Three Foot Johnson

In 2014, I found a NIB Rossi .44 mag on the closeout page of Chestnut Ridge Outfitters, I believe it was called, for $397, shipped. I've shot it a few times, but it's still essentially in new condition.

Well, I've slept on it... I sold mine only two or three months ago, but I still have a few hundred pieces of brass, dies, and ammo... I'LL TAKE IT!

I had a couple 4" Diamondback .38's, as well as a .22. I sold one of the .38 Diamondbacks on here about six years back in a rather unconventional way... I still have the other two. https://forums.sassnet.com/index.php?/topic/273704-gun-for-sale/#comment-3567257 By the way, folks, that is a very good price on a P-32.

Someone had "skeletonized" the stock of this Rossi .44-40, so I cut a slab of juniper to fill the hole. The butt plate had also been removed and a piece of leather tacked on. I hammered out and fitted a replacement from a piece of flat steel. I had four of these, all pre-safety, two with saddle rings and two without, and sold the other three on here over the past four or five years. The two without the saddle rings were marked "Model 65 SRC", go figure... must be a Brazilian thing.

They're in stock at Starline for 19 cents each in a 1000 count lot, so that would be $30.40, shipped, for 160. Fired multiple times, maybe 12 cents each, which would be $19.20, shipped. Someone who doesn't want to buy a thousand to get the volume discount price might pay a little more, maybe $25, shipped.

New, they're 19 cents each, shipped. What's "a few"? Fifty? About seven or eight bucks, shipped.

18" + 18" = 3'. I actually had .357's before I bought my .45's. I made the switch because the .45's were noticeably lighter. Fun guns, but you won't be shooting any 25 second stages.

Jessie Whales? ---> Josey Wales. I use only two per match, no extra cylinders, and I have never snapped a cap on a nipple/empty chamber to clear it. Nipples are removed from the cylinder and cleaned as part of the cleaning process after every match. No need to torque those things down really tight when reinstalling either - just snug 'em up, they aren't coming loose during a match.

Not particularly hard to find, but like other semi-obsolete or unavailable brass, it's going to cost you five or six bucks each, about "the going rate". Some DGW on GB right now @ $62/20, with 1 day 22 hours left. It'll probably go up, but with black powder, no resizing, and no crimp, you can get a lot of reloads out of them.

I got one in 2019 because I went on a cruise and the cruise line required it. Inside passage from Seattle to Alaska and back, with one of the ports being Victoria, BC. We'd both been there, so didn't even get off the ship, just did some laundry, caught a movie on board... something... I don't remember...

It looks like Great Falls hit -36 last night. My daughter had -37 reporting on her phone. A week from tomorrow it's predicted to be 47 above, an 83 degree difference.

I tossed a couple logs in the stove this morning, then opened the fridge & freezer doors to help warm it up a little quicker.

I remember going out snowmobiling in crap like this back in the 70's, and trying to convince myself I was having fun.

Last night set a record low here in Helena for January 11th, today is supposed to set a record low for January 12th, and tomorrow is supposed to set a record low for January 13th - thirty four below zero. The current record low for the day is -30. Less than a week ago, it was in the 40's, and in another week, it will be in the 40's again. Currently, it's -22, and that will be the high for the day. This old house is so poorly constructed, I can't keep it above 60 in my bedroom without turning on the electric heat, and I'm too cheap to do that, so I'm sleeping in my recliner close to the wood stove for a few nights.

Some people are more susceptible to lead poisoning than others. I worked 23 years in a lead smelter, and spent 4-6 months every year on in-plant medical removal for high blood lead. Others would walk around all day with their respirators hanging around their necks, sometimes working in buildings where you couldn't see the far wall due to smoke & fume, and never be above the low-teens. The place shut down in 2001, but even only 23 years ago, the standards were ridiculous compared to today. I think the removal level was something like 38 or 40, and when it dropped to the low 20's, they'd send me back out in the plant. When I have my periodic physical at the VA, I always request a blood lead level, and the last one a month ago came back @ 21.8 ug/dL. I haven't been to a match since mid-October, no reloading, etc. It's been as high as 31 if I've been shooting matches regularly before a blood draw.

Lead prices and availability vary greatly by region or state. Some states have laws about scrap yards selling lead, some don't. The spot price of lead is just under a dollar a pound right now, but I see Craigslist ads up to $2.00/pound and more. Two or three years ago, I was able to buy 2000 pounds from a scrapper for fifty cents a pound. The catch was it was in large chunks, some of them over 200 pounds.

I bought a new Honda Fit in 2018, and three years later when the lots were empty, the dealership sent me a flyer offering to buy it back for more than I paid. I never responded, so who knows what the catch was.

Correct.

The past three or four years, a lot of things have been harder to come by. I see folks almost every day post some variation of, "I've looked everywhere for [guns, powder, brass, primers, whatever], and I can't find any, where are you guys getting it?". So I'll point out some sellers that have the item(s) for $XXX.xx, often two to three times or more what the price was 3-5 years ago, and get, "I'M NOT PAYING SCALPER'S PRICES, I HOPE THEY CHOKE ON IT". OK, but everyone who has [item] is asking more or less the same price, and they're getting it, so what's the difference between "the going rate" in this brave new world and "scalper's prices"?

I sold a lightly used Norinco/IAC 06 prefix a year and a half ago for $725 w/Coyote Cap's drop two mod. I've seen lightly used, stock 06 Norinco/IAC's in the past year or less for as little as 5-$600, and I've seen the "tomato stake" Zhongzhou/CAI PW87 go for as much as 8-$900, go figure. A box stock Chiappa starts around 13-$1350. The Norinco/IAC's are getting a little harder to find, so $1250 for an 06 CC Top Gun is probably OK.

Rugers, Colts, USFA's, Freedom Arms are going to be pricey - Uberti's can be had new for under $600 ea. I don't know if Pietta makes one.

I won this in 2006 - read it carefully.

$375... ai yi yi. And I thought my Wiley X glasses were kind of pricy!

I've still got a few around - five .44-40's and three .38-40/.40 S&W convertibles.