Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

The so-called brass frames on Italian guns are not real brass (copper and zinc) but gun bronze alloy (copper and tin with a very small amount of zinc), which has better strength than most brass alloys. Look up "C90500 TIN BRONZE" as an example of what Uberti may be using. Gun Metal Bronze by Atlas Bronze Company These gun-bronze frames get a poly-plastic coat at the factory from what I have been told. Probably not worth trying to replace the coating as a DIY project. Folks I know who have tried with polyurethane are not happy with trying to get a protective coat on the frame. Patina on bronze is a self-sealing protection layer - very thin - and it's not harming the metal. If you like the brownish color. The chemical coating ("dyeing") of frames (color "case hardening" decoration) that is applied to some steel frames and minor parts to simulate conventional case hardening (but not as durable). Two different types of metal, and the "coatings" are two entirely different things. good luck, GJ

I had those same containers back in 1972. Powder normally stores very well if kept cool and dry. I see no outside signs of water, mold, rodent chewing, or distortion by heat. Good chance those powders will perform to current loading data. Try a little - and I hope you have ...good luck. GJ

Well, one of us has to open up the tube to get the measurement. Guess it will have to be you. 🙂 I'm fabricating equipment today. A 12 gauge hull rim is 0.886" max diameter. A follower for a Winchester 97 that I have in my parts box measures 0.921" OD at the "locating bands" - the largest diameter on the follower. I'd not go much smaller than that, or the follower may come out into the action. As for length, my used-part follower is 1.828" long roughly. good luck, GJ

Of course, loading 6 rounds in the magazine is only done for Wild Bunch. Cowboy is loaded "on the clock" and no more than 2 rounds. Magazine not used at all by lots of fast cowboy shooters. My guideline is whatever magazine spring is used, open up the magazine end cap, slide the spring into the mag tube allowing it's front end to dangle out the front uncompressed. Trim off at about the 4" mark from front end of mag tube. Works even with factory followers - I've never used a shortened follower. I often use a Remington 870 pump shotgun mag spring if I need a replacement spring - it has a suitable matching "spring rate." good luck, GJ

Industry standard BASE barrel groove diameter for almost all "44" pistols now is 0.429". With a tolerance allowed up to maximum diameter of 0.433" (wow, pretty sloppy!). Which makes a 0.430" cast bullet just about ideal most of the time. But 0.431" slugs can often "squeeze into" that barrel. In practice, modern guns seem to hit 0.429 more often than the larger allowed diameters. If this seems to be contentious, see the SAAMI specs for .44 Special and .44 Magnum chamber and barrel dimensions, in the latest SAAMI handgun specs: 2022-Centerfire-Pistol-Revolver SAAMI specifications Note how they do not even TRY to show specs for .44-40 (aka .44 WCF) cartridges for handguns. In the rifle document, they show a 0.4285" base groove diameter in .44-40. Since companies making barrels hate having to make more tooling than necessary, they use 0.429" barrels for all "44" guns, even on .44-40 revolvers and rifles now. good luck, GJ

Yeah, it's not the brass that determines what diameter of bullet will shoot well in a revolver, it's the cylinder and barrel dimensions. Fit bullet to 0.001" over the tightest diameter of the groove ID in the barrel. And hope that the cylinder throats are NOT way smaller diameter - if they are, they can be reamed and honed to be a little closer to the groove diameter from the barrel. If you have used your 0.431" slugs in .44 spl in this gun and not had lots of leading or oversize cartridge problems chambering, then most likely 0.431" slugs will ALSO be fine for the .44 WCF brass. good luck, GJ

So, if you think it's common for original Winchesters and modern clones to override the hammer - what fix do you recommend for this? (I do not call this "over-cocking" as the hammer is not being pushed way too far back.) Just live with bound up action? No way! Needs to be corrected, and a great way to do that on any of them is to bush the frame. Let us know if there is something easier! good luck, GJ

A close look at the firing pin extension surface shows me that the previous owner NEVER applied any lube to the extension (surface staining from rust). That, combined with lots of shooting, leads exactly to the problem you are having. In fact, the light surface rust on the visible "polished finish" parts, even trigger, and the swelling of the butt stock where it meets the tang, shows this gun was not dried out well after getting wet. There may be more corrosion inside. A gunsmith overhaul is probably in order! good luck, GJ

