H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

I will say that once, when my own gun had a problem, someone had one of these and loaned it to me. It worked just fine for me with no problems. Now, I am no where near a "fast" shooter, but the gun worked just fine for me. But I will also say that, as a left handed shooter, I did not like the hot gasses hitting my right wrist all the time. That more than anything is why I am not interested in the gun. It seems to be a well made, functional design. It's just not "right" for me personally. I'll also say, the one time I used a Marlin for similar reasons, it did not have this problem.

Even though I am not crazy about the caliber, or the gun, this is a very interesting thing. It might make for a nice addition to the collection. Of course, if I DID get this, I'd have to get a .22, one of their things in .45-70 and their Mare's Leg to complete the collection... I'll have to think about this...

I wonder how affects the C&R FFL. I have 2 pistols on my C&R that I plan to give to my nephews as soon as they get theirs. No profit involved.

Hi, everyone. Let me plug this magazine... https://fmgpubs.com/product/old-west-history-guns-gear-2024-special-edition/ This caught my eye because that is an honest to goodness AWA Lightning Bolt pistol on the cover. I immediately ordered a hard copy, and then, being the impatient fellow that I am, I ordered a PDF copy as well. I am very glad I did. You see, the article has a very special couple of features. While the one pictured here on the cover isn't, inside, in the article itself, there is a picture of MY Lightning Bolt, and I am quoted in the article! This makes me feel very happy. But the article is not about me. It's about this very interesting and rather rare pistol, and I learned a lot from this well written article. My kudos to the author for an excellent write up. The author is billed as Alan Garbers, but we know him here by a different name. I will out of respect allow him to identify himself at his own discretion. Anyway, I really enjoyed the article in question for obvious reasons, and there's a lot of other interesting stuff in the issue as well. Thank you "Alan" for a well written and informative article. I am honored to have been able to contribute to it in some small way. So... Who has the third one? Maybe we Lighting Bolt owners could start a club or something....

Interestingly enough, pump guns do seem to be dominate in the .22 areas of our game. Good reliable pumps can be had for a fraction of the cost of a .22 lever gun, when you can even find them. A Winchester 9422, Marlin 39A, or even an Uberti made replica of the .22 version of the Winchester 73 or their ersatz model 66 .22 will cost more used than many good quality pump action .22's cost brand new. Yes, there is the Henry .22 that is very reasonably priced, and by all counts, a good gun, but prices for some of these things are outright weird.

