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1
Leather / Made from cowhide (mostly)
« on: May 06, 2024, 07:04:14 PM »
I don't post everything I make but here are a few things that might be of interest here.

Rattlesnake guitar strap.


Belt pouch for an S&W folding knife


Cell phone case


Basket weave & gunslinger stitched belt


Rifle Sling


Rifle sling (Made from Cape Buffalo harvested by the customer.  He sent me the pic)

2
Percussion Caps and Primers / Found some caps!
« on: April 21, 2024, 09:15:01 AM »
I went through an antique store to kill some time while waiting on my grandkids yesterday and I found three cap tins for my collection.  All three were ones I don't have.   Nothing exciting but I've never seen this CCI tin and I've never seen a Fiocchi percussion cap tin that was not labeled Alcan on it somewhere,  this Fiocchi can is aluminum.   I've seen the green & white label but never a light blue one.    The CCI tin and the Fiocchi tin are nearly full.







3
Percussion Caps and Primers / Percussion cap maker .... my version
« on: April 07, 2024, 08:18:46 PM »
All credit goes to CC member Rick Foster (DragoonRick).   I took his idea and research and made my own version of a DIY percussion cap maker.
I made mine from brass in the same manner as Rick but adapted it to a reloading press hoping to produce caps with more speed and less effort.   I think I had a small degree of success.   
It's all pretty much explained by the pictures and captions.

I made two sizes of star mandrills,  one for 1/2 inch disk and one for 7/16 disk and a punch that mounts in a spare crimping die I removed the crimper from.   The punch is mounted to the press with a Lock-n-Load adapter.



I cut off a 45-70 case and soldered the bottom to the star mandrills so it fits in a #8 shell holder.

Punch out disks from aluminum cans or I prefer the new style aluminum beer bottles,  they are made from heavier aluminum.   I annealed the aluminum before punching out the disks.   It is necessary to anneal whatever aluminum stock you use. 
Set a disk in place..


Pull the press handle.  The cap drops out the depriming hole in the press ram.


I made two sizes when I discovered that the bigger 1/2 inch disk made the cap skirt too long to fit on some nipples on smaller guns like the .36 cal Pocket revolvers.


I tested both sizes and had moderate success,  60% with 2 German made roll caps in each cup.   Then tried 3 caps in each one with no improvement.    I'm going to order some of the "Prime-All" compound from 22 ReLoader and see how that works.   I'm not willing to crush match heads and glue stuff in place just to make a few caps.

All in All I'm not sure this DIY cap making is worth it.   I'm embarrassed that I spent the amount of time and effort I have spent on this.   I will never ever make a cap as long as I can buy them.    It's too tedious and boring for me so I am now more willing to pay higher prices for the caps I need.   
I can now rest assured that I can make my own caps if needed but I'm praying that it never comes to that.   Tomorrow I'll be ordering some RWS caps.   Powder Valley still has some in stock.

4
Leather / AW Brill holster
« on: March 25, 2024, 07:57:40 PM »
I had a request for this holster from a member here quite a while ago,  I decided it was time to get it done.   
The customer was very interested in getting it made as much like a holster designed by AW Brill who had a specific method of construction as possible.  Brill worked around the turn of the century (1900 not 2000) and his design was made by several makers and favored by Law enforcement officers,  especially the Texas Rangers.   This style is called a Sunday Scabbard.   It features a band around the middle,  a specific welt construction and the apron is sewn to the back skirt at the toe.   It is also made of 7 oz.  in order to keep the weight down.   The main seam, apron, and cuff are hand sewn but the liner is machine stitched just like the original holster were made.




5
At The Range! / Spring?
« on: March 06, 2024, 06:13:46 PM »
A beautiful Rocky Mountain morning made me want to go shoot a few rounds today.    I took off about 11:00am after throwing my shooting bag and 3 revolvers in the truck.    It's still early for Spring to begin around here but it sure felt like Spring today.   

I shot my Dragoon first, always fun and reliable.  Then I moved on to an 1851 Navy that I bought from a member here.  I hadn't fired it before so it was new to me.   What a pain in the ass neck.   The nipples are some odd size...  I tried every size made and none fit.  They all fell off no matter what.  I couldn't make them stay put even by pinching them.    Every shot the fired cap and 2 or 3 unfired caps fell off.   The cylinder jammed nearly every time I pulled the trigger.    It was a lot of work to get 3 cylinders fired through it.   New nipples will be installed when cleaning it tonight.

The third gun I took along today was the Colt SAA  made by Hammerli.   This thing is a dream to shoot.










6
Powder Horns & Flasks / Powder flask spouts
« on: March 03, 2024, 05:12:07 PM »
I have intended to do this for several years.   I actually made good on my intentions the other day and made several calibrated powder spouts for my loading flasks.   Each one holds a weighed amount of 3F Black Powder in amounts I use frequently in guns I shoot.   I used a little diamond point engraving tool to mark each one and filled the marking in with Sharpie marker then wiped off the excess.  This should make loading quicker and more accurate than using a separate adjustable powder measure.


