Show us your Guns!

[shortbow]

Some great stuff showing up here lately, but Warbaby's ML is beyond words. I, for one, would love to see more detail pics. Can't remember seeing that peep sight arrangement before, but looks relatively easy to make, simple and ingenious. The gentleman who owned that rifle was obviously well-healed and was after serious accuracy. Wow.

 

[Levallois]

New member of the family - Colt 1903 hammerless in 32 acp - made in 1929.

 

[anon`]

New member of the family - Colt 1903 hammerless in 32 acp - made in 1929.

Beautiful condition! I'd love to find one of these in that rare .380 trim, as if I could actually afford one. Enjoy

 

[Mickey D]

Nice tape job, but isn't it a bit large for a drop gun?

What's the story on the 1897 slide support? I've never seen one of those.

Friction tape for grip. The Colt has a lot of old history, including drawing blood twice from what I was told.

My apologies on the Shotgun. It's a Marlin Model 21

 

[Doublegun]

Is that a peep all the way in the back over the tang?

Nice! All of 'em!

I had never seen a peep sight like that one until you posted but I found another one today: http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/partDetail.aspx?catId=12&subId=78&styleId=266&partNum=AAH-983

I am a fan of traditional "plains" rifles, although there is nothing sexy about them. Guess I got hooked in 1976 when I first saw Jeremiah Johnson, although there was little historically accurate about the rifles Robert Redford carried in the movie. Here is my collection. The top two are based on the traditional design of J&S Hawken of St. Louis, and were built off copies of original plans. These are absolutely accurate, historically. The top rifle is a .54 cal and the middle is a .50 cal. The bottom rifle is a "Tennessee" style .40 cal rifle.

I shoot all three and enjoy making smoke with them. It is hard to imagine humping over the Rocky and Teton Mtns in the dead of winter toting one of these beasts (they weight over 10-lbs, each) but at least a mountain man could take comfort in knowing that their rifle could put a big hole in the meanest bear or indian if/when necessary.

 

[Story]

My apologies on the Shotgun. It's a Marlin Model 17

No, my apologies - you did write that and for whatever reason, I processed 'Winchester'.

As penance, I offer this link to an interesting Danish Luger linked to the Resistance.
http://www.nordisk-forum.dk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15027

 

[Mickey D]

No, my apologies - you did write that and for whatever reason, I processed 'Winchester'.

As penance, I offer this link to an interesting Danish Luger linked to the Resistance.
http://www.nordisk-forum.dk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15027

What a great and interesting story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Warbaby]

Sweet collection of powder burners, Doublegun! I particularly like the .40 Tennessee flintlock - I've always loved those smaller caliber Tennessee, Kentucky and Pennsylvania rifles.

I shot some detail photos of mine and I'll post them later tonight or tomorrow. Dinner awaits.

BTW - Mine is a fairly small bore - .41, but it's no delicate lightweight. The barrel weighs in at a manly 15 lbs.

 

[thunderw21]

New member of the family - Colt 1903 hammerless in 32 acp - made in 1929.

Mmmm, I've been looking for one of these. Beauty.

 

[Undertow]

Anyone here really love Kleen Bore products?

I started with the .357/.38/9mm pistol cleaning kit, black hard plastic box with rod, nylon brush, bronze bore brush, slotted patch holder, plastic muzzle guard, cleaning patches and Formula3. I've since purchased a kit for every caliber I own, and I've also purchased some nylon bore brushes, back up bronze brushes, as well as some other cleaning tools I use.

In my experience, Kleen Bore's items are quite reliable, easy to use, pretty interchangable, inexpensive, etc. and the Formula3 tends to be far superior to some of the other cleaning agents I've encountered. In fact, I find that my firearms require much less regular cleaning (read shorter cleaning times) after being fired.

The only problem is that I cannot, for the life of me, seem to purchase a large quantity of the Formula3. I've purchased from their website in the past and I've attempted to contact them multiple times - I've even purchased their Solution10 and Copper Cutter in pint sizes, but no response on Formula3.

Anyone happen to know where I can find that stuff?

 

[Raider]

Victory Model S&W

Victory Model I picked up at a show in the spring. Manufactured in late '43 or early '44. Stamped "U.S. Navy" on topstrap. Favorite gun in my collection.

Double holster rig I made for it and a later addition (patterned after the set from "The Mummy"):

 

[Mickey D]

Nice Victory and rig!

