H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) In recent weeks, I have discussed various topics related to "small" revolvers. Different ways they can be used, different designs, and so forth. It's all been building to something, and this, is it! Now, to start with, this pistol you may recognize. It is my (in)famous Big Iron. Based on the at the time description of the pistol that inspired the Marty Robbins song, I decided I wanted one. So, using that description, I got this gun created. It's an Armi San Marco frame with Pietta 1860 grips and a 10" barrel cut down from a Rossi 92 barrel I found. It's a .45 Colt. I have since learned that the real one has a round barrel from a Marlin, and is a .44 Magnum, but that's okay. I like mine just fine the way it is. Now, this gun is indeed big, and fun. People always ask me if I brought it to larger shoots. Now, normally, I pair this gun with another .45, usually my fathers 3rd Gen Colt with a 4-3/4" barrel. Sometime a different .45 will go with it, and if the local club will let me use it, my Lightning Bolt pistol. But let that go. In the back of my mind there was this idea that if this is my Big Iron, maybe I should have a Small Iron to pair it with for contrast. But what should it be? A .45 Sheriff's Model? Maybe. But those are now very hard to find and a little pricey. (Ironic reason for not wanting to go that way...) But even if it was the most inexpensive way to do it, I really didn't wanna go that way for some reason. So, the concept slept in my mind, and I never really gave it much thought. Until I obtained this... Now, what's so special about a First Gen Colt with a 6" barrel? Well, in and of itself, nothing. But this one has been rechambered to, get this, .22 Hornet! Now this gun is FUN to shoot. And it would be a great gun to pair with the Big Iron. But, there's a problem, .22 Hornet is not a SASS legal caliber. (.22 Hornet, in case you don't know, is basically a .25-20 necked down to .22) Sure, some local clubs might (and have) let me use it, and while I will continue to do so on occasion, for an "official" Small Iron, I want something that's not gonna raise "is that legal" questions. But this gun DID get me wondering hard about getting just that, something I can officially dub my "Small Iron" and pair it with the Big Iron any time I want to. But what? Well, the Big Iron is of course, a heavily customized SAA. Yeah... I could go custom in the other way. Going small, not big. I'll find a doner gun, replace the barrel with a round .25-20 barrel cut down to 3 inches, and have the cylinder sleeved to .25-20. I've always wanted a .25-20 revolver for some reason. And, hey! If I can do .25-20, I'll do a second cylinder in .25 ACP and... then... I... r e a l i z e d... Good grief! That would all be STUPID expensive, and I'd still wind up with a gun that I could not use in SASS in most cases. No. This is not an option. So, that got me thinking, what is the smallest SASS Legal caliber? Gotta be either .32 Short Colt or .32 S&W. Hmm... Yeah... I have a gun chambered in .32 S&W. A Colt 1860 made in 1860 that has been rebarreled and fitted with a modern made cylinder in .32 S&W Long. This is an option. But, this is not a small gun. It may be in a small caliber, but it's bigger than my Big Iron. So no, this won't be the Small Iron. It'll still go to a shoot on occasion, and maybe be paired with the Big Iron, but the search for a Small Iron continues. At this point, I started looking for gun in .32 Short Colt caliber. And, I have one of those too! A while ago, after getting a Marlin 92 in the caliber, I decided I wanted to a revolver to go with it. That made me think of vintage cartridge conversions. These don't always cost an arm and a leg, and are kinda cool in their own right. So, I obtained this... A Colt 1849 Pocket converted to .32 Centerfire. I don't believe it to be a factory conversion. Maybe the letter will tell me, but I doubt it. Anyway, a nice little gun, but, it's only got 5 chambers in the cylinder, and there is no way to properly lock it between chambers, so it's a 4 shooter that would have to have the 5th round loaded on the clock. I can deal with that. But, the gun, while shootable, has some mechanical issues. You gotta wiggle the cylinder to get it to rotate. Locks up good, but kinda problematic to be using it at a shoot. So, not a good option. If anyone knows of a gunsmith who specializes in vintage Colt conversions, please let me know. Anyway, this gun got me thinking conversions in a general way. So I got one of these... This is a Pietta made replica of the Remington 1863 with a .32 S&W conversion cylinder. These are really cool little guns. They are 5 shooters, but they do have a safety notch to lock it between chambers. But... Good grief these are poorly made guns! They have about a 3 ton hammer, a terrible trigger, have bad timing issues out of the box, and the conversion cylinder didn't fit. My gunsmith fixed all these issues, but it made a relatively inexpensive gun an expensive one. I am glad I have it, and it will be fun to shoot now that it's been tuned. And, it's actually a TINY little pistol. But then here's the big question; is it main match legal, or is it a pocket pistol? The rulebook says pocket pistols can't be converted to main match pistols, but from the context, I've always though that meant that if there was a stage that included a pocket pistol as a 3rd gun that said pocket pistol can't also be used as a regular main match revolver for the rest of the match. But let that go. If I'm allowed to use it, fine. If I am not, I am not. No loss. So what else could