Widder, SASS #59054

I've handled both Longhunter's and Slater's Marlins and both do top notch rifle work and both are great to work with. You won't go wrong with either. Best regards ..........Widder

Howdy OTJ. Aint seen you on the Wire for a spell. If ya got my number, holler at me at your convenience. If you aint got my number, send me a PM and I'll call you. Thanks ..........Widder

I see the sniper AND... I see that snake right below his left elbow/forearm area. The snake is lying there in the shape of the letter 'S' and it looks to be a fat snake about twice the length of his forearm length. The snake was the first thing I saw and it only took about 3 seconds. Its so obvious I could smell it. ..........Widder

My neighbor had a cat one time that ONLY bit the head off of mice/rats and left the body in the driveway. Apparently, the cat either knawed on the head/brain for taste, and/or carried the head to the owners front porch to show proof of a kill. Its not ordinary, But some animal behavior is really contrary to some of our beliefs in their crazy personalities. ..........Widder

In 2023, The JEDI Council had two outstanding folks that caught our attention among our nominees for JEDI GF of the YEAR. As previously announced, we had a LADY GF in Scarlett Darlin. And, we had the man of Rusty Remington. Without recognizing only one for 2023 and the other for 2024, The Council decided to recognize BOTH Lady and Man. THEREFORE..... due to unforeseen delays, we were finally able to recognize Rusty Remington recently and this post makes that official. Congratulations Rusty Remington..... Male JEDI GF of the Year 2023. And as many of you already know, Scarlett Darlin is the Female JEDI GF of the year 2023. Its rare we have TWO such deserving shooters to earn this recognition. They do SASS and GFer's proud. Keep em smoking Rusty. The Council also wants to thank Hairtrigger and Shady McLarry, and others, for representing the Council in making this recognition. ..........Widder

Howdy HK. Here is my elementary thinking on this. The two folks in SASS known for world record speeds for 10 shots are Deuce and Smokestack. Deuce uses a 'Carty' short stroke Marlin and Smokestack uses a short stroked 73. I think BOTH of them have a video of running 10 shots in 1.57 seconds. NOW, considering both rifles have been modified, my guess is that if BOTH rifles were Unmodified, their times would still be about the same on any given day. Maybe not 1.57 speed, but still faster than the rest of us. Based on that thinking, my guess is that the Marlin and the 73 model rifles can be functioned and fired at equal speeds. Just my opinion. ..........Widder

Ah yes, the built in Marlin 'governor' that raises its ugly head when the rifle if functioned 'real' fast...... as in Cowboy fast. Here's how that happens, especially on the .38/357 calibers. It can happen with the .44 and .45 calibers, but not as extreme, and I'll explain why. The factory Marlin .38/357 carrier is built up in the middle portion of the carrier. This design allows the cartridge to rise up in a basic level position as the bolt pushes the round into the chamber. Once the Live round is pushed into the chamber, the carrier falls back down and the next cartridge coming out of the portal moves into position and sits on the front half of the carrier, depicted by being able to see its rim at the load gate. Now, before I go any further, I need to explain this detail to the non-gunsmiths on the Wire. Your Cowboy gunsmiths know this. The reason you can see that round at the loading gate is because THE LEVER is holding it in position. When functioning the action, the round follows the lever back and when the lever (the portion inside the receiver) is vertical, the rim will fall off of it onto the carrier. Now, when you fire that live round and proceed to withdraw it from the chamber, the position of the lever has already allowed the next round onto the carrier. And because the middle portion of the carrier is designed with that built up area, the RIM of the cartridge on the carrier will often 'kiss' the rim of the empty cartridge before the ejector can kick it out. Therefore, the two rims often touch, although its often only a few .000's. This is no big deal when shooting 1/2 second splits, but when you allow those rims to 'kiss' at speeds of .35 or faster splits, your gonna have a traffic jam in your feeding. Your trying to feed up a new round at the same time your rifle is trying to eject the previously fired round. The Widdermatic carrier, with its center section cut down, will put about 1/4" space between the ejected round and the live round on the carrier. Plus, the modified carrier is set up to position the cartridge more favorably on the carrier, and other more subtle 'tweaks' are made to the carrier. Now you have a carrier that will work at any speed. The videos show this better than I can explain. The carrier design in the .44 and .45 calibers doesn't have the 'high' build up like the .38/357 caliber. And the rim 'kissing' effect isn't as critical, atleast in those I have worked on. BUT, modifying the carrier on a .44 / .45 1894 can also enhance their functions. Didn't mean to be so long winded, but I hope this helps those interested. ..........Widder

