H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

Pennsylvania isn't so bad. Last week, I went online an applied for an out of state Pennsylvania CCW. Cost all of $22.00. The vert next day, I got an e-mail saying it was approved. Please make an appointment within 30 days to pick it up in person. I'll do that in two weeks.

With regards to driving, there is a reason we are called Massholes.

Very nice. Of course, this brings up the question; how exact does a pair of pistols have to be to be a matched pair? I mean, sure, one Colt with a 4-3/4" barrel and another with a 7.5" barrel is not a matched pair. But... Actually, it will be better to ask this question with pics. Now, in the initial post, we see 2 7.5" Colts in .45. I would say these are a matched pair, even though the grips are not the same. But, are these a matched pair? Both are Colts. Both are .32-20 with the same length of barrel, but have different finishes. Are these a matched pair? They have different front sights. I would say yes. I know people who would say no cuz they are not exact. Would a Uberti Schofield in .45 Colt and a 3rd Model S&W Schofield in .45 S&W be a matched pair? What about a Colt and a Clone with the same finish and barrel length and caliber? It is a puzzlement.

I sympathize, and don't blame you. It is rather sad though, to see the cradle of our freedom so opening trashing it. There are so many wonderful things to see and do here, but I can see why people will be avoiding our state, or even leaving it, over all of this dung.

I was at two different gun shops yesterday, and I learned something disturbing. Last year, as we all know, a horrid new gun law was passed here in the Commonwealth. (What else is new.) Among other things, a new registration system has been created, and each and every gun in Massachusetts MUST be registered in the new system within one year of it going live. It is scheduled to go live in mid October. If you happen to possess an unregistered gun after that year, you are be definition a felon and are looking at prison. But now, here is the kicker, guns already registered in the current system may or may not transfer over to the new system. If they don't, we all need to go online and "re-register" everything we own. If they do carry over, there is no need to re-register. The problem is that it is unclear as to if the stuff in the old system will carry over to the new one. If you go to the Gun Owners Action League website, they have information about all of this. Right now, they are saying that it seems like if things are already registered that they will carry over, so there is no need to re-register, but I get the feeling that there is some ambiguity. If nothing carries over, we've all got to re-register everything. But let's assume the existing records do transfer over. From here on out, this is my opinion of the whole mess. Even if you know your guns are registered, can you prove it? Did you save a copy of your FA-10 from when you bought the gun? If you don't have a copy, it would probably be wise to re-register the gun(s) in question. Now, that being said, you can write to the Commonwealth and ask for a listing of everything that is registered in your name. The cost is $20. I did this once a few years ago, but I am planning to do it again, just so I know 100% for sure what is registered, and what is not. And if I have anything that is not registered, (which I am sure I probably do) I will register them now. I do not want to wind up in jail. Or, if I have anything I just don't want to register, I'll take it up to my nephews' cabin in New Hampshire and leave it up there, never to return. Oh, btw, if you are from out of state and you want to come to Massachusetts to go hunting, or participate in a shooting competition, you MUST have a Massachusetts gun permit AND register your guns before you bring them in to the state. This has been in effect since the law was passed last year, and has had very devastating effect on things like Cowboy Action Shooting; nobody from the rest of New England comes to shoots in Massachusetts any more, leading to them being cancelled. Oh yeah, antiques don't have to be registered. Sort of... Part of the law says... " “Antique firearm”, any firearm or replica thereof manufactured in or prior to the year 1899 if such firearm: (i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition"; As I read that, if you've got an antique Colt or Winchester (one made before 1898) chambered in .44-40 or .45-70 or a converted cap and ball revolver, it's got to be registered. And if you happen to own guns made before 1968 that don't have serial numbers, they too need to be registered. They don't have to have a new serial number created for them, but they have to be registered as "no serial number." And, a frame is a firearm now. So if you've got just a frame, it's got to be registered, and it MUST have a serial number. Here's some links... GOAL site with information about all of this: https://www.goal.org/registrationonline Form to request records of what you have registered: https://www.mass.gov/media/2656/download It looks like the records only go back to 1985, so anything purchased before then needs to be re-registered. From a legal standpoint, any of my opinions on all of this may or may not be correct, so take them under advisement. (Other than the fact that it's all a load of bovine excrement. That is undeniably true.) As I learn more about this, I'll have to decide if I need to re-register everything, or just things I can't prove are already registered. Or for that matter if the records don't carry over to the new system, it's a moot point and all has to be redone anyway. One of the dealers I was at today told me that he's heard different police organizations say that it's all unenforceable, and possibly unconstitutional. But, this is Massachusetts, so what does the Constitution matter? What a nightmare. Welcome to the People's Republic of Massachusetts.

10, 12, 16, 20, right? I don't have a 10 myself, but occasionally ponder finding a 1901 for that same array. Lessee... 6x SxS. Three 12 (2 Parkers and a Fox), two 16 (1 Ithaca and a Darne), one 20 (Parker). 5x 97. All 12. 3 Winchesters, one Norinco Trench gun, one 93/97. 1x Winchester 93! 12 2x 87 Both 12. One Winchester, one Chiappa. 4x Single Barrel, all 12. Greener Martini Action Hammerless, Rolling Block, Webley Hammered and Hopkins and Allen Hammered. Generically, I'd like to get a hammered SxS, any gauge, and a .410 something. Dang, I didn't realize I had so many CAS shotguns!

It seems clear that your milage will vary from gun to gun when trying to do this. For some of us, it works, for some of us it doesn't. Curiously, my Armi San Marco 92 in .45 Colt runs .45 Schofield just fine, as does my AWA Lightning. So too will my Chiappa 86, Winchester 86, and Large Frame Lightning run .45-70 trimmed back to .45 Colt length. My brother's Rossi in .357 Magnum will run .38 Specials if you go slow, but double feeds .38 Long Colt. It seems that running shorter cartridges in Mr. Browning's design is an experimental proposition that may or may not yield the desired results.

Generically, I'd like to have a "classic" hammered SxS. It's just about the only thing I don't have in my collection. By "classic" I mean something 50+ years old. Any manufacturer. Sure, I'd prefer a Parker, but as near as I can determine, they made less than a dozen hammered guns that did not have Damascus barrels. But that does leave a lot of other good possibilities. Don't really care what gauge, 12, 16 or 20, I reload for all of them. I'd even consider something in .410, I suppose.

My Ithaca SxS is a 16 gauge. But it has ejectors. I may or may not deactivate them. It's a nice pointing gun. The Darne is... Well, it points well, but it feels weird somehow. The balance is different from a more traditionally SxS design.

For the record, I have two boxes of Magtech 16 gauge all brass hulls, and the CH4D dies for them. As well as wads and overshot cards. I'll be fine.

The Rossi 92 does not run .44 Specials well. I have a pre-safety one, and it was my first SASS rifle. Still use it every once in a while. At first, I was running .44 Specials in it, and used to get a lot of stovepipes. Switched to downloaded .44 Magnum, and it has never given me any problems since. Had the same difficulty with some Winchester factory Cowboy Loads. For that matter, I had the exact same problem with a real Winchester 92 that started life as a .38-40 that a previous owner rebarreled to .44 Magnum. I use the same 200 grain, RNFP bullet crimped in the crimp groove in both calibers. Since I also have more than a few pistols in .44 Special, I have no desire to develop a longer or more powerful load for running only in the rifles.

Well, on the one hand, I am not all that fast to begin with. On the other hand, practicing with empty Magtechs did not seem to be any slower. With the Parker, it's open/shuck/load/close. With the Darne, it's open/wiggle if the don't fall off, which they might/load/close. If they do fall off, you don't need to wiggle, which takes just as long as shuck. But even if it is slower, it'll be worth all the "what the heck is that?" I am sure to get.

Yeah, I know. A weird proviso, but it is reality. Still, I think it's worth the effort.

These old S&W's are great pistols. My brother had one very similar to this in .357 Magnum. And while not really the same, I have a few guns in the 1899/M&P/Model 10 family. You can't go wrong with a Smith & Wesson. Especially if you find one in a caliber you really enjoy.

In the past, I had a few out of state CCW permits. I am from Massachusetts, and I maintained for a while the NH and Pennsylvania state permits. Mostly for reciprocity for states that recognized them, but not the Mass ones. I let them all expire well over 10 years ago, and with the recent trend to defacto reciprocity and constitutional carry in many states, I felt the need to maintain them was not all that great. Well, given all that's going on, I have decided to reapply for a few out of state CCW's, and I was surprised by what I fond. Pennsylvania: $20 and can be done online. Arizona $60 and can be done online. New Hampshire, $100, must be mailed in. Arizona does require you to send in a fingerprint card, but the others do not. None of them even asked for a picture. And between the three of them, other than the left coast and certain states here in the Northeast, pretty much the whole country is covered by one of these permits. I looked into Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and while Maine is the least burdensome, you still need to go to all three states to do in state training. But Maine recognizes the permits from all other states and has Constitutional Carry itself, so I don't feel the need. I don't really go to CT or RI in spite of them being right next door, and there is some limited defacto reciprocity in them as well, kinda. New York remains a practical no go. But, my overall point is this, the cost for some out of state permits is actually not all that great or difficult if you already have a permit from your home state. Given various realities, I think it's worth getting them. Which one(s) to get depends on where you go, how much additional reciprocity they give you over your home state's CCW, Take it all with a grain of salt.

