Search the Community

As I PM'ed with several revolver aficionados who responded to my Ruger trade post, I realized some people might enjoy a peek at one of the focuses of my collecting: S&W revolvers. Pictured here are from top down are: 1979 Model 629 8-3/8" with a pinned barrel and counterbored cylinder 1983 629-1 4" 1976 Model 29-2 8-3/8" with a pinned barrel and counterbored cylinder 1982 29-3 4" All are "3T" Target Triggers/Hammers/Sights. Both pairs represent the jump in engineering changes from pinned barrels to threaded, and dropping the machining complexity of counterbored cylinders which results in a larger gap to the frame behind the cylinder, in order to clear the protruding cartridge rims. The long barrels are somewhat softer shooting, but the short barrels are more pointable. All require a recitation of the words "do you feel lucky, punk?" after closing the cylinder. I hope some enjoy the peek in the safe.

I’ll start by saying my affiliation with the company I’m talking about is through a friendship with the owner, years of working with his family and our years in the same unit in the military (only a decade or so apart). Byron started Black Armor Guns earlier this year and has worked with AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit) personnel to achieve the quality of rifles he’s now building. The attention to detail he applies it far superior to any other high end AR I’ve used, nothing leaves his hands unless it’s as absolutely perfect. Innovations within his company are an ongoing process to ensure the highest quality is achieved while not completely breaking the bank. He is currently building two models; one being the Door Kicker meant for daily use and personal protection but still competition ready and the Champion which is a fully spec’d competition rifle. Next on the horizon is an AR-10 variant that is still being tested. The levels of accuracy being achieved by both models is sub MOA with factory off the shelf ammo. I spent several years working with a smith in Springfield building bolt actions and achieving sub MOA wasn’t always achievable with factory ammo and hours of load development were required to achieve the best results. Each rifle is hand built by him and each customer experience with him is individualized. I wanted to share his accomplishment because he’s a great friend and always there to provide a hand. Here are some links for the aforementioned rifles. https://fb.watch/n21ejnPu8U/

I'm a bullpup fan and when I saw the opportunity to get the new Desert Tech Trek-22 for the Ruger 10/22, I jumped. I understand it'll be a love or hate, purely on asthetics alone, but I love it! It's super compact, balances extremely well, losses weight over any other stock, and retains (if not accents) my Hornet trigger. All my upgrades are retained. A couple drawbacks: you'll have to take the stock shell apart to deep clean and you have to remove the optic to remove the clam shell. Not hard just a thing. That being said, it's easy to access for general cleaning and easy to reassemble. This is my final setup. That's an 18" bull barrel.

I recently rediscovered my passion around shotguns, specifically over and unders as well as shooting sporting clays. I have been purchasing some here or there and my main tool is a new Browning Citori CX White, it's a fantastic sporting gun and I love it, but I go with other folks who often times don't have their own shotgun or do but it isn't necissarily ideal for a sporting course. I have let folks use my gun and I really don't have any issue with it but I think it's always nice to have more guns so what better excuse to get a not so nice version of my gun to clean up and work on and also shoot and share? Now these guns are a bit on the pricey side, and not necissarily the most popular type of shooting style here in TN so I chose to go the online route in search of a deal. I came across a posting for a used Citori, with 78 photos for <$1000.00. So I jumped at it, after loking through the photos I was fairly confident I was getting a well loved gun, it had been used but also well taken care of and customized a bit for the previous shooter. Those suspicions were confirmed when the gun showed up at my local FFL. I wasn't sure of the age of the gun but was pretty sure it was older than me. When I finally asked for the S/N to date it the seller had already dropped it off at their FFL and didn't even take note of the S/N. I received it today and sure enough it is a pretty darn good shotgun, definitly shot, but fit and finish is very nice, it's almost as tight as my brand new one, and the S/N checks out as a 1978 production year and the model designation is J53, which is a special order of their standard Grade I Hunter "153" configuration, meaning it was likely part of a large batch of orders for a specific chain of stores. It has 26" barrels, fixed choke of modified over improved cylider, which happens to be exactly what I run in my CX White (I knew that when I bought it), it has the automatic safety bar removed, and the butt pad has been shaved and rounded, so it seems like this gun was used as a clays gun. The only thing it doesn't have that I prefer is a mid-bead which I will look to add at a later date likely. Right now I'm just very happy with my purchase, I happened to have an old case I got on here for a trade a while back that she fits perfect inside of (and my CX White does NOT fit in with the extended chokes installed). Anywho, this is the result of a lot of foam cleaner, a lot of bore cleaning, and toothbrush work and then oil and lube. She has a few nicks and dings but nothing I'm not going to add to, and if I get really frisky later I may just take a crack at some repair/refinish work as I do enjoy working on my firearms.

