Spot the rescue gun.

[Thumbcocker]

Back in the mid 2000's I was working like a dog. Pretty much meeting myself coming and going.

One oasis in my life was a small gun and gunsmithing shop. It was owned by 2 millwrights. They did machining and other precision work. I would stop in and we would solve the world's problems and generally have guy time. I loved to watch the lathes and milling machines work. So I'm easily amused. So what.

One day in the handgun case I noticed a Blackhawk. 357. It looked like it had been rode hard and put away wet. I looked it over. Just a plain Jane Blackhawk. No box. No papers. Hogue grips. One of millions. It indexed well and locked up tight.

I needed another .357 like a hole in my head. I put it back. It laid in the case for months.

Then it started making sad puppy eyes at me. Then I thought about this poor gun winding up in the hands of some Philistine.

Finally I asked for the best out the door price. $250 was the answer. Sold. After the waiting period I picked it up. The internals were bone dry. A little oil, some grease on the base pin and rachet. I swear it sighed with relief.

Since it had rust patches and missing finish on the grip frame, I named it Spot.

Some guns are divas and demand attention and a special diet. Not Spot. Spot eats about anything and pots his shots into at least respectable groups. Sometimes Spot does better than that. No fuss just a solid sixgun that has a blue collar work ethic.

The only modification I have done to Spot is slip one leg off the trigger return spring. And a LOT of dry firing.

Took Spot to the range today. He was happy to get out.

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[Char-Gar]

I have had rescue dogs, cats and guns. No fancy papers and no high tone breeding, but they will be honest, grateful and always give you the best they have.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Is that an alloy trigger guard?

[DickelDawg]

Ole Spot puts up a darn good group.

[Thumbcocker]

Is that an alloy trigger guard?

Yup

[Winger Ed.]

Cool.

I tell people that if they don't take their guns out and shoot them fairly often,
they'll get 'lot rot' like when a car sits too long without being driven.

[toot]

never look a gift horse in the eye! beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!

[358429]

See spot run! He gallops!

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[rintinglen]

I have a Colt 32-20 that I call Buster, who was also a rescue gun. He was the ugliest gun on a table at a gun show and I was looking at finding a companion for my 32-20 Browning Rifle. I'd hoped for something better, but the price was right, the dealer jovial, and Buster followed me home. He needed a bath, boiling and carding to remove some scale from the Barrel, and re-assembly after lubing, but has turned out to be a good friend. We can't all be pretty boys. Buster is on the bottom.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Here's my rescue, from a pawn shop. I first spotted it almost 2 years ago. Every time I visited it called to me from among the black plastic it was surrounded by. I never even asked to examine it, because the price tag was an outrageous $800. Finally, a month or six weeks ago I decided to take a stab at it and offered the lady pawnbroker $500. She scanned the bar code on the label and said, "I've got to get $550 for it." Sold. An Argentine Ballester-Rigaud .45 Auto in great mechanical shape, a little surface wear. Added a new set of English Walnut grips from 4S Grips in Texas. No doubt about it, us gun rescuers will have a special place in heaven.



DG

[358429]

Fantastic looks about that pistol Mr. Mountain Man I bet it's a great shooter.

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[Der Gebirgsjager]

Gonna find out soon now. Perfect bore. Very tight slide.

DG

[358429]

Ah man why you gotta say that. And you haven't shot it yet.

That pistol Must Have The Blues!

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[Thumbcocker]

Waiting on a range report on the Argentine .45.

[Texas by God]

Waiting on a range report on the Argentine .45.

If it shoots like every other Ballester DG and I have had- it will do fine!
I could have had a pitted outside, great inside model 10 S&W M&P for $300 a few weeks ago. Mrs. "Let's pay doctor bills instead" was with me that day- I'll leave her home next time.

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[Texas by God]

Great score, Thumbcocker! If you like two tone guns; bead blasting the aluminum grip frame and ejector rod housing will spiff it right up!

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[Thumbcocker]

Great score, Thumbcocker! If you like two tone guns; bead blasting the aluminum grip frame and ejector rod housing will spiff it right up!

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Yeah but that just wouldn't fit with the essence of Spot. He doesn't like to draw attention to himself.

I have other Blackhawks that I have done trigger work on, put on different sights and base pins etc. They don't shoot any better than Spot. There may be a lesson in there.

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[jimb16]

I guess I'm a member of that club too. I've got a shotgun, rifle and a couple of handguns that fall into the rescue gun category too.

[Bigslug]

Is that an alloy trigger guard?

I might be off in how things are precisely combined, but my understanding is that it's the blued Blackhawks that get they alloy trigger guards and the Super Blackhawks and stainless variants that get steel.

I worked in gun shops for 13 years. I should probably stay out of conversations about rescue guns.

[Tar Heel]

It seems those older Blackhawks shoot better. Good find!