Shrinking knives.

[jackknife]

ps... I read 'Kieth on Sixguns' at a very young age. He had it right.

Yes he did. But it seems like the revolver is passe these days. I go to the range about twice a week, and often I see the "young" guys there with their Glocks, and Sigs, and H-K's. Sometimes they give this old greybeard a glance, and some are curious about the gun I'm shooting. They don't see many old revolvers I guess. I have an old S&W model 10 with a 6 inch barrel and lanyard ring on the bottom of the butt. The blue is worn from alot of holster wear, and it has a 4 screw sideplate. On the backstrap is marked R.C.M.P.

A family member passed away and it was among his things he left me. The bore and cylinders are bright and lockup is good. It shoots great, with an action like butter on a warm day. Its a classy old gun that saw alot of time with some mountie up north someplace. Old guns are like old knives, you wonder what history they could tell you of, if they could speak.

 

[waynorth]

Do these young guys glance again, when their gun jams, and your revolver keeps on shootin'?!

 

[jacknife]

When I used to shoot pistol my favorite was a WW1 1916 Mk6 Webley revolver.
I used cut down .45 Long Colt cases in it and speed loaders. You should see how fast that break-top could be loaded Hit the barrel against my leg to open and dump the empties, while the other hand fill'd her up again with the speedloader. Had a SigSaur 9mm and a S+W 66, but I miss the Webley more. Had a .38S+W Victory Model with 'Lease Lend' stamped on the top strap. That was pretty nice too.

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

I love the old S&W 1917. Half moon or full moon clips made a great speed loader. Wish I still had that old Brazilian contract one I had. Slick action on it and that was just how they did em at the factory.

Count me in as a lover of the pinned and couterbored S&Ws. The georgous bluing, the trim and balanced setups. The new stuff is just too clunky for me with all the full underlugs, etc. In the Ruger I really like the old Security Six. It was like having a K-Frame Model 19 you could shoot full house loads in all day.

Aside from the aforementioned 1917, I think the Model 19, the J-framed 22/32 Kit Gun, and the 6 1/2 inch Model 29 (mine was a -2) are my favorite S&Ws.

Yep, I have a second edition copy of "Sixguns" on the shelf behind me and I used to have an orginal Lyman 250 Gr. Keith mold.

I had two people ask me if I still had my Glock and did I still want to sell it. I had fun telling them, NOPE, it transformed into a real gun.

Textoothpick, nothing wrong with that Ruger Old Army. A soft, .45 cal round ball will thwack what it hits pretty good.

Bill, I can understand the snake shot followed by the HPs, but if that is your loading sequence, why the wadcutter as the last round?

My great grandpa Rudd used to keep a Colt Diamondback in the headbord of his bed, even when I slept over with him as a wee, tiny lad, and a Bull Durham type bag full of wadcutters and semi-wadcutters. He let me shoot that thing once into the ground when I was somewhere along early elementary. I wonder if he knew what he started in me. I hope he did! <Smile> Grandpa Rudd's was also where I learned about outhouses, chamber pots (long before I knew what it was called) and about that big, rotating whetstone with the seat. Man, I sure wish I had been old enough to claim that stone! I learned other important things like dumping molasses or honey over butter, stirring it up and dipping into it with hot biscuits. I wish he could have been around later when I could have learned good old, Ky, hillbilly, life knowledge from him in detail.

Old knives, old guns, old pipes, old ways. The older I get, the better they are. Ugly, utilitarian guns that have been down a trail or two seem to draw me as much as deep bluing and figured wood. I keep wondering about their stories. Where have they been? How did they come by those scrapes and dings? What have they done?

Smaller? I miss the 16 Guauge on a real, gauge appropriate frame. Pleanty of gun for nearly anything, yet you could tote it afield all day and not be much more burdened than by a 20 Gauge.

Like the early tractor pulls, hunting and varmint control on the farm was a run what ya brung deal. You hunted with what you had or borrowed. You skinned it with whatever was in your pocket. And those folks seemed to do just fine. Fellows competed at the annual tractor pull at the fair with the same tractor they might have been plowing with on Tuesday and would be hauling manure with on Monday.

