H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

Simple question, needing a simple answer.

I was at a gunshow today, and one of the dealers there told me that the people who make it are allowing dealers to put Trail Boss on backorder. They say it won't be available till next year, but this does sound promising.

Sadly, Red Dot is not one of the "others."

I would guess that you have a slightly tight chamber. I have run into this problem with various revolvers, mostly new Colts, but I also had the problem with my AWA Lightning. Had the chambers reamed, and the problem went away.

When Cimarron announced the American in .44 Special, I oh so greatly desired one in that caliber for a host of reasons. But all I could find was .45 Colt. Not that I am complaining, I happily got the .45, and know that I know the Russian is available in that caliber, I just might get one to round out the collection, but I'd still like an American in .44 Special if I could find one.

With regard to running Specials in a .44 Magnum rifle, I have read that sometime the problems they have is related more to overall cartridge length than to the case being too short. A solution I have seen touted here is to crimp the bullet, not in the crimp grove, but in the grease groove, which, depending on the bullet, gets you a cartridge length identical, or at least very close to, the length of a .44 Magnum. Questions about this.... This operation would of course, increase the case capacity of the cartridge to something more akin to the Magnum. Do you then load "Cowboy Level" Magnum loads, or continue to use Special loads? It seems to me that having even that small amount of extra space would change the loading requirements in some way. Obviously, such rounds would not fit in a rifle chambered for .44 Special. But would they fit in a .44 Special revolver? I have a feeling they might, as long as the cylinder is long enough. Does anyone actually DO this? What about a similar action with .44 Russians? Any first hand knowledge would be appreciated. As an aside, I suspect a similar course of action could be taken in the .38SC/.38LC/.38SPL/.357Magum family, and maybe even in .45 S&W/.45 Colt. It's an interesting question.

Hmmm... In the same place as my CAS type revolvers, I also keep a pair of Colt 1877s, a pair of Colt 1878's a S&W Model 3 DA, a S&W Model 1899, and a Colt M1894, all pre 1900 DA revolvers. I also have a pair of Broomhandle Mausers in that place, which, are pre-1900 autos. And, I just learned that, while it was not adopted by anyone's military until later, that the Luger actually came out in 1899. Does that mean I can put them in with the other old stuff?

Well, I suppose I should mention that for .44 Specials, I have a Colt Buntline 12", 2 Sheriff's models with 3" barrels, and a New Frontier with a 7.5" one. I also have a pair of clones with 4-3/4" bbls. One is a Uberti and the other is an Adler Italy. For .44 Magnums I have a Uberti clone, an original Great Western, and a Virginian Dragoon which seems to be more of an imprecise copy of the New Frontier than the regular SAA. For rifles, the aforementioned Rossi has a 20" barrel, and the Winchester has a 17.5" one with a large loop lever. But if I want to have Gene's song in my head, I'll pair a 1st Gen Colt made in 1880 something with a New Model 3 S&W, cuz they are OLD .44s. (44-40's)

I have mentioned in the past how when I was first getting in to this game, I was sure that .44 Special was gonna be my caliber of choice. This was because I had a pre-safety Rossi 92 in .44 Magnum. I figured I'd run .44 Special in it, and eventually get a couple of revolvers in the same caliber. It didn't turn out that way. Without getting into what I did wind up with, I'll just say that finding guns in .44 Special is, at best, difficult. I also found that .44 Special had a tendency to stovepipe in my Rossi, and in my real Winchester that had been rebarreled to the Magnum caliber. I eventually found 3 pistols, all SAA clones, in .44 Magnum, and some pistols in .44 Special. Two clones and 4 Colts. But I've only ever seen 1 rifle in .44 Special. It was a Uberti made 73, that I foolishly did not purchase the day I saw it, and when I went back a week later with the cash, was gone. I do have another rifle "on order" in the caliber that someone is customizing for me, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. Over the years, I have noticed that not very many people run .44 Special. Probably due to the difficulty of finding guns chambered for it. I do see the occasional pard running .44 Magnums, but that is also rare. It is fairly easy to find guns in this caliber, but the selection is limited. There's the Marlin and the 92, but no 73. Ruger revolvers can he had in the Magnum, but no Colt, and Colt clones exist, but are not very common. This likely contributes to why we don't see more use of the caliber, most folks want a full battery in the same caliber, and that seems difficult to do. That being said, this thread is for those few who do manage to use one or the other caliber. Do you mix and match, that is to say, have a rifle in Magnum but revolvers in Special, or do you have all Magnums and runs specials? Using the Magnum is fairly simple, it can be downloaded to SASS comfy levels, but do you download it to be no different from a Special, or do you load it a still mild for the caliber, but closer to the top end of what is okay for SASS usage? If your rifles are Magnums, do you find that Specials do or do not work in them? Running Specials in Magnum revolvers is of course as easy as anything, but do you find the carbon ring to be problematic if you do. Have you ever run black powder (or a sub) in these calibers? I have to admit that I have a BUNCH of .44 Special ammo loaded up that I have never used cuz I don't have the rifle to complete the battery. When I do run my Rossi or Winchester, I use Magnums and the revolvers in the same caliber. I do have a LOT of .44 Magnum brass, but not a lot of loaded ammo. Finding data for downloaded .44 Magnum is not easy, most of the data out there is for hotter stuff for some reason. And of course, with Trailboss not available right now, an obvious powder to use to make mild loads is not an option. I am sure there are others though, I've just not had occasion/need to research it too much. In other words, let's talk about the straight wall .44's. I suppose that .44 Russian can be brought into the discussion as well, even though I don't have a gun in that caliber. But it seems it would have the same things working for and against it as its son and grandson do. Any takers?

