Old Calibers

[bustert]

Any Old Caliber Owners Out There.
How About 32-20 Or 22wrf Rifles.

What's Your Opinion On Them???

[my1200]

I've got a model 1890 Winchester .22 that I love. I don't fire often but I love showing it off. I found in a dark corner of a basement. An old house I was rehabing. Paid 20$ for it. The guy thought it was a bb gun. It's surprisingly accurate and pretty consistant grouping.

[brimic]

.303 brit, 8x56r Hungarian, 7.62x54r, 6.5x55 swede, 7x57 mauser, 7.5x55 swiss, 7.92x57 mauser, 30-06- all late 19th century/turn of the 20th century cartridges, and I reload for them all.

The 2 oldest rifles I own are a pair of 1899 dated Swedish mausers, one of them being rearsenalled as a sniper.

[rocketmangb]

I've got a model 1890 Winchester .22 that I love. I don't fire often but I love showing it off. I found in a dark corner of a basement. An old house I was rehabing. Paid 20$ for it. The guy thought it was a bb gun. It's surprisingly accurate and pretty consistant grouping.

Had one in 22 WRF !
They had so many parts laying around they are almost impossible to identify by serial number and where actually built in to the 1940's

[my1200]

Had one in 22 WRF !
They had so many parts laying around they are almost impossible to identify by serial number and where actually built in to the 1940's

Mines .22 short rimfire. All the numbers match up and after some research I found it was made in 1915. My gradfather was telling me they used to be carnival guns when he was a kid.
The guy who owned it before me carved his initial into it. Kinda sucks but o cant complain. I only paid 20 bucks for it. Lol

[bustert]

used to have an old 303 brit. bought it at a army surplus. used it as a deer rifle, yea don't laugh yet. i bought ammo from the same guy for 10 cents a clip and he used black powder and when you made the shot, had to wait for the smoke to clear to see if you hit anything, "OK" to laugh now. very short range it could take one down, but where i used to hunt, a 357 out the window would score deer practically any day. deer were small spike and a nusience as they got into eveyone's garden.

i just inherited a 22wrf, have not fired it yet and it is a pump also. odd ball round, can use it in my 22 mag but not the other way around. i am going to try it on some coon hunts.

[wrongpaw]

.45-70 Govt. Original trapdoor Springfield, Marlin levers, H&R Buffalo classics, Ruger #1, Remington Rollingblock. Got to love
those thumb sized cartridges. Also got a couple 7.9 X 57 and
7.62 X 54's.

[bustert]

wrongpaw:
i never owned a 45-70 but i used a 45-70 line thrower as a merchant seaman. it had a canister under the barrel with a small nylon line that attached to a brass spike and it would kick butt. we would shoot the line over the attending vessel and attach a painter and then a hauser for mooring up the tow bridle. i can imagine a live round would be pretty wicked.

[wrongpaw]

Bustert, I believe H&R makes those line throwers. The
kick happens because of the mass of the projectile.
.45-70 rounds come in various loadings. Blackpowder
loads and there smokeless equivalent loads are all day shooters. When you talk Ruger #1's , these rifles can handle bottom end .458 mag. performance. Thats when things get interesting. Most factory loadings are pretty mild, because they must be safe to shoot in the old trapdoor Springfield rifles which can date back to the
1870's, and were designed to handle blackpowder pressures.

[Smadge]

How about an 8mm Jap Nambu? I have to "make" the brass when I want to shoot it. PITA - hence it usually stays in the safe...

[bustert]

anyone got any info on the 32-20. inherited one also. finally got some ammo. looks like it could take down a deer so anyone knows for sure. one thing i hate is to wound something. i would rather use the 7 mag. however, i would like to try it out.

[caveplay]

18?? 30-40 krag like almost new other then being over a 100 years old still killin deer

[floorit]

How bout a good old 30-30? My grand dad gave me a 1976 Illinios sequisentinial Winchester 94 lever action 30-30 right before he died. It is brand new, in the box, neveer had a round in the chamber. Still has the string tag hanging off the lever.

[Chris300s]

Enfield in 303 British, Colt in .44 Russian, Winchester in .32 Win. Old West Scrounger is your friend for ammo and brass.
http://www.ows-ammo.com/catalog/
That said, depending on the cartrige a lot of reloaders can shorten and/or reneck modern brass for old calibers. For us, a local reloader is the best way to get hot loads for the .45 Long Colts and 45-70's. Most of the factory stuff is made for antique or vintage guns.

Chris

[jharback]

18?? 30-40 krag like almost new other then being over a 100 years old still killin deer

I had a 30-40 Krag that my Grandfather gave me. Had to give it away when I moved here to Italy. It was a great rifle. Extremely accurate. At the time they were first used in the US Military they were considered a small bore rifle.:smoke Kicked like a mule but, was a great deer rifle. Hell, I think it would have made a great elephant gun. :laugh

[Ireeman]

.375 H&H in a falling block single shot is sublime. Ruger No 1's are an addiction i refuse to kick.

