Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933

Was reading this thread and went over to the local Cabellas today. The gun I wanted was sold but they had this little fella. I have some of that modern made Brazilian .41 ammo so I figured what the hell and bought it. When I got home and checked it out more closely it was sort of a good news bad news situation. The barrel address was unusual as it was stamped into the side ribs rather than the top rib like most other Remingtons I have looked at and owned. Upon further inspection it dawned on me that it does not have an extractor on the left side. Turns out it is a very early 1st Model. That may be good news. However this means this one was made in the late 1860s of low quality steel/high quality iron. The Brazilian modern made smokeless ammo has more pressure than the old BP rounds so not safe to shoot in this early model. It is in better shape than the photos tend to show and was a hell of a deal for $190.00 plus tax. Everything works and the top hinge (a weak point in the originals) shows no sigh of cracking.

With a "Kirst Konversion 1851 signature series Colt Navy" the issue is not the forcing cone. 51 Navy bore diameter is .375". .38 Special and modern .38 Long Colt use .357/.358 bullets. You do not want hard .357 bullets rattling down a .375 bore. Most people use soft lead hollow base wadcutters that expand to fill the bore. There are also a few bullet makers that offer other bullet style hollow base .38s. Here are a couple of examples. https://www.precisiondelta.com/products/38-cal-148gr-hbwc-ml/ https://www.bearcreeksupplybullets.com/bulletselection https://www.hornady.com/bullets/handgun/38-cal-358-148-gr-hbwc#!/

Send you a PM. You need to firm up who is going to pick it up and to arrange for payment. Lots of Utah shooters already here.

Davey, I won't be at Fire and Ice. Have to save my energy for EOT. PM me when you can and I will send you my cell phone number. I am sure I will see you out there. I will be manning the Cowboy Trap at the Clay Target Center on Tuesday from noon to three if you are going to be around there.

I have bought a lot of guns over the years with the idea of doing more articles for the Chronicle. I am getting older and grumpier so a lot of these projects have fallen by the wayside. Here are two I will have available at EOT. To avoid hard feelings they go to the first person that posts HERE in the classifieds "I will take it." Cash only and I will not ship. First, this is a current new production Cimarron I bought a few months ago. All that has been done was to run a few dummy rounds through in the gun room to check for function. These later production 87s function very well! $550.00. Second is one of the last IAC 97s. This is one of the "CB" serial number guns and is the best. Again, I cycled a few dummies through it and it was very smooth and ejected fine and is certainly usable for SASS competition right out of the box. I have never shot it. I bought this at least seven or eight years ago. These CB 97s are the best of the Chinese 97s. $750.00 I will PM my phone number to the purchaser and arrange to meet at the range. CASH only. If you look at a gun when we meet and do not like it you do not have to take it. Remember a post that "I am interested in one of your guns" is not "I will take it." A PM asking questions is not "I will take it."

This and removing the burr from around the firing pin hole will probably solve your problem. .44-40 has been produced for over 150 years and the chamber and ammo dimensions have varied widely. If the Magtech ammo does not work try another brand. If you have a bullet puller pull some bullets and drop the empty cases into the chamer. Sometimes even the bullet nose shape can cause problems in some chambers.

If there are import marks then the gun is at least partially reproduction. The cylinder looks to me to be in too good of condition. The cylinder engraving is very sharp and well defined. These were quite shallow on the originals and there is almost always some wear on an orignal cylinder.

So sad. I sure hope it was not arson. I really worry about the Winchester House and the Hotel Del Coronado.

That is really neat. It looks like a modern conversion of an original gun. They did not have Allen head scews like those holding on the conversion ring in the 19th Century and the barrel is lined for .38 caliber. I have never seen an original with a liner and the rifling looks modern compared to the style used in the 1800s. The rear sight also does not look like how they were done by Colt.

Well hell I have been cleaning out some cabinets trying to downsize and get rid of stuff I have not used in years. Look what I found way in the back. (Also found four one pound containers of Red Dot.) The Clays are unopened. The Trail Boss is filled to the brim which means I dumped a partial bottle into this one so it is over the normal 9 ounces.

Heck they even have primers that went out of production 20 years ago.

Take a look at the payment methods.

Any #10 washer will work. You certainly do not need aircraft quality for a shim. The washer ID has to be able to slip over the spring strut. The OD has to be narrower than the width of the gripframe. On old Vaqueros and all Birdshead models the OD has to be 1/2" (.500) or less. On the New Vaquero plow gripframe they are 7/16" wide (.437) or less. I just took the strut to ACE with a caliper and bought a bunch of washers to fit both.

