Handguns You Waited Most of Your Life to Own

["DoubleAction"]

I have my own long list of handguns that I grew up admiring, but took many years to acquire.One was the Colt Single Action Army .45;Others were Colt's Gold Cup, Colt's Python, Smith & Wesson's Model 29, Smith & Wesson's Model 27, Colt's Detective Special, and Sig Sauer's P-220. There are still a few more, but these were in my top drawer list of guns I admired the most.

[Mountaineer]

Mine are the Browning Hi Power, and the Sig P226. And even though it's not a handgun, I've waited most of my life for an AR15, and now I have one ;D

["DoubleAction"]

Mountaineer; I had listed the Ar-15 on my list too, but eliminated it when I realized it was not a handgun. It took me many years to acquire one of these.

[TMan]

I have this fixation on a Korth. Why do they cost that much? Are they really worth that kind of cash? Will I ever own one? I also have long admired the P7M8. I've never shot one, but have dry-fired a P7M13, which is a little bit too much of a handful for me.

I never thought I'd get a BMW Z8, but because of some unique circumstances, I did. Maybe someday - the Korth.

[XavierBreath]

Guns I've long admired and acquired are a Gold Cup, a S&W M27, an AK47 (believe it or not! mine's a SAR1 of course), a Beretta 92FS, a Luger, a HK USP, HK P7, Walther P38 (mines a P1) and the SAA (mine's a spaghetti version)

Guns I still admire and want to acquire include a Broomhandle Mauser, a real GI 1911, a Colt Detective Special, a Colt Police Positive, a Colt 1903 hammerless (notice a trend?)

[Arclightstrike]

For the longest time I had been looking for a "Broomhandle" and a P-38, among other things. One day I was in my local friendly gun store and don't you know they pull out a P-38 and three C96s! I bought the Walther AND the only ".30 Luger" C96 with the holster/stock (the other two were reworked to 9x19mm and had no holsters of any kind, never mind the one that turns into a stock). All the numbers match on the Mauser, BTW. Both can be seen at "Arclightstrike's Armory."

After seeing the Charles Bronson " Death Wish" series of movies, I told myself that someday I'd have a Wildey like he had. Well, one day I was at my local friendly gun store (the same one) and what do I see in the display case, in all its stainless glory, resting on a bed of blue velvet in a nice hardwood box? Immediately put it on layaway. Took it home about two months ago...also can be seen in the "Armory."

DA, who sez the '15 isn't a handgun (but I know you wrote that before you saw mine)? I hadn't seen such a critter until one day I was at my local friendly gun store (hmmmm...there seems to be a trend here, too, XavierBreath) and I did a doubletake when I looked at the wall where the ARs live. You know the rest of the story (without Paul Harvey having to tell it to ya).

Some things I still have yet to get are a Colt Gold Cup and one of those Sigs chambered for that nice little bottleneck .357, as well as a repro Walker Colt blackpowder revolver (gotta be repro--I'll win the Lotto before I could get the real deal!). I'd also like to get a barrel for my "Ugly Gun" in .400 CorBon...and maybe a Viper coupe reworked by Hennessey ;D!

["DoubleAction"]

Arclight; You do have some nice pieces in your collection, the Carbon 15 pistol did catch my eye. I have to ask if the magazine is detachable, and do you load the pistol by the use of stripper clips?

[Arclightstrike]

DA, the Carbon-15 has a detachable mag just like its full-length big brother. This one looks a bit different only because I have installed a Redi-Mag on it, which is a device that holds another magazine right next to the one already in the gun. When you empty that one, a push of the magazine release button releases both mags. You just make sure to get your left hand on the full one as it is released, and then insert it into the mag well and smack it home. It takes a little practice at first, but it's nice to have the ability to load a fresh mag that quickly ;D. The 60 rds. of 5.56x45mm forward of the trigger guard do make this mostly a two-hander in practice, although recoil-wise it isn't really a beast to shoot one-handed. If you happen to have arms like " da Aah-nold" you could probably hold it out there one-handed all day...

The mags can, of course, be loaded from stripper clips like all military mags of this type, but the weapon does not have the ability to be loaded from a stripper clip with a mag in place, like you can do with an M-14 or its civilian version (M1A).

The gun itself is basically a flat-top AR with somewhat modified stainless guts and a fluted stainless barrel housed in an upper and lower receiver that are made from carbon fiber composite rather than aluminum. If you're interested, I'll break it down and shoot some closer pix of it to clarify what I have attempted to explain here.

["DoubleAction"]

Thanks; That won't be necessary, you've already provided what I needed to know. The reason I asked this is because I read something from the BATF about the AR 15 pistols that stated the magazine had to be permanantly attached to the well, with the magazine being loaded by opening the top half, using stripper clips to load the magazine. This was for the 7 1/2 " barrel, which had my interest when I was looking toward an upper conversion and buffer to possibly use on an existing lower.

["DoubleAction"]

I did find out, after searching, that the detachable magazine version would probably be listed as "Any Other Firearm", and transferrable as a Class 3 firearm. The post ban permantely attached magazine version gives no mention of it being a class 3 firearm.

[Arclightstrike]

DA, could you elaborate on this BATF thing about fixed magazines on AR-15 pistols? Seems to me that the only way you could load a fixed-magazine AR would be to pull the upper reciever off (or, depending on the type of buffer assembly used, at least pull the rear pin and pivot the upper on the forward pin), "cause you certainly can't do it through the port. Also, how would that affect the P.O.s, Olympics, Bushmasters, and various other makers of this type of gun, since all the ones I've seen will accept standard AR-15/M-16 magazines. I dearly hope there aren't any plans in the works to ban these weapons as well (although I guess anything's possible if some cretin like Kerry ever gets into office / ).

["DoubleAction"]

Loading the attached magazines would be done by opening the upper reciever. Olympic Arms has a couple with the attached information on those:
OA-96 - AR-15 Pistol Variants
A BATF-approved post-ban pistol based on the original OA-93 design. The 30-round ammunition well is pinned and welded in place and cannot be detached. The unit has a button in the rear that "shotguns" the upper open and can then be loaded via stripper clips or singly as you would a standard AR magazine. Features include: Button cut heavy barrel, 6.5" OAL, 1x9" twist Aluminum free-floating handguard No buffer tube Weight: 4 lbs 3 oz Length: 15 3/4"
OA-93 TG - AR-15 Pistol Variants
The OA-93 TG is a new for 1998 firearm based on the original OA-93 pistol design that was banned by the 1994 Crime Bill. The OA-93 TG is an NFA firearm that is classified by the BATF as an "Any Other Weapon", and must be purchased by a Class III dealer (dealer of machineguns). The weapon is transfered on a Form 4 (same as a machinegun, short barreled rifle, etc.),. E-mail our info line for more details. Thanks Brian Blakley for this design idea! Features include: Detachable magazine Forward pistol grip 6.5" 4140 CM barrel Aluminum handguard Vortex flash suppressor Flattop upper Weight: 4 lbs. 3 oz. Length: 16"

[Arclightstrike]

Well, FWIW, I got mine from my local friendly gun store as a regular handgun, and these guys are very up-to-date on their info (they do sell class III stuff and suppressors to qualified folks)....