I saw a photo of the Old Hickory Powder Plant in a Cracker Barrel restaurant here in Memphis. My uncle worked there just before he joined the US Army. At the time he worked there it was operated by DuPont and they were producing Cordite for the British. Cordite was a soft pliable stuff that was extruded. Before it solidified it could be molded like clay. My uncle made a shapely ladies' leg complete with a dainty high heeled shoe from Cordite and gave it to my mother, very racey at the time! When I first saw the leg, about 1943 or so, it was maybe six inches from thigh (blush!) to heel. The last time I saw it, 1985 or so, it had shrunk to about 3 1/2" long, but still perfectly portioned. It varied in color from charcoal gray to translucent amber. At my mother's death in 1998 it went to my oldest sister in Florida. I have no idea of its whereabouts now. I believe Old Hickory's output was for British artillery shells. I don't know if any was produced for small arms ammunition, but the British used Cordite for awhile after that War. My uncle was Maynard Wright and was on the editorial staff of the Nashville Banner then moved to Charleston, WV as an editor for the Charleston Gazette. Bob Wright

Hello guys, I know this gun (H&K usp .357 sig) is hard to find but I'm sure someone is selling one somewhere. Please is anyone is selling one or if you know somewhere I can go to find one I would love some advice. I was reading that a member named Creepy was selling his a couple yrs back I wonder if he ever got rid of it? Again some help would be greatly appreciated thanks guys!!

How can we convince major gun companies that the .357 sig is not a dying caliber and is an amazing round that is in a league of it's own when compared to other stout rounds, also convince more major gun manufacturers to start producing the gun again in multiple variations to appease their loyal gun community. THESE GUNS WILL SALE!!!JUST MAKE EM ALREADY!

So, I said my FAL needed a friend... Friend of mine who works at GT sent me a message cause he knew I’ve been after a decent older one at a fairly low price. I believe it’s a Mark III, 1990 production year by the serial #. She’s gonna get some wood grips and I’ll decide whether or not she’ll get a new finish after cleaning out the crud and rust. Now I guess I really do need to get on finding some Rhodie shorts in size “fat”.

Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0 Compact 9mm I have owned a variety of M&P semi-autos since they started producing them back in 2005. I bought my first M&P, a full-size .40SW, from Guns & Leather 12 years ago when the pistol first came out and quickly followed it with an M&P 40c and then several other versions joined them over the years. The 40c and the 9c were never really a favorite of mine as they seemed to suffer from the same things that the Glock 26 and 27 sub-compacts did. Namely, they weren't small enough to really be a pocket gun but they weren't large enough to be very versatile either. Just like with Glock, if I was going to carry a double-stack 9mm, I was going to go for the Glock 19 instead of the 26 and with the M&P it meant the full-size 9mm. The M&P Shield was a huge step in the right direction for Smith & Wesson for those who wanted a slim 9mm for deep concealment. It also really put the spotlight on the fact that the 9c was, in my opinion at least, really not good enough at any one thing to make it a compelling option. If only S&W would just listen to their customers and build something exactly the same size as the Glock 19/23. We just wanted them to give us 15rds of 9mm in a package slightly shorter in the slide and grip than the full-size. Apparently someone at S&W has finally listened. The new M2.0 Compact scratches all of the itches in all the right ways. It is as if Smith and Wesson's lawyers finally relaxed and gave the engineers the green light to go ahead and build a better Glock 19 than Glock does. And boy did they get it right. And they kind of snuck it in on everyone. The M2.0 Compact version really doesn't seem to have received the fanfare or enjoyed the publicity blitz that its full size brother did. The release wasn't timed to coincide with any of the major industry shows. The internet wasn't ablaze with rumors of the new gun until it had essentially been announced by S&W. I only saw the "leaked" promotional slick for the new gun maybe 48 hours before the company published it officially. And yet the paradox seems to be that the lack of hoopla over the gun is significantly the inverse of just how good it is. The new M&P Compact no longer occupies a weirdly confusing spot in Smith & Wesson's lineup. It no longer tries to follow in the equally awkward footsteps of the Glock 26/27 platform. Instead, it has taken the Glock 19/23 platform squarely in its sights and blown the center out of that target with a better option. The new Compact gives a platform that is perfect for concealed carry, with superior ergonomics, a better feel and a sexier look than its Austrian competitor. And, just as the Glock 19/23 will fit into a holster made for the larger 17/22, the new M2.0 compact fits even better into holsters made for the larger M&P full-size. Carrying the M2.0 Compact in a TT Gunleather "Mike's Special" leather inside the waistband holster made for my M&P 9mm Full-size yields an extremely comfortable and potent concealment package. The shorter Compact fits the longer gun's holster as if it were made for it. The slide is only 1/4" shorter at the muzzle but otherwise identical in dimension to the larger gun. The trigger guard is exactly the same size. The grip is of course shorter in length at the cost of giving up two rounds of 9mm, but 15 rounds is hardly inadequate and the shorter grip deftly avoids printing against a t-shirt when concealed. So, how does it shoot? It was no problem at all to keep the first two magazines (30 rounds) that I ever fired from the gun inside the head kill zone of a man-sized target at 15 yards. The pace of fire was slower at first but I quickly ramped up the speed to my normal cadence for defensive shooting (2-3 rounds in rapid succession) with only marginal widening of the pattern. I found the trigger's break to be crisp and predictable. I haven't measured the pull yet with my Lyman gauge but i expect that it is somewhere between 4.5lbs and 5.5lbs based on the way it felt. I haven't bothered to check to see what S&W specs it at despite the ease of finding such information with Google. The trigger reset is no more exciting than any other M&P that I have ever owned. For those who like the extremely tactile reset of the Glock pistols, you won't find the M2.0's reset to be quite as audible or authoritative. It's a little on the limp and soggy side, but I've never found that to be a bother or to hamper my ability to shoot the M&P platform quickly and reliably. I tend to subscribe to Rob Latham's philosophy that if you "ride" the trigger you will find it hard to pick up an unfamiliar gun and cycle it reliably. As a result I've spent the past 20 years learning to keep my grip firm and sight-picture correct rather than relying on riding the trigger's reset to keep my groups small. Your mileage might vary and the soft reset may drive you nuts, but Apex Tactical Specialities has all of the trigger and ignition parts you need to make your M&P feel a little more Glock-like if that is what you are after. Another thing that I noticed with the M2.0 Compact is that, with mine at least, the slide lock seems to have been improved by S&W so that lefties can finally release it with their dominant hand's thumb and not pull a hernia in the process. I am not a lefty so I am at a disadvantage any time I try to do lefty-things, but the slide lock lever is no trouble for me to manipulate with my thumb left-handed. My hands are built like that of an ogre with shorter, stronger fingers, but I still think that almost any lefty will be able to release the slide with the lock lever and that it will only get easier as the gun breaks in. Final thoughts... None of us ever buy a handgun with the idea in mind that we are going to publicly tell the world how big of a mistake we made. I have read many glowing reviews of handguns only to follow up with the author's writings later to see that they had parted way with that new wunderpistol once the honeymoon was over. I guess it is just human nature to want everyone else to think that we always make good choices and aren't careless with our money. That being said, I have bought some real turds over the years. I have spent money on guns that were nowhere near as good as the magazine pundits or YouTube pimps said that they were. I've taken new guns to the range and immediately knew that I had made a serious mistake, and already had an idea of how I was going to sell them before I ever got through the second magazine of ammo. HOWEVER. This isn't one of them. Hands down, the M&P M2.0 Compact is a winner. It's riding my hip right now in that TT Gunleather IWB holster. It is replacing my Glock 19 for daily carry. It is going to cause a lot of other guns in my library to spend lonely days in the safe. It is really that good. I found it to be incredibly accurate and flat shooting. The size is perfect. The texture on the grip is perfect. The trigger feels just fine to me. The only thing I changed, and I did it immediately as I do with almost every handgun for which they are made, was to install a set of Ameriglo Pro i-Dot sights with orange outlined tritium front dot and simplistic black rear sight. In this case, the rear has the U-shaped notch that I prefer and a single dimmed tritium dot. Perhaps the most powerful statement that I can make about the new Compact is that I will be buying at least one more of them to have as a backup. And I am probably going to sell some other guns that I won't be shooting anymore.