Keep those stories coming fellas. I'm enjoying everyone of them. It also feels good to see just how many like minded folks there are out there. Sometimes I feel like a dinosaur looking around to find there ain't many left who speak his language. Nice to hear it now and then.

 

[jackknife]

Jacknife I feel for ya!

One of my favorite revolvers was a Harrington-Richardson top break I bought in the 1960's. Fourty years of use have loosened it up a bit and it was very reluctintly retired. A top break revolver is a wonderful thing.

Were you allowed to keep it by older guns "grandfathered in"? I'm a little hazy on UK law.

 

[jackknife]

Bill, I can understand the snake shot followed by the HPs, but if that is your loading sequence, why the wadcutter as the last round?

.

If Bill is doing the same thng I am, I understand why the wadcutter as last shot. My own model 10 is loaded with five 125gr+P hollow points to start, but with a mild 150gr semiwadcutter as my last shot. In all that exitement I forget if I fired 5 or 6. So my last shot is a milder recoiling round, with a bit less muzzle blast. The target round on the heels of the hot stuff lets me know I just fired my last shot and its time to duck!

You know what they say about age and experiance over youth and skills.

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

If Bill is doing the same thng I am, I understand why the wadcutter as last shot. My own model 10 is loaded with five 125gr+P hollow points to start, but with a mild 150gr semiwadcutter as my last shot. In all that exitement I forget if I fired 5 or 6. So my last shot is a milder recoiling round, with a bit less muzzle blast. The target round on the heels of the hot stuff lets me know I just fired my last shot and its time to duck!

You know what they say about age and experiance over youth and skills.

LOL, good thinking. At the ranges I'd be working in the home, if it ain't done in six, I'm deep sixed. Hmmm, now if I get a second, smaller single action and use that #6 wadcutter it will tell me it's time to grab the next gun. See, a perfect excuse for a second revolver.

And yep, I do appreciate that saying! And I agree with it.

 

[jackknife]

I don't know Amos.

If I got all six of my .357 rounds off and I was still in the fertilizer, I want the coach gun in grabing range. Lets just move right to the "blue whistlers"!

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Lol, well Clint Smith of Thunder Ridge says that a rifle is what you fight with and a handgun is what you use to get to your rife. Substitute long gun for rifle and that is a pretty good idea.

By the time the six .357s have uncapped in our little area everyone left standing will probably be blind and deaf anyway.

One of the reasons I'd like to have a little Trapper sized lever guns again, in .357, or .30-30 if need be, is to set it up as my redn, ahem, South Texas Assault Rifle. Put on a ghost ring, or a basic peep sight and remove the aperture for a ghost ring effect. Then have sling swivels on it so when out on walkabout you can dangle it, barrel down on your off shoulder. You have control of the muzzle and a flick of the wrist and the sling is dropping off your shoulder as the gun is snapping to your shooting shoulder. I used to carry a trapper in .44 Mag that way in Alaska, or sometimes an Ithaca 37 short tube slung the same way. More power, more accuracy, and draw to shoot time about as fast as a handgun from the holster.

A coach gun, or a short lever gun makes a fine social piece. Look at the many photos around the Witte Museum here in San Antonio and you see a LOT of horseback and standing/sitting Texas Rangers packing basic Winchester .30-30 carbines. From horse to auto days, that old lever gun was the handsdown favorite. A few would carry 94s in .32 special, maybe a few 1895s, or the occasional Remington pump or auto rifle (interesting how that same safety showed up on a Russian combat rifle around 1947.)

Now I'm curious as to what knives the early lawmen and rangers carried as EDC. Anyone have any information on that? I may have to figure in a trip back to the Witte some day.

 

[El Lobo]

Jackknife,

Very perceptive of you. I'm probably not as proficient as some of you, especially under stress. Sooooo, that is my slightly more gentle reminder to perform a "New York reload"...which of course is code for grab the next weapon.

