ltwguns.com

I've been a little disappointed in the lack of posts in the revolver section. I know we have a lot of wheel gun guys hiding out there in the closet! It's okay to come out and admit you love the "round guns"! Even Jason will admit it in private.

I just received this yesterday. Smith did a really nice job on this one. The pics were taken before I put the light rail on the bottom of the barrel. This one may be a keeper. For details, take a look at the new American Handgunner. Smith did this in two months! Should you run into Clint Smith, you might thank him for pushing this one through.

I have a Night Guard in .44 Special on order.

Enjoy.

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

That Thunder Ranch sure is sweet!
The Night Guard .44 special, What frame size is that?
Thanks

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"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

I just recently read the article on this and am really looking forward to checking one out. I think that this is a perfect night stand, car/truck gun especially with the light attachment.

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Jake Martens
Indianapolis, IN
https://www.facebook.com/USPSAIndiana

I talked to Clint about this one about three weeks ago (before the new American Handgunner Came Out). He really seemed to be even more fond of this gun then the 22-4 that was released previously. Of course, Clint really believes in the usability and practicality of the light rail on a handgun, be it revolver or pistol. I also got the impression that he wanted them to do the 325 Scandium framed gun, in hopes that it being lighter, more folks might be more inclined to carry a full sized gun. Anyone that knows Clint knows he ascribes to the, "If you can't shoot 'em any better, shoot 'em with something bigger." philosophy.

Rob, please let us know how it shoots! I am still lusting after a TR22-4, but the TR325 could replace that lusting!

-Rob

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No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause. -Theodore Roosevelt

I would like to see S&W make a Scandium, hamerless "J" frame in .44 special.
Now that would be Special!

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"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

I don't think you could squeeze a .44 into a J-frame and, if you could, I would not want to shoot it.

The Night Guard is going to be a 5 shot .44 Special in an L frame with Cylinder & Slides Extreme Duty fixed rear sight.

I'll post photos as soon as I get it. Some are already on other sites from the SHOT Show.

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

296?

I have a 296. It's nice, but it's a "L" frame. A little on the large side.

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"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

I respectfully disagree. It may not be a five shot, but I think it could be done.
Charter Arms Bull Dog for example is a five shot .44, and not much bigger than a "J" frame.
Taurus made a small .44 special a few years back. It was built on their small revolver frame, which is the size of a "J" frame.
The Night Guard should be interesting. I will check it out. Hopefully S&W won't put the stupid lock on th side!

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"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, US Navy, 16 March 1945.

Rob - that is way cool. Post some pics with the rail on it, if you would be so kind.

Can't wait to see your write up after it gets a few k rounds through it. How's the action? Stock or did they slick it a bit?

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OZ / Chris

"I will fight them until hell freezes over, then I will fight them on the ice."

I'm admittedly not a revolver guy, which is odd, due to the fact that I learned to shoot revolvers as a duty gun.

But this 325 thunder ranch is drawing me in. Most of what I have around are 45acp auto loaders, and I'm set up to throw out loads of 45 reloads.

Are these out yet? And which distributors have them?
Do these have performance center actions as well?

Oz,

As us Southerner's say, the action is slickern grits! This is a Performance Center pistol and is up to the name. The Hogue stocks are standard size and fit the hand well. The frame is round butt K frame in size but I found that the stocks off of my older 2 1/2" Model 66 would not fit properly.

I was able to put 100 or so rounds down range this morning. If you have ever worked a moon clip, you will appreciate the Re-mooner and De-mooning tool from CCW works. Check them out in the Brownell's catalog. The only problem I had with with ejecting the empties. They tended to stick and it took a right stout lick to dump them out.

The gold bead is nice but if this were a "working" gun, I would prefer Tritium. The nice thing is the front sight is pinned so changing it out should be easy. But, understand that this is how Clint wanted it built.

A C&S Extreme Duty fixed rear with an XS Tritium front, along with some round butt stocks and this could be a slick concealed carry piece.

This should be shipping very soon if they haven't already. If you are serious, I would contact a dealer as I suspect that the first run will go pretty fast. The cover of Handgunner will certainly help sales.

Here are the photos from this morning.

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

Rob, who makes the holster you have in your first post in this thread?

Mike,

The rig is from Tony and the gang at Milt Sparks.

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

Thank you Rob. I'll have to revisit their website.

Ordered mine today!!!

Where's a good place (cheap) to get all that revolver stuff, moon clips, mooner, de-mooner etc?? Any brand better than another?

My son rolled his eyes and said it was an antique! My fault, as I brought him up on autos.

Kinda excited about it.

I'm jealous, but I'll help anyway.

I got all that stuff for my 625 at Brownells.com. Their prices are good enough that I usually won't bother shopping around.

Tell your son you'll remember his smart aleck comment after he falls in love with it.

Now how did I'm miss this thread... I gotta' get away from the shop more often. Just the other day I was talking with a friend of mine about this gun... I kind of thought it cool to see a gold bead on a "production" gun... hell I like the whole idea behind the gun.

So Rob 'ol buddy how's about an update? How are you still liking it thus far? Are you ready to sell it to me for dirt cheap?

Or maybe I can get one of my shooting partners to buy one, convince them that it’s not the “gun for them”, and then sell it to me at a loss.

Very true my friend... I may be a "bottom feeder" shooter most days but you'll never get me away from the J-frame as a daily companion and I've got a serious soft spot for the M13 and M58... mmmmm .41 Magnum!

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Heirloom Precision
http://www.heirloomprecision.com

Seems to me to that to use the light on there you would put your hand right in line to be hit by the gasses coming out of the gap between the cylinder and barrel. People have lost fingers that way. That seems like a huge design flaw IMO. I'd be curious to hear what you all think on the subject.

ThellRider,

As a general rule, you would turn the light on to constant and leave it on. That is until SureFire comes up with a tape switch.

Good point made.

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

Sounds like a great way to become a target. I would have thought that Clint Smith would have been against a setup that encourage you to leave the light on. I'd rather run a handheld at that point.

Nice revolver though.

Hand held lights are the proper tool for searching in an unknown threat environment. However, once the fight starts, a weapon mounted light is superior in most cases. There are pros and cons to both. I'm sure if a tape switch was available, I would consider using one.

Thanks for the comments.

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

Rob wrote:
"The only problem I had with with ejecting the empties. They tended to stick and it took a right stout lick to dump them out."


Do the nickel plated rounds eject better than the brass casings? When I carry a revolver, I always use a round that is nickel plated for that reason.

FYI I was using Remington Golden Saber, Winchester SXT and Speer Gold Dot. All have plated brass.

Thanks,

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

I think the light position there is a serious design flaw. People have lost fingers like that. You can't manipulate the light without covering the cylinder gap.

ETA: I see I've already posted in this thread long ago.

I just picked up a s/w 625 that I really like.I tend to practice with my 1911s alot and my revolver skills were marginal at best so with the 625 I can shoot the same ammo and work on my revolver skills.I like the gold bead alot,my dad has been a revolver shooter for decades and really liked the 625 with the gold bead.Now if I can just improve on my double action shooting! George JR. MT>

Ain't it nice not to have to chase brass all over the range?

Thanks,

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell