H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

Cody Dixon, also known as Tom Horn in some places, basically uses a "rifle caliber" rifle instead of a pistol caliber one, but it otherwise shot the same way as a regular SASS match. The rifle targets will be a bit farther out than normal, and in the one case where I shot it, a bit bigger to make it possible to see them at the greater distance. It's a lot of fun, and allows for some variation without being too different at places that actually do it. At places that DO do it, there will be a lot of variation. If you find a club that offers it, make sure you know what their rules are. If I recall correctly, the place I shot it out in Nevada actually split it between black power and smokeless, single shot and repeaters, and their standard requirement was for a .40 caliber or larger chambering. (38-55 was okay.) But they also had an extra category for Model 94 Winchesters in .30-30. As I recall, it was popular enough to have shooters in all those categories, in addition to the normal SASS ones. (This was at the Nevada state shoot) I even took 3rd place in the "Smokeless Repeater" category! Targets were all the way at the back of a typical SASS shooting bay, which the other targets at the normal SASS distances.

Heh heh.... Winchester 73. 1st Gen SAA 3rd Gen SAA Winchester 92 Colt Lightning Colt Bisley Blue Colt Bisley Nickel marlin 1888 How's that?

.32-20 is a great caliber. Over the years, I have obtained... Winchester 73. 1st Generation Colt 7.5" 2nd Generation Colt 5.5" Winchester 92 Colt Lightning Colt Bisley Blued 4.75" Colt Bisley Nickeled 4.75" Marlin 1888

So far the only Marlin I have is an 1888 in that caliber. I gave decided that if I get any other models in pistol calibers, they will be in that caliber.

Here's the checklist I use... Main Match Guns. Main Match Ammo Side Match Guns Side Match Ammo Holsters, belts, ammo pouches, etc. Costumes. Hat Boots Gun Cart Wild Bunch Guns and Ammo if needed. Extra Main Match guns in case of a malfunction. Gun Cleaning Supplies. Gunsmith Screwdrivers Bottle of foam earplugs. Range bag. Sunscreen Gun cases for transport. Small cooler for water is not a bad idea. Something to put empty brass in. Separate container for each caliber/ gauge recommended. At least one extra empty gun case in case you buy/win a gun! All of the above assumes that this is the match in your home state and that you will not be overnighting away from home. If this is going to be one you travel to, also bring along everything you would normally bring for a long road trip/vacation.

I am growing interested in the various Marlin models that can be used our game, be they main match guns or side match guns. To that end... I know that there are basically the following types... Top Eject. Side Eject with a closed port Side Eject with an open port .22's. .410's Pistol caliber rifles. Rifle caliber rifles. I know there are the following model designations... 1881, 1888, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 410, 39, 39A, 336. I know where some of these models fit into the above types, but not all of them. Wikipedia is not as detailed as it is for Winchester, so that's not much help. There may be other model numbers that I am unaware of. Then it occurred to me that there must be Marlin shooters here on the Wire who know all of this stuff, so why not just ask and see if anyone can help? Here is what I know for certain... 1888 is a top eject pistol caliber gun. I know this cuz I have one. 1881 is a top eject rifle caliber. 39 and 39A are .22's Something that looks like the 39 is an earlier .22 There are closed port .410s, pistol and rifle caliber guns. There are open port .410s and rifle caliber guns. I don't know if there are any open port guns in the pistol calibers. I *think* I know what some of the others are, but since I am unsure, I don't wanna speculated, or leave anything out. Can anyone help? Related to this, when did Marlin start putting the cross bolt safety on it's guns? (Okay, maybe it wasn't really Marlin anymore, just like it wasn't really Winchester who did it to the 94, but you get the idea.)

How do you unload through the loading gate? I've never heard of such a possibility?

I have a love/hate relation to Cabela's There are a lot of things I like about it, and some things that really make me scratch my head. They also seem to not understand how a C&R works. Sometimes they'll take it, sometimes they don't, and it seems to vary from store to store. Some will take it if you come into the store with it, but won't ship to one. Some require the boss of the firearms department to be there to approve it. There was even one that wouldn't let me walk out with the gun, but they DID mail it to me. It's all very confusing. But it's still a good store, overall.

