Virginian Dragoon

[SuperBeetle]

Just purchased a Virginian Dragoon single action 44 Mag . 7.5" barrel , blued with inscription "We the People 1776-1976 " on butt . Gun is stamped on side April 16 , 1974 . Is this manufactured date ? Have not shot it yet . Anyone else have one or know someone that does ? Thanks everyone !!!

[bripro]

The date you are referring to is actually the patent date. It is stamped on every Dragoon I have ever looked at. You have a quality revolver there. They have a reputation of being able to handle a steady diet of the hot stuff. If you ever need them, parts are scarce but they are out there or you can usually modify Blackhawk parts to make them work. The only issue I ever had with mine was a broken ejector rod.

[knight0334]

That patent date on the Va Dragoons isn't the manufacturer date. My Silhouette model has the same patent date on it. Just because of the limited numbers of years the Silhouette model was made, I know mine was a early to mid 1980's production(1982-1984).

Yours is a Bicentennial Edition - which puts production date as 1976.

Years ago Lee Martin wrote up a nice article on the VA Dragoons. Well worth the read - www.singleactions.com/VADragoons.pdf

The Dragoon's only Achilles' Heel is the grips. The location of the alignment pin on the grip-frame is in a position where it can cause a grip to crack/break because of material being thin there. The gun itself is beefier than a Ruger (Super)Blackhawk in nearly every respect. There are only a couple places where the Ruger is beefier.