Very interesting thread here...great to learn from all of you, even at my advancing age..."old wolf, new tricks" and all that.

Bill

 

[jackknife]

Now I'm curious as to what knives the early lawmen and rangers carried as EDC. Anyone have any information on that? I may have to figure in a trip back to the Witte some day.

I recall an article I read years ago "Knives Of The Texas Rangers" . In one part of the article they talked about Captain Jack Hayes, (I think) who had his lever action rifle jam up on him. While his buds kept up their fire, he used the small blade of his Russells barlow as a screw driver to take off the side plate, clear up his rifle, and get it shooting again.

I guess thats one barlow that may have saved a life!

I also think that I read that once the Colt revolvers and Henry or Winchesters became common, the big bowies faded from the sceene. I also saw in another article in Knife World years ago, that from 1870 to 1890, the John Russells company shipped more barlows west than any of their other knives.

My guess is that you'd find alot of barlows in alot of pockets back then.

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Barlows. That sounds pretty right to me. I remember reading that story about the jam. It was with a 73 Winchester and he used his knife to take off the sideplate, pry out the jammed cartridge, and screw it back together again. I imagine the basic electricians knife would have been a real nice thing to have back then.

Thanks for the info.

 

[jacknife]

Jacknife I feel for ya!

One of my favorite revolvers was a Harrington-Richardson top break I bought in the 1960's. Fourty years of use have loosened it up a bit and it was very reluctintly retired. A top break revolver is a wonderful thing.

Were you allowed to keep it by older guns "grandfathered in"? I'm a little hazy on UK law.

No. they all had to go I'm afraid Jackknife. I count myself lucky that I had 20 years of pistol shooting before the ban, and feel sorry for those who now will probably never have the experience. Better to have loved and lost...as they say, but it still hurts. I console myself with my first love....my knives.

Reading about the +p and .357 Magnums reminds me that I once had my revolver jam on me. It was at the range with my S+W .357 model 66. I was using Federal full house .357's. Usually I just fired home-loaded .38 target loads but once in awhile I'd put something hot down the tube for practice

Anyway, the gun jammed, took me a few minutes to clear it, I was not happy.
What had happened as far as I could see was the primer had 'bled' into the firing pin hole with the higher pressure and jammed the cylinder. Now this was a new gun, only about 500 rounds down it and the firing pin hole was not worn or over large, the hammer wasn't bobbed, and a normal trigger pull. This put me off full house loads for defence and sent me in the direction of the old Webleys...big bullets...low pressure.

Have you ever seen the old Webley 'Manstopper' bullets? well if you turn hollow base wadcutter heads around and load them in the cases like that it comes close to a 'manstopper' round, though the originals were larger .455 calibre and hollow point and hollow base. Darn sight easier to hit with than the magnums.
You pays your money and takes your choice.
It's a bit academic as far as I'm concerned here in Stalag UK

 

[jackknife]

I'm sorry jacknife, that must have hurt, having to give them up. But at least you did have the pleasure of them like you said. Its not much better here in the peoples republik of Maryland. Every couple of years it gets more ridiculous with the laws.

I think the heavy slow bullets were the way to go. The modern gun magazines are hung up on how fast the bullet goes out the muzzle, so all the shooters want the high velocity stuff. The old Webley .455 was a great gun for the real world. I think most modern shooters are in some sort of fantacy world.

Guns like that old Webley were the product of an empire that covered the world. A British gentleman in some far off corner of Africa or India needed an effective revolver that got the job done. Alot of people forget that. The brits had alot of experiance in what worked, be it a charging Zulu or Dervish, or a hopped up Thugee.

Oh, for the good old days...

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

My deepest sympathies, Jacknife. I too am glad you got so many years with them.

