Show us your Guns!

[DeaconKC]

I understand, I parted with a Gold Cup and a 4" Python before getting married to pay off some bills.

 

[Yahoody]

 

[DeaconKC]

Oh, that is sweet! Please tell me it's in .45 Colt or .44WCF!

 

[Yahoody]

45 of course! 44? Come on now East meets West!

 

[DeaconKC]

Well...this is a tale of finding a rifle to put under a scope. Found a Leupold 2x7 at a garage sale, called Leupold about it and they rebuilt it at no charge! Well, it was a bit too nice to sit around homeless, so I started watching for a nice gun that would fit it well. And the LGS I work for had one come in last week that fit the bill! A very clean Savage 111 in .270. Having grown up reading Jack O"Connor I always wanted a .270, so this one came home with me. Got the scope mounted tonight and the cheapo Burris that came with it may wind up on a Ruger 10/22.

 

[Diamondback]

@DeaconKC Not sure if the email you used over there is still active, but sent you an email through the Aerodrome--might be passing through your area next summer enroute to an F-106 Delta Dart reunion in Knoxville.

Allow me to introduce the Ruger Charger Modular Weapons System... basically a 10/22 action in a pistol, reimagined into something Q Branch might issue to a Double-O inspired by Bond's briefcase in From Russia With Love. (Were I *really* building a "briefcase sniper" for MI6 I would start with the USAF's GAU-5 ASDW variant of the M4, slap a variable-power scope like a Trijicon VCOG on it and call it a day, but the point of this entire exercise was less reality than "Sixties spy-movie fun-gun." Then again, I have a friend who was behind IDF seriously issuing 10/22's for riot-control who might appreciate it...)

Do note the Lawyer Lettering on the rifle-mode stock; the backend does not go on without the 16" barrel mounted and the rear sling-mount replaces it before the long barrel comes off.

 

[Diamondback]

Also, a design study I put together for a writer friend, based on the Longslide I started doodling for myself in college and now am gearing up to start building... the specs she set for me were "This weapon has to be powerful, elegant and a bit retro with a little bit of a sinister twist. Basically, design me a pistol befitting a woman who an evening with her could be either the best night of your life or the last... or quite possibly both." The reference shade is Cerakote Cancer Awareness Blue and the inspiration was the three-tone teal/white/chrome that's kind of the "iconic" pop-culture image of a late-'50s Chevy Bel Air or Ford Fairlane, but the goal was a much darker teal for the "sinister" angle, more like what GM calls Dark Dragonfly Teal. Mechanically, the project uses a Clark ramped barrel and is rated for .45 Super and .450 SMC; SMC is the preferred load but it can still eat .45 Super just as well and regular ACP when the "magnum" loads aren't available.

The "short radius on long slide" is my own unique twist and I'm trying to see if the slide-maker I'm working with will designate it as exclusive-to-me in case I hang out my gunsmithing shingle; the idea is keeping the "less snag hazard" of the traditional radius cut but a little more weight than a traditional all the way to the dustcover cut, while a little less muzzle weight than an uncut "slabside."

 

[DeaconKC]

DB, those are great! Makes me remember begging Mom and Dad for one of the Man from UNCLE gun packs when I was a kid.
I love those Chargers, we built one for a young guy in a wheelchair so he could go squirrel hunting with it. Using a rear single point sling as the British SAS guys do on the iconic MP5s, he is using it and loving it. Are you getting a SBR stamp for that little beast?
And as far as the retro 1911, all I can think of is Modesty Blaise. That would be something she would wield.

 

[Diamondback]

DB, those are great! Makes me remember begging Mom and Dad for one of the Man from UNCLE gun packs when I was a kid.
I love those Chargers, we built one for a young guy in a wheelchair so he could go squirrel hunting with it. Using a rear single point sling as the British SAS guys do on the iconic MP5s, he is using it and loving it. Are you getting a SBR stamp for that little beast?
And as far as the retro 1911, all I can think of is Modesty Blaise. That would be something she would wield.

No, we're using the precedent for how Thompson/Center Contender and AR15 pistols can switch-hit as long as the receiver is first completed as a pistol and the stock and short barrel are never on the receiver at the same time. (Hence the rule about "stock is last part on and first part off," and the "MIN BBL 16IN" lettering across the stock unit... a statement of builder intent about as subtle as a buttstroke to the groin.) In fact, if I have to cross a state line with it the 6" and 10" barrels go into one locked case with the receiver, and the 16" barrel, scope and stock go into a second locked case, making the ammo get kicked into a third.

 

[Yahoody]

I like Jim Hoag's version of the 1911 long slide. But he also did long slide HPs as well. Jim built them from the mid '70s up until he retired in 2017. James Caan used two of Hoag's Master Grade 1911s in the classic movie, "Thief" in 1980. One of them a 6" long slide. But Hoag would build them in any of three lengths, 6", 8", or 11" barrel/slide

As Jim knew well, hang enough weight on a 1911, and they simply don't run.

 

[Diamondback]

Yahoody, that's part of why I'm capping it at 7 (AMT Longslide Hardballer) and running hot loads. Eventually I'm thinking load development for the heaviest .451" hollowpoint I can find loaded for pressure not MV, target around 27000 psi. (P-max for .450SMC is 28k IIRC.)

Briley spherical bushings too, so I can swap the longer barrel into a 5" slide for the weaker loads (it's ironic when you call .45ACP "weak")--basically this thing is going to have two complete top-ends, one for CCW one for open carry/nightstand.

 

[Yahoody]

SAMMI spec for 45 ACP +P is set at 23,000 psi.

45SMC is 32K psi. You'll need rifle primers and a fully supported chamber for those. Good read here:
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/the-450-smc-a-potent-practical-defensive-cartridge/

Good luck with your project.

