From: Emmanuel Baechler <ebaechle@hospvd.ch>
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Manurhin MR-93 "the best" .357Magnum?
Date: 23 Jan 1996 12:45:40 -0500

cotrustee@aol.com (CoTrustee) wrote:
#A recent gun magazine had an article on the annual IWA firearms trade show
#held in Nuremberg, Germany, each March.  Discussing new products, the
#author says that "Manurhin Equipment of France, a well-known firearms
#manufacturer, has developed a remarkable revolver:  the MR-93...Manurhin
#has produced what may well be the best revolver in the world."
#
#Chambered for the .357 Magnum, it has an ergonomic design, and unique
#features, according to the article.
#
#Clearly not readily available at the local gun store (I've never noticed
#one, anyway, in the Northeastern U.S.), it would accordingly probably be
#impractical for most ordinary people (purchase, maintenace).  But it would
#be interesting to know more about this "best revolver in the world".


I fear that Manurhin Equipements does not yet have the distribution circuit
itsa revolvers deserve, in the US.

I own an MR-93 since several years (mine has the serial number 63) and it is
an outstanding revolver. The revolver has a wonderful double action, an 
excellent ergonomy and accuracy. Finally, it is STURDY.

The cylinders and barrels are the ones of the Manurhin MR-73. In other words
they are nothing but excellent.

The gun has a cast frame. Nothing really new here. In fact, Manurhin learned
the technique from Ruger. But they improved it. They did also improve seriously
the machining of pieces after the casting. They have automated manufacturing
systems able to produces pieces 100% automatically with tight tolerances. the
result is that they are able to assemble a revolver within four hours of the
arrival of an order, without manual adjustment, and the result is a tightly
adlusted gun.

Another point on which they did seriously improve Ruger's techinque is
the trigger. I had a GP-100 for a few months. It's DA trigger was so
horrendously heavy and long that it was unacceptable. I was very happy
to get rid of it for a S&W 686. On another hand, while it is
mechanically very simple, the DA trigger or the MR-93 is a real marvel
out of the box, without any tuning.

Manurhin has two types of wooden grips (in three sizes) for this
revolver. There's very little to say about the standard one. Mine came
with the "Orthopedic combat" model made by Claudio Morini. It's the
best grip I've ever tried. Even the hottest .357 ammo, like the
Remington 127Gn, are fun to shoot.

The barrel of the gun was inspired by the Dan Wessons, i.e. the barrel
and the external "case" are independent. It is thus very easy to adjust
a tight space between the barrel and the cylinder.

As on the Dan Wesson, the cylinder catch is on the cylinder crane, but
it is on the other side. It is possible to open and empty the cylinder
with a single hand and in a single gesture.

The frame is really strong. the gun digests the hottest .357 without
any trouble.

The chambers are tight. This improves accuracy, but it may cause
trouble with hot ammo. I've had cases with Remington 125Gn SHJP where,
after a few cylinders of shooting, primers were partially extracted
from their case. There's no danger for the gun, but it is a trouble.

I see only two weaknesses on this gun:

it's the only revolver with a squared triggerguard. It makes the serach
for a proper holster problematic.I found a good french shoulder hoslter
and a bianchi belt one, but it took some time.

While they wanted to create a 100% modular gun, both the rear and the
front sight are changable. You get a small set of sights with the gun.
the idea makes a lot of sense. The rear adjustable one, is excellent,
it's an Elliasson. But the other ones are made of plastic and they are
really fragile. This is especially the case for all the front sights.
Six months ago, Manurhin did finally come with metallic replacements
for these sights, and they can be retrofitted on older guns at no cost.

Finally, I made a contribution about this gun in the FAQ.


I hope that this helps


Emmanuel Baechler
Chemin du Stade 4
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland