Gun Digest 2013

GUNS OF THE WESTERNS

Just How

Practical

Were They?

BY RICK HACKER

Although many Model 94s were outfitted with Model 92 .44-40 barrels to take studio blanks for use in TV westerns, the author feels the unaltered saddle carbine makes a superb close-range hunting gun.

Like many of my generation, I was weaned on TV westerns. During the 1950s and ’60s, there were shootouts between sheriffs, gunslingers, and outlaws in our living room practically every night of the week, thanks to shows such as Maverick, Tombstone Territory, and Cheyenne. Starting with the The Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy in 1949 and galloping through the decades to long-running hits like Bonanza, which ended in 1973, and Gunsmoke, which lasted until 1975 (the longest-running television series in history), the western genre reigned supreme. In fact, the top three shows from 1958 through 1961 were westerns—Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, and Have Gun, Will Travel. However, in many cases, it was not so much the actors we were watching, nor the plot lines we were following, but rather the guns our tall-in-the-saddle heroes were using.

For example, from 1957 until 1963, who could not fail to be transfixed by the opening scene in every episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, when Richard Boone, as the character Paladin (no first names, please), smoothly drew and cocked his 7¹⁄2-inch barreled Colt Single Action Army with its painted black grips (and you thought they were walnut), and aimed it directly at our TV dinners while delivering his soliloquy for that night’s adventure. Likewise, the beginning of Gunsmoke was a calling out for us to take a stance in front of our television sets, cap guns strapped low on our hips, anxiously waiting for the showdown between Dodge City’s Marshal Matt Dillon and the bad guy at the end of the street (who happened to be Arvo Ojala, gun coach for Gunsmoke’s James Arness and fast-draw tutor to countless other Hollywood actors).

Arness was fast, all right (although we never see him draw from the holster during these opening scenes—he just thrusts his ol’ hogleg into view and snaps off a fatal shot at Ojala), but many of us thought we were faster. One evening, I was. During the beginning of this memorable episode, my Kilgore Cast Iron Long Tom cap gun literally flew from my holster, and then from my hand, and continued on, sailing across the room and through a porcelain family heirloom. The end result was my first exposure to gun confiscation.

Without a doubt, the two most ubiquitous guns of the TV westerns were the Colt Single Action Army and the Winchester Model 1892, usually in .38-40, .44-40 or, in the case of the SAA, .45 Colt calibers, all of which would chamber 5-in-1 blanks used by the studios. (The blanks known as 5-in-1s are designed to function in .38-40 and .44-40 rifles, and .38-40, .44-40, and .45 Colt revolvers, thus, five guns in one blank.) Prior to the existence of replicas, the firearms portrayed on screen were original Winchester and Colt's rental guns from prop houses such as Stembridge Gun Room or Ellis Mercantile. But every once in a while there would be an atypical star that became as famous as the actor using it.

The Rifleman’s carbine has been resurrected by Chiappa and Legacy Sports International as a limited-edition commemorative. However, the trigger-tripping screw is non-functional.

The author fired this 50-yard group using one of the late Chuck Connors’ rifles, though without employing the trigger screw.

With the screw backed out, The Rifleman’s Model 92 functions like a standard carbine.

With the screw properly adjusted on The Rifleman’s Model 92, the trigger is tripped every time the lever is closed, enabling the carbine to be rapid fired without endangering the trigger finger by having to place it inside the trigger guard. Connors added the nut to retain the screw during his shooting scenes.

Interestingly, many of these individualized firearms never existed before the advent of TV westerns, rather, they were created to garner ratings. After all, there was competition among the celluloid cowboys, not just to see who was the fastest gun, but who could also corral the most viewers. It was not enough that Hoppy, Gene, and Roy brought along their loyal posse of fans from the silver screens of movie theaters to the television sets in American homes. Soon there were new hombres in Tinseltown, and new twists on the old west were needed. That’s why Guy Madison, starring in Wild Bill Hickok, which ran in syndication from 1951 through 1958, wore his Colt's single-actions butt forward, emulating the real Wild Bill Hickok, who carried a pair of 1851 Colt Navies in that same manner. That was also the reason why Don Durant, in the title role of Johnny Ringo, which aired on CBS from 1959 to 1960, carried an original LeMat, which had been converted by Stembridge to fire blanks. Indeed, the LeMat’s seventh shot—a .410 smoothbore under the primary rifled barrel of the revolver—was often employed by screenwriters to get Ringo out of a seemingly hopeless jam in which six shots just weren’t enough.

And then there was Nick Adams, who starred in The Rebel as an ex-Confederate drifter named Johnny Yuma. Yuma carried an ultra-sawed-off shotgun in the ABC series, which ran from 1959 until 1961 (inexplicably being cancelled right at the start of the Civil War Centennial). That scattergun was a formidable weapon, a mule-eared side-by-side with the barrels cut off just in front of the forearm and a buttstock trimmed at the pistol grip. It’s fortunate that Adams only fired blanks in this gun. Using live ammo with those short, open-choked tubes and no stock to help control recoil would have yanked that double hand-cannon right out of the shooter’s grip and launched it into the stratosphere. In reality, it would have been far from practical in the Old West (or any place else, for that matter), but it sure looked good on television.

