Video - Shooting the Double Action Revolvers of the Old West

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

In this video we'll look at the three most common double action revolvers of the old West:

 

The Colt 1877 - Lightning & Thunderer

The Colt 1878 - Omnipotent

The S&W Ist Model DA - Frontier Double Action

 

I know you can't shoot them in a SASS match, but there's a lot of real frontier history tied up in these guns.

 

I hope you like the video..let me know what I'm doing right and what I need to do better. I'm new at this, but taking it seriously...want to give Hickok45 a run for his money some day.

 

[Pulp, SASS#28319]

I like your videos very much. I'd reckon my favorite part is the various camera angles.

 

I made a few "receiver" point of view videos last year. Fun to do for everyone but the cameraman.

 

Seriously, I was chastized by some for not embedding "REMOTE CAMERA, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME" into the video.

 

Anyway, here's my favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6uzjUVQ9Aw

[WymoreWrangler SASS 46187L]

Mike, has anyone thought about using high strength modern wire to make springs for the 1877 Lighting, wouldn't be a big market, but it could make alot of safe queens fun to shoot again...

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

Very nice video Pulp. Thanks.

 

Wymore, I don't know enough about spring technology to know if wire springs cab be fashioned to do the work in an 1877 action. When I disassembled the 1877 used in the video, I discovered that the trigger return spring had broked off right at the screw and slid back into the action jamming it. This is just a flat leaf spring and I'd guess you could fashion a wire spring to do the job. On the other hand, the cylinder stop, hand tension spring is a compound spring, with a complex shape...don't know if wire springs can be similarly fashioned.

 

I ordered a couple of new trigger springs and after fixing the Lightning, I may shoot it in a video on .38 Long Colt.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Hi Mike

 

Thanks for the video. I have a S&W DA 44 too. Mine is chambered for 44 Russian. I absolutely love the funky lines of the trigger and trigger guard. Like you say, very Victorian. I have shot mine in a couple of local CAS matches, where the match director has allowed me too. I team it up with my New Model Number Three. Also a 44 Russian gun, which makes the ammo end of things easier. The trigger pull on mine is beautiful. Feels like a modern S&W fresh from the factory. Maybe I got lucky with mine.

 

I see you got a new hat.

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

Driftwood,

 

I guess they are all different. I've run into people who say their 1878 Colt has a hard trigger, but this one was fine.

 

I have an S&W 1917 that had a really hard trigger until I replaced the main spring and the trigger return spring with lighter versions from Wolff. I don't shoot my Frontier DA all that much, so I'm not motivated to lighten it up.

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

Driftwood, I have five cowboy hats hanging on the set of elk antlers over my desk...well, one is a derby, so I guess not technically a cowboy hat..

 

But There is one beat up hat that I find myself reaching for every day. That one is in a lot of the videos. A somewhat similar one, though a shade darker and much larger, made by D Bar J, was in the last few videos. The black beaver brand hat is in the next couple that will be coming out.

 

I'm trying to mix them up a bit.

[Pancho Peacemaker]

I collect pre-1900 S&W DA revolvers.

 

I have a pair of S&W 44 DA Frontiers .44 WCF that I shoot in NCOWS matches once in a while (double actions are legal in NCOWS). I do love those guns. I own a wide variety of pre-1900 designs, both originals and replicas. The S&W 44 DA is my favorite of them all.

 

If you are not familiar with the 44 DA, you will find they have no caliber markings. They first came out in '81 in .44 Russian. The .44 WCF was become very popular, so in '86, S&W released the DA in .44 WCF. They only way you can externally tell the chambering, is to measure the cylinder. The .44 WCF cylinder is 1 9/16" in length. Anything shorter is a .44 Russian. S&W cataloged these revolvers until 1912. ALL of the frames were produced prior to 1899, so they are all considered antiques.

 

I find the S&W DA a much more "solid" feeling and smoother action that the DA's that Colt produced. Bill English used to work on these. One of my "shooters" had a busted main spring and he fashioned a new one from a modern N frame main spring. Works like a charm.

 

When I find a time machine and travel back to the 1880's, those will be what I carry. Here's a pic of my two:

 

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b231/gsonnenmd/NCOWS/Arizonabandito.jpg

(In the pictue, I have plastic reproduction grips on both of the. I keep the factory original grips sealed in a box.)

 

Pancho

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

Very nice looking guns Pancho!

 

My S&W Frontier DA in .44-40 says ".44 Winchester CTG" on the barrel. Is yours marked like that?

[Pancho Peacemaker]

Very nice looking guns Pancho!

 

My S&W Frontier DA in .44-40 says ".44 Winchester CTG" on the barrel. Is yours marked like that?

 

Thank for the compliment.

 

The ".44 Winchester CTG" marking is found on later production guns (none of my references indicate which serial number this started at). Also, the single line barrel address started in 1900. Prior to 1900, you see a 2 line barrel address. Both of mine are lettered, one is dated to 1889, the other to 1892. Neither of mine have the cartridge caliber stamp on the barrel. Of note, both of mine started life at 6" and somewhere along the way, they became 4".

 

I enjoyed the video.

 

Pancho

[Bottom Dealin Mike, SASS #22273]

Mine has a two line address my serial number is 186xx. According to Flayderman's this is a pre 1900 revolver.

 

I thought all the .44-40s were marked .44 Winchester CTG. Mine has a 5" barrel. The mainspring is a little stout, but a good shooter.