Elegant Pistols.

[NWCP]

There was a time when semi autos that were not only functional, but beautiful pieces of craftsmanship as well. Deep luster bluing, walnut grips and nary a tool mark to be seen inside, or out. Just a few that come to mind are the Walther PPK, the Colt 1903 hammerless and pre war Lugers. The list could go on for quite a while. They all had a couple of things in common. They were elegant in appearance while quite functional in purpose. I really enjoy my modern pistols. They are very reliable, accurate and capable of absorbing a great deal of use in other than perfect shooting conditions. My HKs will last a couple of lifetimes I'm sure, but they are all business, function before form. Not that that's a bad thing. No matter how pretty your pistol is if it doesn't go bang every time you pull the trigger it's all for naught. That being said I still miss what I consider the golden years of pistol manufacturing. I still carry an older Walther, or one of my 1903 Colts on occasion just because they are a piece of art made of wood and steel. While polymer is king this day and age there is something special about the designs, fit and finish of the older pistols.

[Uncle Malice]

While I'm still pretty new to the gun world in general, I do understand exactly what you are talking about.

I actually find the HK's to also be quite elegant with very few if any tool marks - at least in those that I have owned.

I think if I could choose one of these guns that you are talking about, it would be a mint condition SIG P210. Something along the lines of these two specimens.

http://lundestudio.com/wallpaper/p210-2-done-left-full-hi.jpg

http://lundestudio.com/wallpaper/p210-2-hc-left-full-hi.jpg

then of course you could take that a step further with some of the old school revolvers... but hey, this is the smi auto forum. ;)

[Hardcase]

Other than 1911s, which I've been in love with since I first shot one in 1986, I'm really partial to the Walther P5 that I picked up a while back. I'm sure that others will see a hunk of Teutonic over-engineering, but to me, it's a classic piece of form following function. And it ejects to the left.

http://www.fluidlight.com/Guns/WaltherP5_001.jpg

Somehow I have managed to not take a picture of it with the Nill-style target grips on it - walnut looks really, really good.

[aarondhgraham]

Most of the modern pistols are very boxy in their design,,,
It seemed like Anton purposefully went out of his way to design for blandness.

This is one pistol that still retains some of the good looks of classic design,,,
I call her Tmava Zena, which means Dark Woman in the Czech language.
http://www.aarondgraham.com/pics/tmavazena.jpg
I think she's beautiful.

Maybe it's just me being brought up on the James Bond novels,,,
but I think the Walther PPK is the ultimate in a sexy pistol.

.

[RickB]

Yeah, the days of labor that was both skilled and cheap, is long over. There's no need to expertly polish or hand-checker plastic, so I guess few have noticed. I'll admit to carrying my Colt .380 for a couple of weeks, as it's just so slick and smooth, but can carry a compact .45 in the same space, so the Colt went back in the safe. Another thing about the early 20th Century pistols is that everyone had their own idea as to how those new-fangled guns should look and operate, so there was a wide variety of trigger actions, locking systems, etc. Today, almost everything is Browning-derived in some way.

[EarlFH]

I know what you mean. I have a Browning Hi-Power, from 1986, that has a dark gloss blue finish, that looks like it was dipped in molten glass.

EarlFH

[bac1023]

As a vintage handgun collector, I fortunate enough to own quite a few with that description.

Here are a some of mine, but I don't have pics of all my safe queens. Most of these have never even been fired outside the factory.

...before anyone screams, I own probably 150 shooters, so having some collectables on top of that is fine, in my opinion.


http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3833.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3844.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3836.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3810.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3814.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3829.jpg

[bac1023]

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3821.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3840.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3848.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3842.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3818.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3824.jpg

[BlueTrain]

The year 1986 was just the day before yesterday to me.

While I think the 1903 Colt and also the 1903 FN were very elegant pistols, I wouldn't say that about either the 1900 or 1905 Colt models. Not even sure about the 1911 but it certainly is business-like. I don't know if the Luger is everyone's favorite or not but it has its charm.

Most of the early automatics are fascinating, especially they way some of them come apart like a puzzle. Some were very well finished, some less so. The very well finished ones show up the scratches the best. But also, some of the early autos, such as the PPK and the so-called Baby Nambu, if I'm referring to it correctly, were quite expensive, especially when compared to, say, Colts. Some of the older S&W revolvers, especially the M&P models, were finished in an attractive matte finish, not exactly matte and hardly beadblasted, more like a satin finish. I don't know how they did it but it suited the models (or I'm just used to it). The revolver grips were finished in place so the fit is perfect compared to now. But plastic and hard rubber grips were used in the 19th century, too. But judging from the older pistols and revolvers I've seen, I'm hard put to say which holds up better. Only it was a long time before anyone put a plastic stock on a long gun.

I love my P5 but I wouldn't call it over engineered.

[LockedBreech]

That's one of my very favorite things about Beretta. Very smooth and flowing designs.

[NWCP]

I almpost forgot about the HK P7PSP and Walther P5. Two more well designed pistols that are easy on the eyes. Both can be dressed up with Nill Grips that really set them apart. The Baby Browning might even fall into the elegant design category in its own little way. Browning also gave us the model 1910. It's more along the lines of the Colt 1903 Hammerless.

[Amin Parker]

Fabrique Nationale Herstal Belgique. Or Fabrique Nationale D'armes De Guerre Herstal Belgique.

These words you will find on the side of a certain 9mm pistol that in my most humble opinion is the best handgun of all time.

Even though i have looked at them millions of times, the sight of one makes my knees weak and i find myself staring at those beautiful lines for periods of time. From every angle, every millimeter, the blueing, the shape and curves.