Remaining a Hollywood western trademark, the legend of Wyatt Earp is often captured with him carrying a gun sporting a 12-inch barrel. He is often shown using this barrel to subdue prisoners and delinquents in Dodge City and Tombstone. The statue of Wyatt Earp here was created by artist Mary Spurgeon and can be found in Dodge City, Kansas, along the Trail of Fame. In the photo to the right, is Cimarron Firearms’ excellent replica of the 10-inch Buntline used in the movie Tombstone, although the TV gun was inspired by Stuart Lake’s book, Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall.

Did such a gun ever exist? Probably not, no more so than did The Rifleman’s loop-levered Winchester carbine or the chopped Model 92 on Wanted: Dead or Alive. But there was a reason for those guns, which made us suspend reality and believe in them. Perhaps it can best be illustrated by The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a 1962 movie with one of the most famous lines of any western. (Spoiler Alert: If you have not yet seen this movie, don’t read the next two paragraphs.)

Directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, this film tells the story of a mild-mannered lawyer, played by Stewart, who shoots down a notorious gunslinger (Lee Marvin), and, based upon this brave act, goes on to become a famous, reform-dealing state senator. Near the end of the film, we learn that Stewart didn’t kill Marvin—John Wayne did, after which he faded into obscurity, while Stewart went on to forge a political career based upon something that didn’t happen.

After recounting the true version of his story to a local newspaperman, Stewart asks the reporter if he is going to print it. The reporter, played by actor Carleton Young, tears up his notes and utters those now-famous lines, No sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

The rudimentary sights of the standard Colt Single Action Army (top) were vastly improved by the introduction of the Colt New Frontier (bottom), which was brought out in 1961, but, of course, never appeared in any TV westerns. It was reintroduced, in 2011, for today’s shooters.

Or, in our case, shoot the legend, thus fulfilling a desire to emulate our TV western heroes by owning and firing the guns we coveted on television. Unfortunately, federal regulations make it impossible for most of us to know what it would be like to fire Johnny Yuma’s scattergun, because such a configuration is illegal for the majority of private citizens to own (motion picture production companies and certain prop houses are specially licensed to have such weapons). But we can experience shooting Johnny Ringo’s LeMat, albeit as a .44-caliber/20-gauge, Civil War-period cap-and-ball Italian replica, which is available from Dixie Gun Works (www.dixiegunworks.com). Rather cumbersome to be sure, the single-action revolver portion is surprisingly accurate out to 25 yards, when loaded with 30 grains of 3F blackpowder and a lead ball. By flipping down the rotating firing pin on the hammer, the shotgun barrel can be discharged (using a similar blackpowder loading and an ounce of shot), but the results are sporadic, at best. And unless firmly fitting over-powder and over-shot wads are used, there is a possibility of the cap and ball dislodging the shot charge. Johnny Ringo fared far better with his cartridge-firing version.

But what about other guns of the TV westerns? Imagine stepping out onto the Warner Bros. back lot, where many of those weekly episodes were filmed, and experiencing what it might have felt like to shoot these TV guns as if they had actually existed on the real frontier. Well, thanks to the current proliferation of replicas and reissues, it is possible to emulate some of the shooting stars of yesteryear.

Let’s start with the Colt Peacemaker, a gun that most certainly did exist in both the real and imagined West. The originals, or first generation, guns were made from 1873 until 1941, with 357,859 Single Action Armies manufactured before production was halted due to the demands of World War II and, quite frankly, a lack of sales. Naturally, a lot of these originals didn’t survive the rigors of the frontier. But hundreds of Model Ps (the original factory designation for the Single Action Army) also met their demise on television and movie sets. How many of us have seen these guns, after the hammer had clicked on an empty chamber, being thrown into the sagebrush from a galloping horse by a black-hatted bad guy? Those weren’t always rubber prop guns.

In addition, the 5-in-1 blanks fired in these Peacemakers consisted of quarter-, half-, and full-load charges (depending on the effects desired by the director), of highly corrosive blackpowder. After a full day’s shooting, these guns were often put away by the studio’s armorer without even a cursory cleaning. That, of course, explains why many of these movie guns have bores that resemble an asphalt tunnel.

With the supply of single-actions drying up after World War II, it is ironic that, in 1947—just as the Great Western TV Renaissance was about to saddle up—Colt's announced it would no longer be making this obsolete gun. Of course, by 1955, demand for the Peacemaker had grown so strong, thanks to the impact of TV westerns, that Colt's resumed manufacture of what is now known as second generation (1955-1975) and third generation (1976 to the present) versions of the Single Action Army.

Chuck Connors, a friend of the author’s, made television history with his fast shooting Winchester 92, shown here with the later-styled lever used in The Rifleman series.

For his test, the author fired three types of .44-40 ammo in his original The Rifleman carbine (l. to r.): Remington semi-jacketed ammo, Black Hills lead Cowboy loads, and 5-in-1 blanks.

