H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

LOL There is only one problem with that. It's .38-40. not 38-.40. That and the Spencer cartridges were caliber designated in the second number. So two problems

When I got my 66, I too was having failures to fire. Comparing it to my Henry, I could see that the hammer was falling visibly slower than on the other gun. Also, the lever safety had been removed. In other words, the gun had been given a rather poor action job to slick it up as much as possible. I took it to a local smith and said, "Can you restore it to factory specs?" He did. Now it works flawlessly. My guess is that the hammer is falling to slowly, giving you light hits on your primer that don't always go off. Good luck

I remember an article in Guns and Ammo many, many years ago about the 38-40, and much of the article compared it to the 44-40. The basic points of the article were as follows... The 30-40 uses a .40 caliber bullet. Why it was ever called a .38 is unknown. Performance wise, when comparing the two cartridges, no appreciable difference could be noticed. The 38 had no greater velocity than the 44, had the same effective range, penetrated the same number of pine boards, which was an old time measure of performance back in the day, fired the same weight of bullets, had identical accuracy, and so on and so forth. In other words, the article asked why the cartridge was ever created in the first place. That being said, get, keep and shoot both. I shoot the 44 round myself, but that's only because that's what I found in the used gun shop. If I'd found 38's when I was starting the game I would have bought them. And to this day, I am still kicking myself for not buying that Fourteen Inch Barreled one in .38-40 soon after the ATF said they were no longer SBR's for Twelve Hundred Bucks at a local gunshow. Why did I pass on it? I didn't want to tool up for another caliber. Stupid... Stupid... Stupid....

A friend of mine recently acquired a Winchester 95 chambered for .30-03. Knowing that I like old Winchesters, and the 95, he asked me if you could fire the 30-06 round in his rifle. His question was based on the fact that the 06 is dimensionally the same as the 03, just with the neck being 0.07" shorter. I was honest and said I don't know. I know the 95 was eventually chambered for 30-06, but I have no idea if they shorter round would properly headspace, or if the pressure would be off or if there was some other reason to tell him no. I said I'd ask around. So, I'm asking. Anyone have any idea?

Never mind.... I goofed

Been doin' that fer years. It started out as a way to make sure I got my shotshells back for reloading. Back home, most guys don't reload shotgun for some reason, so I was always having to ask the brass pickers to pick 'em up. With these they do it automatically. It was especially fun when the three or four I had loaded with black power got randomly inserted into my gun and when kaboom instead of the usual smokeless ones.

I still think a matched pair is over rated. I should double duelist style, and while most of my guns are Colts, none of them are in the exact same configuration. But I've been known to pair Colt with a Smith, a Buntline with a Nagant, a Walker with an SAA, and many other configurations. That they are different does not bother me.

Well, I just finished this match way out in Nevada, and I had a great time. I was using my 30" 97, 2nd Gen Colt with with the 7.5" barrel, the Restoration of old Fort Des Moines commemorative Colt with the gold finish and wooley mammoth ivory grips, and my 1891 vintage 86 in 45-70. Using that gun put me in the "Tom Horn Smokeless Repeater" category. I had a lot of fun. How much fun, you may wonder. This much fun... I choose to believe that there were at least 4 people shooting this category...

I beg to differ. Not only is it west of the Hudson, it's west of the Mississippi. It's even west of the Rockies. That's way out west.

One other "thing" I'd like to have some day is to find a 71 with a shot out bore and rebarrel it to 30-40 Krag caliber. I'd bet that with the same bullets used in a .30-30 that this would be a very nice shooting gun. And yes, I'd "full length" the magazine tube. That's why I want one with a shot out bore. I couldn't see doing this to one still in good shootable condition, or to any already existing 86.

