What keeps your pump primed?

[Captainkirk]

How to you keep your interest from waning regarding your BP revolvers? Shooting them? Cleaning them? Playing with them? Books, movies, TV shows?
For me, outside of "all of the above", the biggest thing is having a dedicated Western channel, that not only plays movies and such, but also runs old westerns every day/night. I can sit down on any given evening and watch Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Virginian, Wanted Dead or Alive, and lots of great movies on the weekend. After viewing stuff like that, how can I NOT get enthused!

[ShotgunDave]

To answer your question simply, yes. LOL! I do all of those things.

I watch movies too just for the gun stuff. My wife will ask, "are you going to watch Unforgiven again?" I watch it all the time just because I like the gun action. Same for Josey Wales. I like Josey Wales even more, because it's cap n ball guns. And yes, when I'm watching a movie, I'm usually holding one of my pistols, so I feel like I'm taking part in the action. (I know, I'm weird)

My guns are not locked in a safe. They are kept available for easy access. A day doesn't go by that I don't have at least one of them in my hand.

And I know, someone is going to say that I'm not being responsible, or the law says blah, blah, blah. Save it. Because I have been responsible. My kids know how to handle the guns, and know not to touch them without permission. Teaching your kids responsibility is being responsible.

[Fingers McGee]

When the weather is not conducive to spending time making smoke, I find myself in the vault playing with and polishing the safe contents. Watching the western channel also figures in. Spending time in Facebook BP groups and Internet Forums also keeps the enthusiasm going.

[Hawg]

I hang around bp forums lol. I watch a movie now and then and read a book now and then. I've always been a gun nut and started shooting and owning guns at an extremely early age. I got into bp at 12 and been into it at some level ever since. I've been doing it so long tho that tearing them down and cleaning has no enjoyment. I used to tear them down just to be doing it. I was that way with all my guns. Now I don't even take them all the way down to clean them after shooting. I also don't feel the need to play with them while watching movies . I keep a couple in my desk drawer right next to me and will on occasion pick one up and fondle it for a few minutes. I need to find a place where I can get out and shoot some. Living in the country ruined me. I could just walk outside and shoot anytime I wanted to. Now I'd have to load stuff up and go somewhere and I'm too lazy. When I was a kid I could shoot in the backyard here but times have changed.

[Miguel Loco]

I'm lucky.....I have friends that keep me engaged in these as well as cartridge conversion guns. There's something new to get excited about, play with and drool over every week. Living close to...and working in Tombstone does the rest.

[sourdough]

My primary BP interest is Confederate Colt-type revolvers. I usually have my nose in a book about them (and original mid-19th century Colt revolvers) when I am not online looking for information about them. That is also true about the different varieties of modern replicas, by any manufacturer, and I am always thinking about how I would go about creating them. I am not into defarbing/antiquing and have no problem with Pietta "billboards" or other markings; to the contrary, date stamps and proof marks give clues about what these companies mindsets are/were when they created them. I like my revolvers to look as new as possible as they would have back in the 19th century. The re-enactor infatuation with worn/beat-up guns makes about as much sense to me as wearing a uniform that looks 150+ years old.

Jim

[Hawg]

I like my revolvers to look as new as possible as they would have back in the 19th century. The re-enactor infatuation with worn/beat-up guns makes about as much sense to me as wearing a uniform that looks 150+ years old.

Jim

After four years of war I doubt many of them looked new when they came out. I have defarbed and aged one. It's a Rigarmi Remington. I bought it new in 1969 and as a 12 year old kid I put that gun through more hell than any original went through during the war. I played war in the woods with live ammo. I dropped it, tossed it, fell in a river with it a couple of times. It rode around in the back of a pickup truck on countless occasions. I carried it every day during the summer. I don't know when the bluing left but by the time I was 14 it had none. It spent a few years in moms attic with a broken loading lever after I got married in 77. That didn't do it much good. I finally got a new lever but that rusty old beat up gun looked ridiculous with a shiny new lever. So I took the Italian markings off of it and coated it with vinegar and salt(except the bore and chambers) I made it look more like one I found in an old barn. I'm not trying to fool anybody. I did it for my personal pleasure. A few years ago I broke the lever again. I have another new one but haven't decided what look to go with this time. I can age the new lever and leave it as is or I can try to spruce up the rest of the gun but it will never look anywhere near new again.