Excellent clones of these single-actions are now being made and/or imported by firms such as U.S. Fire Arms, Cimarron, and Taylor’s & Company, to name but a few. There has been enough written through the years by this author, as well as others, to warrant no further discussion, other than to say the SAA is one of the most ergonomically designed and pointable revolvers in the world, one that balances extremely well and is rugged enough to be fired with many of its parts broken or missing. Its main drawbacks are the rudimentary fixed sights and the fact that most guns shoot low and to the left and require some twisting and filing—Kentucky windage—to get them on target.

It was the Peacemaker’s prominence in the real and televised West that inspired a rare variation known as the Buntline Special. This was a standard SAA, except that it featured a 12-inch barrel and was made popular by the TV series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, which ran from 1955 to 1961 and starred Hugh O’Brian as Marshal Earp. As legend has it, back in the real West of the 1880s, a flamboyant writer of dime novels, one Edward Zane Carroll Judson, who used the pen name Ned Buntline, presented Earp and four other Dodge City lawmen—Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown—with specially ordered Peacemakers fitted with foot-long barrels.

the author shows the group he rapid fired with the The Rifleman carbine. It produced some impressive hits at gunfighter range, with four lethal shots to the right shoulder of the paper opponent. However, activating the set screw convinced the author this would not have been a practical technique in the Old West—note the elevated position of the muzzle as it starts to climb, with two shells already in the air.

The Winchester 92 Mare’s Leg used in Wanted: Dead or Alive featured a nine-inch barrel and sawed-off stock. The gun was anchored in the special holster by slipping the saddle ring through the steel hook (shown under the receiver) and securing the barrel with a spring clip. Note: Due to BATFE regulations, this non-firing prop gun, originally acquired from a Hollywood studio, features a dummy aluminum barrel.

The Puma Bounty Hunter from Legacy Sports features a 12-inch barrel and a lever patterned after the one used by McQueen in the latter part of the Wanted: Dead Or Alive series, in which an octagon-barreled rifle was also made into a Mare’s Leg.

Rossi’s Ranch Hand is an earlier version of the Wanted: Dead Or Alive Mare’s Leg, although it sports a 12-inch barrel instead of the nine-inch tube used in the TV series.

This tale was first brought to light by author Stuart N. Lake in his 1931 biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal. Unfortunately, the facts don’t quite substantiate the story. While it is true that customers could pay a dollar an inch for any Colt Model P barrel length over 7¹⁄2 inches, and approximately 31 such guns—with barrels ranging from 10 to 16 inches—were produced by the factory from 1876 through 1884, there is no record or evidence otherwise that Earp or any of the other four lawmen were recipients of these Buntline Specials, as they have come to be called.

In true Hollywood fashion, the legend became fact when, in an early episode of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, the marshal is presented with just such a gun by Judson. By the next episode, Earp’s double buscadero rig, in which O’Brian had previously packed two 4³⁄4-inch Colt .45s, now featured an exaggerated long drop on the right-hand holster to accommodate his Buntline Special, which is seen throughout the rest of the series. Needles to say, just as the TV westerns inspired Colt's to bring back its Model P, this popular show created a demand for Buntline Specials. We all wanted to be like Wyatt Earp—or at least to own the stretch-barreled hogleg Hugh O’Brian was able to draw with amazing dexterity. Thus, in 1957, Colt's introduced the Buntline Special, which remained in the line for an impressive 30 years, being produced in both second- (now highly collectable) and third-generation versions. In addition, in 2010, Colt's came out with a one-year-only reissue, which consisted of a two-gun set of Peacemakers with case hardened frame and hammer. One SAA was a 4³⁄4-inch version, while the other was a Buntline Special. Both guns were engraved Hugh O’Brian – Wyatt Earp Tribute on the barrel. Not many of these cased sets were made and it is doubtful, due to their inherent collectibility, any of them are being shot.

The second-generation Colt Buntline Special, with its 12-inch barrel, was produced as a direct result of the popularity of The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O’Brian.

During the heyday of the TV western, many studios filed down the mainsprings of Single Action Armies to enable actors to cock them easier and faster. Today, this same effect can be achieved by the addition of Wolff mainsprings.

For those unable to find, afford, or otherwise acquire a genuine Colt Buntline Special, Cimarron is producing a variation that sports a 10-inch barrel (which some historians feel was more appropriate to the length that the real Wyatt Earp may have used). The gun boasts an inlaid brass plaque copied from the 1990 movie Tombstone, rather than the Wyatt Earp TV series. True to the gun that Kurt Russell carried, the shield-shaped inlay on the grip reads, Wyatt Earp Peacemaker, From the Grateful People of Dodge City, Apr 8th 1878. In addition, U.S. Fire Arms will custom-make Buntlines ranging from 10 to 18 inches, complete with prototypical fold-up rear ladder sights, if desired.

