Alfa Proj 3551C: An Affordable Czech Wheelgun

In this day and age, where we often feel like we have to choose between inferior quality or shelling out a large sum for a revolver, it’s nice to find a company in that comfortable middle ground.

Established in 1993, ALFA-PROJ spol. s r.o. (to use the full title of the company) initially began its life manufacturing and selling blank-fire revolvers and duty-grade handcuffs. They would almost immediately branch their revolver line into the world of low-pressure/“non-lethal” revolvers and alloy-frame revolvers in .22LR, .38 Special and the like.

Today, Alfa Proj makes the above, and more. From handcuffs and leg-irons to revolvers (in everything from 6mm Flobert to .380 to .357), revolver rifles and even a polymer-framed sort of Cz.75 clone (the “Combat Defender” line). The company has built a reputation for reasonably priced and well-performing products, specifically their revolvers.

The particular gun lent to the author for this review is an Alfa Proj Model 3551C, part of the ALFA Steel line; a very typical, plain steel-frame revolver, with a 4″ barrel, full-length shroud, and plain, but functional bluing.

The sights are indeed plain, with a screw-adjustable rear sight and bright orange pinned front sight. The sight picture may annoy some people but I found them to be effective, with it being easy to rapidly acquire a line of sight. The grips however, were much less to my taste. The more forward sweep of the grips had my middle finger digging under the trigger guard and getting a nice smack during firing. Other grips are available, but it seemed like such an annoyance on an otherwise pleasant gun. In addition, the finish did seem a bit thin.

Shooting it was mostly pleasant, save for the grip annoyance. The gun had no FTFs, breakages or the like, and ate a steady diet of cheap .357 and .38 for the short shooting session I spent with it. Practical accuracy was perfectly fine. The trigger had a fairly clean break, with a bit of a heavier uptake, rather like a GP100.

In short, the Alfa Proj was spectacularly uneventful. It did it’s job as a fun plinker that day, and could easily occupy the role of a home defense revolver, or perhaps just as a beater woods gun. Retail is around $450 USD, which pushes Taurus levels of price, without the typical Taurus worries.

Although not as fancy as the pricier guns on the market, if all you want is a basic, reliable revolver, I can happily recommend the Alfa Proj.