H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

The Rossi may not be the "best" 92 on the market, but they are serviceable right out of the box. I thought mine was fine till I got a real vintage Winchester. That prompted me to have a minimal action job done. That was all it needed.

My HSM ammo has Starline brass

This is my Rossi, .44 Magnum Was actually my first SASS rifle. Still take it out every now and again.

Well, after reading about them for years, I was finally able to acquire a Winchester 94 in .44 Magnum, As you can see, it's one of "old" ones that Winchester made between 1967 and 1972. I have never been a fan of this style front sight, but that's what Winchester was putting on their guns at that time, so, it is what it is. The action compares favorably to my other pre-83 94 in .30-30, and is even respectable compared to my pre-64 one in .32 Winchester Special. Nowhere near as smooth as a 92, but it was not at all "clunky" and seemed to lever rather quickly from my perspective. The "long throw" didn't bother me any. Of course, that's with an empty gun. I don't have any snap caps to run through it.... Anyway, I plan to do an "apples to apples" comparison by shooting half a match with this gun, and half a match with my Rossi 92 in the same caliber. I am reasonably certain that the 92 will be "better" but I think it'll be fun to give the 94 a try. I know this'll never be a "go to" gun for CAS, but I think it's a nice one to have in the collection, and will make for a fun plinker from time to time. And yes, while I don't own one, the action is noticeably superior to any post 83 94 I've ever handled. Which I admit is not a lot, but I'd say about a dozen or so.

I may just take you up on that...

I use Trailboss for... .32 S&W .32 S&W Long .32-20 7.65 Nagant .38 S&W .38 Short Colt .38 Long Colt .38 Special .357 Magnum .44 Special .44-40 .44 Magnum .45 ACP/Autorim .45 Colt .50-50 Spencer .30-30 .30-40 .30-'06 7mm Mauser 8mm Mauser .410 Shotshells using .444 Marlin Brass .45-70 Might not be the best for any of them, but you can use it effectively in all of them. It is also impossible to overcharge a case with Trailboss.

Which one and where?

Well, I am gonna be in Ft Wayne Indiana in a couple of months. That's about half way between Boston and Utah. Can I meet you there?

I'll take it off your hands if you don't want it.

This may be a viable answer for you. You can put 1860 Army Grips on a Single Action Army. This'll give you larger grips on the SAA frame. You'll probably need to get grips from the same maker to insure everything lines up, but it does work. This is my "Big Iron" pistol. It's an Armi San Marco SAA clone with Pietta 1860 grips.

Others may or may not agree with the following... From my perspective, it is one of the "improvements" that were a part of the systematic ruination of the Model 94. Unneeded and unwanted changes that turned a beloved, iconic firearm, into a hunka junk. Unless I am off, all of these "changes" were ones made by US Repeating Arms after they took over the New Haven plant and they started making guns for Winchester, instead of Winchester making the guns themselves. It all started in 1983, which is why in addition to the pre and post 64 designation, I also use a pre and post 83 one. It all started with angle eject. Then they added the crossbolt safety. Then they removed the half cock notch and put in the rebounding hammer Then they got rid of the crossbolt safety and added the tang safety. This is an "improvement" but it's still an ugly abomination in my opinion. None of these things is needed, wanted, or otherwise called for on the M94. And none of them exist on the new M94 reproductions being sold by Cimmaron. Don't know if they are good rifles or not. But they at least look okay. All of this is just my opinion.

I'd be willing to accept them adding $5 per bottle to give them a better profit margin to get some Trailboss again.

Sorry. I misunderstood. I somehow thought you meant it was the last .44 Magnum they made. Re-reading the original post, you clearly did not say or even imply that. I musta misread run as gun or some such foolishness on my part. It does look very nice, and I am sure you will enjoy it. What kind of front sight does it have?

Do you have documentation to prove that? I wonder if Cody would have records for one made that late in the game. Even so, it looks like a very nice gun. What kind of a front sight does it have?

Curious how the Volcanic pistol makes a cameo in the first video. I notice it has an ugly Marlin style cross bolt safety. Clearly being marketed to hunters and maybe plinkers, but not us. That being said, this is the first tacticool lever gun I've seen that's more Marlin based and in a pistol caliber instead of Winchester 94 based and in .30-30. Maybe S&W figures it'll fill an otherwise empty niche. Still, based on the caliber, the notion of there being a version that would appeal to Cowboy shooters is an obvious one to think about. It would be interesting to see what would happen if they came out with a CAS version and see if it would sell better/worse/about the same as the tacticool one.