I find? What else is in, say .32 S&W? Well, guns made by S&W. But what? Now, when I first started wondering about all of this, I started watching various online sources looking for good deals, and I found this... This is a S&W 1-1/2 in .32 S&W. It's got a 6" barrel, so it ain't no pocket pistol. But it's a 5 shooter, and there's no way to lock the cylinder between chambers. So, that means popping the empties to load a 5th. Again, I don't mind doing it, but it's probably something of a pain. Anyway, it's a nice gun, but still not what I am looking for as the official Small Iron. Now, after this, I had a random thought; what is the "largest" caliber that I would personally find acceptable for use in a Small Iron gun? I quickly settled on .38 Long Colt. There's lotsa nice small guns in that caliber. And I soon found this... A Colt New House in .38 Long Colt. Again, a very nice gun. A five shooter that CAN be locked between cylinders, so no awkward reloading. Can't really say anything bad about it, other than the theoretical is it a pocket pistol question. Still, I like it. Now, once I had realized that .38 Long Colt was the theoretical largest caliber, that meant that several calibers were now on the table. 38 Long Colt, .38 Short Colt, 38 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 S&W, 32 Long Colt and .32 Short Colt. So that means options. And then I was also reminded that a gun chambered in .32 H&R Magnum or even .327 Federal could shoot the S&W cartridges. Now that realization led me to obtaining one of these... This is Cimarron's Lightning pistol. Essentially a 3/4 sized Peacemaker. It came dual cylindered with .32-20 and .32 H&R Magnum. Wellllll, yeah, this can use the S&W cartridges, it's physically small, and if I want too, I can use it as another .32-20 gun when I want to shoot that caliber. It's a good candidate for the Small Iron. Clearly in the running along with the Pietta Remington and the Colt New House. But I am still not settled. I have options, and of the three main contenders, they can be paired with other full size guns in the same caliber, and I kinda sorta want the Small Iron to be a gun that I really won't use with anything else but the Big Iron. Well, I suddenly realized that I have more guns already in the collection in the calibers that I find acceptable. But before I reveal what my next candidate is, I will say that this has been a fascinating journey. I have learned about all kinds of interesting guns of this type made by several old time gun makers. For example, I had a line on a really nice Remington Smoot revolver. In fact, I bought it. Only for the seller to tell me that he'd lost it, so he sent me my money back. I also found a very interesting Hopkins and Allen gun for a very reasonable price on Gunbroker, but the seller has strange provisos. Even though it's an antique, he insists on only selling to an FFL, won't accept a C&R, and the only form of payment he'll take is a postal money order. I was very interested in this gun, I've never seen another one like it, but the conditions are a deal breaker for me. But, it's no loss. I've got all kinds of other interesting things, like this old guy... A Merwin & Hulbert in .38 S&W. And, it will lock between cylinders. So, it's a good option for a 5 shooter. And in spite of being very ugly, it is mechanically perfect and shoots really nice. This is also the gun that got me interested in .38 S&W caliber, so it's got a soft spot in my heart. Another interesting gun is this, uhm, contraption... This bizarre construction is built on an 1851 frame made by FIE. One day, I was at a shoot with Happy Trails, and I had mentioned in passing the Pietta cap and ball guns on this frame that had just come out, and had commented how cool it would be to have cartridge version. At the very next shoot, Hap had this thing he had made! Long story short, he asked me if I wanted to buy it. He only charged me the price if the doner gun and the cost of the other pieces, so it was not at all expensive. Ostensibly chambered for .357 Magnum (!) I've only ever run .38 Long Colts in it. It's a very strange gun, fun to shoot, about as accurate as a pea shooter, but I like it. As SASS distances, it's acceptable. Weird, but a contender. Another gun I had long known about but did not have but had always wanted, was one of these... No, it's not a New Model 3. It's a S&W Model 1891, a kinda 3/4 size version of the New Model 3. When I found this for a bargain price, I jumped at it, as the search for a Small Iron gave me a good excuse. A five shot with no way to lock between cylinders means a reload, but that's okay. Nice to have, nice to shoot, but probably not the Small Iron. Remember the .32 caliber 1849 from earlier? Well... This is another 1849, supposedly it came from the factory in this converted configuration, and is in .38 Long Colt. No way to lock between cylinders, but of all the ones that would need to be reloaded, this one looks like it will be the easiest to do. It'll be interesting to find out. And so now, I've got one more to share... This is a Pietta clone. It has a transfer bar hammer. It had a 5.5" barrel from the factory, and was a .357 Magnum. But, it was Stupid Inexpensive. I thought it might make for a perfect doner gun to modify into the a Small Iron type gun. Remembering how the Big Iron itself is a heavily modified gun, why should the Small Iron be any different? It now has a 3.5" barrel that has been lined to .32 caliber, and the original cylinder is now a .32 Long Colt and the blued one I found is a .32 S&W Long. Yep. This is is. Behold the gun that I have officially decided will become "The Small Iron!" The mods were not cheap, but... Well, what the heck. I'm 59 years old, not married, and may as well have some fun. See you at the range. Oh, and on Tuesday, I'll post my lyrics to the parody song, Small Iron. Happy Shooting everyone! Edited January 23 by H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 4 Quote
