Although I am not a revolver guy... when it comes to them, I am a diehard fan of the MR73.  For me, the revolver is in a different class compared to the others.  I think at this point the overall thought is Manurhin or Korth is King of the revolver world with the Python and Smith's  trailing by a wide margin.  Thats not to say there aren't plenty of others who claim that the Python deserves the crown... and others who think the older Smith 27's holds the crown.  For me, at this point I can gladly claim the MR73's to be my favorite.

With that said, I don't own a Korth (and likely never will due to cost),  I would love to have one some day, but I personally would rather drop the money on a custom 1911 than a Korth.

I grabbed this 4" Target version a few years back.  It was sent over to Brandan Bunker for some light metal work as the rear sight had been dinged, and some other issues.  I had him take and work his magic on it... replaced grips, nitre blued some accents for me, and re strawed the hammer and trigger.  Brandan then sent it over to Dave Laubert where he also did some minor touch up work on it and reassembled the gun for me.  Given its serial number, its "K" prefix indicates it came from the old Manurhin factory out of France as a 4" .357 Mag barrel with adjustable Sport or Gendarmerie sights, which it still sports.

The trigger is adjusted to utter perfection for a revolver...  short, smooth, and perfect in DA!  The single action is what dreams are made... all achievable through the roller bearing system the revolver uses.

Enough about the gun, here are some pictures...  


















An absolute show stopping set of Manurhin MR73's.. From afar these two French born wheelies resemble one another... when you get down to the nitty gritty details, they are drastically different guns! Totally blown away by both!

I own one of their PPs. Action is like greased glass. Beautiful. I love the bluing. Would you mind giving a ball park what you paid? Also where'd you pick it up?

You can figure to pay around $2400-$3k.  The shorter 3” barrel was a gun I bought and sent to Dave Laubert.  He then did a ton of work to it.  The second (which is featured in the thread is a 4” Target).  I would say keep an eye on GB for an older Manurhin that came from the old factory.  IMO the newer Chiapas models being imported by Krebco are not on the same level, but that’s debatable.  It’s just my personal thought.

There are lots of different configurations of the revolvers...  one thing to be very careful of is the gen 1 guns.  They operate off a coil spring that can not be fixed or replaced.  If that’s damaged, you have a paper weight.  The gen 2 guns were changed to operate off a lead spring.  There is no documentation I know of that will identify this...  To my knowledge the only way to do this is to take off the side plate and look.

Anyway, hope that was helpful!

https://larvatus.livejournal.com/520133.html

Man, those are beautiful.

Very nice guns. I love the blueing.

I have a Manurhin MR73 from Mühlhausen with the 5 1/4" barrel and already the improved trigger return spring. I also had a Chapuis Armes manufactured four inch model and it compared to the Mulhouse in every respect. I have put an uglier set of grips on this revolver for range use, the darker original is stored in some parts box.



Korths are clearly my personal favorites.

Some beautiful revolvers posted in this thread!

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the accuracy and slickness of Korths and Manurhins is real .

So explain to me why the spring can't be replaced? None available or is there another reason?

Holy shit that finish is amazing

Because they design of the revolver has been changed.  The coil spring is not made any longer...  its was replaced by a leaf spring.  Seeing that there are very few MR73's in the country, parts are just not around.  Maybe you can get lucky and talk to someone in France, but I doubt it.  

As you can see in the picture below, Gen1 MR73, the coil spring controls the hand that eventually makes the cylinder turn.  Its not a traditional "spring", so making one would be very hard to do (not saying its impossible).



In this picture, this is a Gen2 MR73 which now uses a leaf spring...  This part is still made and used in the Chapuis MR73's, the older Mulhouse guns originally used the coil spring and eventually moved to the leaf (if my notes on the guns are correct).

Exceptional gun.

OP why would you lay it on dirt just to take a picture?

Colt Shooting Master needs to be in discussion of all time great revolvers IMO.  Some consider it superior to the Python.

I was going to post about the dirt myself.
I hope you didn;t damage that exceptional bluing rubbing the dirt off! I hope you blew it all off. Damn, thats a beauty. The second one, too.

Gotcha, thanks, I was thinking of a traditional round coiled or leaf spring.

For me the finish inside of a gun is more important than the nicest finish on the outside. In my experience, the Swiss P210s and Korths are leading in this category.



On the outside a revolver made in waht became the SIG Sauer factory in Eckernforde has also a stunningly beautiful finish.

That sure is pretty.  I have one of the 3" guns AIM sold a couple years ago.  Love it, just need to find someone who can re-do the timing on it and bring it back to pristine condition.

Dave Laubert is now well versed on the MR73 as he has worked on done a ton of work for me on mine.   I would call him, he owns Defensive Creations...  Top notch smith and guy!

Beautiful guns OP. France has made some ugly guns, but those Manurhins are awesome.

Thanks, I'll look him up and reach out.

Here is a video I posted on the Laubert MR73