Six Gun

I grew up watching cowboy movies and TV shows. Roy and Dale and Gene and Lash Larue and Red Ryder and the Lone Ranger and Tonto; Clint and Scott and Gary and platoons of rangers and soldiers and Winchester rifles and the big iron on their hips, the Colt Peacemaker, the six-shooter.

I couldn't wait to get one of those guns.

First Colt single-action I owned was in 22 caliber, and came with a .22 Magnum cylinder. Great gun.  And I wish I still had it. 

Because it was a small caliber, the cylinder was smaller In relation to the grip, which was standard size. I got used to those proportions, and later, when I got into center fire calibers, they looked off to me. Grips were too small, cylinder too big. Look at the .22 LR above, and the .45 Colt below.

The black powder Colts in big calibers looked clunky to me, too, but the smaller Navy .36 looked great.

Then there were the conversions, and the precusers to the 1873 Peacemaker–black powder guns, converted to fire metallic cartridges, and then an open-top 1871-72, which, with the Navy grips, is, to my eye, is one of the best-looking guns ever, albeit they aren't as mechanically sound as the Peacemakers. 

Shooting black powder is fun, but messy, even if you use Pyrodex, and loading and swapping out cylinders takes a while. The conversions maintain much of the look, but are not as much hassle. 

Check out the charcoal bluing on the Uberti copy of the 1872 Navy Colt, above. Not very effective protection for the steel, but beautiful. (You get it by cooking the steel in an oven with charcoal and bits of bone.)