The top two are my p-64 on both sides with the rubber grip on it. My hands a very large so the rubber and finger slots make a big difference for me on that small handle. Another change you cant see here is the sights. Black iron in front, black iron in back, black paper targets at teh range. Lucky I could see which was which, but it wasn't easy or instinctive. After seeing the prices on most gun sight kits ($20 for 7 applications on one), I went for a bright lime glow in the dark green Tester model paint from Wal-mart at $1.95. Now all I have to worry about is a bad guy wearing a bright lime green glow in the dark shirt.
Just beneath is a Ruger p-95. Solid and dependable arm, but a bit fat. Good for a CCW when I was skinnier, but tight waistbands don't fit that pup so well anymore. THe white dots on the sights were wearing out, too. Now they're lime green too.
Then comes my Black Powder boys, Colt 1851 navy in .44. That one also has the army grip from the snub (I'll get to that one in a mo.) It's as historically accurate as a John Wayne movie, but it's tons-o-fun to shoot. Then comes my Remington 1858, also .44. That one is straight out of the box, no changes to that one, except blueing. (More on that, too.) Then the Colt 1860 Army. My favorite of the BP boys, usually.
While the Remmy is good and solid, the other two feel good in the hand. The usually navy grip on the brass ones (I'll probably never buy one of those) feels wrong to me, but the larger humpback grip on the armys fills my hand just right.Last is the snubbie. It's a Colt 1860 (All these are actually pietta reproducitons) and I got the birdhead grip from VTI gunparts. Took a little grinding and fitting since it was meant for an 1873, but the difference was very little and as you can see the work was worth it. The wood grip was made by me and I used some leftover cherrywood stain to color it. All in all, I like the result and occaisionally carry it as a CCW.
Being a pietta, the blue was some awful powder coat crap. Which meant that it comes off if you look too hard. After the first gun got a little rusty, and trying to clean it lead to having to strip the blue off the whole gun, I just redo them with a home blueing kit as soon as I get them. It lowers the amount of needed maintanence quite considerably.
Been over a year since I was able to take the BP boys out for a shoot, but I hope to be able in the next few months. (I can't just take them to an indoor range even with the blackpowder substitute I use.) Life is a busy thing, after all.