In my quest to get factory letters/documentation for as many things as possible in my gun collection, I recently came across this website. http://www.paul-mauser-archive.com/ It's an interesting website, with lotsa info on it. There's also an e-mail address where you can write to get documentation on your Mauser made pistols. So if you've got a Broomhandle, or a Luger, or something else, this may be a way to document it. They don't seem to offer any information on Mauser rifles. They cost 50 Euros each, but they do offer a discount if you get more than one. I know this may be of interest to some of us, so I thought I'd share the info. This winds up being only the second European gun maker I've found that offers anything like a factory letter.

Hmm... Wait... Smith & Wesson Lever Rifle.... Man! For a second there, I thought they were bringing out a modernized Volcanic that shoots something like .32 or .38 S&W!

Looks like a cross between a Marlin and a Henry Big Boy to me. And the price? No thanks! Although, it is is the 1854 "Series." Maybe if there's a variant that has more traditional sights, 10 round capacity, and isn't tricked out with all the "tacticool" stuff it might appeal to SASS shooters if the price was say, $1500 or less.

I am lettering EVERYTHING in my collection. Colt, S&W, Winchester, Marlin, Savage, Parker, Webley, Browning, Ruger, and then digging up what info I can on everything else. It's expensive, and time consuming, but I think it's worth it.

I use it in my derringer. It also works well in cartridge conversion revolvers.

https://swhistoricalfoundation.com/letter-process/ $100 regular price $90 for members of S&WHF or S&WCA $75 for members of both. Worth joining both if you have a lotta letters to get.

Okay, here's my opinion, based on what I have seen similar guns going for within the past year. >2nd Gen Colt SAA 5 1/2" bbl .38 Spcl I doubt you'd see one like this for less than $2000 unless it's really, really beat up. $1700 to $4500, depending on condition. >2nd Gen Colt SAA 5 1/2" bbl .357 - NRA Commemorative Oddly, for some reason, even brand new in box Commemoratives tend to sell for less than an otherwise identical generic Colt. Plus, the NRA Commemoratives had a reputation for having sandpaper actions. I know mine did. I would personally not pay more than $1200 for this, but you might realistically see a price of $1500 to $2500. >S&W New Model #3 was blued...in .44 Rus. Star ejector is inoperable - all matching s/n "Inoperable" really hurts. $500 tops. >S&W New Model #3 was nickeled...in .44 Rus - fully functional, crisp action - all matching s/n Sounds like it's not in the best looking condition even if it works right. $1200 to $2000. That high end is prolly to high, but you never know. Merwin Hulbert SA 44, 3rd Model (with topstrap), in .44 Rus, square butt - needs some action action work - all matching assembly and s/n Normally, I think Merwin's are cool guns that can command a good price, but you say it needs some work. Getting these worked on can be tricky. Depending on how much and what kind, and therefore how expensive, the work needed will be, anywhere from $500 to $3000. These are the kinds of prices I see at local shops, tempered by what I "think" is a legitimate price. (Which is not always what I'd be willing to pay.)

The Henry Big Boy is a well made rifle. I think its similarity to the the Marlin is only superficial and visual, but I could be mistaken. The criticism for the BB comes from two directions, the fact that in spite of being well made, it is not really suited for our game. This is similar to how something like the Winchester 94 in, say, .45 Colt or .44 Magnum, is a nice rifle, but it just ain't right for CAS. The other criticism of the the HENRY Big Boy is how their advertising heavily implies that they are the same company, or at least somehow connected to the same company that made the original Henry back in 1860, which is just not the case. Some folks take issue with this perceived dishonesty. I can understand this criticism. I know for a fact that my brother, who was not a Cowboy shooter, was convinced that Henry Repeating Arms Company, was in fact the same company one run by Tyler Henry. Now, as to the Henry Big Boy itself, a pard once loaned me one at a local shoot after my then new to me 92 had a problem. I found it to be a pleasant enough gun to shoot, if awkward to load. The only "complaint" I had was hot gasses hitting my right wrist as I worked the action. (I shoot left handed) Conversely, I did not experience this problem with a Marlin the one time a pard let me finish the last stage of a shoot with one. This is why I think the visial resemblance is just that, visual only. Take it with a a grain.

MIM?

Within the last 3 years.