While I have a .357 Mag currently, I used to shoot and load a lot of .44 Mag. What I really did was load and shoot a lot of 250gr Keith Semi-wadcutters over 8.5 grains of Unique in a mag case, which gave me a really nice, all around, mid-range load that was very accurate and did pretty much anything I needed without a bunch of recoil and belching. When I got back some into guns after letting nearly everything go, no longer having a .44 I traded my dies and moulds off on some gunsmithing or something like that. Freed up, I later picked up (since gone) a Colt SAA clone in .45 Colt. I just loved the way those standard, slow rolling loads shot and felt in the hand. I never really saw a reason to hot rod the old .45.

Part of going .357 is the getting smaller idea. Smaller rounds take up less space, use less powder (I hope to start loading again.) and there isn't much I'm going to be doing with it that can't be taken care of either in mag or using .38 specials, from small game to larger varmints. Besides, I still want to get a matching lever gun and I still remember running .44 Mag loads through that little carbine I used to have. Ouch. I could shoot a non-padded .30-06 for box after box of ammo, but that 5 1/2 lbs lever worked on the shoulder with 250 grain, full house loads. That one I was loading for bear. Literally.

Hey, Jackknife! My other knives are a little upset with you. Seems since you started this thread that little yellow CV peanut has taken up residence in my front pocket. I've even, gasp, taken the trim SAK along with it in the back pocket, dangling from a cord tucked under my belt. Suffice to say, my other EDCs are not happy. That's okay, wait till I leave the peanut at home to let a little Reminton single blade peanut from years ago ride in its place. Those peanuts do ride unnoticed, even in dress slacks. That's nice when I have a huge set of keys and a radio hanging on my belt and wallking several miles in a day.

You know the scary part. I've found that my favorite pipes these days are my small and light weight ones.

See what ya started.

 

[jackknife]

Hey, Jackknife! My other knives are a little upset with you. Seems since you started this thread that little yellow CV peanut has taken up residence in my front pocket. I've even, gasp, taken the trim SAK along with it in the back pocket, dangling from a cord tucked under my belt. Suffice to say, my other EDCs are not happy. That's okay, wait till I leave the peanut at home to let a little Reminton single blade peanut from years ago ride in its place. Those peanuts do ride unnoticed, even in dress slacks. That's nice when I have a huge set of keys and a radio hanging on my belt and wallking several miles in a day.

You know the scary part. I've found that my favorite pipes these days are my small and light weight ones.

See what ya started.

I trust you're feeling the liberation of going light. Its a nice feeling. I've been revelling in it of late, and its spreading to other facets of my life. Just you wait till you have some fish to cook up from a outing with a cane pole. A nice light cane pole, with an Altoids box for a tackle box!

Oddly my pipes are still the same Peterson 314 and 317 series. The only time I use a larger pipe is at night watching a video with the other half, or an afternoon with a good book. Then I like a nice deep pipe that holds a good hour and a half of tobacco. Saves reloading.

I also carry a trim sak, but I tote it in a belt pouch together with a small Dorcey AAA light. Mostly I carry the sak for the screw drivers and bottle opener, and use my slippy in the front pocket for any cutting chores that pop up. So far, that peanut has done everything I've wanted. Broke down some boxes for trash, opened same boxes when the UPS guy dropped them by the day before, opened my mail, Sharpened some wood tomato stakes, cut some twine for said tomato stakes and plants, trimmed some elecrical tape for a loose conection on the Vespa motorscooter. The Case CV is holding a very sharp edge. Its every good as my sodbuster, just smaller. I just wish I could have one in real stag, not the bone stuff.

A few years ago Karen and I went on a "lighten our load" trip. I got rid of darn near everything I had not used in a year or two. Clothes, guns, tools, knives. I think I made the kids and some nephews and a niece very happy. I kept what I felt I only really needed. A couple of my favorite handguns, a couple rifles, some basic harry homeowner tools.

It felt GREAT!

Now all my knives fit in a wooden cigar box, and all my guns are in one hidden shelf behind a wall. Everything got condenced. I did'nt realize how much stuff I had that when I looked at it, I just did not really want it anymore. It had ceased to mean anything to me. Now with our going light, we feel so much more free in life. Both personally and sort of spiritually.