Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283

Howdy Not confusing at all. New Model Number Three. Russian Model. Completely different grip shapes. And despite how much I respect Ian, he is incorrect about the White patent. Smith and Wesson did not own the patent, White refused to sell it. However he did make them sole licensees, so they could build revolvers with chambers bored through the cylinder. Anyway, I just took a look at Numrich Gun Parts and the only parts I saw for S&W top breaks were a couple of 38 caliber barrels, not suitable for a large frame #3 Top Break. H.K.: They are probably replacement grips, hence no S&W logo on the grips. I have seen lots of European knockoffs of S&W revolvers over the years, and none of them look as authentic as Bowhunter61's revolver. I think it is the real thing. Sorry, but I cannot help much with a source for parts.

Howdy I have been using Schuetzen for many years now. As others have reported it tends to burn a little bit cleaner than Goex. I believe this is because Schuetzen uses a better grade of charcoal than Goex. I used to use FFg in shotgun and 45-70, and FFFg in 45 Colt and 44-40. These days I use FFg in everything, just to keep things simple. Expect to get somewhere between 60 fps to 100 fps less velocity with FFg than FFFg, all other things (like how much you use) being equal. As others have said, just fill up the case and compress it a little bit, I like to compress between 1/16" - 1/8". You will never notice much velocity difference in CAS. Long range, precision 45-70 is a different story. I made up this handy chart years ago. It shows the actual weight of various powders I have used over the years with the standard volumes in Cubic Centimeters that I use most often in cartridges. 2.2CC is what I use in 45 Colt and 44-40. Note that 2.2CC of Elephant FFg (no longer available) weighed significantly more than 2.2CC of Scheutzen. Again, just pour in enough so that it is compressed by the bullet by about 1/16" - 1/8" and don't worry about the velocity.

Howdy Winchester Model 1894. 26" Octagon barrel, left the factory in 1895.