Whether or not the Buntline Special offers a practical advantage over the standard SAA barrel lengths is a matter of opinion. Aside from O’Brian’s TV exploits of bashing a desperado over the head with the long barrel (which, in the TV series, was done with a rubber gun), the only other benefits would be a longer sight radius and a slight increase in muzzle velocity. I own two Buntline Specials that I shoot whenever I’m in a Wyatt Earp frame of mind. One is a second-generation Colt's, the other is a 10-inch version from U.S. Fire Arms. Both are in .45 Colt.

The first thing one notices with either of these guns is their balance, which obviously has more weight toward the front. In addition, the guns typically shoot lower with Cowboy Action loads, higher with full factory loads such as Winchester Silvertips. The 12-inch Colt's has a bit of whip to the recoil, which, overall, is slightly less than with shorter-barreled single-actions. Although I prefer the 10-inch barrel USFA and Cimarron guns as shooters, the 12-inch Buntline is my favorite—after all, it is a Colt's, and, thus, more historically correct (besides, it’s what the real Wyatt Earp used on TV!) But, either way, be prepared to order a custom holster with a longer drop or go to a cross-draw configuration, if you want to pack your Buntline Special on the streets of Dodge City or Tombstone.

When it comes to TV western rifles, the Winchester Model 1892 reigned supreme, primarily because there were more of them in shootable condition than Model 1873s (remember, this was the pre-replica era), the actions were smoother, and, unlike the Winchester 94—which was used in a few westerns such as Sheriff of Cochise—they were chambered in .38-40 and .44-40, which could take standard studio blanks. (The third Model 92 chambering, .32-20, would not accept 5-in-1s). However, many Model 94s were adapted to take 5-in-1s by retrofitting them with Model 92 barrels.

Most of the Winchester 92s used were regularly configured rifles and carbines. But one of the most famous deviations was the loop-levered flip special so expertly welded by Chuck Connors as The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 until 1963. I often find myself wondering why no one ever devised such a wide-levered Winchester for use on the real western frontier. Fortunately, as a friend of the late Chuck Connors, I was able to find out, for I spent many a weekend visiting with him at his Tehachapi ranch during the latter years of his life and now own the rifle that hung on his living room wall. I should point out that this was not the rifle used in his TV show—there were actually three of those. This was one of three additional Winchester 92s (that I know of) made for Chuck afterwards, some of which were used by him in personal appearances.

While The Rifleman’s carbine looked impressive, it is not practical, as the wider lever requires a longer hand movement to work the action. The original lever used during the first years of the show was rounded. Later, a slightly squared-off lever configuration was employed. Both versions had a unique set screw in the trigger guard that could be positioned to trip the trigger every time the lever was slammed home. This was the secret to Chuck’s eye-blinking speed in cranking off multiple shots at the beginning of each episode—it was not tricky camera work.

In real life, that set screw feature could be dangerous, as I once demonstrated in a controlled test on the shooting range, using live .44-40 rounds instead of blanks. There is, of course, no recoil with blanks, and so the carbine remains relatively steady while working the lever. But, when rapid firing live ammo, the effect is similar to that of a semi-automatic, and the muzzle rises dramatically. Like fanning a sixshooter (which was never done in the real West) the first shot may go where it is intended, but the rest are scattered, rather than grouped. Still, to prove a point, I cranked off nine rapid-fire shots with Chuck’s carbine at a silhouette target set at gunfighter range, just to see how deadly The Rifleman’s rifle would have been in a real gunfight. To my surprise, all nine shots hit the target. The total was four lethal body hits in the upper torso, with the remaining five rounds striking in the upper right shoulder area. Of course, the caveat is you have to remember to back out the trigger guard screw when you wish to fire the rifle in a conventional manner. Otherwise, every time you close the lever, it will trip the hammer and fire a round. This can be especially disconcerting when you spin-cock the rifle, as Chuck often did.

Although Chuck’s original rifles are in private collections and highly valuable, a few years ago, Chiappa Firearms (www.chiappafirearms.com), and Legacy Sports International (www.legacysports.com), came out with a limited-edition Chuck Connors Commemorative Carbine in .44-40 and featuring the original loop lever configuration (although the non-functioning set screw is strictly for appearance). Chuck’s signature is etched on the left side of the receiver and on the right side of the stock, along with an inlaid silver medallion with Chuck’s portrait. These commemoratives came with a DVD of two episodes of The Rifleman, a certificate of authenticity signed by Jeff Connors, one of Chuck’s four sons, and a publicity photo of Chuck in his leading role. Only 1,000 commemoratives were made, but it may still be possible to find some for sale.

Another Hollywood-ized version of the Winchester Model 92 is much more readily available, even though, in my opinion, it is even less practical than Chuck’s carbine. That said, it is probably the ultimate TV western fun gun. From 1958 to 1961, Steve McQueen, as bounty hunter Josh Randall in Wanted: Dead Or Alive, brought justice to TV’s banditos with a loop-levered Model 92 that featured a dramatically shortened barrel and stock so it could be carried on the hip, like a pistol, in an open-sided holster. McQueen dubbed it the Mare’s Leg, because, as an avid shooter in real life, when he took it to the range to fire with live ammo, he discovered it kicked like a mule.