The folks that bought all that ammo during the past couple years and tried to sell it 4 and 5 times its value, were unsuccessful in getting rich. There never seem to be a real shortage because all the blame gun shows had plenty of all kinds of ammo at SUPER HIGH prices......... even .22 ammo. Now that ammo is easy to get again (although not as cheap), there is a panic among those folks who cant sell their 'hoarded' products and they want to start a rumor again about a shortage coming again. I refuse to buy into it. Let them spend all their money to hoard it all. I'll just slow down shooting again while they panic. That what I think about it! ..........Widder

Someone once told me that TN Williams offended them and ask me why he seems to dislike folks from up North (Yankees). I told them he actually hates Yankees but he ain't prejudice. Heck, he hates everybody equally except Baptist. He tolerates Baptist because the Bunkhouse Boss is Baptist..... he calls her BBB. (Baptist Bunkhouse Boss). Another true story. ..........Widder

Years back, Slick came up from Louisiana to E.TN to hang around my little gunshot and brought 3 Marlins with him. Over the next 3 days, we turned those 3 Marlins into Widdermatics and Slick went back home and started modifying Marlins, with my blessings to call them Widdermatics. He did a great job and modified probably a few hundred. Remington took over Marlin and quality made it hard to work on some of them, whether they be modified or not. Parts were getting nearly impossible to get, atleast in a timely manner. All of this made it very difficult to work on Marlin 1894's. Like myself, most of the Marlin 1894's that Slick and I worked on were modified into the 'Widdermatic' mod, mainly due to the way the carrier was modified. Another bit of history: I did not originally start calling my mod the 'Widdermatic'. I had created the modification and didn't tell anyone for about 6 months what I had done because I was testing it in all the local matches. But, because it was performing so well, the guys using those fast 66's and 73's starting calling it the 'Widdermatic' because it seemed to never jam or have any feeding issues. Therefore, the name 'Widdermatic' became its name and stuck. Shortly after, I converted the .45 Colt caliber Marlin into running the Cowboy 45 Special (C45S) without having the need for a short stroke modification. Then, I shortly modified that .45 Marlin to feed the C45S and the .45 Colt cartridge interchangeably without having any feeding or jam issues because I incorporated a 'timing curve' into the carrier ramp. Worked perfectly. I even did a good YouTube video of running one. So, there you have it..... from the horses (jackass) mouth. Y'all have a good day. ..........Widder

I probably derserved being offended and I probably don't deserve an apology. (I'm a charter member of the Rodney Dangerfield club). ..........Widder

When Badlands Bud and I were setting the GF speed records that were going under 2.0 seconds, NEITHER of us were using pistols with a short stroke mod. And we both were using Ruger Vaqueros, .38 special. Could our speeds have been faster with short stroke pistols..... probably. Could we hit a multiple of targets going that fast in a typical Cowboy scenario ........ probably not. I know I couldn't. AND..... I dont know if the other super fast shooters are using SS pistols or not. Short strokes, in my opinion, are NOT the automatic answer to winning the Caddy. PRACTICE is the secret..... correct practice. And not all of us are cut out to be champs, regardless of our practice. As mentioned above, try some SS pistols and see if you like them. But be sure to also try and feel some pistols set up by Jimmy Spur or Longhunter or other reputable Cowboy smiths that are not short stroked. This will give you a good idea as to how YOU will enjoy those pistols. Good luck. ..........Widder

