Because That's Why

Whenever anyone questions why you've bought any particular gun just reply, "because it delights me you joyless scold!"

I've had this conversation about my .45 Colt Anaconda a couple of time and I am fully aware that they made and make them in .44 Magnum.

Don't care.

That giant gun in the, by modern standards, under-powered round gives me the giggles and I really can't see anything changing that.

Strangely, I never see them complain about a S&W 25-5  when the Model 29 is the same gun except in .44 Magnum...

I get the same delight from my useless .25 ACP guns.

I went out of my way to find a .38 Super Gov't Model in as plain-Jane trim as I could get and then "ruined" it by putting a short trigger and arched mainspring housing on it.  It delights me to do so.

Having a clone of an M16, M16A1, M16A2 and M16A4 delights me.

The XM177E2 clone delights me even though I had to make a short barrel rifle of it and am only a fraction of an inch shorter than a 16" barrel with the moderator screwed onto the end of the 11.5" barrel. 

The purple AR delights me.

The people who are grimly utilitarian about gun ownership should really start relaxing.

Once your needs are met, Maslow, you can move up the pyramid. 

Made Out Pretty Well

Harvey got me this absolutely deadly projectile weapon!

The "primers" are the triggers and the spring that lobs the plastic projectile is contained inside the case.  The problem is when you load a round and close the action, the "primer" hits the breech face and goes off.

3D printing makes for a lot of fun!

A sword shaped dice box was not something I'd even thought of, and here it is.

Willard gave the best gift, though!

He says that it's been whining about being at his house among the Smith and Wessons.

If it looks familiar, it's the same gun I sold him to pay for my air conditioning a few years ago.

.410 Brace

Even though all the ammo shown is 2-1/2", both guns are chambered for 3" shells.

I am not saying anything in this picture is practical.

I am saying don't avoid things that delight you.

The KSG410 is kinda a pistol caliber carbine similar to .44 Magnum in performance... kinda, sorta.

The wee little slugs are 3d+1 pi+ out to 100/1,200.

.44 Magnum from this barrel length gets 4d+1 pi+ to 620/3,600.  From a revolver, .44 does 3d+1 pi+ to 210/3,200.  That's right, this shoulder fired gun is outranged by a handgun!

Light projectiles and moderate velocities do that.

Suboptimal Day

Shooting was very irksome today.

Because it's, unbeknownst to us, it's "Frat-Boy with Daddy's Credit Card Day" at the range.

Five hyper brahs rented three lanes and crowded into the lane adjacent to ours and did... Brah stuff.

Harvey did not get to try some of the shooting things she wanted to try because they were being...  Brahs.

She did get to shoot her first Luger!  Thanks Willard!  Shot it well too.

The Colt New Service shoots really well too!  Better than a 111 year old revolver should, to be honest.  Nearly recoilless with cowboy action loads.  $1.20 each cowboy action loads!

Harvey did try shooting with non-prescription glasses and her groups centered up.  She says that she can actually see the front sight naked-eye where she cannot see it clearly with her normal glasses.  Decently tight groups too!  She's learning and finding the things she didn't know she didn't know every trip.

We even got Willard to come out of his curmudgeonly lair and shoot a couple of new pistols.

SPAK!

Gotta admit, this is cool as fuck!

It'd Be My fault

I found this on Gunbroker.

It's been refinished, but still a neat piece.

I worry at how this will affect Willard since it's my fault he's got .45 Colt on his radar at all.

Ian did a vid on them too.

1873 Brace

 

An impossible combination historically.  The Winchester 1873 didn't get chambered for .45 Colt for a variety of reasons until very recently.

While both are models of 1873, the revolver is more appropriately from 1898 after being refurbished at Springfield National Armory.

Flap!

The leather dye arrived today and I got to work!

Dye dye dye! my darling!

The next step is to use 10 burrs and rivets to make 8 rivets.  There was an unexpected learning curve getting the burrs to seat.

Pics of the last three.  Burr seated.  Rivet clipped.  Rivet capped.

I'll sew the flap down later.  I need a curved needle.

Overall, though, SUCCESS!

.45 Short Colt

.45 S&W, issued because the Army bought "Schofield" model S&W Model 3 revolvers is what gave rise to the term ".45 Long Colt" when there never actually was a .45 Long Colt, or .45 Short Colt for that matter.

It's from how the rounds got marked up.

Long for Colt.

.45 Colt won't fit in a Schofield, it's too long.

.45 S&W will fit in both a Colt 1873 and a Schofield.  It's got a bit less thump, but hardly enough to matter.

So the Army standardized on one round and the ammo that worked in both guns got picked.

 

What Would Sergeant Smith Do

Your regiment is about to go through the spook-hole after the missing Indian tribes.