I am currently way out west in Nevada shooting at the Roop County Days match. One of the things that attracted me to this match was that they have a "Tom Horn" category whereby you substitute a rifle caliber rifle for the normal pistol caliber one in the Main Match. You can use either a single shot rifle or a repeater. Depending on which type of rifle you use, you get a slightly different course of fire from those using a pistol caliber rifle, shooting at targets that are much further away than is typical in a SASS type match. I am using my 1891 vintage Winchester 86. I have also seen 94's, Rolling Blocks, Trapdoor Springfields, a Marlin, and and a reproduction 76 as well as a Japanese Winchester 71 that the owner modified into an 86 shooting 50-110. Anyway, this is the first time that I have fired my 86 in anything other than a long range side match, and I have to say that using it as a main match rifle is a lot of fun, and that the gun itself is a pleasure to shoot. With a good loading, even with a 405 grain bullet, .45-70 can be made to have almost no noticeable recoil, and yet will still reach out and touch things are far away as a few hundred yards. Granted, we are not talking those kind of distances at this match, I'm just pointing out that it does not have to be downloaded to being little better than that a pistol cartridge in a big case. The gun itself is capable of great accuracy, and I think I am doing well so far, even if I have lost the clean match. But here is where it get's interesting. I had assumed that shooting the 86 would be essentially the same as shooting a 92. Boy, was I mistaken. Shooting this big rifle was really very different in a way I can't really explain. Now, as some of you may recall, my favorite main match rifle is the Lightning. So much so that I am kind of rusty with a lever gun whenever I pick one up. But when I was using the 86, I took to like a duck to water. Shooting it was so natural that I didn't have any kind of learning curve adjustments to make. I guess old Mr. Browning really knew what he was doing with this design. In conclusion, I enjoyed shooting this gun so much, I found myself wanting to shoot other big bore lever guns. And since the odds of anyone ever marketing a reproduction of the large frame Lightnings being about the same a Massachusetts electing a governor when the R after his name does not stand for "RINO," and with originals being both rare and super expensive, and not to mention in odd calibers, I doubt I'll ever have one. But I've clearly got the big bore fever. I wish that more clubs offered something akin to Tom Horn, or even better, add such a rifle to the mix, making for a 10-10-5-4 match. After all, more shooting is more fun, and it would give us an excuse to either pull out that safe queen more often, or even better, go out an buy another gun. Happy shooting, all.

Much has been argued about this gun. The various safety issues do require caution, but I do believe they can be addressed. Assuming that the issues are properly addressed. Assuming that the gun is in proper working order, and that you are using either short black powder shells, or have lengthened the chamber to allow for the use of modern length ones, but still loaded with black powder, it should be safe to fire. Just like an original 87, a Spencer, a Burgess, or even, gasp, a 93. That being said, yes, there is a lot more to consider than just the length of the chamber. I did see one once at a localgun shop once, and it failed all the safety checks, so I passed on it. I saw another one at a nearby Cabelas, a "newer" one that was in riot gun configuration. It looked to be in pretty good shape, but the store would not take off the trigger guard to allow me to do the safety checks. Nor would the clerks take it out back and perform the checks themselves. Needless to say, I passed on it. I regretted letting that one go as it looked really neat, but there was no way I was gonna get it without checking to see if it was in proper working order. As to the properness of this, and other early pump guns being not allowed in our game, well, with the very real concerns over the Marlin, I get it. I don't understand the others being banned, or the 93/97 while we are at it, as I know of no real safety issues with them beyond the exact same ones that exist with original 87s, that is to say short chambers and black powder, and that gun is allowed, so why not the early pumps. All of that said, I think that ultimately, safety is up to the shooter, not to the organization. I would be willing to admit that not allowing the Marlin is a wise safety precaution, but not the others. As far as "Marlin" saying don't shoot the gun, it has been stated here that the company that made that announcement was technically not the same one that made the guns, but I am unclear on that detail, so I'll let it go. One final caveat, I have no idea if later production guns have proper length chambers and if they were made for smokeless or not. That is why I universally assume short and black only.

Even I can't yet THAT loud.

Simple question, needing a simple answer.

I use generic magazines with mine. They work just fine. Of course, I am very limited as to what I can get, since the 1911 is deemed to be an unsafe design by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and you can't buy one here unless it was registered in the state prior to 1998 or if you can go the C and R route. I think someone came out with a Mass compliant one a little while ago, [Springfield?] but I am not sure.