Clays is not made in Australia. Made in Canada.

Trail boss is that a new category? Does that come before or after Cattle Baron?

For this post to have any meaning you have to state what KIND of .357 rifle. A .357 Uberti 73, a .357 Browning 92, a .357 Rossi 92 and a .357 Marlin, etc., are all different animals. It is not so much the brass as it is the OAL of the round. Just crimp the bullet where it needs to be for a particular round to fit a particular.357 rifle. This bullet is the Bullets by Scarlett 125 grain and has no grease groove so you can crimp it where you want to.

I agree with Joe. This is especially hard with 12 to 24 hours between reponses and no photos. Makes an on-line diagnosis very difficult. Someone with the gun in their hands will probably be able to diagnose the problem in a few minutes. Two things as parting suggestions on what to look for. In your original post you noted: Are these reloads? If so or with whatever ammo you are using with the links still out pull the bolt back and make sure the carrier is fully down. Point the muzzle at the floor and drop in a round. Does it go in the chamber freely all the way up to the rim? If not you may have an ammo problem. Also look at the bottom tab on the bolt face. The ejector is at 12 o'clock and the tab is at 6 o'clock. Is the tab bent down? Good luck finding your problem.

I bought 100 Large Rifle to prime a few cases I needed for some non-CAS loads. I have a KM hand primer which is all steel and a good quality hand primer. The first two or three were very hard to seat. Then it got stuck like the primer had caught a rough edge on the shell casing or the edge of the primer punch. Had to basically squeeze it in a small vise. The seated primer looked fine. Same for the next several rounds. Two or three hard but seated with hand pressure. Then one was stuck and had to be muscled in and so on. They all fired but are definitely harder to seat than other primers I usually use.

How?

Take the links out and push the bolt forward with your fingers. Does the extractor snap over the rim?

You need to supply some additional information. Stock links or aftermarket? Have you checked the headspace? Have you removed the side plates to see if the three pins in the linkage are lined up? How old is the gun? Did the previous owner ever have an out of battery discharge? Does the lever come all the way up to the lower tang when you close it?

My dad's birthday was December 7. He was at the recruiting station in his small town on the morning of December 8. They would not let him join because he had just turned 16. The next year on December 7 he joined the Navy. We lived in Hawaii in pre-statehood days and several sunken ships were still sticking out of the water. The Arizona superstructure was still attached. They removed it when they built the memorial.

I was always of the opinion that if your guns won't reliably set off Winchester primers they are not tuned correctly. However, people insist on setting up their guns so they only set off Federal primers. So I see no point in trying to change their minds and try to respond with that in mind. OP have you checked firing pin protrusion? You should have about .055" of protrusion. The after market pins are longer so they can be fitted to provide the proper protrusion. In the good old days some firing pin extensions came with an extension on the front to give more firing pin protrusion. With longer firing pins being on the market I have not seen these in a while. Uberti firing pins are very blunt. Sometimes all that is needed is to make it more pointed. Stock on the left, reshaped on the right. One caveat to this whole primer situation. Federal, CCI and Remington are all owned by the same company. The primers are used across all product lines and as we all know profits are the number one priority. For example, shotgun shells that were premium before the pandemic are now junk. Each year at the Grand National there are people who test the shells used at the Grand. I.e., hull quality, shot hardness, powder types and primers. They have varied dramatically the past few years. The fact that a primer was good five years ago may not mean it will be good next year. For example here is some advertising for the "new" CCI primers. Note it says they are more sensitive. Who knows. CCI Primers are continuously tested and improved. As a result today's CCI primers are more sensitive, easier to seat and more compatible with progressive and automated loading equipment than ever before. They utilize modern non-corrosive and non-mercuric initiator mixes for the cleanest burn possible. These are the “bread-and-butter” of reloading, the most commonly called-for primers in reloading recipes. CCI standard primers are remarkably clean-burning, leaving primer pockets cleaner and extending the time between pocket cleaning. That’s a huge benefit for progressive reloaders. They are more sensitive and easier to seat than older CCI primers, and engineered for smooth feeding in automated equipment. Available in 1000 or 5000 count boxes.

Probably a typo. Maybe a 1/4 turn or 1/2. Two would make levering noticeably more difficult.