What are people's opinions of the 16 Gauge? I know it's bigger than a 20, smaller than a 12, and just fine for SASS. I have over the past year acquired 2 SxS shotguns in this size, an Ithaca Flues and a Darne R11, and I have tooled up to load Magtech brass shells for them. I have found a loading using Green Dot that purports to be low recoil. Having shot both 12 and 20 Gauge shotguns, I find myself thinking that it won't be all that different from them for SASS purposes. For hunting? No idea, and since I would not be using them for that, it does not matter. I suppose they'd be good for Cowboy trap or clays. Barrels too long for skeet. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a 97 someday.

Ah, so it's a custom gun. I like it.

Ooh... That's interesting. A factory small iron. Do they still make it?

No, you don't have to return the advance. I am not sure how it all works out, but I guess they figure that the best sellers outweigh the one that don't sell out the advances.

Assuming a work of fiction, generally speaking, royalties are paid based on "retail price" per book sold. Publishers give oh so many books to your local Barnes and Nobel. If they run out and need more, they order more. If they don't sell within a certain amount of time, they tear off the covers and send them back. That's more or less how the publisher determine how many copies have sold, and how much to pay in royalties. I *believe* they assume they sell for cover price. Of course, you forgot one major factor, the advance. A publisher will pay an author and advance on said book. The advance is basically a pre-payment of future royalties. If the publisher gives you a $10,000 advance, you do not get a single penny in royalties until you have sold over $10,001 worth of books. They try to keep the advance as low as possible, but high enough that they are not immediately having to deal with royalty payments. Best sellers aside, many books never outsell their advance. The only way you will get immediate royalties, but no advance, is to self publish on something like Amazon. You will get a much higher rate, but it is all sales driven, and Amazon does nothing to promote your book, unless you pay them. But with Amazon, it's a royalty based on their costs. If it costs them 15 dollars to print you book and you sell it for 20, you don't get royalties based on the 20 dollar price. You get royalties based on the 5 dollars. To date, I have earned less than $300 in royalties off my books over the last 5 years. Writing is a VERY hard market to break into. At least in the Scifi/Fantasy field, there are only 2 publishers left that will even look at your manuscript if you don't have an agent. All of the rest require one. How do you get an agent? Being referred to one by someone who is already a client is the easiest way. (Think about that for a moment...) The other, more "traditional" way is to sell a few short stories to the magazines to build up a resume you can cite when trying to contact agents who are open to accepting new clients. Of course, there are only 2 or 3 magazines, left, and most agents want the referral, or someone who has already sold their manuscript. It's a real catch 22. You can't get an agent unless you've been published, but you can't get published without an agent. All of this may or may not be similar in other types of fiction. While I may not be exactly the same, there is probably some commonality. And I've only scratched the surface. Some of the details are even more complicated. In all likelyhood, the example you cite in the book you are reading is a made up oversimplification that readers can comprehend. Trying to accurately explain it all in a novel would get really boring/lost in the weeds real quick. There are other factors that play into it, that are darn confusing. All in all, if you get a buck a book, you are getting an exceptionally high royalty.

As I understand it, ordinary people can not even OWN hollow point bullets. If you are from out of state, and are just passing through and have some locked up properly in your car, you go to jail. (In fact, you are only allowed to pass through, stopping only for gas or food. You can not overnight.) I do not know of an exemption for .22s

Oh yeah, a Walther P-38 with stuff clamped on. And, "The Duke can do no wrong," so it must be SASS Legal! Or, well, no, it was his kid that used it, so it doesn't count for legality, but it is a good example of what I was thinking about.

I live in Bedford, Massachusetts. That's a town between Lexington and Concord. Driving over to the Battle Green in Lexington, and then over to the Old North Bridge in Concord, to see where it all began, and then back to the Bedford Public Library to see the actual flag carried into battle by the Bedford Minutemen at said bridge on April 19th, 1775 always makes me feel warm inside.

You know, there are a lot of interesting guns that were made back in the day, or novelty guns made today, that are not a part of our game, but are quite interesting. They are either fun to shoot, curious to look at, nice parts of a collection, or perhaps other things that just make them gosh darn intriguing. Things like revolver carbines, early double action revolvers, Mare's Legs, the Mauser Broomhandle and other very early automatic pistols, some early bolt action rifles, and perhaps even a few guns that could be "SASS Legal" but are so obscure that most people have either never seen one in the wild, or even heard of them. Most of these things have no logical place in our game, but that doesn't change the fact that they are interesting. It's amazing to see what gun makers came up with back in the day that are not really what we think of when we think of the time period, or how we have, in the modern world, modified them into something that did not exist, but could theoretically could have. Any thoughts on the matter?

This may be an odd one, but certain jingles that the companies who created them no longer use, or that are from companies that no longer exist, always make me smile when my memory recalls them. "Tweeter, for times like these!" "At Osco, you can count on people who care." "Today's neighborhood drugstore, C V S." "You deserve a break today, so get up get on your way, to McDonald's. We do it all for you." And a few others. There's just something calming about the music that accompanied these lyrics.