Tag Archives: 357 Magnum

The best new Snub Gun on the market

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Snub-nosed carry revolvers have arguably been around since 1849 when Colt hit the market with the “Wells Fargo” Pocket model. Now pushing into their 175th year, there is a reason they are still popular: a blend of simplicity, reliability, and concealability.

This year saw Diamondback Firearms introduce their sleeper Self Defense Revolver, a six-shot .357 Magnum all-stainless snubby that takes K-frame speedloaders, fits in J-frame holsters, and accepts common S&W grip panels from the latter as well.

The SDR is a good-looking gun. All the edges are melted, leaving virtually no sharp points and few snag points other than the exposed hammer spur.

We’ve been kicking an SDR around for several months and found it easily supportable, dependable in use and operation, and innovative with an easily removable cylinder assembly. Further, while not meant for long-range benchrest target shooting, it is accurate to fill the needs of your typical EDC snub gun.

And it works, these from the 15-yard mark, standing and unsupported

Did Diamondback knock it out of the park their first time at bat when it came to a centerfire revolver? Looks like it.

The full review is in my column at Guns.com.

A Deeper Dive on BFRs

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As part of my tour of Magnum Research, I unpeeled the onion so to speak on one of their lesser-known product lines, the BFR.

Originally named Brainerd’s First Revolver, as it was invented in that Minnesota town famous for Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox, in 1999, it has always been a Magnum Research product. Even with that being said, Jim Tertin, the guy behind the high-octane wheelgun, has been with the BFR since the beginning as has his first employee, Brett Pikula, who he hired in 2001.

Specializing in rifle-caliber rounds, (think lever-gun rimmed cased behemoths like the .45-70, .444 Marlin, and .30-30 WCF), Tertin told me the logic behind using these in a single-action revolver just makes sense.

“Rifle calibers in a handgun are extremely practical for a number of reasons,” explained Tertin. “You get a lot of horsepower, and the ammo is lower-cost than the high-performance handgun ammo.” Availability is also a factor, with Tertin explaining you can get .30-30 or .444 Marlin “at any sporting goods store,” whereas something like .50 AE is a little more expensive and harder to find.

More in my column at Guns.com.

So, I Went Behind the Scenes at Magnum Research

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During my summer trip to the Great North filming episodes of Select Fire for Guns.com, I spent some time at Magnum Research in Pillager, Minnesota, to see how Desert Eagles and BFRs are made.

Yup, that’s a .45-70 revolver…

Now part of the Kahr Firearms Group along with other lines such as Thompson and Auto-Ordnance, Magnum Research was established in 1980 in The Gopher State, and the company’s best-known product, the Desert Eagle, began factory production in 1984 with serial number 3,001.

Fast forward over 35 years later and the “Deagle” remains the company’s most popular firearm.

 

For more and the full factory tour, check it out at GDC. 

Sure, sure, but do you know of the Colt BOA?

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The Colt BOA was only made in limited numbers for a single year, then sold through a single distributor, making it probably the most elusive and desirable of the company’s double-action revolvers.

Between 1950 and 2003, Colt delivered to wheel gun aficionados a series of seven now-classic “snake” guns: Cobra, Python, Diamondback, Viper, BOA, King Cobra, and Anaconda. Some of these were more popular and widespread, such as the Diamondback which was made in both .22LR and .38 Special, while some were less frequently encountered, such as the Anaconda which was made in .44 Mag and .45 Colt. For seekers of the seven serpents, however, a couple of these guns are almost impossible to find: the Viper, which was just a regular catalog item for Colt in 1977, and the BOA, which is even rarer.

In fact, for many Colt fans, it is kind of a holy grail.

More in my column at Guns.com, where I checked out BOA #513.