 

[Diamondback]

SAMMI spec for 45 ACP +P is set at 23,000 psi.

45SMC is 32K psi. You'll need rifle primers and a fully supported chamber for those. Good read here:
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/the-450-smc-a-potent-practical-defensive-cartridge/

Good luck with your project.

Twenty years ago, I actually had the guys who cooked up the SMC consulting on the build, and they recommended a Clark/Para ramped barrel for the chamber support. Per Fernando Coelho formerly of Triton Ammunition who developed it, the move to rifle primer actually REDUCED primer-flow problems compared to the parent .45 Super.

Thanks--basically the technical consensus has been "build it up like a .460 Rowland but with an ACP-length chamber."

 

[DeaconKC]

Well, here's a short barreled 45...a .45 Colt/.410 Bond Arms Derringer. Should be ... interesting to shoot as I normally load a 200 grain RNFP under 7.5 grains of Unique for my competition guns. Also picked up some 250 grain JHPs for it too.

 

[Woodtroll]

Well, here's a short barreled 45...a .45 Colt/.410 Bond Arms Derringer. Should be ... interesting to shoot as I normally load a 200 grain RNFP under 7.5 grains of Unique for my competition guns. Also picked up some 250 grain JHPs for it too.

Nice little pocket piece! I've got the American Derringer version of that gun, bought YEARS ago. It's a (small) handful with normal .45 LC loads, but not as bad as I expected and not nearly as bad as the .357 Magnum version my brother bought. I did shoot a few triple-ball .410 loads through it way back then and they grouped okay at short range, but regular shot shells that I thought might be useful for snakes spread so quickly with a hole in the center of the pattern that I never fooled with them much.

I'd be curious to hear your impressions of your derringer once you've spent some time with it.

 

[Levallois]

I don’t know how many of you have seen the 2015 movie starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Mathew Fox and Richard Jenkins (among others) but it surprised me in a good way being part classic western and part brutal horror. Some didn’t like it because of the horror aspect so beware if you intend to watch it, there are some brutal parts. However, the costume design, the clothing, furniture, tack, old west accoutrements (no CGI) seemed to me to be well done, especially the weapons. So I put this together while I was, again, supposed to be cleaning up my office. Everything you see is pre-1900 except the hat, possibly the spyglass, bone tomahawk, and the nickel 1873. I really didn’t want to clean anything anyway………..

Starting at top left and trending left to right and top to bottom -

• Genuine Smith and Wesson Schofield revolver from first group of 3000 sold to US Army in 1875 - same model as Sheriff Hunt’s (Russell) pistol but of course not nickel plated (or made in Italy).
• A bone tomahawk bison jaw. -modern
• “The German” - spy glass owned by Mr. Brooder (Fox) and used throughout the movie - this one has no markings so unknown country of manufacture or age but it looks very similar
• Brown hat similar to that worn by Sheriff Hunt once they left town - 1940s?
• Period Gun belt and holster with 45 Schofield cartridges.
• Old USGS map of southern New Mexico (where the movie supposedly takes place in the mid to late 1890s)
• 1873 Winchester replica short rifle with nickel finish (Uberti) and a faux ivory (ivorex) stock - not exactly the same as Mr Brooder’s 1873 nickel finished carbine “repeater” used in the movie but pretty close - However, I doubt even Mr. Brooder could have afforded a real ivory stocked Winchester in the 1890s. The only real ivory stocked rifle that I m aware of was an 1866 Winchester presented to the President Porfirio Diaz of Mexico around 1910.
• Smith and Wesson Frontier with 6-inch in 44 wcf cal. pre- 1899 - factory engraved, blued with pearl grips - as close as I can get to Mr Brooder’s smoke wagon which looked like a blued Colt SAA with 5 1/2-inch barrel and pearl or ivory grips
• Another vintage gun belt and holster with 44-40 cartridges.
• A Merwin Hulbert engraved 4th model with original ivory grips and 5 1/2-inch barrel in 44 wcf caliber circa 1880s - I don’t own a second model army with shortened barrel and ivory grips like Mr. O’Dwyer (Wilson) but this one is close and functions in exactly the same way - the reloading of the Merwin in the movie is the only one that I’ve ever seen on the big or small screens.
• L. C. Smith hammer “coach” shotgun in 12 gauge circa 1899 with 20-inch barrel similar to shotgun used by backup deputy Chicory (Jenkins) in movie

 

[DeaconKC]

Very nicely done!
Well, a quick report on the Bond Arms .45 Colt derringer. My usual CAS load of 7.5 grains of Unique under a 200 grain RNFP is quite invigorating. Looks like it runs about 800FPS through my usual full size guns, so I guess it is a bit less through the 3" barreled little beastie. My 250 grain JHP factory loads were LOUD and a bit harder to hang on to. I did get some new XL grips for it, they look really nice, very well made but quite a bit wider. So they will probably be reserved for actual CAS events and swapped for the thinner ones when I carry it for CCW.

 

[Yahoody]

>A Merwin Hulbert engraved 4th model with original ivory grips and 5 1/2-inch barrel in 44 wcf caliber circa 1880s

Nice gun!


Ivory stocked Winchesters? Take a look at Paul Persinger's '73.

 

[Levallois]

Paul Persinger's '73 is news to me. Beautiful rifle!

 

[Yahoody]

It was finished close to 20 years ago now. One of the most elaborate '73s ever built.

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/49/3026/winchester-1873-rifle-44-cf

Not sure which museum it is in now. Was once owned by a friend of mine.

The Diaz ivory stocked '66 was a carbine, # 21921. There is a ivory stocked rifle as well # 83904 that went to J. A. Pezet, the President of Peru.