Not the most practical pistol to own. I still love this gun mostly for the cool factor. This is the Rossi Ranch Hand in .45 Colt caliber. It's a 6 shot lever action pistol that has a distinct look and feel of the old west to it. It handles well but is a bit heavy after a while of shooting at the range. The lever action is pretty smooth but needs to be broken in. The sights are fixed with a range adjustment on the rear sight. The sights themselves are a bit hard to see and use and I find that the pistol shoots high and left and still need to contact Rossi about adjusting that problem.
As for home defense, it'll work for that. You can still use it at the close ranges for home defense by sighting down the barrel. Takes some practice but it can be done. The .45 colt round is more than enough to stop a home intruder. The 12 inch barrel insures the additional power doesn't go to waste. As for any real practical use for this pistol, I can't think of any. I bought it mostly for the cool factor and don't regret it. It definitely gets looks from other shooters at the range. It has the large loop for flip cocking but I don't recommend it for live rounds. I love it, it's fun to shoot. I'm sure others out there will find more practical uses for it. I do know of one fellow who uses it for hog hunting. I'd rather use a rifle for hunting, but everyone will find some justification for owning it.
I don't actually use it as one of my home defense guns as it's a bit awkward for me. My CZ P-07 is more suited for that task. I plan on using it for fun and show and maybe as a backpack gun for hiking and camping. I'm sure there are heavy enough rounds made for it to use effectively on bears. Not that I plan on shooting bears left and right, just in case type of situation is what I mean.
If you like the old west and want a memorable gun for shooting, the Rossi Ranch Hand is perfect for making impressions. Not so much for home defense as it's a bit large and awkward, for me at least. I'd give it four out of five stars for ratings. It loses the one star for the sight problems.
