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23 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

The '94 & the Single Action - what brands?

The ‘94 is a Winchester. It belonged to my grandfather. It’s my favorite. I also have a carbine with a round barrel, but I’ve beat it all to shit over the years. 

The SA is a Uberti 1873 knock-off in 45LC. I would love to own an actual Colt, but every time I decide to grab one I somehow end up with a suppressor or a black gun instead.

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  • Opened my big fat mouth at a nice gun shop while on an out of state trip.  Lots of vintage shotguns but very few rifles behind the glass.  Guy asked if I wanted to look at anything and I declined - sa

  • 1874 SAA.  4 digit frame.  Not factory grips but been on the gun as long as anyone knows.  At least 80 years.  

  • SOOOOOOOO, I have an update. Folks were in town, got to talking about my .270's older sibling "Bob".  The unicorn rifle: Pre-64, Model 70 .257 Roberts "bob" Shorter, heavy bar

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11 minutes ago, AnotherLawyer said:

Kind of. It’s a half cape. The rest of it is on the wall.

Nice. I had the extra hide of mine made into pillows (tapa no worky to upload pics).

I’d intended to do something with it but it was easier to transport this way. Then when I finally got it through customs I thought it looked better like that.

I qualified 39/40 on my M16 qual and 100% on my LTC with my Beretta 96, which I discovered was DA only dammit. 

 

Alison-Brie-Booyah.gif

New Guns and Ammo came in the mail, and there are two beauties on the cover:

30080068_837879823067558_671399101281494

Yes, please.

Have read of talk on the Colt Forum about Standard reviving the SAA. Hope they can attain the USFA level of quality.

Finished the rig.

 

5KUhGbW9_o.jpg

 

The bullet loops ended up being a pretty tight, so I had to carefully set just the loops and insert cartridges to stretch them out. When the leather dries its thickness shrinks a bit, loosening them up. Even then I had to take a round file to thin out some of them so that I can easily remove a cartridge with one hand. Getting it wet and stretching it like that means you have to dye it again and it wont be quite the same color as before. But it's all lessons learned. I think I spent about five hours stitching up the loops.

Just picked up one of these:

The Link

Basically it's a 10/22 receiver modified with a biathlon style bolt action.  It should be extremely quiet with a supressor and .22 subsonics.  Can't wait to take it for a spin.  

 

Going to Modern Outfitters this morning. Pray for me.  

Well after getting a quote to build a 6.8 I texted a buddy of mine. He has a custom one from Modern that has less than 100 rounds in it with quick detach to fit my can, custom cerakote, Leuopold glass, upgrades trigger and Magpul stock for about 60% of my quote.

Okays.
  • Author

Went to the NRA convention yesterday. Never thought I could get tired of looking at guns and accessories but there was so much there, I did.
Got my hands on the new Sig P365 and want one bad!

Been there, done that a couple of times. I'd rather go to the Tulsa show one of these days.

All the Sig P365 owners I've read are thrilled with those guns.

Any thoughts on a Colt Defender 90 in 40sw?  Seems to be a little on the rare side.  Have a buddy selling one while going through a divorce.  These things have any value?  He wants $800 for it but there doesn't seem to be much on line to establish a value.

1 hour ago, Reagan1k said:

Any thoughts on a Colt Defender 90 in 40sw?  Seems to be a little on the rare side.  Have a buddy selling one while going through a divorce.  These things have any value?  He wants $800 for it but there doesn't seem to be much on line to establish a value.

Did a search on the Colt semiauto forum

http://www.coltforum.com/forums/search.php?searchid=7915617

Gave my new cans a workout last week. Really enjoy both the 45 setup and this setup.

 

Most of them blend in with the grass, but there are seven shell casings in the air in this pic. Good times.

 

a8daa7645a46023e1f6e0847100190b3.jpg

 

What mud boat do you have? Gatortrax 1960 commercial with a mudbuddy 45 on mine.
Replied just now on the boat fantastic thread.
Nice. I had the extra hide of mine made into pillows (tapa no worky to upload pics).

eb60c217020d2d357260dd30dbac0e27.jpg

Tapa test
12 hours ago, 686 said:

Gave my new cans a workout last week. Really enjoy both the 45 setup and this setup.

 

Most of them blend in with the grass, but there are seven shell casings in the air in this pic. Good times.

 

 

 

I can only spot 3, but then again my cataracts are growing worse.

Looks fun though.

Hey, anybody know anything about a "hardballer" 45?

I guy has offered one to me in  a trade.  Junk?

 

Gotta pic? The only time I hear hardball is describing the ball ammo for one. Supposedly GIs wanted the 1911 cause they all fall to hardball.

no pic.  Googles say that they were manufactured in SoCal for 25 years or so.

 

e AMT Hardballer is a series of pistols that are a clone of the .45 ACP Colt M1911 made by Arcadia Machine & Tool (AMT) from 1977 to 2002.[1] The Hardballer was the first entirely stainless steel 1911 pattern pistol.[2] Other features included adjustable rear sights and a lengthened grip safety.[3]

 

 

Overview[edit]

The Hardballer derives its name from round-nose hardball G.I. ammunition (solid 230 grain Full Metal Jacketed bullets). This is the round the pistol was designed to shoot.