[wabiker]

.303 Savage and 7.65 Argentine

[Rico 05R]

1884 Colt Single Action Army in Caliber .38-40

[radeschultz]

I really like my .35 Remington, got a marlin 336 chambered for it. Best little deer gun ever, points like your finger. Not sure if qualifies as "old" yet, if not, you'd fool, me, I cant find rounds for it any more :doh

[Ozarkster]

Any Old Caliber Owners Out There.
How About 32-20 Or 22wrf Rifles.

What's Your Opinion On Them???

'73 Winchester in .38-40, Sharps .45-110, Savage pump .25-20, Trapdoor Spingfield in .45-70. Have a bunch more and muzzeloaders too. What do you need to know?

[flathead45]

45-110.... nice. quigley down under ;)

my dad told me of a little old man who had a 45-70 pistol that used the same round as the trap door. it was a 5 shot revolver I believe and the guy said it kicked like a mule and was just as hard to control :smoke

[jjw]

1st gen, Colt SAA in .38-.40 mfg. in 1897
2nd gen, Colt SAA in .45LC mfg. in 1972
Winchester model 90 in 22 WRF.
A lot of model 90 floating around are .22 shorts or what are called
gallery guns. Used at shooting galleries at fairs and carnivals. some were smooth bore (advantage carney) and extreamly inaccurate. Gunsmiths would bore out
the barrel and sweat in a new rifled liner. Check muzzle end before ya purchase one.
The WRF is a short magnum (dia. wise) WRF's can be shot in .22 mags but not vica-versa. Standard .22 long rifle can not be used in a WRF.

[caveplay]

Ruger stopped making the Ruger 480 handgun how long do you think shells will around for it do you think in 20-30 years??
would you keep it NIB. or would you shoot it??

[jjw]

Ruger stopped making the Ruger 480 handgun how long do you think shells will around for it do you think in 20-30 years??
would you keep it NIB. or would you shoot it??

To shoot, or not to shoot.....That is the question ;) I'm in the camp of Shoot. I personally don't need any safe queens. The other side of the coin is for collector value. Unshot will hold more value. As for ammo, Hard to say how long it will still be available. If you plan on shooting the gun I would buy as much ammo as you can get your hands on. Then start reloading for it, keeping some factory ammo aside unshot. As long as you have, say....500 to 1000 rounds of ammo/brass for the gun you'll be in good shape.

[flathead45]

I say "shoot it" as long as you know its safe to fire.

just hang onto a box or two of shells for display if and when ya decide to put it up.

[Doc45]

Used to have a few old ones: first gen Colt SAA, .45 Colt, 4 3/4" barrel, lettered to say made in 1877. Old S&W 38/44 Heavy Duty, .38 special, 1939 mfg. S&W .44 Special, Wolff & Klar, 1926 mfg. I shot all of them, after having a qualified gunsmith determine they were safe of course. Sold them for a few pennies more than I paid but nothing that allowed me to retire early. :D

Much better investments out there than most firearms. It's strange, you can completely strip a car,say a 1955 Chev, rebuild the motor, repaint it, etc. & it'll be worth tons, same with a rare m/c. Reblue a firearm or otherwise do anything to restore it to it's original condition and you ruin the collector value. Never could figure that out.

Oh well, they were meant to be used-just like the cars & bikes are meant to be ridden/driven. Unless of course a firearm has a particular historical value I'd shoot it. My older son has one of my late father's revolvers that I know has been through some stuff and saved a few lives. He shoots it regularly (though with light loads to go easy on it).

[flathead45]

doc, if you have a "NICE" condition 58 (whatever) vette (whatever) its worth more as a factory original then if you did a full restore.

but I know what ya mean, only a true professional should ever do work on an antique firearm. even the "mass produced" firearms were made by craftsmen and artisans back in the day. cars were general laborers, firearms were artists

[Doc45]

In the firearms collecting world the only thing that seems to be acceptable is mechanical repair-and that's a case by case basis. Nothing will ruin the collector value faster on an old firearm than having it refinished or replacement stocks put on. Doesn't matter who does it,i.e. Turnbull, Ford's, even the factory-though S&W will no longer work on anything older than 1957.

Do a frame up resto on a car or bike & you're good to go to put it at auction for a large payoff (off course that will offset the cost of the resto, sometimes even cost more than what you get out of the vehicle).

The joy should be in using these old products-whether bikes, cars or firearms. Or at least in my world that is.

Even for those that don't reload there's quite a few low power loadings available-the popular "cowboy" loads for example.