S&W M34-1 2 Inch

I recently got this gun because another blogger, Xavier, had posted about his find in a pawn shop. I don't think I got away as cheaply as Xavier but it is a fine little gun. It came to me with Pachmayr rubber grips but I didn't like them and after trying several others ended up with configuration of the standard grips plus a Tyler "T" grip adapter. That is until that grip set-up was moved to my 642 and the "bananas" went on it (as shown). These feel just like the standard grips with the Tyler-T adapter but are a bit longer.

The "J" frame kit guns were a development from the Bekeart "model". San Francisco gun dealer Philip Bekeart placed a special order with Smith & Wesson for a .22 caliber revolver built on a .32 caliber "heavy frame" with 6" barrel, target sights and a special extended grip. Smith & Wesson obliged and produced a limited run of 1044 revolvers. Philip Bekeart received 292 from this first production and the balance went to other dealers. Later, more "kit" guns were made up on the "I" frame and then when the "I" frame was superseded, on the "J" frame.

I'd wanted one for a long time and had settled for the S&W M422 as more practical/less expensive and the Ruger Single-Six as more useful but still wanted one. Xavier's post sent me over the edge and I actually went looking for one. In the process I learned a lot about some sellers across the country and the vagaries of pricing. I think his post got a lot of others "thinking" too as there were a number of guns available before the post and many fewer after. I'm certain that he drove the price up. Anyway, I found this gun on GunsAmerica and made the necessary arrangements and sent off the money.

I was pretty happy when I got it and couldn't wait to shoot it. First thing through it was some Aguila Super Colibri. That ammo worked pretty well and I was able to keep walnuts rolling at 10-15 yards with no need to wear hearing protection. However, with standard rimfire ammo such as the Winchester PowerPoints or Dynapoints (modified to SGB profile, of course) this gun barks pretty good! However, I never got it to the range until 12 September 2007 when I finally managed to take this gun and my Bearcat to Hite Hollow Range and see how she does with some different types of ammo. Aside from unmodified Dynapoints, I tried some old, Russian-made, steel cased Junior.

Shooting small groups at 25 yards is an exercise with these guns requiring perfect sight alignment and very consistent trigger control. Single action I was able to keep almost all rounds in about a hand's breadth. One unanticipated problem was that the Junior ammo sometimes didn't "go" quite as vigorously. In other words, some rounds didn't have "full power". So, every once in a while, a round will sink considerable away from the group.

One other problem, common to the S&W kit guns is that as the gun got dirty it became harder and harder to extract all cases. This Junior ammo is particularly dirty and sometimes it appeared that I must have a small fire in my hands because the smoke really rolled! Of course that fouled the pistol quickly and so I had to clean it up in order to continue shooting.

As usual with the Winchester PowerPoint ammo, groups were consistent and among the best that this gun delivers. It is hard to tell, but this gun might just give better groups with the Winchester Dynapoints modified to SGB configuration. With this gun's short sight radius there's just enough doubt about my consistency to make me wonder which ammo is best. This is where the use of a rest like the Ransom would give one a definitive answer as to which ammo is more accurate and eliminate that nagging doubt over one's own abilities on any given day.

Links:
Marshall Stanton SGB

NRA Board Elections

I happen to think these are important. I think the board must (might be wishful thinking) give some guidance to the tactics and direction of the organization either directly or by judicious selection of the action people. Today I got my American Rifleman with the ballot inside. If you are a voting member, please take the time to vote.

I would like to suggest two things. First, that you only vote for the 5-8 very best people nominated or write-ins that you might have. If everyone votes 26 of the 31, I think that this ensures that the 26 least offensive will be elected with only the 5most unknown or most forgettable being unelected. By voting for only the best 5-8, the best vote getters will be obvious and it will ensure that the best ARE certainly elected. This is even more important if you are conducting a write in campaign.

Second, I'd ask that at the very least you examine the positions of those nominated. If they are in the least bit non-supportive of 2nd Amendment rights, as Jim Zumbo was, you should absolutely NOT vote for them even if you do vote for 20-25 of those nominated.