The Hardballer series of pistols all share a brushed stainless steel finish and a wide target style trigger with adjustable trigger stop. The later Galena-made pistols have an elongated "beavertail" grip safety and a beveled magazine well.[4]

I’ve owned 2 AMT hard ballers they’re giant turds but will for the most part feed fmj, good luck finding parts if it breaks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Heard the same thing about hardballer AMTs years ago. A real hit or miss brand.

My little AMT .380 Backup sucked balls.

On 5/3/2018 at 8:37 PM, Armybrat said:

Have read of talk on the Colt Forum about Standard reviving the SAA. Hope they can attain the USFA level of quality.

Brat, I spoke to a Colt rep at the NRA convention last weekend, and he said that SAA production was being handled by two custom shop guys and delivery on orders should drop to 1.5 years producing 2-3 per day.  I got the distinct impression that the guy looking to retire is staying on to clear a backlog and to ‘train’ another guy, then he will retire leaving only one guy building them.  Sad, but there may be an interim plan in place to keep the Colt SAA from going out of production.  I also got the impression that they were getting a lot of questions about SAAs but management is focused on anything but SAAs.

On 5/5/2018 at 9:31 AM, BigDHornfan said:

Went to the NRA convention yesterday. Never thought I could get tired of looking at guns and accessories but there was so much there, I did.
Got my hands on the new Sig P365 and want one bad!

The trade show at the convention was nothing short or awesome.  Agree - takes at least 2 full days to see it all without getting fatigued.  And that P365 surprised.

 

2 hours ago, solamente73 said:

Brat, I spoke to a Colt rep at the NRA convention last weekend, and he said that SAA production was being handled by two custom shop guys and delivery on orders should drop to 1.5 years producing 2-3 per day.  I got the distinct impression that the guy looking to retire is staying on to clear a backlog and to ‘train’ another guy, then he will retire leaving only one guy building them.  Sad, but there may be an interim plan in place to keep the Colt SAA from going out of production.  I also got the impression that they were getting a lot of questions about SAAs but management is focused on anything but SAAs.

The trade show at the convention was nothing short or awesome.  Agree - takes at least 2 full days to see it all without getting fatigued.  And that P365 surprised.

 

That's HUGE news about the SAA guy training another smith/assembler/finisher to take his place. Will post your comment over at the Colt SAA forum if you don't mind.

Those guys have been guessing at the SAA production numbers for the past year or two - ranging  from 0 to 800 or 900  for 2017. What is certain is they are still being produced, as at least two Colt Forum members have purchased new 2018 regular production (not Custom Shop) SAAs in the past couple of months.

The 1.5 years for a Custom Shop build must mean they are getting the extensive backlog cleared out, because over a year ago they were refusing any new custom orders and that the then current orders would take 2 or 3 years to be completed. One guy I read two months ago said he had just received his custom SAA that he had ordered in late 2015. Crazy.

Reloading endeavor update:

I’ve purchased most of the gear I think I’ll need to get started. I splurged on an Rcbs Chargemaster Lite electronic powder measure, which should get here tomorrow.

This evening I wanted to do some case prep, so I used an ultrasonic cleaner for starters, seemed to work well:

d60ce7a4c15b202e1aaa96b484e14481.jpg

And then into the wife’s dehydrator for drying:

bcb47d2b5c05c8e9856385bffa3575c8.jpg

Here’s the 270 grain LRX I’ll be loading up, pretty great looking bullet for the .375 IMO

3cd02c06d4c8c963817438c44214476f.jpg

Ya coulda tossed a few strips of beef on that dehydrator....

;-)

Ya coulda tossed a few strips of beef on that dehydrator....
;-)


I’ve actually never made my own jerky but I really should do that, maybe this year.

She got that thing for drying kale (not worth it) and apple slices (a lot of work for the result), so it really only gets used now when I have a big crop of apples from my trees and want to make some apple chips. Since we had it I decided to go ultrasonic instead of the tumbler route, pleased with the result so far, fast and easy.

If there are a decent number of reloaders in here, it should really get its own thread. That's a rabbit hole as deep as you want to make it.

No kidding.

I used to reload shot shells back in the 90s. 12 ga mainly. Some for skeet and trap but mostly loading bird seed for dog training.

But yea, you are certainly discussing centerfire.

If there are a decent number of reloaders in here, it should really get its own thread. That's a rabbit hole as deep as you want to make it.


Yeah, but then the normal gun people might not see all the “fun” they are missing out on. I christened more case prep gear tonight, pretty handy:

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3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

That's HUGE news about the SAA guy training another smith/assembler/finisher to take his place. Will post your comment over at the Colt SAA forum if you don't mind.

Those guys have been guessing at the SAA production numbers for the past year or two - ranging  from 0 to 800 or 900  for 2017. What is certain is they are still being produced, as at least two Colt Forum members have purchased new 2018 regular production (not Custom Shop) SAAs in the past couple of months.