 

[Warbaby]

Here are some more photos of the muzzle loader and as much as I know of its history. It belonged to my great-grandfather, Edward M. Hultz (1832-1918), who was a relatively prosperous farmer in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles south of Pittsburgh. According to my grandmother, he used it for hunting squirrels and other small game. She said he was a very good shot and was capable of "barking" squirrels, rather that shooting them directly so as not to damage them and ruin the meat. She didn't know if he was the original owner or if he acquired it second-hand.

The gun underwent a number of modifications, probably during Edward's lifetime. It was originally a flintlock that was converted to percussion, and according to my grandmother, at some point he had the barrel shortened by 8-10" to reduce the weight (the barrel still weighs 15 lbs, so it must have been a real monster to hold before the shortening). The lock is by T. Davidson of Cincinnati. That odd little brass disk at the rear of the lockplate serves fill a void left by the original flintlock lockplate. The .41 cal rifled barrel is stamped REMINGTON on the underside and beneath the ramp sight (which was relocated when the barrel was shortened) it is stamped with the name of an Ohio gunsmith, J. ORAHOOD, and the date 1866. At the rear of the ramp sight it is stamped with a hand with a finger pointing towards the name. Inlaid in the stock in front of the trigger guard is an 1867 dime. If you look closely at the front of the barrel, it appears that it has been drilled out and fitted with an insert. I don't know if it was originally made this way (a harder steel for the bore?) or if the barrel was drilled out and fitted with the insert to reduce the size of the bore.

The little barrel thingy (don't know the proper name) that holds the percussion cap nipple is a replacement that I had made shortly after I acquired the gun because the original was rusted solid and (according to the gunsmith) too far gone to restore. It's not all that well done, but I was only 18 at the time (1959) and was more concerned with turning it into a shooter than maintaining historical accuracy (not to mention the fact that I had very little money and couldn't have afforded a better job). I always meant to have it redone but never got around to it.

I also have Edward's bullet mold, melting ladle, a chunk of lead pipe that was used for casting bullets, a 19th C. powder tin with the label intact, and a huge powder horn of the type that would hold a couple of pounds of black powder and would been used on long treks. It was too big and cumbersome for me to use (not to mention a bit of nervousness at carrying that much black powder next to my body), so I made one of my own - there's a photo of it at the end of the posting.

And here's a photo of Edward with my grandmother on his knee:

I made the powder horn by traditional methods without using power tools - broken glass to scrape the horn smooth, 19th C. files and chisels for shaping and decorating. The wood cap is Monkeyball wood (aka Osage Orange) from a tree that grew at my grandmother's house.

 

[Levallois]

Just got a Heiser holster for my Broomhandles - I've never seen one like this before from Heiser.

 

[bburtner@moran]

Heiser

Nice HH,that must have been big bucks...

 

[matrioshka]

Levallois,

Nice holster. I'd love to find something like that for a Luger I have.

Warbaby,

Believe it or not, it's easier to find a bolster for a muzzleloader now than it was in 1959. Back then, it was either NOS or scratch...

The name on the lock may be a wholesaler, that was common. XYZ Hardware would contract with someone to make a bunch of locks with their name on them.

M

 

[shortbow]

Thanks for the additional pics Warbaby, that is a great gun, and wonderful to have the amount of history around it that you do.

As a guess only, I'm thinkin' it was purpose built as a target gun, probably to be shot from a bench. That is a very heavy barrel, even for a 'plains rifle'. In a way its' too bad the barrel was cut, although I can sympathize having done this myself in the past, as had it not been, holes for the false muzzle would tell the tale.

And, like the man says, Track of the Wolf in the 'States might well have a nipple drum in stock that you could just install. 'Twere it mine, I'd contact them for an opinion, and maybe send them the drum for them to match. In any event, a great family heirloom there.

 

[ValEag]

Very nice!

Victory Model I picked up at a show in the spring. Manufactured in late '43 or early '44. Stamped "U.S. Navy" on topstrap. Favorite gun in my collection.

Double holster rig I made for it and a later addition (patterned after the set from "The Mummy"):

Raider - That is a very nice Victory - and you did an awesome job on the double rig! Simple and functional - I like it!

 

[Peacoat]

Here are two weapons I refinished the stocks on. The top is a Remington 870 pump. I gave it a hand rubbed satin finish, similar to what was on it, but much richer and darker in color.

The second one is the Garand M-1. The stock was in pretty bad shape when I got it. Mostly dirt and accumulated grime over the years, along with some minor dings and scratches to the stock. I took it back to the original oil rubbed finish it had when new back in the 40s. Both turned out real nice and one can't tell they have been refinished.

 

[rumblefish]

Look at the meat on that barrel!

15 pounds! And I complain about carrying a 8 pound rifle.

Thanks for the photos and the story, Coley.