Recent content by Driftwood Johnson

I paid $800 for my brand-spanky new 44-40 Uberti 'iron frame' Henry about 20 years ago. My dealer ordered it from Dixie Gun Works. Dixie used to have regular sales on some models, and my Henry was one of them. I do not know what it was listing for at the time, but I see they are charging...

Pardon me while I wax poetic on one of my favorite subjects, Winchester lever action rifles. The rifle at the top of this photo, is the first Winchester 'pistol caliber' rifle I ever owned. A Model 1892 chambered for 44-40. It shipped in 1897. I bought it when I first started Cowboy Action...

Model 14-3 that left the factory in 1974. Like new in the box. I found it in a local shop a few years ago. It was on consignment for $550. I offered $500. When I got home my phone rang and the consigner accepted my offer of $500. I jumped in my car and raced back to the store, This was one of...

Howdy Again Funny thing. Since this thread started I have picked up my second Mark IV. Let's recap. I bought this Mark II many years ago, so long ago that I don't remember when. Like all Ruger Mark pistols, the factory trigger pull was quite stiff. So I put a Volquartsen trigger kit inside...

Howdy Smith and Wesson used the term Masterpiece to define their target revolvers after 1941. The first Masterpiece revolver was the K-22 Masterpiece, also known as the Pre-War K-22, 2nd Model. There were only 1067 of these manufactured, from 1940 until 1941. Production stopped on Masterpiece...

The old rule of thumb was to place a ball in the palm of your hand, and pour enough powder over it to completely cover the ball. That would be a good load to start with. You can weigh that charge to find out how much it is. And please don't give me any guff about not weighing Black Powder.

The reason the 1858 model Remington crudds up quickly is because there is no bushing on the front of the cylinder. The barrel cylinder gap is in line with the front of the cylinder. This allows fouling blasted out of the barrel/cylinder gap to be deposited directly onto the cylinder pin...

Here are some photos of my old CVA Flintlock Rifle. You can see where I tried to fancy it up a bit. For the life of me I don't recall why the ramrod is so long.

OK, I'll play. I like my 1858 Remingtons. They are both equipped with 45 Colt R&D conversion cylinders. I bought my old blued EuroArms Remington at the top of this photo way back in 1975. About fifteen or twenty years ago I bought the conversion cylinder for it. I found the Stainless Uberti...

Howdy I built a CVA Flintlock rifle from a kit a bazillion years ago. 45 Caliber. I still have it somewhere, but have not fired it for probably well over 40 years. I don't know what CVA is selling these days, but I was never crazy about this kit. My main complaint was the stock was in two...

I can see from the photo that his Remington has the conversion cylinder originally marketed by Taylors. This style of cylinder was designed by Ken Howell. These cylinders are chambered for 45 Colt. Even though the Cap & Ball revolvers are called '44' caliber, the rifling grooves are the correct...

If the video we are talking about is the one about assembling an Uberti replica of the SAA, I have seen it, and yes a wooden stick was used through the frame to torque the barrel in. The assembler eyeballed it to make sure it was plumb. Not saying it is a good idea, but that is exactly how...

A-Zooms for me. Apparently owned by Lyman now. https://www.lymanproducts.com/brands/a-zoom

You are probably talking about the video about how Uberti assembles a single action revolver. The narrator makes several mistakes in that video, for instance those revolvers are not proofed at 3 times normal pressure. That is simply wrong. Uberti proofs all their revolvers in government proof...

Not true. Try selling something to the average gunshop and you will probably only get about 50% of what they need to sell it for to make a profit. But most of you are missing the point I made earlier. The "$25,000" for a Colt Thunderer is either a misprint, or somebody does not know the...