The rudimentary rear sights of the SAA have been vastly improved by the adjustable sights of the Colt New Frontier, thus giving it an edge over the sixguns used in TV westerns.

Needless to say, such a gun had never been seen before in either the real or imagined West. With its nine-inch barrel and no sights, it was a realized figment of imagination born from producer John Robinson, who wanted to outfit his hero with a gun that would garner attention. That it did, causing the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division to take notice, when the series premiered on September 6, 1958. The government agency declared the Mare’s Leg illegal, as they reasoned it was neither a rifle nor a pistol. After the show’s accountants ponied up $11,000 in registration fees (thus making it the most expensive gun of the TV westerns), the Mare’s Leg went on to achieve stardom. The Mare’s Leg mystique was heightened by the fact that, even though it was a .44-40, Randall carried .45-70 shells in his specially designed gun belt, as Robinson felt the larger cartridges showed up better on camera.

Today, there are no less than four different companies producing the Mare’s Leg, all of which have front and rear sights and 12-inch barrels, rather than the original nine-inch tubes. While featuring an earlier-series wider loop lever, unlike the TV gun, the Rossi Ranch Hand is only available in .45 Colt, .44 Magnum, and .357 Magnum. The Puma Bounty Hunter, built by Chiappa and available from Legacy Sports, has McQueen’s later-styled triangular loop lever and is available in Wanted: Dead Or Alive’s prototypical .44-40 as well as .45 Colt and .44 Magnum chamberings. J.B. Custom offers a Mare’s Leg built by Armi Sport (Chiappa) in the same three calibers, as well as a take-down version. And Henry Repeating Arms makes two variations, one in .45 Colt and the other in .22 Long Rifle, although neither is built on a Model 92-type action.

Having fired the modern Model 92-style versions of Josh Randall’s sidearm, I have to concur with the late Steve McQueen, as it does kick like a mule, especially in .44 Magnum. But, frankly, in .44-40 or .45 Colt, recoil-wise it is no different than shooting a Buntline Special. After all, the barrel lengths are the same. The guns are touted as personal-defense and camp guns. Indeed, I can see packing a .44-40 Mare’s Leg in a door-mounted scabbard of a pickup truck or Jeep (it is too short to straddle a cab-mounted gun rack).

As for practicality, I can only relate an incident that occurred years ago, during a promotional fast-draw contest held at the 1960 Pioneer Days celebration in Palm Springs, California. McQueen was able to snap his Mare’s Leg from its holster and fan off a shot in a respectable ²⁄5-second, outdrawing James Arness, John Payne (Restless Gun), and Peter Brown (Lawman). Thus, once again, the legend became fact.

Custom & Engraved Guns

BY TOM TURPIN

Our Annual Look at Some of the

Most Drool-Worthy Firearms Out There

Lee Helgeland

What is the old saying about the cobbler and his kids’ shoes? Well, custom rifle maker Lee Helgeland decided awhile back to build an elk rifle for himself. He started the project by blueprinting a Mauser 1909 Argentine action. He added a two-position safety kit, which uses the original Mauser shroud, from the late Tom Burgess. He used a Fisher/Blackburn rounded bottom metal unit and a Blackburn trigger. Lee also single-square-bridged the action. To be different, instead of checkering, he stippled the bolt knob, safety lever, bolt release, and floorplate release. He barreled the rifle and chambered it for the 9.3x64 Brenneke, before fashioning a quarter rib with a different shape than is commonly encountered. He also took a barrel-band front sling swivel, cut off the top of the band, and reshaped it.

Lee stocked the rifle with a super, but not flashy, block of California English walnut, fitting a Fisher grip cap and leather-covering the recoil pad. He then checkered the stock in a point pattern at 26 lines per inch.

The finished rifle weighs 7.4 pounds without the scope. Lee tells me that he and the rifle will be headed into the Bob Marshall Wilderness area, in Montana, come elk season.

(Photos by Steven Dodd Hughes)

Barry Lee Hands

Barry Lee Hands started his latest masterpiece with a Colt Series 70 1911 as his canvas. The Government Model handgun was new in the box. He polished out the frame, straightening its lines and prepping it for engraving. He then engraved the pistol with sculpted gold overlays in the Renaissance leaf style. The pearl grips are inlaid with gold using his unique Gilded Pearl technique. Barry used more than an ounce of pure gold, creating this lovely 1911. As a finishing touch, the craftsman installed Trijicon tritium sights for use in low light. As Barry told me, "After all, when it comes right down to it, it is a combat handgun!

As an aside, when Barry delivered the 1911, the client loved it, and for good reason. Shortly thereafter, the owner called Barry and asked if he could send the gun back—for the addition of more gold!

(Author Photo)

Al Lind — Lynn Wright

Gunmaker Al Lind began this custom rifle more than 20 years ago. He started with a pre-64 Model 70 barreled action, chambered for, what else, the .270 Winchester cartridge. The rifle shot so well he didn’t dare pull the factory barrel for a replacement. Instead, he re-contoured the factory barrel to a more pleasing shape.

