Nighthawk Custom Korth

[finnmike]

For the wannabe elitist who has nearly everything, and a nylon holster to pack it in....yikes!
<broken link removed>
Nice for $3500 and you can get it as a 3"....

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[nammac]

Beautiful, but not within my price range, unless of course I hit Powerball...

 

[Stomper]

WTH is it made from, depleted scandiumimmodium mined from the Chandra-Levy-Shoemaker-33748 comet?

 

[PuddleMonkey]

I like the old Korths but this new line doesn't do anything for me. But make no mistake, nice things aren't for everyone.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I think the speedloaders for the 9 costs as much as a new Talo GP-100.
I'll take the Ruger.

 

[clearconscience]

Would rather take a S&W performance center revolver.

Personally no gun is worth more than $2K unless it is for a glass case or is a precision rifle.

 

[cigars]

Every time I pronounce the name I feel like I have a lisp-th.
Nice looking pistol though.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Would rather take a S&W performance center revolver.

Personally no gun is worth more than $2K unless it is for a glass case or is a precision rifle.

Guns are worth what they're worth to the buyer. You makes your choices and pays your money.
Personally, I've been buying and wearing out Belgian Hi-Powers since 1980.. they still cost more than a box a Cracker-Jacks but hey, I've never complained.

 

[Certaindeaf]

But I'd still take a Ruger (and do) as it takes a fair bit more shooting to have to have them rebuilt compared to the lovely L and K frame Smiths.

 

[Flopsweat]

I can see the value in hand fitting the parts and working a trigger to get everything just right, but what advantage comes from cutting the frame manually?

 

[Certaindeaf]

I can see the value in hand fitting the parts and working a trigger to get everything just right, but what advantage comes from cutting the frame manually?

They don't have to invest a few billion dollars in lost wax high-end production? I guess they got a couple a machines and a couple monkeys to push buttons or something.. I don't know so don't sue me on that.

 

[cigars]

I can see the value in hand fitting the parts and working a trigger to get everything just right, but what advantage comes from cutting the frame manually?

I guess it would fall under "because I can". Lol.

 

[PuddleMonkey]

Every time I pronounce the name I feel like I have a lisp-th.

Then you're probably saying it wrong, Korth is pronounced "Court".




Here's a 5 year old post on a few revolvers including Korth. He went to Harvard so he's probably lying to you like Obama.


I own and shoot a good number of Korth revolvers that I imported from Germany. I have a similar number of Manurhins, which I am able to compare to a passel of Colt Pythons, Bankers and Police Positive Target Specials and Single Action Armies, as well as a good selection of Smith & Wesson's best, ranging from prewar Kit Guns to Registered Magnums and a Triple Lock Target.

As a preliminary evaluation of these revolvers, here are some talking points.

1. Based on my experience, the quality ratio of Colt to S&W is proportional to that of S&W to H&R. The Colts are much better made and more precisely fitted, of finer and stronger materials, than Smith & Wessons. I base this statement on the personally observed differences in working internal parts with a diamond file, and wear and peening in contact surfaces with comparable round counts. The Smith & Wesson single stage lockup is not nearly as precise as, but much more durable than, the Colt double stage lockup. The Smith & Wesson bolt is softer but less stressed than the Colt bolt. The S&W action is much easier to work on than the Colt action.
2. The Colt V-spring action as used in the Python with its "Bank Vault Lockup", is a licensed derivative of the Schmidt Galand patents. As the trigger of these revolvers is pulled, the double hand forces the cylinder against the locking bolt. The harder the trigger is pulled the tighter the cylinder is locked. Consequently, as the cylinder recoils, it compresses the hand, eventually peening it out of spec. This is all the more applicable to Magnum chamberings never contemplated by the original European inventors. The ensuing requirement for periodic maintenance is the price you have to pay for shooting a Python.
3. Every Colt double action revolver that I own, including unfired and factory overhauled guns, fails to carry up when thumb-braked in the course of cocking the hammer, though it carries up when the cylinder is free to rotate in the course of cocking the hammer, no matter how slowly I cock it. So either this tuneup represents a factory error, or the factory considers this condition normal. The basic features of Colt double action revolvers are well summarized by Grant Cunningham: "Colt revolvers have actions which are very refined. Their operating surfaces are very small, and are precisely adjusted to make the guns work properly. Setting them up properly is not a job for someone who isn't intimately familiar with their workings, and the gunsmith who works on them had better be accustomed to working at narrow tolerances, on small parts, under magnification." On the other hand, by referring to a copy of Kuhnhausen's shop manual, I was able to fit a new bolt to one of my Bankers Specials using NSk calipers, S&W screwdrivers, the diamond-coated file of a Leatherman Charge TTi, and a wooden shaft. So I agree that Colt actions are highly refined. I also agree that they require working at narrow tolerances, on small parts, under magnification. But much of that is within the reach of a hobbyist equipped with a $30 manual and $200 worth of hand tools.
4. The Manurhin MR73 is the best fighting revolver ever made, designed as a significantly improved S&W, crucially strengthened at the yoke, ingeniously refined at tensioning the hammer and the rebound slide, and manufactured to the quality standards of 1950s Colts. I have tried the current S&W revolvers. There is no comparison. In a nutshell, an early Python is a better revolver than a Registered Magnum, in the same sense whereby a Ferrari 330 P3/4 is a better car than a Ford GT40. But the MR73 is the only revolver I would take in harm's way, in the way I would choose the Citroën ZX over the Ferrari and the Ford for entry in the Paris-Dakar rally.
5. The market proves that S&W is king of revolvers in the same way, and to the same extent, that it proves that the Big Mac is the king of burgers. The problem with S&W is not design, but quality. Their basic action layout is capable of uncompromising performance, as witness this Manurhin chambered in .32 S&W Long, beating match guns by S&W, SAKO, and Walther. But in order to get a current production S&W to perform like that, you would have to rebarrel it and replace its MIM lockwork with increasingly unobtainable forged parts. And even then, it will not approach the quality of Manurhin's hammer-forged frame, barrel, and cylinder.
6. The Korth is by far the best made modern revolver, comparable in quality only to the best of the pre-WWI classics, from the French M1873, the Swiss M1878 and 1882, and the Mauser M1878. It is equal in precision to a Target Triple Lock, and far superior to it and the Registered Magnum alike in ruggedness and durability. Among post-WWII revolvers, only the first generation Colt Pythons compare to it in fit and finish. It is arguably the best sporting revolver ever made, as distinct from a social work tool such as the MR73. Its lockwork is hand ground out of steel forgings and deep hardened. It is nowise stressed at ignition, resulting in unexcelled durability and enabling Willi Korth to guarantee the same accuracy even after firing 50,000 Magnum rounds. Its design incorporates some Colt traits such as clockwise cylinder rotation, within an original layout that bears some resemblance to S&W two-point lockup and transport. Its ingenious hand detachable yoke is a great boon to regular maintenance, and its spring tensioned ejector built into the optional 9mm Para cylinder is the best such system that I ever used with rimless ammo in a revolver.

