Korth-Beeman

     Notes: A German-made revolver, the Korth-Beeman is a precision-built handgun with rubber handgrips, and adjustable sights and trigger. Each Korth-Beeman is literally hand-made, and the quality of these weapons is excellent.  The steel is made to an old (and secret) family formula, and the quality of that steel is excellent.  The barrels are cold hammered, producing a very hard and dense structure.  The trigger is adjustable. 

Korth Combat

     Notes: This revolver has been almost continuous production, under a variety of model numbers, since 1966.  They are all essentially similar, with minor differences such as ejector rod shrouds, caliber, barrel length, finishes, adjustable or nonadjustable rear sights, etc. All have ventilated barrel rib.  .22 versions have interchangeable cylinders for .22 Long Rifle and .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire; .357 Magnum versions have a set of interchangeable cylinders for .38 Special, 9mm Parabellum, and 9x21mm.  They are all identical for game purposes, so some generalization may be made here.

Mauser M-1878

     Notes: Meant to be a military weapon, the M-1878’s action earned it a rejection by the German High Command; the use of what was then proprietary cartridges didn’t help with acceptance. At that time, when a weapon was rejected by the Germans (amongst a few others), it generally wasn’t well received by other countries’ militaries or civilians. The M-1878 didn’t sell well. The M-1878 was what only the Webley-Fosbury otherwise was: an automatic revolver.  The action was somewhat simpler (and less reliable) then the Webley-Fosbury, using a set of deep grooves on the cylinder to guide a stud in the action.  This groove pattern led to the nickname of “Zig-Zag.” The stud acted as a brake on the cylinder, so it did not advance more than one chamber on the cylinder.  The action was complicated and could easily foul with dirt.  The M-1878 broke open at the front of the cylinder, another piece of unusual work. The weapon was locked shut and opened by the use of a ring catch in front of the trigger guard. Like many handguns of the time, the barrel is long – 5.35 inches.

Korth NXR

     Notes: The NXR is a luxury .44 Magnum revolver that IRL is a very expensive investment. The NXR has a match-quality heavy, hammer-forged barrel of 4 inches, 6 inches, or 7.5 inches. The NXR has lightening cuts in the shroud which also function as cooling vents. The finish is a polished black DLC finish, while the grips are of laminated Turkish walnut.  The rear sight is adjustable, the front sight is a blade, and both are removable to mount optics or a Picatinny Rail. There is a short Picatinny Rail under the barrel. The top of the receiver and barrel have two short Picatinny rails for mounting of optics and other accessories. The NXR may be fired in SAR or DAR modes.

Korth Sport

     Notes: This revolver is designed for use by civilians.  It has a full-length ejector shroud, a ventilated sighting rib, an adjustable trigger, and an adjustable micrometer rear sight.  The revolver is finished in high-gloss blued or matte blued, and has a wooden or imitation ivory grip.  The .357 Magnum versions can fire .38 Special rounds, but this is not recommended for accuracy reasons; the .38 Special versions are not stressed for .357 Magnum ammunition and cannot fire it.

Rohm RG-34

     Notes:  Rohm started in the 1920s as a company that made starter pistols, progressed to make small-caliber revolvers based on the starter pistol, and then started to build weapons approximating the Smith & Wessons of the time.  The Rohm is not quite as robust as the Smith & Wesson, but is a serviceable weapon for the small caliber it fires.  They have fully adjustable sights, and make good beginner’s weapons.  US shooters might recognize the Rohm under a variety of names: Burgo, Hy-Score, EIG, Liberty-21, etc; the importation of most of them were prohibited under the 1968 Gun Control Act, however.

Suhl Reichs Revolver

     Notes: The German Standard Service Revolver used by Prussia starting in 1879 (more commonly called the Reichs Revolver) was one of the earliest standard military revolvers.  There were two models; the first, issued starting in 1882, and used until shortly after World War 1 in 1919.  It was built of browned steel with walnut grips to match, and a lanyard ring on the butt.  Also on the butt are usually found the markings of the regiment to which the revolver was issued.  The Reichs Revolver has no provision to eject all cases at once; instead, a rod supplied with the revolver is used to push spent shells from each cylinder individually, and they must be manually removed from the revolver.  (In game terms, fully unloading a Reichs Revolver takes 20 seconds, and reloading it takes another 10 seconds.)  The Reichs Revolver does, however, have a safety catch that locks both the hammer (at the half-cock position) and the cylinder.  The M-1879 used a 7.2-inch heavy barrel with a stepped octagonal profile, and it fires a rather large-caliber round.  Trigger pull weight is often described as “the trigger pull from hell,” and the sights are quite poor.

     The M-1883 version was essentially the same, but used a 5-inch barrel and a round-bottom butt instead of the squared one of the M-1879.  The M-1883 is found with the metal blued as often as it is browned.

Weihrauch Bounty Hunter

     Notes: This is a German entry into the US and European market for period pieces, as it is a reproduction of several "Old Western" revolvers, such as post-Civil War Colt revolvers.  The Bounty Hunter is built on machinery that Weihrauch originally bought from JP Sauer & Sohn for their replica of the Colt Single Action Army.  Weihrauch made several modifications, producing the Bounty Hunter line.

     Weihrauch divides the Bounty Hunter line into two broad categories – the Small Bore Bounty Hunter, which fires rimfire ammunition, and the Big Bore Bounty Hunter, which fires centerfire ammunition.   In either case, the Bounty Hunter is single-action, has walnut grips, and beefy steel construction.  Finishes include blued, color-case hardened, gold-plated, or combinations of any or all three.  Barrels are roughly 4.5 inches (114mm) and 6.8 inches (173mm).  The Bounty Hunter may have fixed or adjustable sights, and drilling and tapping is an option.  The Bounty Hunter, like almost all modern revolvers, uses a transfer-bar safety.  The hammer can be a bit heavy out of the box, and is difficult to tweak, but trigger pull is smooth. In the case of the Small Bore Bounty Hunter, the .22 Long Rifle and .22 Magnum cylinders are interchangeable and either type of ammunition may be fired from the Small Bore Bounty Hunters. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Weihrauch Windicator

     Notes: The Windicator started as an old Arminius design.  Arminius and Weihrauch had been working together since before World War 1, but Arminius’ facilities ended up in East Germany after World War 2, and a lot of Arminius’ designs were produced after World War 2 under the Weihrauch name.  One of these was a revolver that Weihrauch called the Windicator.

     The Windicator is similar to many such service handguns, and it was produced primarily for the export market, particularly to the US.  The old Arminius design was altered by Weihrauch to include a cylinder latch similar to that found on most Smith & Wesson designs.  The Windicator is a very simple handgun, easy to operate and maintain.  Formerly found with checkered wood grips, the Windicator was given black ergonomic rubber grips after 1990.  The double-action trigger does have a rather heavy pull, but it is smooth, and it is a wide target-type trigger. 

     In general, there are three versions of the Windicator – the Standard Model and the Tactical Model.  The Standard Model uses a standard spur-type hammer, may have a fixed or adjustable rear sight (with a nice, wide target picture), and several barrel lengths and calibers until 1996.  In 1996, the 3 and 6-inch barrels were discontinued, as were the .22 Long Rifle/.22 Magnum and .32 Smith & Wesson Long calibers.  The Tactical Model is virtually identical, but has a shrouded hammer, is only found with fixed sights, and is chambered only for .38 Special.

     The Target Model, no longer produced, uses a 6-inch target-quality barrel, a trigger adjustable for pull weight and length, an adjustable rear sight and drilling and tapping for scope rings, and a target-type hammer.  The grips are walnut, and the finish is almost always blued.