Have you ever hit "A wall"?

.......Country, just expressing the opinion of a man who knows what guns he needs and likes. I haven't boughtg a new handgun in years either but the ones I do have still work and are sure fun to shoot. Chris

Countrygun,  I was sort of at the wall a few months ago,  and have been there a few times. But as my retirement plans solidified for this summer,  I explained to myself it was important to have my retirement gun remuda taken care of while I still had a higher income. 
 
I sold a few classified as trading stock. I sold my nose and neck rings,  my lip plate, my tongue stud, and my green hair dye. Naw,  I'm making that part up. I'm too bald for hair dye.
 
After peddling the trading stock came some purchases.  Yes, one new one, a 4 5/8" .44 Spl Flat Top. Then a string of very slightly to moderately used wheelguns not made any more, except for the ersatz retro issues: an S&W 19, a 66, an 18, a 63, a 35. At this point I'm busy rationalizing a 5" 27. Just about at the end of my string, though I keep thinking about a 4 3/4 New Frontier .44, if they really exist, or the SAA version.
 
I've run into an occasional gem at local gun shows or local shops,  like the cherry 4" 29-2 I found before this last surge. But mainly I've taken to online buying. A little more gamble sometimes,  and more steps,  and no really great prices, but more selection...and temptation for a guy who knows what he likes but doesn't have all he wants.
 
I think Chris is smarter and more admirable. On the other hand,  I'm admiring the new herd and riding 'em hard.

The real problem with new wheel guns is that they're not made like the old wheel guns.
I mean really, look around at any gun store, and what you will find is an assortment of semi-automatic pistols taking their place as the "serious" guns. Revolvers of any type can no longer be serious unless they are small concealed carry pieces. This is Charter's territory, and they make a small .40 so even slide lovers can feel like its ok to pack a wheel gun.
Other than cc, revolvers are aged collectibles, objects of a previous bygone era, or something to play cowboy with. Even handgun hunters are switching to high powered single shots. Yep folks, its only dinosaurs like us who revere the qualities that made the wheel gun a particularly beautiful, functional, practical tool for fun and seriousness.
S&W and Ruger both offer guns that can handle the power of modern loadings, but as usual, they are dogged by other issues that in my opinion diminish their worthiness. Colt offers the New Frontier, and the SAA still, when you can find them without the scalper pricing they are still expensive, but really worth the daneiro.
For anyone today searching for a real wheel gun of some other configuration, it is only to the guns of yesteryear that you can turn.

This dinosaur has a line on a 4" 624 .44 Spl.  But first I'm checking to see if it got the recall stamp of approval from Smith on the cylinder problem they had in the 80s on some of these.
 
Yep, there's something very special about the out of print wheelguns. There are a few gunshops in my neck of the woods that have a rotating stock of used revolvers and some aren't beat to death. But most shops have a long line of pistols I don't even want to look at.  I've pared mine down to a Commander and a Woodsman. The Commander will probably go, too,  but the Woodsman will not.
 
And with wheelguns you don't have to pick your brass out of the mud and grit,  or try to figure out why you're so blind you can't find 20% of your shells.  One time I actually laid out a tarp, shooting in the Coast Range. Now that's low down. 
 

Why would a tarp on the deck be "Low down"?  You really wouldn't approve of my method of suspending a tarp between two 1x2 type target holders with tall 1x2s then. Hey 10mm brass is expensive! 
 
The more time you spend with a "classic" wheel gun the less impressive the "modern" bottom feeders seem. Changing springs to change from light plinking loads to serious ammo, chasing brass. For the life of me I can't understand the  forums with "Picture/ show us your "Blah, blah, woof, woof." threads" Why? they all look the same. flat black finish with plastic grips. Big deal, seen it, shot it, got one (somewhere in the gunsafe.) The recent "run" on collectable, and not so collectable, Colt Pythons had me holding my sides. IF I MAY SAY WITHOUT MEANING TO RUFFLE FEATHERS, a whole lot of what we used to call "yuppies" with disposable income, running around trying to scarf up anything with the name "Python" on it because it was the "Rolex" of revolvers. Granted a great gun but most of them didn't even know that there were at least three, and some say four "Generations" of Pythons, depending on manufacturing process, all they cared about was getting a revolver that had the right word rollmarked on the barrel. I sat here with my very early 60's 6"  and laughed like heck.
 