The rear part of the frame where the firing pin extension emerges is worn due to lack of lubrication of the firing pin extension (FPE). The circular hole can wear to an egg-shape, and then the FPE has room to rise up and override the hammer. You can see in your first picture that the tip of the extension has climbed up over the face of the hammer! Putting a bind on the FPE and the hammer. Solution - a GOOD cowboy gunsmith with machine tools can machine a solid bronze bushing to return that hole in the frame to original smaller round shape. Then, keep the FPE lubed with a very light coat of gun grease in the future. good luck, GJ

Sounds like the bulge is hardly noticeable externally, as the OP only saw it looking down the bore. I bought a .22 rifle that had a similar bulge, likely because of a stuck bullet. It shot well enough for me to continue to use it for small bore qualification shooting. good luck, GJ

Shoot the gun on paper. Compare your group with the size of cowboy targets you will have to contend with. Most barrel bulges that are in the middle of the barrel length have little affect on the accuracy of the gun, because the bullet is guided mainly by the last couple of inches of the barrel. That is the reason why antique gun owners are SO protective of the muzzle and it's rifling. If you cannot live with the bulge, then you can: * reline the barrel with a liner - which are harder to obtain than they used to be 20 years ago. This, if carefully done, mainly preserves any collector value. * install a replacement barrel. You lose the JM stamp of course, but get probably a better shooting gun than before. Gunsmiths familiar with the Marlin design can do this for a reasonable price. Bulges close enough to the muzzle to affect accuracy can benefit from shortening the barrel (if enough is left to be legal and functional). good luck, GJ

But no one makes a C45Spl from a 45 Auto Rim. More than once. GJ

Really close. I have both. GJ

Prices have risen sharply due to true Winchester guns now being 80 years old or so many of the safe queens have now been cleared out by sales of estates, and the Chinese copies stopped coming into the country about 15 years ago. Use a barrel length similar to what your wife liked. No need to rock the boat. Smaller frame/lighter muscled people often do better with short (18-20") barrels. Winchester solid frame guns don't suffer from having a loose barrel lockup. Chinese guns came only in solid frame. I like the solid frame guns. Before hunting a shotgun, hunt for a 97 gunsmith close to you. You will have as much need for a gunsmith as you do ammo. 😉 With not having experience with 97s, run any you are thinking of buying through that gunsmith to get his opinion of it as a shooter. Yeah, I know that is hard to do. Keeping a 97 ready to run is harder than most other cowboy guns. GJ

I have used Clay Dot as a near substitute for Clays. I usually find I need another 5% of weight of Clay Dot to make the same velocity SASS-light loads, whether in shotshells or pistol cartridges. Alliant website is very slow to test and publish light payload loads. Hodgdon, on the other hand, has been a leader in publishing 7/8 and even 3/4 ounce shotshell load data. But, of course, Clay Dot is an Alliant powder, and Hodgdon does not publish data for their powders. What a mess. good luck, GJ

With the depression angle being fairly small, and typical revolver sight-in distances (7 to 10 yards), no point of aim difference shooting downhill or level. Same-same. Shoot till you get POI and POA aligned as close you want. With fixed sight revolvers, it is real important to have settled on a load that you figure you will use "forever." Changing your load (velocity and recoil) will make lots more difference in POI than most other thing you can do - other than a bad flinch. good luck, GJ

Owl heads are on the top break Iver Johnsons. Looking toward cylinder - black powder just about ready to explode in there. Better watch out! Away from cylinder - nothing to see, it's smokeless powder. No smoke, no flame, just a speedy slug. Owls not on this specimen because grips were replaced with a wood Charter Arms set of grips. The gutta percha composition of the IJ grips meant they were broken if dropped or used to club an opponent. Ouch. good luck, GJ

Lube congeals in cold weather. Clean the bolt/firing pin and rest of action. Use a cold-weather lube on reassembly (CLP). good luck, GJ