In his stash of wood, Al had a blank of genuine French walnut that had been cut in 1936. He decided to use it on this project. He crafted the stock in the classic style, added a Biesen trap buttplate, a skeleton grip cap, Talley sling swivels, and checkered it in a fleur de lis pattern with ribbons, checkered at 24 lines per inch. Since his client had specified that he wanted a very lightweight rifle, Al built the stock with a blind magazine.

Lynn Wright did sparse, but elegant engraving. The finished rifle weighed in at 6³⁄4 pounds. I’ve not seen a custom rifle using a pre-64 Model 70 action that weighed less.

(Photos by Tom Alexander)

Al Lofgren – Ed LaPour Brian Hochstrat

The rifle shown here is a most unusual one. Believe it or not, the project started with a 1960s-era Sako L-461 action. Ed LaPour did all the metal and barrel work, and it was an extensive job. He reshaped the action, hand-built the bottom metal and magazine box, and installed one of his three-position safety and shroud units, among the many modifications. He also machined the barrel to its half-octagonal, half-round configuration.

Al Lofgren did all the stock work, starting with a blank of fabulous California English walnut from Steve Heilmann. Lofgren shaped the stock to its svelte lines that are certainly in keeping with the .17 Remington caliber of the rifle. He checkered the stock in a very pleasing point pattern and fitted the unusual skeleton buttplate.

Brian Hochstrat executed the extensive engraving pattern in high relief, with considerable gold inlay work. It is, in a word, magnificent.

(Photos by Tom Alexander)

Len Fewless – Doug Mann Robert Strosin – Turnbull Restoration

In this section of the 2011 Gun Digest, I ran a photo and blurb on an unfinished 1870 Gibbs Farquharson that was being worked on by metalsmith Glen Fewless and stockmaker Doug Mann. I thought that the loyal, year after year readers of Gun Digest might appreciate a photo of the finished product. Two additional craftsmen have been added to the mix. Robert Strosin added his very talented engraving to the rifle, and Doug Turnbull provided the fastidious color case hardening to complete the job.

(Photos by Tom Alexander)

Ed Peugh

A client of California engraver Ed Peugh brought him a really nice Second Model Colt Woodsman .22 semi-auto pistol with instructions to dress it up. Ed executed a combination scroll and oak leaf pattern, complemented with gold inlay work. The old Woodsman is a wonderful pistol. I had one as a teenager that I was very fond of. It is very deserving of the lovely engraving.

(Photo courtesy of Ed Peugh)

D’Arcy Echols –Lisa Tomlin

The gentleman who owns this rifle is preparing to take it to Botswana this year. A couple years back, he commissioned D’Arcy Echols to build him a proper tool for the task of taking a big bull elephant. The resulting rifle fits into the category of It just doesn’t get any better than this. Chambered for the massive .505 Gibbs cartridge, it is probably up to the task of slaying a T-Rex, let alone a big tusker.

D’Arcy began his task with a Hartmann & Weiss-made action frame, bolt body, extractor, and firing pin. The rest of the action components were either fabricated in-house or provided by another supplier. For example, the late Tom Burgess machined the three-position safety and shroud unit, and D’Arcy just happened to have one on-hand. The little Mauser bolt stop was replaced by a magnum version made in the Echols shop. The bottom metal and magazine box unit was likewise machined from 4130 steel in the Echols shop. It holds three rounds in the box, plus one in the chamber. D’Arcy fitted the rifle with a shop-made adjustable peep rear sight. He installed a Krieger barrel and chambered it for the .505 Gibbs cartridge.

He fashioned the stock from an exquisite stick of California English walnut, pillar-bedding the action and free-floating the barrel. He added weight to the butt of the stock to achieve a balance point precisely at the front action screw. He fitted one of his own grip caps and a Griffin & Howe recoil pad, then checkered the rifle in his signature point pattern at 26 lines per inch. The rifle then went to Lisa Tomlin for one of her superlative engraving jobs. All finished, the rifle weighs 10 pounds 11 ounces.

(Photos by Kevin Dilley)

Mike Roden – Granite

Mountain Arms

Mike Roden of Granite Mountain Arms produces one of the few newly manufactured 98 Mauser clones available on the market today. Once in a great while, Mike will produce a complete rifle built around one of his actions. This rifle is one such example.

Starting with one of his standard length (.30-06) actions, he had it barreled and chambered for the 9.3x62 cartridge. This old German development has been around since 1905, but, until recently, was seldom seen in the U.S. Lately, however, it has undergone a dramatic increase in popularity, and well it should. It’s a hell of a cartridge. I don’t know who did the barrel, but I suspect that Danny Pedersen of Classic Barrel & Gun Works did the barrel work for Mike.

Mike then stocked it in a very nice stick of Circassian walnut. I’ve had the rifle for a while now and have made several trips to the range with it. It consistently delivers between ¹⁄4- and ¹⁄2-inch three-shot groups with about every variety of ammo I’ve fed it, both factory and handloads. Next up for the rifle is a buffalo in Zimbabwe.