Lightings? You mean these? From top to bottom... Colt Large Frame. .45-85. (Colt's proprietary version of .45-70 using a 285 grain bullet. You can load for it with unmodified .45-70 brass.) AWA Medium Frame. .45 colt. My first Lightning. I wanted to get one just to have one. It has become my favorite main match rifle, and the only one I've ever shot a clean match with. I am faster with it than any lever gun. (But I am a slow shooter.) Colt Medium Frame. .44-40. Costa Rican military surplus. Note the bayonet lug. (Anybody got a bayonet for it?) AWA Medium frame .44-40. My second Lightning. The .45 Colt version gives you a lot of blow back, and must be kept clean, or the firing pin channel will get clogged with gunk and make it not fire. (Gunscrubber is your friend if you have one in .45) One day I said, "If I ever find a .44-40 AWA, I'll buy it." I did, and I did. Never regretted it. Colt Medium Frame .32-20. Works flawlessly. Was sold as being "lovingly restored with an expert action job." The original magazine spring was weak with age, so I replaced it. No problems since. (Genuine antique.) Colt Small Frame .22 Long. A sweet little shooter. AWA Lightning Bolt pistol, .45 Colt. Exceedingly rare "Mare's Leg" type pistol based on the Lightning design. Not sure how many AWA made before they folded up their tents, but I have read less than a dozen. Very fun gun to shoot! Not pictured: Taurus being reconfigured to .44 Special by a gunsmith. Will say more about it when I finally have it on hand. Once the Lightning Bug bites you, you will become addicted. And once that happens, well, this picture happens. Here's a run down of what the general consensus on the Wire seems to be about this classic design. Original Colts. Hit or miss. On the one hand, Colt stopped making them for a reason. On the other, they made a lot of them before throwing in the towel. They seem to be hit or miss. Generally, later ones worked out a lot of the issues the early ones had, but the early ones can be made to work. All of my real Colts are antiques and work just fine. Work I've had to have done to them is minimal, and more due to age than lack of workability. Exception to this is the .22. It was made in 1899. Original Colts do slam fire. AWA. Some people love 'em. Some people hate 'em. My own experience has been very positive, and I would recommend one if you can find it on the used market. When I was trying to get my first one, I saw three in the same gun store. An AWA, a Taurus and a Beretta. The Taurus action felt like pulling two pieces of sandpaper against each other. The Beretta was smoother, but very clunky. The AWA was butter smooth, and just felt right. I bought the AWA and never looked back. It's a .45, and supplanted my beloved Winchesters as my favorite type of gun. Other people report nightmares with this gun, but that is not what happened to me. I'll be honest and say that it seems to be luck of the draw. They slam fire. Pedersoli. Has a reputation for being a very well made gun. Will work well out of the box, but some pards may feel some tuning is needed. I don't have one of these, so I can't comment beyond what I have read. I don't think they slam fire, but can be made to do so. The most expensive when new of all the replicas, but you get what you paid for, and they are the only ones still being made. Beretta. I believe these were made by Uberti. As described above, I felt it had a very clunky action, and did not buy it. No experience with how they actually work or if they slam fire. USFA. Rare as hen's teeth. They didn't make very many before the company imploded. Commentary on the wire has been mixed from so so to excellent. Don't have one, so I can't comment. Don't know if they slam fire. Taurus. Supposedly it makes a very good tomato stake. In the days when other new ones were selling for 6 to 9 hundred dollars, these were $400. That may tell you something. They CAN be made to work. The gunsmith who is creating me my .44 Special told to get a Taurus .45 as the base gun, so I did. IIRC, someone told me they don't slam fire, but can be made to. If you like these things, you'll wind up loving them. If you don't, no argument, no matter how reasonable, will change your mind. I suppose that is fair, given how it seems to be hard to get one that runs reliably. But as a wise person once said to me, why is it so bad that they need some work? Almost every one has their lever guns tuned at least a little bit for our game, so why is it a problem for the Lightning? Will I get more of these? Possibly. I have no pressing need/desire to do so. Nor do I wish to have one in every possible caliber. But the idea of having at least one of every manufacturer is an intriguing one. Beware the Lightning Bug! His bite causes an incurable fever! As others have said, Lassiter is the guy for these. I have had to have some repair work done to mine, and he has been able to fix 'em up perfect every time. As far as other pump guns go, Remington did come out with one in .44-40 the early 20th century, but that makes it outside of our time period, and it's hammerless, so it's not a viable alternative. Then there is the Marlin 27. These were in .32-20, and hammered, so even though they are a post 1900 design, it has been suggested that they may be okay. BUT, I have never seen one at a match for a very simple reason, they all have half magazines and won't hold 10 rounds. That makes them not really viable either, even if they are okay.

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

1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 3 4

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.

Now, you see, there is one of the main reasons for ideas like this! More guns used in more ways equals more shooting equals more fun. And it's only 10 shots. And not at all long range. So it won't take all that long. The more combinations you can come up with for side matches, the more fun with more stuff you can have.

Not too long ago, I suggested that a cool side match would be as follows... 2 shots from a single shot pistol, any caliber from .22 Short to .50-70. 2 shots from a single shot .22 rifle. 2 shots from a single shot rifle in a main match pistol caliber cartridge. 2 shots from a single shot rifle in a "rifle caliber" cartridge. 2 shots from a single shot shotgun. Pistol could be optional, or done in "categories" with and without the pistol. Would not it be cool to show up with these to shoot it? From top to bottom.... 12 Gauge .45-70 .32 S&W .22 RF .22 LR The pistol was my Dad's.

LOL! Well, that's my bad. For some reason, I misunderstood the line to mean 11.5mm. Silly me.

Looking at it more.... On the top, I can see what you think might be a 5. Don't see how it could be a three. But I am not sure it's anything other than a pit. It's in the wrong place the be a 4th number, and it's much fainter. On the lower, I still can't see anything that might be a 4th number. As it if the third is a 5 or a 6.... I think it's a 5. I really must thank everyone. This has been helpful