These folks are important because it is these board members who are going to face down some really anti-2A crap that will be coming our way over the next 4 years. Any one of them can, through an ill-considered opinion or phrase, damage our cause.

If you are a voting member, thank you for your dedicated membership.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I've seen two or three recommendations by hardcore activists for Steve Schreiner. Any negatives? Other comments?

S&W M25-2 "Effector" from John Jovino's Shop...

The .45 ACP in the revolver is the result of wartime exigency. The U.S. entered WWI and discovered they had insufficient stocks of the 1911 pistol for use in the trenches of France. S&W and Colt were asked to produce a revolver in the issue cartridge, the .45 ACP. A genius came up with the idea of the half-moon clip to allow the simultaneous ejection of the rimless service cartridge. Early Colt revolvers had chambers bored straight through the cylinder and required the half-moon clips (holding 3 rounds), S&Ws had a proper chamber with shoulder on which the .45 ACP case could headspace without the clips. These revolvers which made it home from the war were reissued to banks and post offices during the roaring '20s and/or sold as surplus. Many civilian shooters disliked using half-moon clips. For this reason, in 1920, the Peters ammunition company introduced a rimmed variation of the .45 ACP cartridge under the name .45 Auto Rim. It allowed both versions of the Model 1917 revolver to fire reliably without the clips.

The military service of the M1917 did not end with the First World War. In the mid-1930s, Brazil ordered many thousands of M1917s for their military. Now out of service and sold as surplus, Brazilian M1917s are sometimes seen in gun stores in the United States. They can be identified by the large Brazilian crest stamped on their side plates.

S&W saw a market for the guns and produced competition guns like the Model 1950 as well as other sporting configurations. Later, with the advent of stainless steel use in the firearms industry, it was inevitable that S&W would produce the old 25 using the material and the 625 was born. There have been several configurations of the 625 using barrels of 2-6½ inches and round-butts along with other features. the model number has even been applied to guns chambered for the .45 Colt.

When a friend offered to sell me his S&W 25 I "suddenly" got up a great deal of interest in the guns. I've read about the S&W .45 ACP chambered revolvers since I first picked up a Riviere's "The Gunner's Bible" a way back in 1965. I must have seen a couple of the commercial guns or a 1917 because my impression was that I would never, and I mean never get my hand around one of those or be able to shoot it. It must have been a strong impression because it took me a number of years before I took a chance on my S&W 629. I've documented my search for grips for that square butted frame revolver and that kinda put me off the N-frames (despite a nagging lust for a M-58) for years. Then, about 9 months ago, a close friend showed me his packing pistol, a "Lew Horton" 25-2 with 3" barrel.

Frankly, this is the first N-frame gun that had a grip with which I felt I could shoot DA or SA without some sort of contortion of the shooting hand. In other words I could reach the trigger and shoot it DA without my stubby little fingers needing an extension. I liked it. Unfortunately, we had an ice storm this week so we had to delay the transaction until this week.

I'm rather pleased. The big, blued, N-frame gun is a handful but with either the Pachmayr or wood grips (which I've found are for an N-frame gun), the K-frame round-butt makes it a gun I can handle and feels better in my hand than my M629. It makes me think I should have had my 629 given a K-frame round-butt. The serial makes this of 1982 (or 1983 at the latest) manufacture. I've been told that it was not a Lew Horton but a John Jovino "Effector", and I'm now convinced that is correct. I know my buddy was convinced that it was a Lew Horton but after seeing my evidence he's agreed that this gun came from the Jovino shop. There are no barrel markings and the blue is even and the same color on the whole gun. It is very well done by whomever and locks up tight with very little end-shake but there is a bit of "chatter" on the muzzle. It has the trademark Jovino ejector rod detent ball but the barrel is not marked "Effector" as some apparently are. I got it with a Galco holster (as shown) which seems to have been made for it. Whether this was provided by the Jovino shop or not, I can't say.