watab kid Posted January 18 Posted January 18 very nice accumulation of fine handguns , and very nice photos as well Quote
Bison Bud Posted January 18 Posted January 18 Interesting post that I really enjoyed as well as learned a few things. Thanks for sharing! Quote
Blackwater 53393 Posted January 18 Posted January 18 I was thinking of a Model P junior in .32 cal.!! Quote
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted January 18 Posted January 18 My suggestion would be another .45 In fact, since your "Big Iron" has an octagonal barrel, my first thought was for a Cimarron El Malo. 3.5 inch Octagonal Barrel in 45 Colt. I shoot Cowboy 45 Special in mine. You might have to change the Grip though. Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 I did consider putting birds head grips on last gun because they "look smaller." I even have a spare set. But, they are from an Uberti and would not fit on the Pietta. Anyway... If I can save up enough, I just may send both guns to Turnbull to be done up nice. And then there is the theoretical "Phase II" of all of this. "Big Iron II" will be a BFR in .45-70 and "Small Iron II" would be one of those Cimmaron Lightnings but rechambered for .25 caliber. But that'll probably never happen. Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 One thing about the Small Iron, this gun has a transfer bar type setup. Didn't really care when I bought it. But I have to admit that I am really not liking the thing. What is "bugging" me is the way that after firing, it causes the trigger to go so far forward. It just "feels wrong" as I am cocking the hammer to feel the trigger being so far forward. The trigger pull once it's fully cocked is fine, and the fact that the hammer has only 3 clicks instead of 4 doesn't really bother me at all. It's strictly a matter of where the trigger sits when the gun is at rest. Obviously, I've never had a gun with this feature before. I am sure that with time I will get used to it and eventually won't matter any more. But I am wondering if it is possible to swap all of this out for something that allows the trigger to be in a more normal position. Looking at it, it looks like it would not exactly be a simple thing to change, but I have read about people doing this modification on Rugers, so I wonder if it's possible on this kind of a revolver as well. And I fully realize that possible, and practical are two different things. I just want to know if it's even an option. Quote
Duffield, SASS #23454 Posted January 19 Posted January 19 The 22 Hornet is not a decked down 25-20. That is the 218 Bee. Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 2 hours ago, Duffield, SASS #23454 said: The 22 Hornet is not a decked down 25-20. That is the 218 Bee. It seems you are correct, Sir. I learned something. Quote
H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 Posted January 21 Author Posted January 21 I keep forgetting to post this... Small Iron By Kevin Mickel aka HK Uriah To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day. Spoke to everyone around him and he had a lot to say Everyone asked about his business And he had a smile on his lip The stranger there among them had a small iron on his hip. Small Iron on his hip. It was early in the morning as he rode into the town He came riding from the north side, eagerly looking all around He's some kind of a goofball, came the comment from each lip, He's got nothing but a small gun, a small iron on his hip. Small Iron on his hip. In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red Many men had tried to take him, and that many men were dead He was vicious and killer, though a youth of twenty four And notches on his pistol numbered one and eighteen more. One and eighteen more Well the stranger started talking, made it plain to folks around Was an Arizona Ranger, wouldn’t be to long in town. He came here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead. And he said it didn’t matter; he was after Texas Red After Texas Red Wasn’t long before the story was relayed to Texas Red But the outlaw didn’t worry, men that tried before were dead. Nineteen men had tried to take him, Nineteen men had made a slip Number twenty would be the ranger with the small iron on his hip. Small Iron on his hip The morning passed so quickly it was time for them to meet. It was twenty passed eleven when they walked out in the street Folks were watching from their windows, everybody held their breath They knew this goofy stranger was about to meet his death About to meet his death. There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play And the foolishness of the ranger is still talked about today. Texas Red had not cleared leather, or a bullet barely ripped, But the stranger’s bullet bounced off him when fired from the small iron on his hip. Small Iron on his hip It then was quickly over and the folks all gathered round. There before them lay the body of the stranger on the ground Oh he might have gone on living, but he made a fatal slip. He tried take out a bad guy with just a small iron on his hip. Small Iron on his hip Small iron, small iron Never try to take out the villain with just a small iron on your hip. Small Iron on your hip! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.