Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt

Well y'all know my wife's Altima burned up the other day leaving me with no choice but to drive my old 98 Silverado with 260K on the clock. It runs and drives great but it has a lot of issues and I haven't trusted it to go very far for a long time. I always had my wife follow me if I had to drive it any distance. So I've been looking for another ride I could afford. Everything I looked at was either junk or had more miles on it than my truck. I figured I'd have to get by with it and save what I could for a few months to get something with less miles on it. Well a buddy that lives on the other side of Columbus about 50 miles from here sent me a text with pics of a 2004 Jeep Cherokee with 110K on it and a lot of new parts for 1,500.00. It looked good from the pics but I figured it would be too good to be true or would be gone before I could get somebody to take me up there. Lawrence said he would drive down here and pick me up and take me up there. He said it was on the Air Force base in Columbus and the only people that would see it were military personnel and people that worked on the base. I called the guy and told him I was coming but it would be a couple of hours. I got there and he met me outside the gate. It was everything he said it was. New alternator and battery, new brake lines and pads and rotors front and rear and a new transmission. I doubt the tranny is new or even rebuilt. If it was either I doubt he would have sold it at that price but it is very, very clean, doesn't leak and it shifts like it should. Everything works except for the AC and the left rear door won't open. It does have a little rust but it's nothing I can't live with. I can fix the door and he said he thought the AC was just low on Freon. Plus I asked him if he would take 1,300.00 for it and he did. This is the info sheet he had on it and the seats do work and it has 107K on the clock.

This was just 7 miles north of me.

Complete with carpenter bee.

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!!!!

I realize lawnmowers aren't exactly a hot topic of conversation around here but it's what I've been spending my time on lately. A couple of months ago a buddy gave me his old Exmark zero turn.



Yeah I'm a sucker for somebody else's cast off junk. He burned the bearings out of two deck idlers and instead of buying two pulleys he bought a new mower. The old bearings were completely gone.



New pulleys are about 30.00 apiece so me being the cheap SOB I am I rummaged around in my parts box and discovered the top blade spindle bearings for a Craftsman LT 3000 were the same thing. I drilled the spot welds out of one pulley but it wouldn't come apart. I thought it was just the tight fit of the bearing but it turned out I missed four welds. I didn't discover that until after I notched the flange holding the bearing in.





In my attempts to separate the pulley halves I bent it and it wouldn't go back together not even squeezing it in a vise. That's when I found the other four spot welds. Anyway I got it apart and straightened it out. The other one I had gone ahead and notched. I did have to buy a new bushing. One of the old ones got ground up.



I repacked the sealed bearings and got it bolted back together and got them installed on the deck. The deck is ready to go back on.



Both front tires were rotten and split open so I got two new ones. Man talk about a pain both getting the old ones off the rims and the new ones on. I'd rather mount 18 wheeler tires. My Craftsman tires aren't nearly as hard.



I still have to get a new belt for it and take care of a couple of other issues but the thing runs and drives like a champ. One of the issues is the bolts they used for seat hinges is broken and frozen. I soaked it in penetrating oil and couldn't drive either piece out with a punch and hammer. I can't turn either piece with a 1/2 inch ratchet.



My air compressor has a blown head gasket so I can't use my air chisel. I guess I'll have to make a new head gasket before I can fix that. I could use heat but don't want to burn the paint. Not that the paint is that great.

The other issue is a leaking valve cover. Not a biggie. I'll just buy a new one instead of sealing it up with silicone.

Once I get it all back together it should be a grass cutting son of a gun.

If you have an old S&W K Frame, M&P, model 10 etc, this will help you date it.