I have seen a lot of trends come and go in my years, but the current crop of "new" (young or older) shooters take the cake. Many of them cannot efficiently, much less effectively, operate a DA revolver. In my younger days that was a part of the whole pistol shooting package. If you had the DA part down then a DA/SA auto was a matter of learning the "transition". You probably had already practiced the SA part on a revolver with a decent trigger. My first instructor told me "Master the DA revolver, and all other handguns are child's play" Now he was of course exaggerating, a bit, but as the years have gone by (although I never claim to have "mastered" the DA) I have found myself rather indifferent to many of the triggers that people "pan" on the new selfshuckers" ---- "Long pull on this striker fired XXX" , no not really, sort of like a minature revolver, no trouble.
Well maybe the new Polymer "wonder revolvers" will spark a renewed interest in the DA revolver, I hope so, but  hope it can wait until I find a few more on my bucket list before they get all "trendy" and stuff.

I know one new shooter, young guy-compared to me-who has shot exactly one autoloader, in a mild cartridge, and now considers himself both a know it all, and the greatest shot who ever lived. Its pretty hard to break through such an attitude, so I don't even try. When he was lecturing me on the joy of using "clips", and that only old idiots used revolvers for anything, period, I mentioned that wheelguns don't leave brass lying all around, and that this feature might be important, if say, you like to reload your ammo. He looked at me and replied-"I never thought of that!"
Indeed.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be great at anything, but in my opinion, the ones to reach and lend a little knowledge to are somewhere between too young to shoulder a full size rifle, and just old enough to be able to concentrate real well. They haven't yet filled their heads with tons of useless information, are still willing, even eager to pick up a new skill, and if you don't overdo it, will have fun without feeling they need to be the king of the range.

I no longer have much patience to sit and listen to someone blather on about how great they are, I'd rather head for the hills with  a happy  student, couple of 22's, some cans, a box of ammo, and ear/eye protection any day. Oh, one more thing-a garbage bag to pick up our trash, and the trash left behind by others.
Amity, good luck on that Smitty, sounds real good. Personally, my finances do not allow me to search for my next wish, a Colt Officer's Model, .38 2nd issue. I really love the adjustable front sight, and the way those old Colt DA's could stack the trigger. Maybe fortune will smile upon me someday, and I'll be able to make that purchase.
CG, when it comes to retrieving autoloader brass, it seems any method that work is the good one. A friend, now passed away, used to have me stand just right when shooting his 10mm so the brass would land in the rubber lined bed of his pickup. He saved a lot of it that way.

Mak, you touched upon one of my favorite debates of youth "Colt stack VS Smith pull through" I was a Smith guy but after I got my Colt OMM I think I missed something. My Python had the spring modded for a pull through

One of my gun mentors was an ex Air Force guy who'd run a forward area electronics post during our Southeast Asia years. Anyway,  he sure had a lot of beautiful old revolvers, mostly Smiths,  but his prize seemed to be his OMM. Somehow I never got to shoot it though I've had and shot Pythons, Detective Specials, and Troopers. I do tend to prefer the Smith action. But I might've missed out.
 
Low down tarps? Well,  I don't think anybody should leave centerfire brass or shotshells lying around behind them, reloaders or not.  Too much trash left in public areas in the woods, period. In my area of Oregon, fairly populated,  you get into the closest mountain areas and generally you're either on public land or timber company land which traditionally has been open to public use. But more and more, you see a good clearcut for shooting and the next time you go back there's cans, shells of all types, beer and booze bottle glass,  exploded shaving cream canisters, etc.,etc.  And then the next time you go back there's a gate on the road and you're looking for another spot. So if you gotta use a tarp or parachute or pickup bed, it's better than the alternative for self-shucker shooting.
 
But I found it seriously detracted from the pleasure of shooting, for me. You can't move around, I found myself a little concerned about whether I was plopping them onto the tarp. Strong hand, weak hand, two hands,  is the brass landing in the same spot?  That kind of thing. Felt odd, like I was wearing a tutu.
 