I joined about 17 years ago.

Interestingly enough, Massachusetts has a waiting period. Unless you have a pistol permit. Then the waiting period is waved as you have already had a background check by the state. Or at least, it used to be that way. The laws here keep modifying and they are hard to keep track of. Is USED to be... FID, Firearms Identification allowed you to own, buy and transport rifles and shotguns. LTC, License to Carry Firearms allowed you to do everything an FID did, plus own, buy, transport, and carry pistols on your person. You pretty much HAVE to carry concealed in this state, as open carrying could be considered, "brandishing a weapon." That's more or less still it. For a while the modified the LTC to Class A and Class B. Class B was for not large capacity firearms,. Class A was for Large Capacity, and would be required to buy long guns that were large capacity. Eventually, Class B was done away with and everyone got Class A. Now it's back to just an LTC with no mention of class. (And the FID) There was also a "reason for issuance." This could be something like "target and hunting" or "All Lawful Purposes." That was changed recently to "Restrictions" which is usually NONE or whatever is listed. Basically, NONE has become the default based on recent Supreme Court rulings, and the state is afraid that if they tried to enforce various restrictions that they entire law would get thrown out, so they give no one a reason to argue. But, it is STILL up to the discretion of the local CLEO if you get one or not. And there are other problems here. It's confusing... And everything is subject to change. My summation may be out of date. I just know that my permit says NONE for restrictions.

All things considered, I run "trapdoor loads" in everything I have in .45-70. Yeah, my 86 is stronger, but I figure going with the lighter stuff, that works just fine in the stronger guns, is something that can't hurt. Plus, the lighter loads have less recoil! This is especially important in, say a Trapdoor carbine instead of a rifle or even a short barrel 86. Lassiter has worked on 4 of my Lightnings, 3 medium frames, and one large frame. Two of the mediums and the large all had the same problem, an internal part that he describes as a "teeter totter" cracked and had to be repaired. He feels it is a design flaw. The 3rd medium doesn't extract properly after firing. I suppose he's working on a 5th, he is converting a Taurus to .44 Special for me. Yeah, a Taurus. He recommended using one in .45 as the "donor" rifle. I wasn't gonna argue with the expert. I heard from others that he can make a Taurus work, and he has even won some stuff using one himself. Good luck with your large frame.

Oh yeah, that's true. If it was registered in the state prior to 199something, I always forget, it can be resold. Still, that does mean a limited supply. Until recently, you could take the gun apart and just import the "frame" and do it that way, reassembling the pieces yourself, and then registering it, but as part of the desire to ban, "ghost guns," frame transfers are now forbidden as well.

Tom's Single Action Shop 675 Crawford Tom's Run Rd New Lebanon, OH 45345 Phone: 937-687-1039 That's him. A great guy to go to to have your Lightnings worked on. And an even greater guy to just talk to from time to time. He has worked on several of my Lightnings, including my Large Frame one. Just an FYI, technically, it's not really a .45-70, it's a .45-85-285. This was a Colt proprietary cartridge that used a case with identical dimensions to the .45-70, but the lighter bullet had a much higher velocity. I can tell you from experience that if you use a 405 grain bullet, the OAL will be ever so slightly too long to fit through the loading gate. I switched to a 300 grain bullet which is a little shorter, and it fits just fine, and shoots great. (It's still .458" diameter) Also rifling was adjusted to work with lighter/faster bullets, so you may wanna keep this in mind. I stick to pressures that are deemed to be "Trapdoor safe" in this gun. Good lucK!

LOL! I have a small collection of trigger locks from guns I have purchased. Living in Massachusetts, I have held on to them only if I ever have to travel with so many guns that I don't have a hard case for them all. Those that wind up in an old fashioned soft gun case get a lock on them, just to avoid potential problems.