(Author Photo)

Master engraver Lee Griffiths was presented with a very unusual canvas on which to lavish his highly talented attention. It was a Model 10 Bergmann-Bayard semi-auto 9mm pistol. (Originally produced in Belgium, production ceased at WWI. It was later produced in Denmark prior to the beginning of the second World War.) I think it is only the second example I’ve ever seen of one of these guns. Anyway, Lee chose a sea disasters theme for the engraving. He used a sculpted scroll along with gold inlay to embellish the bulino scenes. Lee also made the walnut grips and carved them in relief. The ivory inlay at the top of the grip was not completed when this photo was taken, but has since been carved.

(Author Photo)

Lee Griffiths

Darwin Hensley

Steve Nelson

This rifle is the final stocking job in the long career of Darwin Hensley. Over the years, Darwin has earned an enviable reputation as one of the very best stockmakers. Alas, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years ago, and his stockmaking days are over.

An anonymous and now-retired very talented metalsmith started with an Oberndorf magnum Mauser action. He barreled and chambered it for the .375 H&H cartridge, adding a custom barrel-band front sight ramp, barrel-band front sling swivel base, an exquisitely fitted quarter rib, and custom scope bases and scope rings. He also added a custom three-position Model 70-style safety, and low-scope bolt handle with a checkered knob. He installed a fully adjustable Blackburn single-stage trigger, and a Jerry Fisher-designed/Ted Blackburn-manufactured, trigger guard and floor plate assembly. The Fisher design features a curved floorplate inside and out to fit the curve of the bottom of the stock.

Darwin then stocked the rifle using one of his wonderful Turkish walnut blanks. This stock features the subtle detailing of raised moulding around the loading port, bolt handle, and thumb cut, all identifying features of a Darwin Hensley stock. The stock also features two stock bolts, European style inlet rear sling swivel base, a trap-door grip cap, and leather-covered recoil pad.

Steve Nelson finished the stock by checkering it in a simple, but elegant point-pattern at 24 lines per inch and added mullered borders. Steve also did the slow rust bluing that completed the rifle. (Photos by Tom Alexander)

Jerry Huddleston

This firearm is truly unique in today’s world. The planning for it started 20 to 25 years ago in the fertile mind of Jerry Huddleston. He told me that he knew everything he wanted to do, but didn’t feel his engraving skills were quite up to the task. He delayed starting the project until he had studied and practiced engraving for a number of years. His mentor for the engraving education was fellow Oregonian, Bob Evans.

Jerry chose an 1800s-era French-style fowling piece in the Nicholas-Noël Boutet style to build. Every part in this gun is completely hand-made in the Huddleston shop. Per his research, no one person has ever done a project like this before; even the master Boutet had 20 or so craftsmen working with him. Jerry started the project as a speculation piece, but it was sold during the construction process. He worked on the project for four hours per day, for two and a half years. It is, without question, a masterpiece. (Photos by Tom Alexander)

James Anderson Shane Thompson Roger Kehr

After many years fiddling with custom rifles, it isn’t often that I’m overly awed by one—impressed, yes, but rarely awed. This particular rifle though, is one of the nicest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen more than a few.

The project began with a Charles Daly Mini Mark X action. Shane Thompson did the extensive metalwork on the action and Shilen barrel. Shane even milled a thumb cut, a lá the 98 Mauser, into the miniature action to facilitate loading. When Shane finished his work, he sent the rifle to James Anderson.

James did some added metalwork, adding a scaled down, Jim Biar-crafted, Oberndorf-style bolt handle, a three-position safety, and shroud. He then made a pattern stock of cherry wood and sent it to the client, who had another Mini Mark X at home, for approval. Once the stock details were worked out, James stocked the rifle in a superb piece of Turkish walnut, using a bit of alkanet root in with the stock finish to add a bit of color to the wood. He checkered the stock at 24 lines per inch with mullered borders, a pattern similar to those used on British stalking rifles.

When the stock was finished, James sent the metalwork to Roger Kehr for some modest but exquisite engraving, stippling, and lettering. Some selected small parts were sent to Roger Ferrell for nitre bluing, and James completed the job by rust bluing the remainder of the metalwork. The finished rifle, with scope, weighs just over six pounds.

(Photos by James Anderson)

Steve Heilmann – Keith Heppler

Paula Miesen-Malicki

Pete Mazur

This superb Mauser 404 Jeffery rifle is the product of several incredibly talented craftsmen and a craftswoman.

Starting with a Persian 98 Mauser action and a Half Moon 404 barrel, Steve Heilmann put the barreled action together, including the addition of a custom quarter-rib, barrel-band front sling swivel, and a front sight ramp with a folding hood. The swivel and ramp were made by Recknagel, in Germany, and purchased through New England Custom Guns. Steve fabricated custom scope ring bases for Talley rings, and also fitted a three-position safety and shroud made by Recknagel. Finally, he fitted a Blackburn drop box magazine unit to the rifle.

Keith Heppler then took over and stocked the metalwork in a really nice stick of European English walnut. He leather-covered the recoil pad and checkered the stock in a fancy multi-point pattern with ribbons at 26 lines per inch. Paula Biesen-Malicki then engraved the rifle, and Pete Mazur did the final metal finishing.