The 1.5 years for a Custom Shop build must mean they are getting the extensive backlog cleared out, because over a year ago they were refusing any new custom orders and that the then current orders would take 2 or 3 years to be completed. One guy I read two months ago said he had just received his custom SAA that he had ordered in late 2015. Crazy.

How does one even get on the list for regular production or custom SAAs?  A glance a the Colt website doesn't seem to have a place to get on the list or put down a deposit......maybe I'm missing it - wouldn't be the 1st time.

Regular production apparently gets sent out to stocking Colt dealers by luck of the draw. And those dealers probably have a long waiting list.

One Colt Forum member reported last month that his LGS still had two brand new SAAs still in their showcase after he bought one at MSRP. Of course those were snatched up the next day by other members who read his post. That gun shop was in Hartford.

It's just a crap shoot online. There's a dealer in Florida (I think) who seem to have at least two or three brand new ones for sale on Gun Broken all the time - but he's asking about $2,500 (and getting it).

A year & a half ago I saw a new one - 4.75" in .45 Colt - in stock at Tombstone Tactical at retail ($1,487 at the time). I had just made two purchases & passed on it but posted a heads-up on the Colt Forum. It was gone within an hour after another poster bought it. He thanked me & posted pics when he received it.

You can always call Colt customer service for info. The Custom Shop itself is going full blast on 1911s last I read. However the Colt Forum's best insider was Brent - the foreman of the Custom Shop - but he was fired a year ago, much to the dismay of the whole board. He was (and is) well respected there. The Colt Archive historian still posts on that forum.

Anyway, deals on NIB SAAs can be found according to the prolific collectors, although I haven't seen any myself. Or you can go the used route - or even through the big auction houses like Rock Island or Julia.

Gratuitous pic of my 1979 production .357 (considered a not so desirable year/configuration by the Colt nuts) so this post does not suck....

60a1514ad014b7072899403b12760503ca8733d.

 

 

Edited by Armybrat

10 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

How does one even get on the list for regular production or custom SAAs?  A glance a the Colt website doesn't seem to have a place to get on the list or put down a deposit......maybe I'm missing it - wouldn't be the 1st time.

A NIB current production Colt SAA in .45LC with 4.75" barrel color--case-hardened was my holy grail forever.  Finally secured one last year by 'winning' an auction for it on Gun Broker.  I watched Gun Broker for years, had a budget, and it finally worked out.  You can find them, but there's a premium to be paid, just depends on how much you are willing to pay for whichever variant you want.

Obligatory, to go along with Brat's

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Edited by solamente73

Took some time today and got a temporary bench setup, sized and primed 48 cases in about 30 minutes.

f13fbc17dec131dd03e4cb05636a498c.jpg

Had one “oops”:

b6db17a8cb5cc030821a3731176a2454.jpg

Powder scale came in so hopefully I’ll have some time to finish a few rounds.

It’s getting real. Trying to get the die positioned correctly to crimp and working up some progressive loads.

b3937f58001be7b1e6b62796523ba656.jpg

Rolled up about 10 progressive loads. Hopefully I’ll have some time to swing by the ranch tomorrow and chronograph them and see what the speeds look like. Definitely going to be watching for overpressure signs.

c6073f20914c8788f7af19c96f4c4dc1.jpg

What chronograph are you using?


Caldwell
On 5/6/2018 at 6:04 PM, Gil Bang said:

Hey, anybody know anything about a "hardballer" 45?

I guy has offered one to me in  a trade.  Junk?

 

AMT Hardballers are badass.  Basically a longslide 1911.

Well, the ones that survived probably are. Maybe the one in question here could be, if not already, rebuilt into something like this Springer....

43766_1.tif&wid=1000&cvt=jpeg

 

Edited by Armybrat

Reloading endeavor range report:

Made it to the ranch and shot my progressive 375 WBY loads:

e84031606a8a0d9ac2ef6f0545c98bfb.jpg

Everything went great. No issues from my first ever handloads and the velocity numbers were a nice surprise. Success!

There aren’t many published loads for 375 WBY, and those that are published seemed like they used faster burning powders than what would be optimal. I ended up trying a powder I thought might work well, but the closest cartridge it has published load data for is the 30-06. I extrapolated the 30-06 data to the 375 WBY. That might have been a little risky for my first attempt, but everything I read lead me to believe it would work fine. The last couple loads were compressed, and the bolt handle seemed just a little tighter when I opened it after the highest load (which I almost didn’t shoot because I was comfortably over my target velocity), which might indicate a little too much pressure. Here’s the data. Next I think I’m going to work up some loads around 2900 FPS and check grouping, then adjust from there if need be. Also need to shoot from the sticks and make sure the recoil hasn’t become ridiculous.

50c5b749fe5811fb33e3cfbc6da7adae.jpg

Also, I used Caldwell’s phone ap, which is a handy way to automatically log the data, especially when you’re shooting groups:

fd6320b87a8b8283160662eda419d16c.jpg

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