Of course I needed some moon clips to use in the gun and being the impatient sort I went to eBay and ordered from Old Sarge's Drop Zone from whom I got 100 for $34.60 shipped. That's a darn good price, S&Ws being 3 times that price and no better so far as I can tell. I also ordered 15 more plus a de-mooning tool from TarHeelGunner at $16.99 shipped. The clips from TarHeelGunner are the same as those from Old Sarge's Drop Zone and the tool is of the older, pressed sheet metal style which works a treat. TarHeelGunner also includes written instructions for the tool and an e-mail address to request an illustrative photo! I think that's pretty good service.

With my load of Unique under the Hornady 200 gr. CT-Match bullet, the gun shoots minute of pine bole at 15 yards. I really need to work it out some and have plenty of ammo loaded. Just need time for real range work.

In the video that follows Jerry Miculek is shooting an S&W 625 (the stainless 25) when he fires six shots, reloads, and fires six more shots all in 2.99 seconds. A revolver is actually faster than a semi-auto... at least in Jerry's hands.






Links:
- Brownells - a variety of moon clip products
- Cheaper than Dirt- full-moon clips
- RimZ Moon Clips-the plastic moonclip
- TK Custom and Moonclips-moonclips and clip tool
- Reloading The .45 ACP Part 2: Sixguns by John Taffin

Charles Daly Little Sharps

Everyone loves the Sharps rifles particularly the 1874 model which is all the rage when produced by Shiloh or C. Sharps. Mostly chambered in .45-70 or larger/longer cartridges burning blackpowder and weighing 8½ pounds and more, these guns are the darling of anachronistic hunters and BP silhouette competitors. Still, some wished for smaller lighter guns chambered for smaller cartridges with all the charm of the side-hammer breachloaders. Fortunately, one company had stepped into the "breach" so to speak.

Little Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company has been producing such a gun for a bit now. However, the price has been, well, above the means of some desiring such a gun. $3250 is what they've been charging for their handmade 20% smaller version of the 1874 Sharps rifle. Now, they have an Italian made copy of their gun, at a much lower price point. Just the thing to be in the reach of "the rest of us" who can't or won't spend quite that much for the experience of shooting a smaller Sharps rifle. While the handmade version is available in many suitable cartridges, the Charles Daly version will initially be offered only in .38-55 and .45 Colt, two of the most, deservedly, popular cartridges they could have chosen. The price is right, too. $1229.00.

Links:
- Guns of the Old West article, "Son of a Sharps" by Ron Harris
- Charles Daily Little Sharps from Gunblast.Com

S&W 642 joins the family...

Oh, I can hear you now. Nobody is going to rob your store, nobody like that goes over there, nobody would do anything to hurt you, just give them the money, etc. Well, it is just the one person in the store. The store is isolated. There is no view from outside the store. Many of our items are high dollar, low risk to transfer, even on e-Bay. We are just off the interstate and there have been several (many for this area) robberies of hotels and such just off the interstate as opportunistic thieves get their traveling money. There are edged weapons in the store as part of the stock. I get a bit on "edge" every time I show bladed weapons to people I don't know, particularly the "odd" ones. Oh, yeah, every once in a while. But truth be told it isn't the "odd" ones that get you. So for me, it is more important to go home at the end of the day and, frankly, there isn't enough cash in there to bother with, most folks pay with plastic. It is all about going home to the wife.

Something had to be done. Oh, I already have a couple of .38 Special guns but my preference for the 3" barreled guns for shooting has left me without a gun that will drop in my pocket. I really needed such a gun for work which would allow me to be armed with no indication that I was. Additionally, I like all steel guns. Let's face it, those are a bit heavy for the pocket and will flat drag a bathrobe off (while out walking the dog), that can be embarassing and in more ways than one!

The above photo was taken from the S&W site for the 642. My gun is an older one without the lock. That was very important to me. I just don't see a need and don't need the complication.

This gun also doesn't have the grip safety of the original Model 40 as shown in this S&W photo of the Model 40 Classic. This the gun I really wanted but, truth be known, only for my "collection" of J-frame S&Ws. However, this gun is heavier by 6 ounces (a lot in a pocket) just like any other all steel gun, and more expensive with an MSRP of $765, $236 more than the MSRP for my gun and $335 more than what I actually paid for my NEW revolver!