Norfleet - Been 20 years since I had both cataracts out. Before, I was near sighted and some astigmatism. I had close vision corrected lenses put in. Wasn't more than a week later that I wished they had been done as "distance plus astigmatism" corrected. But, I have always worn glasses and it was "same as before surgery" except it's now easier for the doc to keep me at 20/15 vision. So, I got a "good enough" result with the way I had it done. If I have to do a lot of close work, I can do without any glasses. get 'er done, you will appreciate good vision again. Wishing you best possible results. GJ

OK, with a J 26485 serial, that is a 2nd Model (Black Powder) Hammerless Large Frame IJ. Made in 1904. Per the Goforth listings. I stand corrected about the trigger guard serial number. Goforth does indeed say that the beginning Letter Mark (the production lot) is omitted from the trigger guard stamping, but included on the left side of frame. The bottom of the grip frame at one time would have had about 5 Patent dates on it, running from 1886 to 1896. But, if the grip frame was ground to match new grips (those Charter Arms), those rollmarks would be gone. Be very cautious of shooting any smokeless powder load, even "factory" 38 S&W cartridges. The top latch and the cylinder are both fairly weak. The usual damage occurs to the top latch, where it gets battered to where it does not make a strong lockup on the latch lock post coming up under the rear sight area. And avoid using Hoppe's bore solvent (or other cleaners with ammonia) on this gun, as the nickel plating on these guns is easily bubbled and flaked. Your plating looks just about 100% - NICE. Don't often see these in this nice a cosmetic condition. good luck, GJ

Serial number has been posted already. IJ put prefixes on the trigger guard number if the serial number had one....and it seems complete (not partially ground off). If the poster really wants more info, he should post a clear picture of the rib markings! good luck, GJ

Those leaf spring extractors can easily get bent or just flat out lose tension with no warning. I always keep a spare in my smithing/cleaning bag. good luck, GJ

Ditto what Randy wrote! Remington STS, or Rem Nitro 27 have brass head covers (real brass, not just brass plated), so they stick less than any steel head cover hulls. Win AA type hulls are almost as good. You already have the best shucking hulls. The European shotshells are not very likely to shuck well. You could get lucky, but probably not. I'll also suggest having the chambers honed JUST A SLIGHT BIT. By someone who will not hone the front of the chamber more than the back - it should if anything taper out wider next to the extractors. good luck, GJ

Not true. As I have posted here several times, the definitive reference to date and define an Iver Johnson pistol is the book by W E Goforth, Has a pretty complete serial number set in it. "Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works Firearms 1871-1993 " published by Gun Show Books of Hudson WI. ISBN-10 number is: 0-9787086-0-1 Like this listing on EBay from Gun Show Books themselves: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174200101382 But don't go pay THAT price! Usually pretty easy to find used at a lower price. I'll look up in my copy to see if the OP gave enough pictures to exactly identify the production year.. First thing right off the bat, it is a Black Powder era gun, due to the long cylinder locking slots (these are the easiest way to tell). I read the serial as 46495 (tell me if that is not correct). That could make it an 1894 Large Frame First Model. Or an 1895 Large Frame Second Model. To tell the difference between the two, I would need the exact wording roll stamped into the rib of the barrel. It will contain the company name and several patent dates (from the 1800s). Post up the roll mark and we can find out. Several other things are different between First and Second models, but spotting those differences involves looking at specific parts of the gun that a new owner may not really understand where to look. good luck, GJ

Poor barrel bedding/fit into stock would be the most common cause of vertical stringing. Not familiar with how the furniture fits to a trap door, but it should be snug around the action and may need to be snugged to hold barrel down to the forearm bedding spots. If the "barrel bands" on the stocks are not tight vertically, might try shimming the wood to tighten them up. Hint - I just tightened the barrel bed in a Springfield 1903A3 by making a thin brass-stock shim to place on the foremost 3 inches of the stock. Tightened 100 yard groups from 3" to 1", and let me shoot second in a 300 yard match (my two poor shots were ones I pulled off the steel targets). Lots of BP competitors use a blow tube to both cool barrel and let breath moisture keep the fouling soft. Some smokeless long range fellers use a battery-powered barrel fan between shot strings. I'm sure that you have cleaned any jacket copper out of the barrel from previous jacketed bullet shooting - ANY copper fouling has to be removed before switching to black power rounds, for best accuracy. True black powder burns out lead deposits - leading of barrel is not a problem. good luck, GJ