There are rumors of some very large and vicious animals on the other side of that gateway, so you upgrade your issue revolver from the Colt M1873 altered model you were issued to a Colt New Service in the issue .45 Colt chambering.

It's not going to fit the brand new holster that was issued with the Peacemaker you've decided not to pack.

The local sutler has been completely, and I mean completely bought out by someone, there's not a holster for it to be found.

The supply officer, however, offers you one of the old holsters you just turned in that fit the old 7" M1873's you recently turned in.

But the flap won't close.

What will you do?  What will you do?

Cut off that flap, of course!

Going to have to rely on a lanyard for retention, but it's better than trying to tuck it into your belt.  The lieutenant would probably get bent out of shape about that.

Howitzer, Cavalry, Pack Caliber .45

If there was any doubt that the Colt New Service .45 was a big gun...

On top: 1/3 of an Air Conditioner 6" Colt Anaconda in .45 Colt.

On bottom: 7-1/2" Colt New Service in .45 Colt.

It's a fookin' cannon.  2.9 lb. for the New Service, 3.3 lb. for the Anaconda.

The New Service feels much heavier.

The trigger on the New service is definitely much heavier.  14 lb. 12 oz. in double action and crisp 6 lb. 6 oz. in single.  The Anaconda has a very smooth 10 lb. 8 oz. in double and a telepathic 3 lb. 6 oz. in single.

I know the Anaconda shoots well, no idea on the New Service; the Wu Ping Cough induced ammo shortage has prevented much range time; and we have a stack of guns to see if they still work.

Empty Holsters

My single action Army clone...

It can sit in either my cowboy gun belt or my M1881 holsters on its M1894 Mills belt.

It can't sit in both.

This is how I end up with another gun.

The M1881 holster is cut for a 5" Schofield as well as the 5-1/2" Colt...

Cimarron carries a 5" Schofield in .45 Colt...

Hmmmm...

UPDATE:

I appear to be safe from this temptation purchase in light of the lack of any 5" .45 Colt guns in stock.  There's lots of 7" .38 Special examples out there, which amuses me to be able to use the .38 cartridge loops on the Mills belt, but the gun won't fit the holster.

One Oh Eight And An Update

Did some tinkering with the New Service.

First I replaced the grody plastic, checkered stocks with a nice set of repop smooth wood.

Then I replaced the missing lanyard loop.

Finally took some pics of the markings.

This is a big gun, by the way.  2 lb. 14.5 oz. loaded.

Everyone knows how big a 1911 is, right?

Hand Cannon

The Colt New Service arrived from Iowa today!

It is no small gun.

The single-action Army isn't known as a small gun, and it's dwarfed by the later design.

While the finish is, by no means, pristine; it locks up tight as a drum and has a mirror bore.

Just need to get my schedule shifted around to get to the range.

Other .45's

Colt.

Double Action.

Gate Loaded.

.45 Colt.

M1902.

Teaser


More complete.

An Odd Feeling

I just stabbed "buy it now" on a Colt New Service revolver in .45 Colt.

The odd feeling is I've bought a gun from this gun shop before.  In person.

It was the only gun shop for 40 miles worth visiting when you lived in Ames when I did.

Even more fun is having a C&R and being able to just about do this directly.

Now we move at the speed of USPS.

Special thanks to Willard and FuzzyGeff for their assistance in this.

'Tis A Silly Place

Decided to hang the Krag, because it was getting in the way.  That got me to hang up the cartridge belt, altered M1873 revolver and M1860 saber.

The first shot captures a lot of the silliness and geekery which I surround myself with.

It's a lot better than focusing on the shit that gives me nightmares.

Filtratious

Playing around with the camera.

First I confirmed that the b/w monochrome setting was different from the sepia setting.

Next I played with the simulated color filters in sepia mode.

No Filter

Yellow Filter

Orange Filter

Red Filter

Green Filter

M1873 Altered Model

She's a handsome beast, isn't she?

Uberti went all the way on doing the small details matching the real deal.

"Bullseye" ejector.

Front mounted axis pin retainer screw instead of a side-mounted plunger.  I don't know what the U marking or the '1519' mean.  It's the Uberti trademark and catalog number!

It's covered in "RAC" proof marks after Rinaldo A Carr.

CZ for "made in 2020".

ATF would have kittens, but this is where the Army put the serial number.

The Pietta version of this gun laser burns this cartouche.  Uberti presses it like it's supposed to be.

Every part marked with an RAC, except the grips, has the serial number (or part of it) too.

The cylinder also gets Italian proof marks.

The extra barrel length, for me, is entirely cosmetically necessary.

I was surprised to find that my Armi San Marco made EMF New Dakota has an undersized grip.