I cannot answer the question of subjective value. In Germany, used Korth revolvers of the latest design cost between 1,200 and 3,500 Euros, depending on the condition, configuration, and luck of the draw. By contrast, you would have to spend between 700 and 1,800 Euros for a used Manurhin MR73, and between 400 and 1,000 Euros for a used Colt Python. To put this in perspective, my nicest blue steel Korth cost me around $2,200 to acquire and import in a large combined lot. I wouldn't part with it for three times that price.

 

[cigars]

Then you're probably saying it wrong, Korth is pronounced "Court".


Great. Next time I'm drinking high tea I'll be sure to just merely extend my pinky rather than stick it in my ear again.

 

[The Heretic]

For the wannabe elitist who has nearly everything, and a nylon holster to pack it in....yikes!
<broken link removed>
Nice for $3500 and you can get it as a 3"....

View attachment 314950

Nice.

Looks similar to a S&W 329PD, but without the advantage of being made from Scandium and the light weight?

Costs $2500 more?

For $2500 I could get a lot of custom work done on a 329PD (which doesn't need a whole lot).

 

[PuddleMonkey]

Then you're probably saying it wrong, Korth is pronounced "Court".


Great. Next time I'm drinking high tea I'll be sure to just merely extend my pinky rather than stick it in my ear again.

So not only do you have troubles pronouncing things but you struggle with properly using quotes as well. You want to make sure your typed text is below the /QUOTE tag. It might be easier if you just give me your password and I'll do the posting for you from now on.

 

[The Heretic]

Guns are worth what they're worth to the buyer. You makes your choices and pays your money.
Personally, I've been buying and wearing out Belgian Hi-Powers since 1980.. they still cost more than a box a Cracker-Jacks but hey, I've never complained.

Yes - if a person has a few million in discretionary funds, spending $3500 on a Korth vs. $1000 on a S&W doesn't really impact their finances. It is a few days to a few weeks of simple interest on their funds. It all depends on how much you have and what you want to spend it on. I have spent that much on a firearm, but that is usually about my upper limit, and I am not willing to spend 3.5 times as much as I would spend on a S&W.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yes - if a person has a few million in discretionary funds, spending $3500 on a Korth vs. $1000 on a S&W doesn't really impact their finances. It is a few days to a few weeks of simple interest on their funds. It all depends on how much you have and what you want to spend it on. I have spent that much on a firearm, but that is usually about my upper limit, and I am not willing to spend 3.5 times as much as I would spend on a S&W.

Sure. I got schooled! lol

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yes - if a person has a few million in discretionary funds, spending $3500 on a Korth vs. $1000 on a S&W doesn't really impact their finances. It is a few days to a few weeks of simple interest on their funds. It all depends on how much you have and what you want to spend it on. I have spent that much on a firearm, but that is usually about my upper limit, and I am not willing to spend 3.5 times as much as I would spend on a S&W.

What do you sport?, o teacher man?

 

[The Heretic]

Okay CD. You have a real erection for me today. So maybe I will just avoid you for a while until you cool down. I can't make sense of half your jargon anyway.