My $700 12 gauge is a Trojan, so no lug. Why chop? Long barrels are great! But, if you really want short barrels, they are available. Yes, a pristine looking one would be a shame to mess up, and at 20 to 60 thousand (yes!) you'd not want too. But my above mentioned Trojan, which is perfectly shootable, looks every one of its 100 plus years of age. No real finish left, for example. Just a grey patina. Stock has a few minor dings. In other words, an honest shooter. That's what to look for.

Parker. Once upon a time, that'd be all I'd say, but I realized that it's kinda silly to not elaborate a little. When I use a SxS, I use a Parker, the greatest SxS ever made in these United States, and arguably, the world. And you CAN get one that's a good honest shooter for less than $1500. Less than $1000 if you look hard and long enough. My most recently acquired ones were $700 for a 12 gauge and $1100 for a 20. The 12 has 30" F/F barrels and the 20 has 28" F/M. Of course, I also have my father's with 19" barrels and no choke at all. That gun started my love for the Parker. You just can't go wrong with one. You don't have to spend $10,000 (or much, much more) to get one, and you'll never regret it. Considering how much we can spend on our rifles and pistols, spending something comparable on the shotgun is not unreasonable. Just did a quick search on Gunbroker and Gunsinternational, and there are things for pretty good prices. Give it a try.

Why wouldn't they let you use it?

Otto?

Errr.. Stoked. I meant stoked. Corrected the post.

Yep. And some are reasonably priced. But none have the magazine.

DING DING DING! That's it! Thanks, PaleWolf. Man, love to have one of those where the stage directions say, "Shotguns may be stoked on the clock!"

Yesterday, I saw a very strange shotgun on some website. At first, it looks like a fairly convention side by side. But when you open the action, you see that there is some sort of a "magazine" where you can put two more shells in addition to the two in the barrels. But for the life of me, I can't remember where the heck I saw the picture! No idea who made/makes it, or anything else about it. Does this sound at all familiar to anyone?

Hey, I'm only 56!

Bad guess. Everyone knows coyotes go after road runners.

Do hammered doubles have a safety that automatically engages when you open gun like hammerless ones do?

You own a CCW shoulder holster, for a Colt Sheriff's model.

You mean, like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon? Can we see it? What kind of a shotgun was it?

Eep! Factory ammo? That's even worse. So, you get to have an X3 on yours. What did you lose?

This actually gives me 3 .22's to round out a collection like the above. The other two are a small frame Colt Lighting, and a Winchester 9422, which, in spite of the name, is more like a 92 than a 94.

A few weeks ago, I posted the sad story of how a couple of pistols of mine got blown up at the Guns of August Shoot. The fault was entirely my own, brought on by overloaded cartridges. Well, in the discussion that followed, a pard mentioned how he had had something similar happen to himself once, and that as a joke, a couple of his friends got him a badge that declared his membership in "The Kaboom Club." I thought that was actually a pretty good idea. So, I looked around online, and I found the same blank badge that was used to make his Kaboom Club one, and ordered some myself. I figure, if I can't find a way to laugh at this, I'll get far too disgusted with myself and stop shooting. I don't want to do that. Now, granted, I hope that no one else EVER gets inducted into this (non existent) organization, but I hope that by letting others know of our misfortune, we can help to remind others to be careful so that they never become members. With that in mind, I got badges for both of my friends who were unfortunate enough to be using my pistols when they went KABBOOM! Here's the first one... Here's the second... And just as a reminder, I got one for myself as well. Notice the X2 on it... \ And, if you are unfortunate enough to be a member of this unfortunate group and would like to get yourself one of these badges of shame, or get one for a friend who is a member, well, you can find the blank here... https://www.piecesofhistory.com/store/western-badges/custom-badges/custom-5-point-star-badge-with-filigree/ They say laughter is the best medicine. While I in no way wish to downplay how serious this was, or how much more serious it could have been, I do think that being able admit your mistakes and make light of them is a good way to get passed them. I hope you all agree.