One thing I didn't like was the rubber grips. Not that they won't work. As you can see in the photo, these are shaped right to give one a good grip and handle recoil. But, when the gun is carried in a pocket, those things just grab cloth and make for problems. I switched those out for a pair of old wood S&W stocks from a M34-1 RB and a Tyler-T adapter. This combo looks good enough and works. One can now order a brushed aluminum adapter that will more closely match the finish on this gun.

The ammo, the only ammo, I intend to use is the 158 gr. lead hollowpoint "FBI" load. I've got a couple of boxes of the Winchester and Federal (discontinued) versions. I also provide a good copy with my handload of 5 gr. Unique under either the Hornady or Speer swaged 158 gr. lead hollowpoints.

My 642

Does it shoot? Yeah. No, I haven't had time to put 200+ rounds through it but it worked and put 2 cylinders full on point of aim at 15 yards. No groups yet. I'll be carrying this gun ALL the time now, so I'm sure it will be used to deal with groundhogs, possible rabid animals, and maybe even a bunny or squirrel. We'll see just how it does with time.

Holster? Currently I've got a Simply Rugged Silverdollar Pancake and an old S&W leather shoulder holster but I find I'm just dropping it in my right front pants pocket either in the Silverdollar or not depending on the pocket. Rob Leahy also makes a pocket holster, a better solution, and I'm going to order one of those ASAP. The pocket holster will help break up the outline of the gun in a pocket and make certain it is properly oriented for a reasonably fast draw.

Why the 642? That is a good question. As I said, I've wanted either an original or new Classic Model 40 for a long time. These guns are compact, reasonably accurate, have a good reputation for quality and durability. The design beats the 49 or 649 Bodyguard (shown to the left) because the completely enclosed hammer of the Model 40 or 642 allows less lint and trash into the action. Such things are bad for a pocket gun.

649 aka "Bodyguard"

The big downside, for some at least, is that the gun must be fired double-action but that is exactly how one will be shooting when "stuff" happens. I don't see it as a downside unless I'm trying to hit a squirrel at 25 yards. I'll just have to see just how much practical accuracy I can wring from the gun but what I already know is that it is capable of dealing with 2-legged assailants at 30 feet or less. The gun is with me right now, at work, and I feel much better than I did with my .45 in the truck...

AR-15s, aka "EBR" get yours NOW...

I know I'll be getting one again soon. I'm pretty much decided on a 1-7" twist barreled 5.56mm shooter and I'm going to have some 77 gr. quality handloads ready to go along with a low powered duplex reticle scope sight on the flat top with fold-em flat back up "iron" sights just in case... It will also have a short 16-and-some" barrel and telescoping buttstock (I'd prefer the old aluminum type). I'm only getting it for one reason...

In any case I'm researching parts suppliers. A friend has an upper from Lewis Machine and Tool. Sounds cool but if the upper works and it is a good barrel it will suit me.

Yesterday, I was over at Dominion Outdoors and saw that they had a few EBRs, specifically AR-15 variants/copies. Looked at them all including an Eagle Arms AR-10. Some money in the pocket and here comes the S&W MP-15, flat-top, folding sights, collapsable (albeit plastic) stock, 1-9 twist. And S&W has a promotion where you get one you can get a Sigma for $99 (about what they SHOULD cost!) $1099 for the rifle + $99 for the pistola + $59.90 tax for $1257.90 and the $2 NICS check.



I then went over the Nuckols' Gun Works and looked at theirs. They have a couple of Bushmasters including a short flattop with carry handle and 1-9 twist. Price was the same as for the MP-15 at Dominion. That's not bad for retail but I think one could do better and now I'm stuck on the 1-7 twist. I walked out with something else instead.

I'm thinking that whatever you do, now is the time to do it.

Ok, Another Neat but SHORT One

I thought this one of the Colt firing was pretty good. I love these things...

Neat 1911 Animation

The parts are to blueprint specs. Pretty darn good modeling but some assembly misses the tricks to get things together in the real world. VERY NEAT so I thought I'd post it here.