Looks like that 624 is going back to Smith, being in the recall serial number range and not having been checked out yet. I understand most of them check out and then you get your gun back. but that some of them don't and then Smith keeps it, being unsafe and unrepairable since they don't have any replacement stainless .44 Spl cylinders left. So I may end up with it and may not. Geez, that seemed like a primo type of gun.

Good luck on the Smith, one of those has been on my "list" behind a 5" 27.  I could get flamed but, to tell the truth  when it comes to a late 70's Python ,I'd take a 50's or early 60s model 27 everyday of the week.

When it comes to triggers, and actions, pretty much everybody has been led to believe that the lightest with the shortest travel are best. I can say that a wonderfully light and smooth trigger pull is a thing of beauty. One of the best of this kind is still found on the old Combat Masterpiece S&W K-frame. However, over the years I have come to appreciate the old Colt action, because it truly does allow for the feel that provides modulation.
We are lectured over and over that the "surprise" trigger let off is desirable. Well, I have to say, the surprise may show you whether or not you are holding to good fundamentals, but the intentional let off allows a greater level of control.
Ultimately, its what you like.
I began as a Smitty guy, think I've written about this before, so won't recover old ground, and still like 'em, but today my preferences run to the much ignored and derided Colt. Personally, I just wish the prices reflected the disinterest of most aficionados, maybe then I could afford my Officers' Model 38!

Modulation.  That's a familiar term to this half-baked ham.
 
I can see I've not fully appreciated the old Colt DA virtues. Their beauty was readily apparent. But with the 70s versions I owned,  I never got into the stacking. As you say, Mak, ultimately it's what you like. 
 
But in double action shooting,  I don't want to be surprised by the let-off at all. Reminds me for some reason of an old buckskinner who told me at a blackpowder meet,  when he handed me his flintlock rifle to try, "You don't even have to aim until after you pull the trigger." Even with rifles I like to know when the trigger's going to trip. Make that last little adjustment to be on target. Maybe I want the surprise for paper-punching,  but not for actual hunting or shooting at random targets in the boonies from my hind legs. Seems like if I have a feel for when the trigger's gonna trip,  I can sort of judge between twitches, wobbles and tremors and hit fairly well.
 
Bidding on an as-new 6 1/2" 28-2 right now. At $432 and we'll see what happens tomorrow. If the price stays down, seems like a heck of a gun for a Taurus price. Probably someone wil swoop in with a thicker stack of greenbacks.  

An update.
Apparently my wife could sense some form of uneasyness about my person and she correctly diagnosed a part of the malady, however her remedy did not quite target the specifics of the ailment. Not to fault her however it was an excellent piece of diagnostic work to be sure. The remedy she fetched home is by all measure an outstanding  curative for those individuals, and I presume they do exist, who might find themselves in a similar quandry in regards to pistols of the "bottom feeding" variety. Since I do have quite a history built up in my youthful dalliance with such mechanized contraptions, and since I am, by nature, historically oriented, this shining example of the extremes to which John Moses Browning's venerable 1911 design can be taken, is of great interest to me. Indeed what can be, and has been, done to this design is truly a wonder to behold and I am sure I will enjoy this shining example of what can be done.
While I am more aware than many of the great contributions made by John Moses Browning I feel his contributions to the lever action rifle are his most outstanding acheivements. Yes, I am well aware of his machineguns, his pocket autos, his repeating shotguns, of course the 1911, but the fact that the 1911 was designed for the Cavalry marks it as seperate from many of his other designs, much as the lever actions do. A great contribution to a more civilized age. It does make me willing to overlook the fact that even that great man had his limitations. Glaringly absent from his great acheivements is a "Browning Designed" revolver. Ah well, even the greatest of men cannot be all things.

Still waiting on the verdict from Smith on that 4" 624. Is it shootable or not? And missed out on the 28-2.  But snagged a very nice 6 1/2" 24-3 in the meantime. That's good.
However, having your anomie apparent to your spouse,  who comes home with a gun gift to lift the spirits...that's better.

There is always something else to be done.
 
I hit a wall all the time.
 
I just get over it quickly
 
Snake