I was rootin for Bama, but they lost. They had their chances to increase their score and/or keep the ball longer towards the end of the game but their performance was a little lacking on certain plays and therefore........... they came up short. Just like when the QB fumbled during a run. Michigan had their misques also. Being an E.TN native (born and raised), I'm a Vol fan basically. But if I were a high school star, knowing my families financial situation, and a nice NIL package was staring me in the face, I would have to consider going with the $$$. I wouldn't sell my loyalty to my country or friends, but choosing between one college over another when SERIOUS money is involved can sure enhance an athlete's life..... and in some situation, enhance the life of his Mom and Dad. Now, for the record, I haven't been offered any NIL money to keep shooting at my local Cowboy clubs. Matter of fact, they charge me to shoot with them. Where's MY money? ..........Widder

Besides those reasons given above, the amount of cleaning solvents and/or oils in your gun can enhance the flame effect. ..........Widder

Cale, and a hand full of other NASCAR heroes brought many of us together around the radio and TV back in their 'hay day'. On Fridays, during my high school days, NASCAR was the major topic of conversation on Fridays and Mondays (after the Sunday race). Thanks for the memories, Cale. RIP. You were loved and admired by many. ..........Widder P.S. - I was there, sitting in turn 4 at Daytona, when Petty won his 200th. And guess who was neck and neck with Petty coming around turn 4 and entering the tri-oval...................... Cale. And if I remember correctly, that was next to the last lap...which finished under a caution flag.

For me, shorter travel distance equates to less time in functioning the firearm. BUT..... to me, it wasn't the amount of time I would save in cocking the pistol for each round, but rather the usage of the short stroke mod kept me from pulling off target sometimes during the firing sequences BECAUSE I wasn't having to cock the pistols to the factory full cocking position. So, it was a simple decision for me. It allowed me to do quicker follow up shots with less misses. So..... the biggest gain for me was 'less misses'. ..........Widder

Oh my. Those are nice........ Very Nice! I like the top one. ..........Widder

That Ole CoonAss knows every secret I got......... Yep, Chicken Feet help add some speed. Thats why TN Williams is a World Champ Duelist. Of course, his carrying a 'pecker bone' in his pocket helps him a lot. ..........Widder

Howdy Warden. Thats a good video, especially if a person is a Munden fan. But I find myself having an issue in the first part of the video at around the 7:30 minute mark. In this segment, he shoots his 1911 like an auto. The secret (its really not a secret cause many of us can do it) to this is that he's holding the pistol with his right hand and his left hand index finger is inside the trigger guard 'slapping' back and forth to achieve that 'auto' firing sequence. He's not "pulling the trigger real fast", as he states. He's 'slapping' the trigger. ..........Widder

Back in the old west, when Miss Kitty served up a 'COLD' beer to Matthew and Festus, just how cold would that beer be? And what might have been the method to make it cold? ..........Widder

Just my opinion: The length of any barrel (round or octagon) will feel different to you depending on whether you are a Trad shooter, Duelist or GF. My particular set is approx 3" octagons, measuring from forcing cone to muzzle. They are short. And I love em. They work great for me as a GF. BUT, I've seen other GFer's run mighty fast and accurate with 5" barrels and longer. You would do well to handle as many as possible to help you know what is going to feel 'right for you'. Good luck. ..........Widder

I've seen those priced between $800 and $1200, depending upon various condition, mods, etc..... Does it have a 1 piece firing pin, stainless follower, etc...... Does it have any after market spring replacements. Has a reputable smith tuned it and is it still in good 'time'. And, sometimes the condition of the wood means more to some buyers than others. The 'JM' brand is also a plus. Good luck. ..........Widder

Not an 1894. I've checked out the 1895 but that's all. Hope you have a Happy New Year.

If you use a 1-piece firing pin, you won't need that spring. AND..... don't forget to change out the Plunger spring on the lever. Those boogers can me mighty stiff. I like ALL the Marlin parts that Longhunter sells. Good stuff, good business to deal with, and they work great in the 1894 Marlin. Best regards ..........Widder

Older and not wiser ME plans to be there. Will there be a 'rocking chair' stage? ..........Widder