will go 44 oz. All those are in 45 colt. Plenty of meat in the Colt cylinder but it only locks in the rear. Throats on my anaconda are .457, My recent rugers and smiths are .451-452. The Colt shoots fine but needs big bullets. All my other 45s shoot fine with .452s. For me the Smiths carry nicely and the Rugers are bull strong. If they break, parts for rugers and smiths are easy to find, doubt the same holds true for anacondas.

[Coyote3]

The ones in great shape around here are going for around $1200, so I guess $1250 is not too far off. I am definitely keeping mine.

This is the 8".44 Magnum Anaconda I traded two pistols for. It's scary accurate, but it is a handful. Recently, I've been mostly shooting 240gr Lee SWC gas-checked boolits over moderate charges of H110.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_17023500f594aaa607.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6038)

Five cylinder loads shot DA at 30 feet. I started losing my concentration near the end.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_17023500f599f16d30.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6039)

[wildwilly]

I have one in 45 Colt, 4in. I bought it new when they were 1/3 the asking price now. It is very accurate. However, I could have been just as pleased with a Ruger Redhawk if it had been offered when I bought my Colt.

[Mal Paso]

It takes a lot of talented people to make a gun and my impression of the Anaconda is there were one or two talented people missing. I think it is one of the best guns made but...............

I found mine in a place it should not have been. Unless there was something wrong it would have been sold before it reached the display case. But the cylinder opened and closed like the door of a fine auto and it had never fired a full box of ammo in the 12 years since it was made. I offered $900 to their $1200 asking and we settled at $925.

Best out of the box trigger with SA at 3 1/4 lbs. Would not shoot a full cylinder without the cylinder binding and stopping the trigger pull. The cylinder window was Very tight and the barrel wasn't cut square. I stoned .002 off the upper right side of the forcing cone to make it square and stoned the ripples in the recoil plate. Still very tight but no feed problems. Had the same short firing pin protrusion problem as previously posted but I bought a second Transfer Bar and built it up with silver solder rather than alter the hammer. The Most Gorgeous out of the box barrel I've ever seen. Like a mirror with no machine marks But it's .430". I reamed the throats .431", I'm shooting .431 Boolits, and it's wicked accurate. I've found factory mainspring to be only heavy enough to be 100% reliable with Federal Primers. Still looking for a couple more pounds of mainspring.

Not for Sale

[500Smith]

I had an 8” for several years, put at least 5K rounds through it. Of all the hand guns that have in my possession I regret trading this one the most.
If you have the cash to spend I doubt you will regret it one bit.

I think I paid around $450 for mine new. :cry: