Widder, SASS #59054

3" to 3.5" for my Cowboy shooting revolvers. 5.5" to 7.5" for my Super Blackhawk Hunters. 5" and 6" for my 1911 carry pistols. 4.25" for my Anaconda 4" for my 460 S&W mag. ..........Widder

I prefer the longer barrels, especially on my 97's. Most of mine are 18.25" but I got one that reaches all the way out to 18.5". ..........Widder

Here is a video of Missouri Lefty shooting a Widder Soft Stroke. He and Billy The Avenger had played around with it one morning on side match day at 'Black Gold' in Kentucky and then decided to run 10 shots thru it for speed. I can build em to shoot fast..... but I can't shoot em this fast. Hope you enjoy the video. ..........Widder

"Smart Guy"........ Thanks. I don't think I've ever been called 'smart'.... I can't comment on the Savage because I've never looked inside of one. But the Henry can also be relatively easy by just removing the 4 screws that hold on the cover. The bolt will come off with the cover, which is super easy to put back on. With the cover removed, ALL the internals can me sprayed with your favorite cleaner and relubed as you prefer, including access to the chamber and bore. Glad you saw my 2 video's on making a couple mods. As for other work, I'll send you a PM with my phone number so feel free to call me. Since my retirement from rifle work, Slater ( a good friend and gunsmith) is now doing the 'Widder Soft Stroke' mods and his trigger jobs are probably the best in the business. Call me and we'll talk. I can give you more info about these things. Check out your PM for my number. ..........Widder

Is this particular thread a 'survey' to see how many folks respond to surveys and under certain conditions? ..........Widder

Well wishes to the whole family for a smooth move. You're closer to Tennessee and maybe someday, I'd love to drive over just to say 'HI' and meet 'The Legend' in person. If I ain't mistaken, Jim Hastings Leather is in Mississippi. I love his work and he's a great feller. God Speed. ..........Widder

There was NO MORE ammo to capture. Those yankees were captured because they had run out of ammo. ...........Widder

JK, Most of the shooters use lever rifles while some might show up with a pump. No bolt or semi-autos allowed. Rifles range from various Henry models, Winchester 9422, and Marlin 39. There are a few Browning lever .22's. ..........Widder

I've made my reservations. The JEDI GUNFIGHTERS will be sponsoring the Side Match Speed Rimfire stage on Thursday. If your a JEDI GF, be sure to drop by. Right now, yours truly is battling Pneumonia of sorts. But, the doctors plan for me to be back in the saddle before the State. This stuff wears me out. Started a month back with a bad allergy (sinus infections) and when previous treatment didn't remedy my ailment.....I was checked for the 'P' and confirmed today. New treatment plan has started. Looking forward to seeing everyone again. Bring your best and fastest speed rimfire lever or pump rifle and lets find out just WHO the real 'Huckleberry' is. Hear tell Ole TN Williams is afraid to even try! ..........Widder

I was young and unsavy in handgun power and calibers except something turned me on to the Ruger Single Action .357 Magnum. I could brag about its unproved reputation of shooting thru an engine block. Well, I dont think it would have taken down a locomotive so I would have let it be.......... just like today. Give me a BIG bore anyday. ..........Widder

You can tell that 'I' didn't shoot it because its in one piece. I prefer them 'blown to pieces'. ..........Widder

My real name is Mike, but most know me as 'Widder', even at church. I always answer the phone with 'This is Widder' and even my Mom (rest her soul) and my brothers and sister know me by Widder also. There are lots of 'Mike's in the world.......... but there ain't but one real 'Widder'. ..........Widder

Although Scarlett Darlin is my 'go-to' person for my cowboy bullets, I needed a super-duper hard cast, gas-check bullets to try in my S&W 460 mag. I ordered last week and received them today. Great service and great looking bullets. ..........Widder

PT was more than mere words could tell, and I was only an occasional visitor there. But once you walked thru the barn, it was like you were entering a new time zone from way back when. You had entered the 'twilight zone' of western history. It had a 'spirit' of its own, which engulfed a warm, welcoming, down-home feeling. Nobody was a stranger..... and it seemed that everybody was family. Blackie, your quest for a little PT history is a worthy task. ..........Widder

THIS ^^^^^ From over 200 Marlins I have worked on, a high percentage can reliably feed 1.50" OAL, give or take a few .000's.......... Basically, the high 1.4 range up to the low 1.5 range. We normally only hear about those with feeding issues with shorter OAL rounds. But the lack of information shared from the owners of 'reliable' Marlins keeps us from knowing their preferred OAL is probably 1.5", +/-. If someone has modified the carrier ramp to give it a faster timing, then shorter rounds will work great. And if the timing is slower, then longer OAL rounds work best. Best regards ..........Widder

Speaking of reloading data, I also have some LIMITED data for the S&W 500 mag, and the S&W 460 mag. My 460 seems to favor H-110 and LilGun, but I have also found a VERY GOOD load using CFE BLK when shooting the 300 grain bullets. I've test AA9 and Ramshot 'ENFORCER' in both pistols but I didn't like the results as well as H110, LilGun and CFE BLK. ..........Widder

DAN, I shoot a reasonable amount of .45+P, .45 Super, and 460 Rowland in my 1911's and Power Pistol and Longshot have become my favorite powders. AND, as you can tell from my data, Power Pistol and Longshot have warranted their favorable usages in my 10mm also. On a side note, concerning semi-auto pistol type ammo, I have found BE-86 my favorite in the 9mm........ although I have not tested it for anything else. AND..... CFE PISTOL is also an excellent 10mm powder but I couldn't find my load data on it. If you want some data on CFE PISTOL, let me know and I'll check thru my 10mm folder. I've kept data on just about everything I've ever fired, including testing some pistols for TN Williams. Everything from his S&W 617 (.22) up to his S&W 500 Mag. Slater has told me that when I die, he would like for me to will all my load data stuff to him. He don't want any guns....... just my load data. The 10mm is a great cartridge and should serve you well in a revolver. Its a true .40 caliber and I have found it easy to reload. Some powders and published load data can give you a compressed load, so proceed with caution on those. If I remember correctly, AA9 and Blue Dot have compressed load data, which I try to stay away from. ..........Widder

BUT...... what if Nicole ain't really dead? It could have been staged event and she might be under the Federal Protection stuff. Did we actually see her body? We saw 'the glove'. ..........Widder

Howdy Dan I use to shoot a lot of 10mm, but only in my semi-autos. But, for general purposes of sharing some information about the 10mm, I thought I would list some of my data from my velocity test. Here is a lot of data, but I hope it helps. And I might add that this data is from MY testing and not from any book information. I will show bullet weight, powder charge/powder type, and average velocity. My chronograph was set approx 8 ft. from muzzle. And all testing was done in warm weather. Although accuracy is subjective to guns and shooter, I will also show those loads that gave me the best accuracy from each pistol. EAA WITNESS.......... 3.6" barrel 135 Sierra JHP. 16.2 / AA9. 1325. Best Accuracy 150 Nosler JHP. 12.7 / AA7. 1307 150 Nosler JHP. 10.0 / Power Pistol. 1309. Best Accuracy 155 XTP. 12.7 / AA7. 1319 155 XTP. 9.9 / Power Pistol. 1244 165 V-Crown. 9.5 / Longshot. 1223 Springfield 'XDM' .......... 3.8" barrel 135 Sierra JHP. 16.2 / AA9. 1359. Best Accuracy 150 Nosler JHP. 12.7 / AA7. 1331 150 Nosler JHP. 10.0 / Power Pistol. 1367 155 XTP 12.7 / AA7. 1359 155 XTP. 9.9 / Power Pistol. 1277. Best Accuracy 165 V-Crown 9.5 / Longshot. 1237 Springfield 'Ronin' .......... 5.0" barrel 135 Sierra JHP. 16.2 / AA9 1440 150 Nosler JHP 10.0 / Power Pistol. 1466 155 XTP 12.7 / AA7 1437 155 XTP 9.9 / Power Pistol 1387. Good Accuracy 165 V-Crown 9.5 / Longshot 1313. Top Accuracy #1 165 V-Crown 9.5 / Power Pistol 1307. Top Accuracy. #2 180 XTP 10.4 / Blue Dot 1236 180 XTP 9.4 / Longshot 1294. Top Accuracy #3 Iver Johnson 'Eagle-XL' ..........6.0" barrel 135 Sierra JHP. 16.2 / AA9. 1522. Good Accuracy 150 Nosler JHP 10.0 / Power Pistol 1476. Good Accuracy 155 XTP 12.7 / AA7 1471 155 XTP 9.9 / Power Pistol 1417. Good Accuracy 165 V-Crown 9.5 / Longshot 1333 180 XTP 10.4 / Blue Dot 1268. Best Accuracy 180 XPT 9.4 / Longshot 1319 Springfield 'Operator' TRP .......... 6.0" barrel (everything was accurate) 135 Sierra JHP 16.2 / AA9 1539 150 Nosler JHP 10.0 / Power Pistol 1540. Best Accuracy #1 155 XTP 12.7 / AA7 1489 155 XTP 9.9 / Power Pistol 1459 165 V-Crown 9.5 / Longshot 1359 165 V-Crown 9.5 / Power Pistol 1369. Best Accuracy #2 180 XTP 10.4 / Blue Dot 1296 180 XTP 9.4 / Longshot 1347 NOTE: The V-Crown bullet is a Sierra Bullet, but they call it the 'V-Crown'. If you find any typo's (discrepancies) in my data, give me a shout back and I can double check my data. Or if ya want a call, PM me your phone and I'll call ya at your convenience. Hope this helps. I ain't typed this much since sending Elvira a love letter in high school........ ..........Widder

