Korth Ratzeburg Combat Triple Lock .357 Magnum with 9mm Exchange Cylinder

Pick this Korth up and the first thing you notice is the lockup. Push the cylinder, work the action, and there's no play anywhere. That's the Triple Lock at work, securing the cylinder at three points instead of the usual two, and it's the kind of mechanical tightness that separates a Ratzeburg gun from everything built to a price.

This one comes from the Ratzeburg factory, the era most collectors point to when they talk about Willi Korth's best work. The frame wears a deep, almost liquid blue that runs so dark it reads black until the light catches it. Look closely at the barrel shroud and topstrap and you'll see the fine longitudinal striping Korth used to cut glare, a detail you simply do not find on production revolvers. The walnut grips are hand checkered with a rounded target profile, warm reddish brown against all that polished steel.

The barrel is marked .357 Magnum and runs right around four inches, with the full underlug and that distinctive shrouded ejector rod. Up top sits the adjustable target rear paired with a ramp front. The trigger is wide and smooth, the hammer broad and serrated for a deliberate single action cock.

Here's what makes it more than just a fine .357. It ships with the factory 9mm exchange cylinder, fitted to this revolver and tuned to swap in seconds. Korth engineered that interchangeability from the start, not as a bolt on afterthought, and the second cylinder feeds rimless 9mm Parabellum from the same bank vault action. Two calibers, one gun, both cut to the same standard.

The original Korth presentation box and factory literature come with it. For a collector chasing the Ratzeburg name, the Triple Lock, and dual caliber versatility in a single revolver, this is the configuration worth holding out for.