7
Brass and Other Cartridge Casings / Can you afford this?
« on: February 06, 2024, 06:01:08 AM »
I know I can't afford to spend over $3 per shot to shoot a '51 Navy.   
Check this out....https://colt1851navy.com/shop/ols/products/36-caliber-375-dia-paper-cartridge-conical-rounds-6-pack
This guy is advertising on FaceBook.

8
Leather / 4 piece set
« on: January 05, 2024, 03:57:36 PM »
Shipped this out last week....





9
At The Range! / More Shootin
« on: December 19, 2023, 08:24:47 PM »
Took a couple cap guns out for some exercise today.    A few days ago I bragged about shooting my Walker one handed so I figured I had better be sure I could still do it.  Good news!   I can still manage to get a cylinder full squeezed off before I have to rest my arm.   Yes I can hit the target too.   
I also warmed up the full fluted 1860 Army and my 1862 Police.   The '60 Army worked flawlessly but the '62 Police was a cap suckin son of a bitc....  er gun today.    Sometimes she works OK but other times it's tough to get two shots off in row.   







10
At The Range! / Schofield 2nd time around
« on: October 26, 2023, 07:29:28 PM »
I had the Schofield with me last week at the range but had a problem with the hammer block safety mechanism so I never fired a shot with it.   
I solved that problem so I took it out today to test it out.   
Last time I fired it I used BP cartridges even though I knew the BP would prevent the gun from running for long.    It only lasted 9 or 10 shots before the cylinder was too stiff to turn. 
This time I had cartridges loaded with 30 grains of American Pioneer powder.    It went much better.   42 shots before the cylinder started to drag.   I finished up a box of 50 cartridges.   The gun is a pleasure to shoot and hits POA unlike most other Italian replicas. 




11
At The Range! / Used up a little BP today
« on: October 20, 2023, 06:46:04 PM »
Went out this morning a fired the new Remington revolvers I bought last week. 

First the 1858...       works like all Remingtons do, not the prettiest girl at the dance but always shows you a good time.




The new 1863 Pocket Remington got heated up next.  It worked perfectly with .315 round balls and CCI #10 caps




Finally,  I pulled the LeMat out and proceeded to burn powder at a little more rapid pace.   9 shots per loading and 35 grains per cylinder.   It's a PITA to load and clean but fun to shoot.




I've been practicing shooting with both hands with my pellet gun since I dislocated my shoulder several months ago so I tried some left hand shooting today with the big guns.   Happy to say I'm getting pretty comfortable with both hands.    Maybe I'll try some two fisted shooting next time.






12
1858 Remington "New Model Army" Revolvers / Adding to the safe again
« on: October 20, 2023, 06:56:38 AM »
Picked these two up from forum member Camo last week.     New in the box, priced good and Camo is a pleasure to deal with.   I'm going to shoot them later today. 



13
Leather / Gunslinger belts
« on: August 18, 2023, 07:21:20 PM »
These Belts with the "infinity stitch"  or "Gunslinger" style belts are getting popular again.   I made these 3 on Wednesday.   They are 10 oz. veg-tan with a 6 oz. liner.   Plenty stiff enough for most carry guns no matter what style or weight it is.   
I also get requests for rear cinch billets made in the same style from Latigo leather.


14
General Discussion / ssb73q Thank you Richard
« on: August 16, 2023, 08:53:45 PM »
Thank you to Richard (ssb73q).   
I sold a LeMat pistol to Richard several years ago at a reasonable price.    Not cheap by any means but a fair price.     When Richard mentioned selling some of his collection a while ago I offered to buy back the LeMat pistol from him.    He politely declined and several months, maybe a year had gone by when Richard let me know he was ready to sell the LeMat.    I had regretted selling the revolver but needed cash at the time.   I was glad to hear I had a chance to buy it back.   
The reason for this post is to thank Richard,   not only for giving me first opportunity to buy the revolver but also for selling it back to me for the original price I sold to him for.   In addition he made several improvements and included the holster, a bunch of spare parts and a gun rug to protect it during shipping.    It would have been easy for Richard to have asked double the money for the LeMat and the extras and he would have easily gotten it.    I can't express how much I appreciate the fact he just wanted to be fair.    I would not have been able to buy it back had Richard expected to make a profit.   I don't think making money on the deal even crossed hs mind.

Thanks again Richard,  I'm going be shooting the Lemat again in a few days I hope.




15
1873 SAA Colts / Modern Colt joins the remuda.
« on: August 04, 2023, 07:29:49 PM »
I bought a new Uberti  Cattleman SAA,  as you can see it's a 3 1/2 inch barrel chambered in 45 Colt.   It's one of the new ones with the hidden retractable firing pin.   Yes, I have read both the complaints and complements concerning the new fangled system and decided to go ahead.   I'll try it since it can safely carry six but if the retractable firing pin is any trouble I understand a standard Cattleman hammer can be installed instead.
A few weeks ago my truck was broken into and the bastards stole the 1911 Commander I kept hidden under the console,  This is going to be it's replacement.   
I haven't fired it yet  but I took it apart and cleaned the mill grit and gravel out and lubed it up and reassembled it.   Now it runs smooth and doesn't seem to need any more attention. The coil hand spring gives it a nice feel but the spring seems kinda small.    We'll see after I get a chance to shoot it.   




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