They can't

Oh, I do that with my .44s already

It is weird to want a Sheriff's model and Buntline Special in .32-20? A couple of months ago, I actually saw a Sheriff's in this caliber on Gunbroker, but I passed on it because Colt Sheriff's are C&R only in .44 or .45 caliber. As such, this one was not, and therefore, it is not legal to import into Massachusetts. I think the only way I could get a .32-20 Sheriff's model would be to obtain an existing one in .44 or .45 that's kinda beat up, and take it to Colt and have it rebarreled and recylindered. Probably more trouble than it's worth, but it's the only way I could get one. By the same token, I've never even seen a Buntline in .32-20 nor heard of one. Other than doing the rebarrel thing, I'd have to order a custom one with factory engraving, and that's just too expensive and takes to long. So, why do I bring this up? Well, it's looking more like I'm gonna be shooting .32-20 more often instead of .45 Colt/.44-40/.44 Special to make my powder last longer. (Yeah, yeah... I'm a miser.) But while I do have 5 rifles in the caliber, I only have 2 pairs of pistols. Two SAA's and two Bisley SAA's. I know that my only option in this chambering is a Colt (or clone) but I do like to have some variation from time to time. The Buntline and Sheriff's were the only things I could think of. But getting them... Not easy!

I did get hit square on my glasses once. No damage, but it was disconcerting!

Generically, I get the "walking the purchaser out," thing, but only to an extent. At Cabela's, especially in a case like yours where you are open carrying, it does seem kinda silly. But what does Walmart do? I've never actually bought a gun there. I know when I worked at K-Mart in the 80s (I miss that place!) that when I sold someone a gun, I did walk them to the exit and hand them the box on their way out, so that's why I "get" it, but beyond that, I am curious as to what Walmart does.

Well, yeah, it winds up being an all day affair. But if you can't buy anything... Oh well.

To all my fellow New England Pards... If you didn't know, and I did not, Maine has instituted a 3 day waiting period on gun purchases. I went up the Kittery Trading Post today for Septemberfest, and found a great rifle, an Uberti 66 in .32-20, something I thought I'd never see, and would have bought it. It would have been free thanks to some gift cards I have. But, before we started the paperwork, the clerk asked me if I knew about the waiting period. Apparently Maine recently enacted a 3 day one recently. I had no clue. To be honest, it take me about an hour and a half to get up to Kittery, which is why I don't go all that often. I guess I'll be going even less now.

Thanks. This is kinda what I was hoping people would do, share info about other gun companies. Oh, I recently learned the HK does not do letters, but they will tell you date of manufacture if you ask. Contact info is on their website.

Well, I got the info from the FOIA request for my M1D. (That was fast!) The "bad" news is that the information is limited. The good news is that it is somewhat interesting, and there was NO CHARGE, so it is worth doing. Here's a pic of what they sent me. There was also a generic explanation of the data samples page. The interesting thing about the sample page is that it listed info for a 1911. Take it with a grain of salt, but for the low cost of Zero, I think it's worth getting the data.

Here is another update on the FOIA request. I got an e-mail this morning from the people who actually process the FOIA requests for firearms. In the e-mail, there was this notation... Although we will research all weapons, it is unlikely we will find any records on the following weapons: Rifles Model 1903s/03-A3, 1917s, M1898, Pistol Models M9, Shotguns, and any Models in the Army inventory prior to 1975. So that tells us what's worth looking for. I have sent in a request for one of M1s that I purchased in the last few years. Once I get it back, I'll send in requests for anything else I've purchased from the CMP in the last few years, but probably won't bother with older surplus guns as they are either on the list for not having records, and/or they were clearly sold as surplus long before 1975. They also sent this form to use for future requests, which I share with you all now. Small Arms_Light Weapons FOIA Request.pdf

I've used a Spencer. Genuine GI. I like to take it out once a year or so and shoot a match with it. Most recently, I used it for one stage at the MA/CT/RI Tristate for one stage. Shot a clean match!