I always liked his personality. Always seemed like a great feller. ..........Widder

Howdy DOC. Hope you are doing well. Those BIG pistols do have a noticeable 'buck & roar' effect, but their grip design, plus a good glove and wrist wrap, help. Although mine is a 5" model 460 w/comp, and TW's is the 4" model 500 w/comp, the longer barrel models are not bad at all to shoot. Their power is awe-inspiring. And the wrist does feel a little sore the next day.. And I know this sounds funny, but if you want to have fun shooting the 460 model with some hot .454 Casull loads, just shoot the 500 first......... and then those Casull loads dont seem bad at all..... Take care. ..........Widder

Here is the song I was thinking of..."If this old house was built on memories....." Beautiful song. But YouTube won't allow me to embed it. Sorri. ..........Widder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLP2aHWKOpA

Howdy Boggus. Thats interesting. I've done that with my rifle calibers (6BR, 22-250, etc...) but never have done it with my magnum pistol reloads. I have noticed on some FACTORY ammo for the 500 and 460 that some manufacturers seem to use the collet style crimp..... and some don't. Anyhow, I'll report my results as soon as I can get back on the farm and do some 'shoot'n'. P.S. - Hamiltom Bowen lives about 8-10 miles from me, in the same county. I've met him but I've never visited his shop. Shame on me! He's got a great reputation. ..........Widder

I think LEE makes a roll crimp die for the 460, BUT.... the specific die that I have actually says: 'LEE Collet Style Crimp Die, 460 S&W'. It specifically states... '460 S&W'. And, it is a 4 petal (4 sections) die. I like the looks of the crimp and I should find out tomorrow its effectiveness on some good ole 460 reloads. ..........Widder

First, a little background info: In loading up some .454 Casull and 500 S&W ammo, I use an excellent ROLL crimp die that came with each set of dies, plus I had a good 'LEE factory crimp' die to use for the .454 Casull also. BOTH of those 'stout' reloads maintained their proper OAL while firing numerous other rounds thru the revolver. Now for my 460 S&W reloads. I'm gonna be testing my new LEE 'collet' style crimp die on some of my ammo AND I will also test my ROLL crimp on the same type loaded ammo. I'll be eager to see which style of crimp might work best under 460 recoil. My loads will be 300 grain XTP's and 40.0 LilGun. I measure and mark one piece of ammo, put it in the revolver with ONLY ONE other round, which is then fired. Then I measure the marked round. I repeat this process for 5 fired rounds and make notations of OAL of the marked round between each firing. I've never used a 'collet' style crimp before so I'm eager to test it out. Do ANY of the Wire Pards have experience with the collet style die? THANKS ..........Widder