Manufacture Year by Serial Number
"K" Frame Revolvers - 1899 to 1983:
(Years/Serial Number Range)
Pre-War Years:
1899-1902...........1-20,975
1902-1903...........20,976-33,803
1903-1905...........33,804-62,449
1905-1906...........62,450-73,250
1906-1908...........73,251-120,000
1908-1909...........120,001-146,899
1909-1915...........146,900-241,703
1915-1942...........241,704-1,000,000
War Years:
1942-1944...........V1-V769,000
Post-War Years:
1944-1945...........S769,001-S811,119
1945-1948...........S811,120-S990,184
- C Series:
C1 - C233,999………….....1948 – 52
C236,004 – C261,483…….1953
C277,555 - C402,923….…1954 – 56
C402,924 – C405,018…….1957
C405,019 – C429,740…....1958 – 59
C429,741 – C474,148…….1960
C474,149 – C622,699…….1961 – 62
C622,700 – C810,532…….1963 – 65
C810,533 – C999,999….....1966 – 67
- D Series:
D1 – D90,000…………….....1968
D90,001 – D330,000……..1969 -70
D330,001 – D420,000………1971 – Early 72
D420,001 – D510,000………Late 1972 – Early 73
D510,001 – D659,901………Late 1973 – Early 1974
D659.902 – D75000………..Late 1974 – Early 1975
D750,001 – D870,000………Late 1975 – Early 1976
D870,001 – D999,999………Late 1976 – Early 1977
2D00001 - 2D80,000……….1977
2D80,001 – 2D99,999………1978
4D00001 – 6D10,000……….1979
6D10,0001 – 7D10,000……1980
7D10,001 – 9D44,500…..1981
9D44,501 – 17D8,900………1982
17D8,901 – 21D0883……….1983
- K Series:
K101 – K614……………......1946
K615 – K18,731…………....1947
K18,732 – K73,121……..…1948
K73,122 – K84,149……..…1949
K84,150 – K104,047…...1950
K104,048 – K136,690...1951
K136,691 – K175,637...1952
K175,638 – K210,095...1953
K210,096 – K231,255...1954
K231,256 – K266,154...1955
K266,155 – K288,988...1956
K288,989 – K317,822...1957
K317,823 – K350,547...1958
K350,548 – K386,804...1959
K386,805 – K429,894...1960
K429,895 – K468,098...1961
K468,099 – K515,478...1962
K515,479 – K553,999....1963
K555,000 – K605.877....1964
K605,878 – K658.986....1965
K658,987 – K715,996....1966
K715,997 – K779.162....1967
K779,163 – K848,781....1968
K848,782 – K946,391....1969
K946,382 – K999,999....1970
1K1 – 1K39,500.........1970
2K1 – 2K22.037.........1970
1K39,501 – 1K999,999...1971
2K22,038 – 2K55,996....1971
3K1 – 3K73,962.........1971
2K55,997 – 2K99,999....1972
3K31,280 – 5K6,616.....1972
4K1 – 4K1,627..........1972
4K1,628 – 4K54,104.....1973
5K6,617 – 5K73,962.....1973
4K54,105 – 4K99,999....1974
5K73,963 – 6K58,917....1974
7K1 – 7K26,043.........1974
7K26,044 – 7K70,577....1975
6K98,918 – 8K20,763....1975
8K20,764 – 9K1.........1975
8K20,000 – 9K100,000...1975
9K1,001 – 9K99,999.....1976
10K001 – 24K9,999......1977
25K001 – 56K9,999......1978 – 79
57K001 – 91K6,800......1980
91K6,801 – 124K000.....1981
125K000 – 269K9,999....1982
270K000 – 311K273......1983
In 1980's the Three-Letter Prefix Series Began with AAA0

I finally got in some serious shooting today. My R/M is a fantastic shooter. I was using FMJ flat points and man it was dead on the money. I think most of you know I don't shoot much paper but I was nailing Coke cans from 25 yards with it. I shot some of the Richmond Labs conicals in my 51 navy. They were also very accurate. A little harder to load than round balls and I couldn't find my wads so I used some CVA patch grease that's around 40 years old. It surprised me by not being nearly as messy as Crisco. I never tried it as an over ball lube. I bought it for a patch lube for my Hawken and didn't like it.

Now for what I don't want to admit. I witnessed a cap jam on it. I have never had a jam with it. My wife was shooting it and said she couldn't cock it. I looked at it and the hammer was frozen solid. I had to take the barrel and cylinder off to clear it. I was shocked to say the least. SO, I guess it's the way I shoot that avoids jams. The nipples are factory and the caps were CCI #10. I was using 25 grains +/- Swiss 2F.  The measure I was using is my rifle measure and it only has 10 grain increments so I just put it close to the middle between 20 and 30. The bullets barely cleared the forcing cone. They actually drug a little at first. I turned the cylinder a few times until it turned freely. One day I'll have to make a target stand and put them on paper. I did shoot one of the Richmond Labs into the ground at about 10 yards so I could dig it up and see what they look like fired but I couldn't find it. It went a lot deeper than I expected. All in all it was a very good day. I got to shoot some guns I haven't fired in years and smell some powder smoke.

For me anyway. I went to the old house today and found a couple of boxes I didn't remember. Amongst the stuff in them was this tin of Remington caps. I had to have bought them in the early 70's. No later than 75. It still has caps in it but the lid has been pushed down on one side and I can't open it.