Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt

Howdy

Here are a few old Winchesters.

Winchester Model 1873, made in 1887. Chambered for 38-40.





Winchester Model 1892 rifle at top, made in 1894. Refinished so it was quite reasonable to buy.
Winchester Model 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine at the bottom, made around 1916.
Both are chambered for 44-40.





Winchester Model 1894, made around 1941 if I recall correctly. Chambered for 30-30.




A couple of gallery Rifles.

Winchester Model 1890 at top, made around 1908. Chambered for 22 Long.
The bottom rifle is my Dad's old Winchester Model 1906, that his Dad bought for him in Abercrombie and Fitch in New York City in the early 1930s. This model feeds 22 Shorts, 22 Longs, and 22 Long Rifle interchangeably and it is still a tack driver.





Here is a photo of my Dad as a young man shooting the little Model '06 in Maine around 1931.





Just for fun, here is a photo of the Model 1873 with a Bisley Colt that was made in 1909. The Colt is also chambered for 38-40.

Howdy

I bought this old Marlin way back in the 1970s sometime. It was made the second year of production, 1895. I happened into a local shop and came across it and bought it pretty much as a lark. It is chambered for 44-40, which I had never even heard of at the time. The shop had one box of Remington 44-40 ammo, I still have a few rounds left in that box. Many years later I took it to the first CAS match I ever attended. Fired one shot and it jammed up tight. I had to have help unloading it and used a borrowed rifle for the rest of the match. I took it to a smith and he discovered that the hook on the lever that pulls the block down was completely worn out. He welded a bit more metal on and got it functioning again. However by that time I had bought a Winchester Model 1892 so the old Marlin pretty much gathered dust. I did have Happy Trails do a little bit of work to it, lightening the hammer spring among other things. I took it to a few matches, shooting my Black Powder loads out of it, but it doesn't get shot a whole lot these days.

I should probably bring it to a few matches this year.







Here is a view of the hook that needed a bit of metal added.





The front sight is interesting. I seem to recall it is a Lyman sight, and it has a tiny ivoroid bead set in it.





Somewhere I thought I had a photo of the caliber call out, but I don't seem to be able to find it. It says 44W. Not 44 WCF and not 44-40., just 44W. Anyway, here is a shot of the patent dates. You can see how much wear there is on this old rifle.




Here is the tang with the model number.





Question to the moderators:

My photos of the rifle are bigger than they are showing up here. How do I get them to show up bigger?

Howdy

My first post here. Thought I would post a few photos of my SAAs.


This one is a 2nd Gen, made in 1968, 45 Colt caliber. It looks much older than it is because a previous owner stripped all the finish off of it, including most of the Case Hardening colors on the frame. I came across it at my lgs about ten years ago. I got it for a good price because it is a parts gun; the trigger guard and backstrap came from another gun. Lucky for me the dealer is an honest guy. Another interesting feature on this gun is the little bit of metal that has been welded onto the front sight. It is quite visible in this photo. Probably added after somebody took too much off the sight. This is probably my favorite gun in my entire collection. I love the feel of the short barrel, and it has a lot of character.






This one is a late 2nd Gen, it was made in 1973. 45 Colt caliber. This one came with an extra cylinder, also chambered for 45 Colt, but having 'long flutes'. You can see the flutes are slightly longer on the extra cylinder, and it has the Black Powder bevel on it. It is a little bit more accurate with the 'regular' cylinder. I lettered this one a bunch of years ago and found out that it originally left the factory with a 12" barrel, but was returned shortly and fitted with the 7 1/2" barrel.






This is the pair of them. They are my usual Main Match revolvers in CAS. They only get fired with Black Powder, I never put Smokeless through them anymore. You can see there is a bit of 'browning' happening to the ejector housing and the barrel on the short gun from all that BP over the years. I usually shoot them with a case full of FFg under a 250 grain bullet. Recoil is stout, particularly with the short one. Sometimes I throttle back a bit and fire them with Schofield rounds and only about 28 grains of FFg under a 200 grain bullet. Recoil is a bit milder.



 


I have always had a soft spot for the Bisley model. I found this one last year. It is my only 1st Gen so far, made in 1906. It has been re-barreled and has a new cylinder chambered for 44 Special, clearly it did not leave the factory that way. The grips are clearly not original either, but they are very cool. I usually shoot 44 Russians out of it, loaded with Black Powder of course. It has not been tricked out inside at all, the hammer and trigger pull are a bit stiff, but I will probably leave it just as it is. Recoil with only about 20 grains of FFg under a 200 grain bullet with 44 Russian is very mild.






Just for fun, here are the 7 1/2" 2nd Gen and the Bisley together for comparison.