January 7, 2007 CREDIT CARD PROCESSING COMPANY REJECTS FIREARMS INDUSTRY

REFUSES TO PROCESS TRANSACTIONS . . . Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp. are refusing to process any credit card transactions between federally licensed firearms retailers, distributors and manufacturers -- a move which will severely limit available inventory of firearms and ammunition to military, law enforcement and law-abiding Americans.

The first company to be affected by this decision appears to be firearms distributor CDNN Sports Inc.

"We were contacted recently by First Data/Citi Merchant Services by a June Rivera-Mantilla stating that we were terminated and funds were being seized for selling firearms in a non-face-to-face transaction," said Charlie Crawford, president of CDNN Sports Inc. "Although perfectly legal, we were also informed that no transactions would be processed in the future, even for non-firearms. I find this very frightening."

To voice your concern to Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp., please contact June Rivera-Mantilla at 631-683-7734 or her supervisor Robert Tenenbaum at 631-683-6570.

To change to an NSSF-affiliated credit card processing program, contact Payment Alliance International at 1-866-371-2273 (ext. 1131).

Browning 1895 .30-40 Rifle

Once upon a time I was a 10 year old enthralled by firearms of all types and the history they helped to make. One day, somehow, my dad got a copy of Bill Riviere's paperback on shooting, "The Gunners Bible". In that book was a photo of a customized Winchester M1895 in .30-40. Oh, that gun was to die for. Give me some cold rainy day when I was forced inside and I'd stare a that photo for hours dreaming of hunts for moose, elk and big bears. So this was a gun I'd wanted for a long, long time when money in my pocket finally corresponded to the availability of a new gun, made by Miroku in Japan for Browning in 1985 and in .30-40Krag (.30 US) to boot! What a thrill!

The Winchester 1895 was developed by John Browning for Winchester to load from a box magazine instead of a tube under the barrel. This allowed the Model 1895 to be chambered for military cartridges with spitzer (pointed) projectiles, and the rifle was used by the militaries of a number of nations including the US, Great Britain, and Imperial Russia. The Russian production models could also be loaded using charger clips, a feature not found on any other lever-action rifle. By far, the greatest numbers of the rifles were made for the Russian military. There were also produced in sporting rifle and saddle ring carbine versions. There were some famous users of the 1895 rifle of which the most well known would have been President Theodore Roosevelt. First, he carried one such rifle to Cuba which was chambered in .30 US. Later, both he and his son Kermit used the rifles chambered in .405 Winchester on his famous African safari. Ned Frost, a famous guide out of Cody, Wyoming, carried an 1895 SRC.

My rifle is as we'd expect for a Browning gun. Well made and well finished. She is just beautiful if a bit plain. With her 24" barrel, she's a bit longer than any other levergun in my safe. Yes, she has that distinctive (and advantageous) box magazine "hanging" below the receiver and some will balk at that as an impediment to comfortable carry. However, I find that the rifle balances right at the forward edge of the magazine and so it functions to provide the stop that keeps the rifle slipping through the hand and is in no way as uncomfortable for single handed carry as one might imagine it to be. When shooting the gun is every bit the lovely siren I imagined she might be.

The action is both smooth and tight with no rattling. Cartridges run through with little effort and, so far, no problems. Indeed, this action is about the smoothest of any of the famous Winchester levergun actions I've ever tried. Even new, it is slick and fast. Both round nose and spire point bullets are just the thing with neither providing problems of safety or in feeding. No problems in accuracy either! Groups of factory 180 SP ammo shoots into 2-3" at 100 yards with the issue open sights.


I expect that it will do some better after I get a good aperture sight such as the Lyman 38 reproduction I bought. Just need to get the gun to Jon Ritenour in Harrisonburg to drill and tap it for the one screw necessary to mounting. This sight promises to be both more traditional and to provide a greater range of elevation adjustment. That elevation adjustment might just come in handy with the wide range of bullet weights usable in the .30-40 cartridge. Mine came from a private seller who got this Ukrainian sight from Buffalo Arms. These sights are imported from the Ukraine and may not be currently available except from buyers who've not yet installed their sights.


Loading of the 1895 action is obviously not done the same way as the tube fed leverguns but it isn't quite the same as other box magazine guns either. There's a particular methodology used that ensures proper feeding of rimmed cartridges from the box magazine by ensuring the rim of each cartridge is ahead of the following cartridge.

