[bedbugbilly]

North East Redneck . . . you made some good points for sure. Obviously the Colts did a fine job or they wouldn't have sold so many of 'em. What's interesting though, is during the Civil War, Colt was selling their Army Model to the Govt. for $25.00 a unit (individual pistol) - when the Remington became available, they undercut Colt and sold them to the Govt. at $12.50 a unit. Not that it has a whole lot to do with the price of tea in China but I still find it interesting. Of course the Govt. was faced with "arming the troops" and I'm sure the buyers were happy to get anything they could from a reliable supplier.

As much as I love the '51 Colt . . . I also think the Remington is a much better design - rugged frame, easy to remove cylinder, etc. as opposed to the pressed in cylinder arbor, wedge and removable barrel. We all know that the wedge on a Colt should be so it can be removed with "thumb pressure" - but - those that have Colts also know the reality of wedges - what should be isn't always . . .

As mentioned, what is important with either style is to "learn the gun" and how it shoots. I also view firearms as "tools" . . . and sometimes, tools need to be altered to perform what you want them to do - no different than keep a chisel sharp or building a special jig for a mill to perform a specific task.

Any way you look at it, with the modern technology of the firearms we have available to us today, a person really has to marvel at the skills our ancestors had with the Colts, Remingtons, etc. I always thought it would be something if a person could travel back in time and learn some of the "tricks" they knew in regards to BP revolvers and rifles that have been lost to time. And, I imagine that if you took a group of our ancestors and asked them their preferences, it would be about what it is today among us.