[mike116]

I don't know what primes my pump anymore....   I don't get to shoot anymore,   I had to sell some of my guns last year,   I don't know anyone who shares my interest in BP guns and Western history, and most of my time is taken up by other responsibilities.   

And yet,  I'm still here.   I check in at least 10 times a day even though I don't have much to contribute these days.   I can't explain it beyond the fact that once you are sucked into this environment it becomes a life long habit. 

[Miguel Loco]

I don't know what primes my pump anymore....   I don't get to shoot anymore,   I had to sell some of my guns last year,   I don't know anyone who shares my interest in BP guns and Western history, and most of my time is taken up by other responsibilities.   

And yet,  I'm still here.   I check in at least 10 times a day even though I don't have much to contribute these days.   I can't explain it beyond the fact that once you are sucked into this environment it becomes a life long habit. 

Come down to Tombstone Mike. It'll rekindle it all. It's great to hang out with so many different people sharing the same interests. I know it sure did for me......

[ssb73q]

Hi, the prospect of getting my next firearm keeps me pumped. The gun safe is full, but I can always find room for the next firearm as long as I have closets, walls, and space under beds to keep them. Reading gun stuff, shooting pellet and .22 guns in the basement, and reloading keeps the interest up during the winter. My interest in firearms began with my first cap gun as a youth and continues strong today.

Retirement and BP smoke go so well together.

Regards,
Richard

[mike116]

 
Come down to Tombstone Mike. It'll rekindle it all. It's great to hang out with so many different people sharing the same interests. I know it sure did for me......

Thanks Mick,   I still have the interest but my activity level is what is lacking.   I need a place to shoot and maybe someone to come along.

[Hawg]

Hi, the prospect of getting my next firearm keeps me pumped. The gun safe is full, but I can always find room for the next firearm
Retirement and BP smoke go so well together.

Regards,
Richard

I'm really happy for you that you can afford to do that. I was that way when I was working but a disability check wont allow it now. Nowadays if I want another gun I have to sell something and I'm running out of stuff I can stand to part with.

[Yolla Bolly Brad]

  I like working on cap & ball revolvers. Whether it's simple repairs, fine tuning or complete make overs, that's what really floats my boat. A lot of what I learned working on relatively inexpensive reproductions has been applied to Ruger and Colt SA revolvers. Also this and the 1858 forum have kept me interested with a flow of fresh ideas and old knowledge coming in.

[mazo kid]

My gun collection is very eclectic, and I tend to swing from one genre to another. Percussion revolvers occupied a lot of my time the last few years. I haven't shot any much for several months now. I do like to hang out on these forums, have made a bunch of "e-friends" on them, even got to meet a couple in person that live close by. For 48 years I was heavy into the rendezvous scene, sorry to see that coming to an end.

[mazo kid]

I don't know what primes my pump anymore....   I don't get to shoot anymore,   I had to sell some of my guns last year,   I don't know anyone who shares my interest in BP guns and Western history, and most of my time is taken up by other responsibilities.   

And yet,  I'm still here.   I check in at least 10 times a day even though I don't have much to contribute these days.   I can't explain it beyond the fact that once you are sucked into this environment it becomes a life long habit. 

Come down to Tombstone Mike. It'll rekindle it all. It's great to hang out with so many different people sharing the same interests. I know it sure did for me......

Mick, it has been many years since we were in Tombstone. It was interesting, but to tell the truth, I was kinda disappointed in the commercialism....every place along the main street was a gift shop, admission charge to the OK corral. Now....if you are there the next time we visit (my brother lives near Tucson) I will definitely look you up!