H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

I was thinking I'd use it for the mini-match. Got the ins BTW

I got a used 66 in .44-40. It had clearly been worked on by someone. The hammer spring had been so lightened that you could see the hammer falling noticeably slower than on a stock Henry I have in the same caliber. Also, it had had it's lever safety removed. (The very early 66's imported by Navy Arms had a 73 style lever safety on them for some reason. Anyway, I took the gun to Happy Trails of The Smith Shop and asked him if he could return it to more or less factory specs. He was able to reinstall the lever safety, and the hammer now falls much faster and never fails to make the gun go bang. Based on how HEAVY a stock 66 hammer spring was when I got an unmodified one a few years later, I'll say that some changes are likely in order. If/when you want to get an action job done, just don't go "too far" with it. Buy the same token, you mentioned that yours is a .45. I will say that you get some blowback in that caliber, and once I went too long without cleaning, and it caused failure to fire like you described in my Lightning. After a good cleaning, and flushing out the firing pin with Gunscrubber solved that problem. So all I say in that regard is, with a .45, keep your rifle clean.

While I have never really been a SxS guy, per se, I have to admit that over the years, a lot of people made a lot of interesting ones, from very simple to very fancy. On the "collector" side of things, and I use the term in the sense of just acquiring things that you find interesting, not for investment, there are a lot of fascinating things out there. I have come to learn that there are just as many variations on the basic theme of double barreled shotgun as there are on lever action rifle. If not more. And what is even more enjoyable is that even things that were "high grade" guns back in the day can be obtained for a reasonable price if they are not all that pretty anymore, but still in shootable condition.

Well, I had a buncha gift cards for Cabela's that I got as bonuses from work. So, today, I got this for "free." It's an Ithaca 16 gauge. Now, why this particular gun? Well, I already have a modern Winchester Ranger in 16, but didn't really think it was worth tooling up to reload for. But... I had more than enough gift cards to buy this, so this gives me an excuse to get the things I need to load for 16 gauge. And, I can get Cody letter for it. It's it pretty good shape, and I am looking forward to shooting it. It's not as nice as a Parker, but what is? Interesting thing is that the safety does not engage when you open the gun. In fact, the safety is really stiff. I can't even thumb it on. Not that I'll worry about it.

Dang it.... Top is my custom Big Iron. Bottom is my 12" Buntline. Sometimes I pair the Buntline with the other nickel gun below. I just have fun.

The main reason I wanted my American to be in .44 Special was because my Buntline is in that caliber. I have a great desire to someday go shooting in Tombstone and be all "Wyatt Earpy" with my guns. I guess I'll just go with different calibers.

Colt. You can never go wrong with a Colt. If you can't afford a (pair of) Colt(s) there some excellent near clones on the new and used market. Caliber? Well, what do you wanna do? .38's are the least expensive, but there's a "magic" to shooting .44's and .45's. The BEST guns for you to get are ones that you like, shoot well, and above all else, have fun with. I've got a lot of different SASS legal pistols in my collection, mostly Colts or copies thereof, but I've also got S&W's, Remingtons, Conversions, and other stuff. I enjoy shooting all of them from time to time, but when all is said and done, my two favorite pistols are my Dad's 4-3/4" Colt, and my "Big Iron" that I custom made. I don't worry about trying to win cuz I know I never will, I just try for a clean match and concentrate on having fun.

Well gosh all fish hooks! (Been reading Barks again...) When these things first came out, I REALLY wanted one in .44 Special for various reasons. But, I could not find one in that caliber and had to settle for .45 Colt. I am jealous! But, here's the ironic thing... I have the reproduction American and Schofield in .45. I have real New Model 3's in .44-40 and .38-44. I don't have a Russian. But, you can get the reproduction in .45 Colt, as well as the Beretta Laramie in that caliber as well. I never intended to do it, but I have a very faint itch to get all four repro's in that same caliber.

No such thing. Read the law in question. The term really is silencer. Being pedantically silly here.

A few years ago, the ATF decided that pre 1934 short barrel Winchesters, Marlins, and a few other guns I don't remember, did not have to be regulated by NFA 34 anymore, if the short barrel was proven to be factory original. Anyone that owned such a gun could ask the ATF to take it off the NFA list, and they would do so. But only if asked. If you didn't ask, it remained regulated. But if you asked, they'd give you a letter saying the gun was not regulated by the law. If you happened to have one that was not properly registered, but could prove that the short barrel was factory original, I believe they would also send you a letter saying it was not under NFA 34. I am also not sure if you have to ask for such a letter or not. I think you do. But we are getting into speculation now, and I don't wanna speculate. It's too dangerous!

The Details: Winchester 1892. .32-20 Made in 1915 Short Rifle Button Magazine. Octagon 14" barrel. $2500.00 Sounds like a great price. Looks like a fine gun. BUT... Every example of these short barrel Winchesters I've read about, or seen picture of, are carbines, not short rifles. And all of them have round barrels. No factory letter to prove it's factory short. No ATF clearance letter. Personally, I wouldn't touch this one with a ten foot pole. Too bad, cuz it sure looks nifty. If it is factory short, it's gotta be a rarity, but my gut tells me that it'll letter as a much longer barrel. If it is a chop job, it was done decades ago, but that doesn't matter. I don't wanna play possibilities with an NFA 34 violation.

Generically, I can understand this feeling. There have been times when I have passed on a specific gun because it's not in a caliber I am already set up to reload for. Or for some other "reason" that will be an added expense to having that gun in the collection. But, I recently came to the "understanding" that If I am willing to spend, and this is a random number, $2345.67 for some really cool "collectable" gun, then what's a few extra hundred dollars to tool up to reload for it? Not much in the grand scheme of things. For example, I don't have anything in 10 Gauge. But if I ever get a Winchester 1901, then the cost to get a few shells from RMC and their reloading kit in a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the gun itself. And the shells will never wear out, so it's a wise investment. Conversely, I have a modern Winchester pump gun in 16 gauge. It's the only 16 I have, I hardly ever shoot it, so the occasional; box of factory ammo is all I need. But, if I ever bight the bullet and see a nice Parker, or some other old timer in good shootable condition, well, the cost of lettering the gun and getting the Magtech brass and CH4D dies is worth the extra investment. At least. I think it is. But what do I know? I'm goofy enough to get letters for every last thing in my collection, as long as they are available from whoever made it/has the records.

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With regard to never needed to resize your Magtech all brass shells, that may or may not be true. Originally, I was using the RCBS die with no problem. But the only gun I was running these shells in was my 97 and a Parker. Then I shot a match using a real Winchester 87. Nothing fired out of it would fit in any other shotgun. That's when I got the CH4D's. So, it all depends on how widely you wanna use these things.

Loading all brass shells is fun, and contrary to popular opinion, you can load them with smokeless if you want to. I have the RCBS died, but they don't resize. So, I use the CH4D for both 12 and 20 gauge. I may add 16 in the near future. Expensive, yes, but it's a one time investment. And if you have older shotguns with short chambers, it's actually easier than trying to trim plastic to the proper length. (But not impossible. I do that as well.) I say go for it.