Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

No choke will make an improvement if you are not aiming close to the target. In fact, a poor shooter will get a few more hits with a cylinder choke (no choke at all), since it provides perhaps an inch wider pattern at 10 yards. Good luck, GJ

See the Radocy guide - a good on-line copy is at: https://classicoldwestarms.com/wp-content/uploads/winchester_97.pdf See location of where to install the spring in attached marked up picture.

Quality for the Uberti built will be almost exactly the same between the importers. Special FEATURES, though, if you want something special, depend on which importer has asked the factory to build in the feature. Uberti will be more of a kit already assembled. Lots of speed work can be done, but lots of speed parts are available. Winchester is having "difficulties" with warranty and parts supply. But it's more of a nicely working gun right out of box. If you have no interest in doing work yourself, maybe a Winchester/Miroku. If you want to run as fast as anyone can, a Uberti with lots of work. Neither manufacturer or importer that you buy from will do much "warranty" work, especially once the gun has been tuned to any degree. Good luck, GJ

See this from 2 weeks ago:

Alan Harton, Houston. One of the best. 8822 Jackwood Street Houston, TX 77036 (713) 772-8314 Joe Perkins probably can handle the boring and chambering too. https://www.classicsingleaction.com/ Good article to check for Harton and other top shelf Six Gun smiths: http://www.sixguns.com/range/silk.htm

Then I would smoke the left toggle link (or mark-up with a Sharpie) and run the action 10 times, then look for what is scraping off the black. Good chance the link is a little large at SOME spot. Good luck, GJ

I'd advise you to go back and watch the video on the Wilson web site again about how to use the case holder in the Wilson case trimmer. "Explanation of Case Holders and Proper Use" at site: https://lewilson.com/videos Start at about 5:30 in the video and watch carefully. This holder is slow to use. The fired case is pressed into the holder with an arbor press or a blow from a plastic or wood faced mallet The rim sets right down into that well, it is not left proud as your second photo shows. The mouth then should extend just a few thousandths above the steel of the other end of the holder. A .357 Magnum case cannot be trimmed in this .38 special holder. A Wilson case trimmer kit is then used to trim the excess length. A short piece of wooden dowel can be used to pop the trimmed case back out of the holder. This is a very precise, high accuracy case preparation step. I will venture to say that very few cowboy shooters ever trim a .38 special case, using any kind of trimmer. And go further to say this degree of precision capable with the Wilson trimmer is not beneficial to much of any shooting but bullseye target competition. I would doubt you have a mis-manufactured part. You just are not using it correctly. Explain what you are doing if you think you have it correct. I don't own one of these, so I am going by what is explained in the video. Good luck, GJ

Uberti toggle guns use a 0.410" high front sight, and have a (standard) 3/8" dovetail base. Beads range from tiny to humongous. Brownells has a selection of the smaller bead sizes. Marbles, Lyman, etc. The Smith Shop has a nice selection of larger size bead sights. Longhunter Supply did too last time I looked. Slick Sure Hits are very good, but I like a medium bead to ensure I can still see a real sight picture at 100 yards for long range side matches. A giant bead covers most steel targets at those distances. I like the 3/32" bead myself. Good luck, GJ

That ^ fixes loose dovetailed sights. A Great Western revolver (Pietta made SAA clone) has a blade soldered into rectangular slot along top of barrel. I'd bet EMF will fix it under warranty! Good luck, GJ

I make it a point to never load a new-to-me-load numbering more rounds than I want to knock out with my inertial puller. (And that's about 10 or so). Or more shotshells than I want to cut open. THEN is when I test the first batch. If the load is REALLY new and different from what I've done before, second batch may be 50 or so.

Most states have a Hunter Safety program that is worth having him attend. Some would even let Dad or Mom attend too. Having taught that for 35 years in three states, I know it helped several kids. One with some range time is the more interesting class. And yes, a lot of NRA developed material can be found in most classes. These classes should still come with a real good book explaining safety, ethics, types of firearms and ammunition, conservation, etc. Good luck, GJ

Published data for .38-40 is a little tough to find. I'll make a qualified recommendation from having worked with WST for quite a while in .45 Colt, .45 auto,. and Cowboy .45 Special loads, First, a pretty comparable cartridge is the 44-40. GMDR site has some tested data for lead bullets in .44-40. Here's their data as an attachment. A real safe range from this WST load data for .44-40 and 200 grain cast bullet is 5 to 6 grains of WST. The similar bullet weight in 38-40 cartridges would be a 180 grain cast bullet. These two cartridges have a very similar form factor and pressure limits, but the .38-40 is smaller volume. WST is a little slower burn rate than Titegroup with maybe 6 SG/pistol powders between them. Based on all this, I'd feel very safe starting your .38-40 load with the 180 grain slug at 4.5 grains of WST. Then work toward whatever goal you have in mind - lighter, perhaps lighter slug, or heavier with higher powder weights. A chronograph would be real handy to keep you at moderate (700-900 FPS) velocities. Reading primers and comparing to what you were getting with Titegroup would be real important. I find that WST and Titegroup load to almost the same weight to get same performance in .45 Colt and .45 auto cartridges. Both are moderate to high-nitroglycerin content double base flattened ball powders. So, back down 10% or 20% from your favorite weight of TG and test that for a starting WST load. Of course, that would be my guess. For you , it's just food for thought. Good luck, GJ

How about looking closely at the barrel forcing cone, right at the breech end of the barrel. Look for lots of lead fouling, or even a crack in the barrel. And, BTW, how COLD was your ammo at the time you had the problem? Cool or cold morning? Ammo left in the weather overnight, possibly? Cold weather makes inconsistent loads even more pronounced for most powders, including TB. I'd agree strongly with Cliff Hanger. This was likely a low-powder detonation due to the bullet starting in the forcing cone just due to primer, then a delayed ignition of the powder with bullet firmly stuck in the barrel/cylinder gap. Solution to this DANGEROUS situation is to LOAD NO LESS THAN MINIMUM RECOMMENDED POWDER CHARGE WITH TRAIL BOSS POWDER!! TB does not really give a consistent load (even for Cowboy) until you get to the midway point of published loading data ranges. If you want really light loads, use 700-X, Red Dot, Clays or other powder that is proven to work well in light loads. Good luck, GJ

Umm, second view is a Front view of the carrier. Directions on firearms should always be determined as the gun is held in shooting position. (The view is from the front of gun. The front of the carrier is shown. That makes it a front view.) Good luck, GJ

Yep, looks like Boyd's are still making them: https://www.boydsgunstocks.com/content/resource-center/gunstocks/winchester-97-12-ga-stock-500622j15zz Good luck, GJ