r/canadaguns • u/Dill_Pickle_Tears • Mar 01 '26

Buy recommendations Antique Revolvers - Competition Worthy?

With the handgun freeze, does anyone here run antique single action revolvers in cowboy action shooting competitions?

I’d like to get into competition shooting, and cowboy action caught my eye. How common is it to buy antiques for that purpose? Assuming that they comply with the rules of the competition and actually shoot/function safely.

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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u/Shitmonkey5425 Mar 02 '26

The forcing cone cracked on that one because of a timing issue, early colts are notorious for that and they are not generally considered good shooters for that reason. There are a lot of antique revolvers I have no problem shooting regularly you just have to go down the rabbit hole of hand loading for that specific revolver. Lebel 1892’s, solid webley’s, reichsrevolvers, and gassers are solid and you can shoot them regularly with the right ammo, I load .455 for like 20cpr

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u/BowFella Mar 02 '26

Hey. I'm the guy that blew the forcing cone. It was a colt 1892, not a colt lightening. It was also caused by bad timing, not metal quality. I definitely plan on shooting that gun regularly once the timing is fixed and barrel replaced. I have a 150 year old Montenegrin Gasser that I have put 500+ rounds through personally without issue. These guns would not have survived 120+ years if they were not built to.

As for ammunition, when you get an antique the immediate assumption is you are reloading it yourself as none of the ammo is available for purchase and even if it is, it is not safe to shoot unless black powder. For my Montenegrin gasser it only costs me $0.40/round to load for.

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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u/BowFella Mar 02 '26

In that case I 100% agree. It depends on what competition we are talking about here. If it entails you shooting 100s upon 100s of rounds in a single day then I would avoid it. But for something like PPC for just fun where you are only shooting 60 rounds I don't see any issue. Considering that you have had the gun looked at and are sure it is safe to fire.

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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u/BowFella Mar 02 '26

My colt 1892 was getting 3" groups at 16 yards before that forcing cone blew. Which I would definitely consider accurate enough for PPC. Also has a swing out cylinder too which is basically the format PPC was designed around. But I agree I wont be getting scores of 570 like I do with an HK SFP9

But you are correct that this extremely limits the models of guns that would be practical for it. Colt 1892s, Webleys, S&W no3s, basically anything with a swingout or top break cylinder.

I think the idea behind using an antique revolver for competition is more about becoming more proficient with that revolver rather than winning a competition.

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u/HappyCan7250 Mar 03 '26

Fiochi is making 455 Webley now and it's been pretty available online lately for $80/50rd. Lots of 455 Webley revolvers still floating around. Obscure caliber, but it seems Fiochi is making ammo for the Canadian market at a reasonable ish price. 

But yeah, I agree, not the gun to use in competition. Replacing parts could be difficult too. Would be fun to own for the occasional plinking session though, I've debated buying one for fun, but at $2500-4k, it's hard to justify to me.