My first handgun was a .45 Colt New Service, and I've had a lot of respect for that caliber ever since. Here, some of my .45s: The .45 Colt round has been around a long, long time. I believe the first cartridges were made by the old Union Metallic Cartridge Co. for Army trials. Soon Frankford Arsenal began production of the .45 Colt round. These were inside primed, copper cased cartridges: Though the .45 Colt round didn't last too long with the Army, as the Army adopted the shorter .45 S&W round shortly after. But the old round was, sort of, resurrected some years later for the Colt New Service M-1909 revolver: Old as it is, the old .45 keeps on truckin'. Bob Wright

I bought this Cimarron/Uberti Open Top Navy .38 Special/Colt back in January of this year. I loaded up some mild .38 Special rounds, about as much steam as a .22 L.R., and this has proved to be one pleasant gun to shoot: Most of my guns for many years were heavy loaded, fire breathin' magnums or potent .44 Specials. Age has sort of mellowed me a bit, and this gun is, as I often put it, "a reloadable .22 R.F." The sights are terrible, and I had to use judicious use of a file to get on target with the gun. Two unexpected features: The barrel stub directs the flash forward and upward, so the gun, and my hand, stay cleaner without getting crud on the cylinder. And its the only revolver I have that allows cleaning the bore from the breech end. Wouldn't mind having a .44 Special like it. Bob Wright

...................that I like Single Actions? And especially Single Actions fitted with stag grips? Left to Wright: Ruger Blackhawk (ex-Bisley) .45 Colt; Ruger Blackhawk, .45 Colt; Ruger Blackhawk Flt Top, .44 Special, and two Colt New Frontiers, .45 Colt. The grips on the .44 Special came from a Ruger .45 Colt New Vaquero that I found in a gun shop here in Memphis. I took the grips off and replaced them with stock grips, then bought the Flat Top for these grips. Note that these grips fit only the new XR-3 style grip frame, such as on the New Vaquero. Bob Wright

While I'm convalescing my wife won't let me do anything meaningful. So, if y'all will indulge my posts here abouts, a few cartridges: These are some variations of old .45 caliber rounds, all commercial: The notes below are the headstamps of the rounds. The nickeled case round is from one of the first boxes of ammunition I bought many years ago for my Colt New Service. Some .44s: The .44 Remington is unmarked, but the case is Remington, but I believe the round is a reproduction. And, sort of the progression from .44 R.F. to .44 Magnum: I believe the .44 S&W is in reality just a centerfire Henry. The first Smith & Wesson No.3 submitted to the Army was rimfire, and the Army returned it wanting a centerfire. According to what I have read, it the gun was simply changed to centerfire without changing the chamber dimensions. Early cartridges loaded for the US Army: Thanks for looking. Bob Wright

It might come as a surprise to some that I went through a double action revolver phase. In an attempt to learn all I could about the handgun, I tried the DA revolver for awhile. One of my favorite .357 Magnum revolvers is the S&W Model 586, the Distinguished Combat Magnum. The first I bought was a 4" model as soon as the model was announced. I quickly put on a pair of S&W combat stocks: I liked this gun so well I decided on a 6" companion to it: These grips, incidentally, were on a K-22 that was in the shop. I commented that they were handsome enough to buy the gun for those stocks. I went back a few days later and the .22 had been sold, but the purchaser put rubber Pachmayrs on it and left those grips. Asking price was $10 so i went home with these grips. After a couple of weeks, I bought this gun to put them on. I had gone through a few Model 29s and ha Smith & Wesson make me one up with a 5" full lug barrel. This became my favorite .44 Magnum DA revolver: This was my first Model 29 and was one of the early Model 29s. I had many troubles with the gun and finally S&W told me to return it and they would install an "endurance package" to correct my problems. While they had my gun there I asked them to fit a full lug barrel. They told me they had just made an 8 3/8" full lug barrel and they put that on my gun. This gun shot like a .30-30 rifle out to about 100 yards or so, but it was heavy and unwieldy, and I later had Ed Mason gunsmiths cut it back to 6": After the surgery: Been an interesting study for some sixty years or so. Bob Wright

The leather IWB holster that I ordered from Tim Thurner over at TTGunLeather arrived yesterday and fits my P10C like a glove! Of course, it was made specifically for the P10C and *should* fit like a glove. I have a long-standing practice of ordering a "Mike's Special" from Tim anytime I buy a handgun that will likely see carry duty. Consequently, I have a library of his holsters, all of the similar design, for a lot of handguns. They have always been of top quality, rugged and reliable, and extremely comfortable to wear.

There is a lot of palaver here, and elsewhere, about color case hardening. So here's my take on the matter: The old case coloring used on the original Ruger Vaquero was a chemical application, from what I've heard, was almost like a decal or coating. And could be easily washed off with harsh solvents. Here is my Vaquero, dating from 1996. It has had about 3,500 rounds fired through it and cleaned with Hoppe's No.9 solvent and oiled after each range session: This is my Cimarron/Uberti Model P. Not fired so heavily (yet) but cleaned in the same way. Uberti uses a hot salt bath to obtain the colorization, it is not the same process as Ruger used: Here is a Ruger Super Blackhawk color cased by Doug Turnbull. He uses a heat process with bone and/or other charcoal additives to obtain the color: This is a Colt New Frontier, which, so far as I know is truly case hardened. Case hardening alone leaves a dull gray finish (think mill files) unless additives are added to produce color. Current Single Actions from Ruger and others are made of steel hardened through and do not require case hardening, so only a color treatment is necessary on these guns. As to durability, all case hardening, regardless of method used, will fade when exposed to sunlight and wear. Which is best? The one that suits your fancy. Bob Wright

