WB
Not many can notice a few ounces.
Sunday, March 15, 2020, 14:51

Unless you have some guns to compare side by side. Even then it is subtle. Several ounces, more like 6-8 (near half a pound) you can easily tell. I think a S&W M60 is 24 oz. compared to 16 oz. for a Airweight M637. In your pocket it makes a heck of a difference.

I have speculated how my .45 Colt six-gun feels so lively and a similar .357 just feels chunky. The difference has to be the bored holes/weight.

I have three times worked toward a "lighter" packing custom. A .44 Special on a OM .357 chassis with alloy gripframe and lightening cuts, another in .400 cal., and the little .Single-six .400 cal. They all weigh within 3-4 oz. of each other, avg. about 35 oz.

The .44 has a heavier barrel and stainless ejector housing (I like it better for an ounce or so), the .38-40 was not outright done for lightness but it is light just the same, and the single-six. The SS I thought would be really lighter but has a steel Bisley gripframe and other parts and weights the same as the other two! Go figure.

You need some heft anyway. Twice I've tried the S&W Scadnium frames and they are strange. They recoil so fast, no muzzle rise just straight back, painful, hand slapping. A .38 Special is painful to shoot! Not to mention dampening shakes while holding and sighting. You need some weight. Don't get me wrong, for carry you forget it's there but to be forced to shoot one of those hand burning terrors I need to be really scared or mad at something that needed shooting.

I agree with the spirit of GNR. For actual light weight I have a 7-shot (.38-40 performance) auto that weighs only 16 ounces. For really serious use (actually shooting) I have my wheelgun that runs 36-38 oz. That's about right for carry, a 1911 in .45 or 10 runs 38-40 oz. in all steel. In the 50+ oz. range that starts to weigh my belt down and I usually switch to a shoulder rig like my Reeder/Goerg. I usually sling my single shots. I just like it that way. It's good to have so many and exploration has driven many of my builds I commissioned.

*A 10-shot .45 ACP compared to a 5-shot J-frame, both 24 oz.