H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

Go with a Chiappa. (Which I think is the one Taylor's sells.) I have one in .44 Magnum and it is out of the box as smooth and reliable as a vintage Winchester made in New Haven. So much better than my pre-safety Rossi or my Armi San Marco. That latter one was really bad when I got it and was the first gun I ever had an action job done to. There was no alternative. My Rossi is nice, and it was only after I got the ASM fixed and obtained a couple of real Winchesters that I realized that it was slightly clunky in comparison, so I had it smoothed out a little. But the Chiappa needs no work, and it has no stupid modern safeties. It's as John Browning designed it. To me, that is a huge plus.

Backups to backups? Lessee... .32-20 Colt Lighting, Winchester 73, Winchester 92 .44 Magnum Rossi 92. Winchester 92 .44-40 AWA Lighting, Colt Lighting, Uberti Henry, Uberti 66. .45 Colt AWA Lightning, Armi San Marco 92 56-50 Spencer, GI surplus. So, yeah, I have backups.

I'd have to buy three more guns. Can you get a Lightning in .38 Special?

Oooh! I heavy load!

5.5 grains of Trailboss behind a 200 grain RNFP bullet. (I am seeing a pattern here) I use a .452" bullet.

I have one exactly the same as the one pictured. It's a great gun. Now, the real question is, has it been worked on? Mine had, to be honest, some very jack work done to it. The lever safety had been removed, and the hammer spring had been lightened so much that as often as not the primers did not go bang. I took the rifle to the Great Happy Trails before he was retired and asked him to "Return it to factory specs." He did so, and ever since it has worked flawlessly for me. I find the action to be very smooth, which may or may not be the result of earlier work, but it runs great. I kinda like the lever safety, no chance of an out of battery discharge, even if it is a historical. On the other hand, you see that notch on the front end of the ejection port? These early 66's were made to almost the same dimensions as the originals, and the ejection port on them is too small for .44-40 brass. Rather than change the dimensions of the gun, they just cut that notch to allow the brass to be ejected. I think $800 is a fair price, and if I didn't already have one, I'd not hesitate to purchase it.

Sounds like it's time to go see my local dealer again. I plan on the .44 Special for a few reasons. First, I have enough .45's Second, I need another pistol in .44 Special. Third, while I will normally run Specials in it, I can if the fancy suits me, run Russians in it and closely replicate the .44 American's performance if I ever wish to do so for reasons of comparison of how the military sidearm evolved over time. I could get it in .44-40 and then pair it with my new model 3 in that caliber, but oddly, that's not much of a factor for me. Actually. with it in .44 Special, I can pair it with my Colt Buntline in the same caliber and go all Wyatt Earpy if I want to.

What are you planning to ream?

I just went to Cimarron's page. I saw a couple of variants on the Russian and several on the Schofield, but nothing for the American. I did find the .45 on Midway's page. But I too am wanting it in .44 Special. I also want a big US stamped on the frame. It'll complete my collection of US Military Sidearms. Most are real, but there are a handful of replicas.

That's a New Model 3, not a Model 3 American. As far as I know, the Americans are not yet available. Where has it been stated that they are?

My dealer told me they are not available untul early next year.

Ah, so they DO exist! Interestingly enough, I found that pin from my Third Gen Colts fit just fine in all of my clones, no matter who made them. I have considered replacing them.

Of course all Colt Sheriffs are C&R eligible as long as they are .44 or .45 caliber. Even brand new ones!

I've never seen an UBERTI with the two notch base pin safety. I've only ever seen it in guns made by others. Armi San Marco is one. Then again, all of my clones were acquired on the used market, so I am not sure how old they all are. There's a bunch strange safeties out there. It boggles the mind how much effort has been put into solving a problem that does not exist. That being said, I actually find the above pictured system to make a modicum of sense. It actually makes the "safety notch" on a four click hammer, well, safe to use. BTW, Sheriff's models are cool.

I wasn't gonna comment, but folks have mentioned other powders for .44-40, so I'll say I use Trailboss.