................some photos of custom revolvers, especially Single Action revolvers. If you've got a customized Colt, Uberti, or Ruger that's been to your 'smith's, post a photo of it here. Here is one of mine: This is a Colt Single Action Army, .357 Magnum. The brass backstrap is from an 1851 Navy, grips home made, S&W rear sight, Ruger front sight. This was done by (the late) Ed Mason & Sons gunsmiths. Yours? Bob Wright

My RCBS seating dies use the same seating stem for .44 Special, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt, so I keep the seating stems separate in a wooden box. (I have this affinity for wooden boxes) My die is already set for crimping, so in order to get the correct seating depth, I made up some inert rounds: I then run the correct dummy round up into the die, then insert the seating stem until it contacts the bullet nose. And, just for a newbie to show off, my shell holder box: Bob Wright tipoc

The question apparently never will be settled "Can I fire .45 ACP in my .45 Colt revolver?" Now, I'm speaking of the Ruger Blackhawk, .45 Colt with auxiliary cylinder. An unaltered cylinder. So, here it goes: The .45 ACP will not work in the longer Colt chamber. Since it has no rim, it will slide down into the chamber too far for the firing pin to reach. Half moon/full moon clips? If used, the resulting thickness will be too thick for the cylinder to be inserted into the gun. So, inserting the ACP cylinder, can I use .45 Auto Rim? No. The rim thickness is too thick for the headspace of the revolver. But: Of late, I salvaged some old .45 Colt cases with mouth splits, and cut them to the same length as the .45 ACP. These work fine in my ACP cylinder, and will work in the .45 Colt cylinder. As to their working: While I call my cartridges the .45 Xtra Short, it has already been done as the .45 Special and the .45 Cowboy, and brass is available for loading. But I chose to just salvage my old .45 Colt brass. Bob Wright

When I was a young tad, my Dad took me to a rodeo. It took place at the Memphis Fairgrounds, where the high school football field is now, Ken Maynard was the star of the rodeo. During intermission, Dad took me to the concession stand for a coke and hot dog. While we were there I saw a cowboy, dressed in Levi's and leather chaps, and wearing a holster and gun belt, in which he had a "red handled gun" as I remembered it. Single Action or not, I can't say, as for a few years after I was born I did not know too much about guns. But those red grips!! I determined then and there I would have a gun with "red handles." Many years apassed, but then one day, from Don Collins of Collinscraft Grips I got these: They are for a Ruger Super Blackhawk grip frame, and are vermilion wood from Africa, i think. Bob Wright

I believe I have stated here abouts that I have a penchant for the Single Action revolver. I do have a few, and just recently got this one: I really wasn't looking to buy one right now, but this came up on GunBroker and I submitted a half-hearted bid. Well, my bid held and I became the proud owner of another Colt New Frontier, a 7 1/2" .45 Colt. The grips that came on the gun were not original, of course, and I believe the previous owner had one-piece grips, maybe ivory, on the gun. But I had a pair of Colt walnut grips somewhere in my parts box, so swapped them out right quick. First shooting went O.K., but the trigger pull was atrocious, so its at Keith Warner's right now for an action job. Hunting season is about to open, so don't know when I'll see it again. Bob Wright

Picked this up from my local FFL today... CZ P-07 Gen 2 I was pleasantly surprised to find that it also came with the new CZ P-10C compatible magazines with the ambidextrous mag release notch in the front of the tube, and the red followers.

Greetings all, its been awhile since I've been on, but I wanted to show off my new carry rig done in Cognac Caiman and black leather. Just wanted something for those special occasions, lol.

About two months ago I sent one of my medium Sig P320 Compact grip modules over to Alex Pappadia at SG Armory to have him work it over with his Stage 1 grip package. This package included slightly reshaping and then stippling the frame to my specifications and a very nice undercut to the trigger guard to allow me to really mash it down into my hand the way that I prefer. All in all, I am extremely happy with the way this turned out. Alex did top-notch work. It feels great in the hand; far better than stock. There is definitely a difference between work done by a guy like Alex who knows what he's doing, and a neophyte with a wood burning tool. http://sgarmory.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thesgarmory/ https://www.instagram.com/sg_armory/