Ammunition? What about the .30 US (aka .30-40 Krag), is it effective? To what more popular cartridges does it compare? Is it hard to load? These are the questions I often hear.

In fact, the .30 US (aka .30-40 Krag) is extremely similar to the .303 British cartridge in both case form and in ballistic performance. So too, when loaded with bullets of the same weight, it is ballistically similar to the .300 Savage and .308 Winchester.

Of course, then, it is very effective on most North American game. I might prefer something bigger for the great bears such as the Grizzly and Polar bears but for everything else it will do nicely. The cartridge is no more difficult to handload than any other cartridge as there are no issues with the brass whatsoever. Powders suitable for similar sized cartridges as noted above will work in the .30 US as well. Bullets suitable for this cartridge and the 1895 action are also numerous and available. Standard primers are all that are needed to light the fire.

Chaparral 1876 Ammo

Chaparral has released the specs for the ammo they will be importing for the 1876 rifles and carbines. Fingers crossed as to when it will come in...

Happy New Year!

I wish for all my friends and visitors many safe and happy days on the range, hunting, boating, fishing and with their children and grandchildren. And for those of you doing what I used to do, defending the United States and freedom all around the world, thank you. I live every day to earn this life you've given me.

CE Gunshow at Augusta Expoland in Fishersville, VA Tomorrow

There will be a gunshow tomorrow and I hope to be there at 1100. Look for the guy with the SpanAm haversack.

Lyman 457192A in hand

My newly made mold, Lyman 457192A, arrived today. I'm excited. Now the grease grooves aren't quite as big as I expected but we'll just have to see how she does. No, I haven't cast any yet, it only arrived about 25 minutes ago!

.25 Stevens Rimfire

I remember reading Elmer Keith and his comments about the .25 Stevens (which I think he liked for small game). Recently I bought Rimfire Rifleman and in the back is a drawing of the .25 Stevens rimfire. That only served to excite me a bit and I started to do a little research.

It seems that most authorities agree that the .25 Stevens was introduced in 1900 despite some references which would seem to indicate 1890 or so. In any "case" this was a joint development of J. Stevens and Peters Cartridge. Stevens chambered the the "Crackshot" No. 15 and "Favorite" rifles for the cartridge. Remington and Winchester also chambered rifles for the cartridge.

The original load was a 67 gr. lead bullet over 10-11 gr. of blackpowder. Later loads were offered with both semi-smokeless and smokeless powders the later being used exclusively when the round was discontinued in 1942 (likely due to to the war). The inside lubricated bullet was offered in both solid and hollow point ersions. In response to the calls by many gun writers for a high velocity load, Remington reputedly did development work on an improved version, the .267 Remington Rimfire, with a rumored MV of 1400 fps with the 67 gr. bullet. Unfortunately, nothing came of it and with the introduction of the .22 WRFM, there was little need.

The cartridge had a very good reputation, even Elmer Keith liked it, on small game without ruining meat. The negatives were the relatively high cost and high trajectory.

Of course, the high cost being a consideration, there was also a .25 Stevens Short which initially used 4.5-5 gr. of BP. It could be fired in any rifle chambered for the longer .25 Stevens.

Interestingly, there were even empty primed cases offered. I'd like to read of actual experience(s) of those who used these and why. I know I've often read of shooters who wanted to try loading their own .22 WRFM or 5mm Remingtons. They almost always seem to believe that they could develope more accurate and effective loads if only they had the chance. Perhaps that was the reasoning here and the ammo company saw a chance to make a sale.

This would be about an ideal small game cartridge, especially today. However, I'm not so unrealistic as to think that the tooling and marketing costs would be prohibitive. Certainly, no new rifles (other than custom conversions of exhisting guns) would be made. Even Contender couldn't be used because the bigger diameter of the rim moves the rim away from the firing pin. I do think that ammo could be sold for the existing guns then again, that may be the last vestige of my rifle loonie self hoping for the best that will never come. After all, if Elmer Keith couldn't make it happen...