Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt

This is the 1987 Sam Elliott version of the Louis L'Amour novel, featuring Sam as Con  Vallian (not the later Sam Raimi flick with the same name, with Sharon Stone) and Elliott plays the part of the half breed Con very well. It features a few very nice and recognizable firearms, such as the ubiquitous Colt 'Peacemaker' '73, Winchester '66, Winchester '73 and even a few Henrys...including what appeared to be an iron-frame version. Some of the other actors/actresses don't fit the genre much (the main heroine seems more like Barbie Goes To The Black Hills) but the flick was worth watching simply because I like Elliott as an actor and he plays the part well. I wouldn't pay $3.99 to rent it, but if you find it free, it's not a bad way to spend a couple hours with your boots up (mind them spurs!) and knocking back a brew or two.

Welp, true confessions here. One of my resolutions this year (and darn near the only one) was to stop letting excuses get in my way and get some doggone shooting in.
So my son and I resolved to get to the range today. I was awakened to a fresh snowfall of several inches, way too early for a Saturday morning. Range opens at 9:00 am sharp and we figured on getting there at least a half hour early. Which I did. Good thing my son got there earlier than me, because he had already paid for the last two indoor shooting benches and there was a line, brother! I thanked him for grabbing me a spot and we set up on opposite ends of the covered and heated portion of the 100/200 yard ranges. (there are ten indoor shooting benches with excellent lighting, ventilation and heat, so we didn't care if it was snowing...which it did all afternoon...and set in to shooting.
Now, he had brought several of his centerfire rifles and handloads, to map out his load data. Me, I brought my Browning High Wall in .45-70 and my 7mm mag, which we won't delve into.
I had not shot the High Wall in a few years now (hence that 'resolution') and wanted to check my most recent .45-70 smokeless loads, which I had specifically tailored to be as close to the factory Remington Core-Lokt 405gr semi-jacketed FN ammo you can buy off the shelf...at 60 bucks a box of 20. No thanks!
After putting up a target at 100 yards, I proceeded shooting. I immediately found that shooting a blued rear buckhorn along with a blued front blade silhouetted against a black 12" center target was, well...a whole lotta black. And since I couldn't see a bullseye on a black 12" circle, the results were disappointing and sporadic at best.
About 3/4 through my first batch of reloads, it suddenly struck me of the advice I had given my son years ago when teaching him how to shoot. He had asked what to do when your front sight covers a deer's vitals. "How can you aim for the sweet spot", he asked, "when your sight is blocking it?"

Easy, I had said. Set your sights to be dead-nuts at 6 o'clock...think of a pumpkin on a fence post.
I wondered if I had had the sense to set up my Browning sights that way last time I had sighted in? It had been so long I couldn't remember how or what I had done.
What the heck? I'll give 'er a try. So I leveled the front blade with the top of the rear buckhorn and slowly raised the sight picture up until it just kissed the bottom of the black at 6 o'clock and squeezed one off. I looked through my spotting scope and...am I dreaming? Dead-nuts elevation and maybe 3/4 inch to the right! The next shot was nearly touching the first one, and the third as well. Shot after shot continued to chew a big ragged hole on the edge of the ten-ring!

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Well, 'something'...I'm not gonna let the cat out of the bag...is making it's way to me. Something I've been jonesing after for quite some time now. I had been pushing it aside for quite some time now until recently, when the right gun at the right time for the right price showed up at the right place, and well, you know how that story ends.
It took a nail-biting two weeks for my funds to reach the vendor...fortunately I had the presence of mind to send it registered mail, and could at least follow the snail-trail.  So payment has been received and I have confirmation from the seller that it is being shipped this week. So much for USPS...good thing it wasn't a Christmas card or they'd be getting it around Easter.
Anyway, they say patience is a virtue, so I must be one virtuous son of a 
Now, there are a couple of fellers here that know exactly what I'm up to, so ZIP IT!
The rest of you are free to make educated guesses. I may be dropping a few random hints, and I will answer your guesses with a "no" if you're wrong, and possibly a redirect or two. Not unleashing the hounds until I have it in my hot little hands and can post a real-time pic of it...at which time I will relocate this thread to the...ahem...appropriate section. I'll leave this post with one hint...approximate date range of original item (this is a modern repro) is between 1850 and 1900.
Go!

Now that things have sort of returned to somewhat normal in the BP world, again we are threatened with a potential 'shortage' of shooting supplies. How are things in your neck of the woods, and in your supply cabinet in general? This mainly in regard to:
*Black powder
*Subs
*Patches, wads, lives
*Caps
*RB, conicals, lead, moulds
And if you reload BPC:
*Primers
*Bullets or casting lead
*Brass
Is anyone still feeling the pinch?

Tonight between sunset-midnight a so-called "Super Blue Moon" should be visible in the sky. It's the closest the moon will be to the Earth until 2037. A  blue moon is so-called not because it's blue, but because it's the second full moon within a month's time. If you have clear skies in your locale, don't miss it!

Shotgun and I were discussing our Sharps rifles the other day, and the topic came up about Billy Dixon and his "shot of the century" using a borrowed Sharps "Big Fifty" rifle. There are plenty of interesting stories regarding this incident, which I will link below, but the basic facts are as follows:

*The shot was made by a young Billy (24 years of age) at the second battle of Adobe Walls using a borrowed Sharps "Big Fifty" rifle, by some accounts pushing a 600gr bullet (some sources say 500gr) in front of 125gr of black powder

*The shot was witnessed by several people

*The shot struck the intended target, a warrior (or chief, depending on the story teller) on horseback at .8 of a mile, and in cowboy lingo, "blew him out of the saddle". Some recounts say he was killed, others say he was badly injured and squirreled away to safety by others.

*The Army later measured the distance and confirmed it to be 1,538 yards

For more accounts of this, I've posted some links below for your reading amusement and pleasure.  Also of note; Cimarron is offering a Billy Dixon Sharps model in cal. .45-70 Gov't:

https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/billy-dixon-sharps-rifles-45-70-32-oct-barrel.html

Some links to various articles about Billy Dixon and Adobe Walls:

https://texashillcountry.com/shot-century-billy-dixon-history/

https://www.rifleshootermag.com/editorial/featured_rifles_billy_dixons_one_mile_shot_010311/84065

https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/the-hero-of-adobe-walls/327859

https://www.nrafamily.org/content/throwback-thursday-battle-of-adobe-walls-the-old-west-s-longest-shot/

https://www.astm.org/jfs12734j.html

And for the doubters in the crowd, some ammunition:

https://texashillcountry.com/the-long-shot/

So, what do YOU say? Did he, or didn't he make the Shot of the Century that day?

At any rate, VIVA Le Sharps!

I have lots of Colt replicas and BP replicas of other guns.
What I DON'T have is an original, and with prices the way they are, probably never will.
But I LOVE to look at them.
If you are one of the few fortunate ORIGINAL Colt owners, this is your chance to show it off! With as many cameo shots as possible...

This thread ONLY applies to authentic Colts (no replicas), and does not include 2nd Gen or Signature Colts, lettered or not. If you got 'em, flaunt 'em!