Browning High Power, because guns dont need to be ugly

[glenncal1]

Deep Bluing. Nice Grips?

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/glenncal1/Model411.jpg

Steel and Walnut (classic caliber too)?

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r256/glenncal1/Colt1.jpg

[bac1023]

I also love the Hi-Power's looks.


http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_2348.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_2356.jpg

[FALacy]

http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac42/mwiklund/IMG_0911.jpg

[EarlFH]

OK Falacy,
It's got beautiful lines, but what is it? It looks like it was carved from a solid block of stainless steel. It has the appearance of something from EAA.

EarlFH

[FALacy]

It's a CZ 75 Stainless converted to single action.

[bac1023]

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/bac1023/000_1689.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1692.jpg




http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1928.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1929.jpg




http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1935.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1936.jpg

[Beowulf5505]

huge fan of the CZ75 for both its form and function, but i have to say that that sig210 posted above may be one of the best looking pistols i have ever seen.

[proxpilot]

http://sigsauer.com/Products/ShowCatalogProductDetails.aspx?categoryid=7&productid=295

[Jim243]

Excelent examples of great workmanship.

This one has me drulling.


http://i620.photobucket.com/albums/tt284/bigjim_02/125.jpg

Jim

[Officer's Match]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/sly250r/HK/P7M13/IMG_0209.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/sly250r/lunde/om-ebkc-1.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/sly250r/Wilson%20Combat/IMG_0062.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/sly250r/Springfield/SAesm2.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e131/sly250r/Colts/IMG_0007.jpg

[TheGoldenState]

bac,

What an amazing collection you have. If im not mistaken youre the one who has shown a "part" of an elaborate 1911 collection as well, no?

All those BEAUT safe queens, plus more? and 150 shooters?

Any job openings?:D

btw the SIG from your first post along with the beretta with the black grips make me drool!


again….amazing.

EDIT: I did some looking up and i believe that beretta that caught my eye is the Billenium? WOW! I WILL one day have THAT GUN, with some nice, llght color, wood grips (ya i know it kinda takes away from the carbon fiber beauts). How heavy is she?

[Ichiro]

I rented and fired a Nighthawk Custom 45 last week, and it felt like an excellent pistol for awhile. The range master who loaned it to me told me it cost $3,000.

This Nighthawk shot extremely straight for my first 5 shots, which I fired hesitantly.

When I got more confident, I shot this 1911 all over the F-in' place. And it flipped way worse than I expected. That's the all-steel 1911 pistol everybody talks about ~ the recoil goes straight back into your hand, so you can shoot multiple shots really fast.

Well, I didn't actually feel any recoil in my hand, but the pistol flipped up like crazy and didn't get back on target like I expected it to.

I rented a Glock 36 once, and I shot it way better than this semi-custom 1911. And with this diminutive .45, the flip didn't even seem pronounced.

I suspect that I'm "doing it wrong" with the 1911, but I don't even care. There are better options for my needs.

[bac1023]

bac,

What an amazing collection you have. If im not mistaken youre the one who has shown a "part" of an elaborate 1911 collection as well, no?


Thank you sir. Here's a pic of mine.

I do own quite a few, actually, but most my autos are not 1911s.


http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3712.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_3714.jpg

[TheGoldenState]

bac,

Your welcome, and yes those are the pics i was referring to. Most your autos arent 1911's you say? truly amazing for gun collectors.

Two Questions:

1- How Heavy is the Billenium in the hand?
2- How many safes do you have in order to keep these hundreds locked up lol

Im like a kid seeing a star (those dont impress me i see em all the time living here) but your collection gives me the "deer in the headlights" eyes.

Im in my early twenties, one day, when im out of college and finish paying all my damn student loans off, i will strive towards such a collection of greatness:D

[raimius]

Bac1023,

:eek::eek::eek:

:D:D:D

I'm jealous!...but how do you pick which ones to shoot?

(Did you know there is a 6 smiley limit? I didn't.)

[bac1023]

Thanks.

That's actualy not the Billenium, its the Steel I. They're basically the same thing, but the Steel I doesn't have all that extra bling that I really don't care for.

The Steel I weighs a whopping 43oz unloaded, as its all steel, not aluminum like a 92. Its also single action only and very accurate.


http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/bac1023/000_2249.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/bac1023/000_2254.jpg

[Officer's Match]

And has the safety where it belongs. ;)

[bac1023]

Very true, OM.

I prefer the frame mounted safety on the Steel I.

[LockedBreech]

Bac, I would go to the ends of the earth to put one magazine through that supernaturally pretty Beretta.

[IMightBeWrong]

This thread is pure evil... In a good way. My gosh am I drooling.

Here's another fan of hi powers and czs for looks by the way.

[TheGoldenState]

Thanks for the info and additional pix bac, I love it!

[Skans]

BAC 1023, I want to be just like you when I grow up!!!!! :D:D

Awsome collection!

[R.Ph. 380]

To heck with being like him when I grow up, I WANT TO BE HIM. Do you have any plans to adopt or hire an apprentice???????????

[bac1023]

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1968-1.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1969.jpg




http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1861.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1859.jpg




http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1960.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu81/ollituc/000_1958.jpg

[dreamweaver]

two guns that started it all:

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/1600/54446511.jpg

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4173/bluecolt.jpg

[NWCP]

The Colt 1903 and 1908 Hammerless pistols. Art Deco at its finest. They were the first dehorned and melted carry pistols on the market. Costs a bloody fortune to get a gun as slick as the old Colts these days. Did I mention they're fun to shoot and accurate to boot.

[vikingm03]

dreamweaver - ive seen that first pistol before. What is it called?