(Photos by Tom Alexander)

Mike Dubber – Bill Austin Turnbull Restoration

This lovely Colt Buntline received the Howard Dove Award at the 2011 Colt Collectors Association Show. This very competitive award is given to the best-engraved Colt, as judged by the Colt’s Custom Shop employees attending the show. Master Engraver Michael Dubber engraved the pistol, Turnbull Restoration performed the exquisite charcoal bluing, and Bill Austin scrimshawed the one-piece ivory grips. This was the third time Mike Dubber has received this prestigious award. Engraver Dubber chose a William Butler Wild Bill Hickok theme for his engraving pattern.

(Photos courtesy of Mike Dubber)

Todd Ramirez

Texas rifle maker Todd Ramirez crafted this lovely left-hand rifle for well-known outdoor writer and world hunter Craig Boddington. He started with a Granite Mountain Arms left-hand short action. Craig had specified that the rifle was to be chambered for the 7x57 cartridge, but the short GMA action was too short to accommodate it. Todd fixed that problem by opening up the action top and bottom, milling away excess metal. The GMA factory bottom metal and magazine box was likewise too short, so Todd custom made a bottom metal and magazine box unit in his shop. He also fitted a set of Joe Smithson quick detachable rings to the bridges of the GMA action by milling recesses to accept the rings. Todd then color case hardened the shroud and safety to provide contrast in the action.

Next, Todd selected a stick of Bastogne walnut with exceptional fiddleback figuring for the stock. He shaped and inlet the stock to the metal, crafting his signature cheekpiece shape, and fitted the stock with a skeleton buttplate and grip cap. He added a bit of red stain to the oil finish and applied more than 30 coats to the wood, before hand-polishing it to a deep, lustrous finish. He finished the stock by checkering it in a point pattern of 28 lines per inch.

Todd told me that he was currently working on another rifle for Craig, this time a .338 Win. Mag. on a Model 70 action. In a couple years, perhaps we can feature that rifle on these pages.

(Photos courtesy of Todd Ramirez)

Glenn Soroka

This lovely rifle resulted from one man’s vision and determination, along with his willingness and ability to devote the time and investment necessary to bring it to fruition. New Zealander Glenn Soroka was that man, and this Farquharson rifle is the result.

Glenn chose the Gibbs Farquharson as his model for styling and aesthetics, and, using modern technology and materials, improved the functional aspects of the rifle substantially. The resultant rifle is a wonderful example of the gunmaker’s craft. It exemplifies the term functional art, combining classic styling with state-of-the-art technology.

(Author Photos)

Robert Strosin Dave Patton

In spite of the old adage that the shoemaker’s kids have no shoes, sometimes a talented craftsman will take the time to do something for himself. Such is the case with this lovely double shotgun. Engraver Robert Strosin decided to do this one up for his own use. He started with a stock Bernadelli Roma IV grade 28-bore double by reshaping the action body. He then had Dave Patton custom stock the gun to his specs. When that was finished, Bob engraved the gun using Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, scenes. The finished product speaks for itself. Bob tells me that it shoots as well as it looks.

(Photos by Tom Alexander)

Great Unsang Guns of England

More than Purdey

BY TERRY WIELAND

On January 3, 1880, a young London gun maker named Frederick Beesley left his home at 22 Queen Street, off the Edgware Road, and made his way to Her Majesty’s patent office. He was carrying a packet of papers.

At the patent office, Beesley filed the provisional specifications for a mechanism he described as a self opening hammerless gun. The patent application was assigned No. 31 for that year. Six months later, on July 2, Beesley signed the complete specification, and the next day it was filed in the Great Seal Patent Office.

None of those involved, even Beesley himself, could have had any notion that patent No. 1880/31 would become one of the most famous guns in history—a design so enduring it would still be in production more than 130 years later.

Had Beesley suspected, perhaps he would not have taken his patent to the shop of his old employer, James Purdey, and offered to sell it to him. But he did, and Purdey, searching at the time for a hammerless design worthy of his house, saw the possibilities. On July 29, 1880, he paid Beesley £55 for the rights to his design for 14 years. The first gun was completed later that same year—and to this day, Purdey has never made a best side-by-side to any other pattern.

Much has been made of the one-sided nature of this transaction. After all, Purdey made a fortune and, it could be argued, owes its continued survival to the excellence of this design. But Beesley benefited as well, and handsomely. In 1880, £55 was the price of a best gun from the finest house—or almost six months wages for a skilled craftsman. Many years later, Beesley’s granddaughters attested to the fact that the money allowed their grandfather to establish himself in the trade, to move eventually from the Edgware Road to St. James, and to become a significant competitor to his former employer.

The Woodward Automatic (left) and the Lancaster Wrist Breaker were two of the most famous and widely used English shotgun actions of the late Victorian age.

As yet unrestored, this Gibbs & Pitt’s gun, patented in 1873 and proofed with ²⁄12;-inch blackpowder cartridges, survived years of shooting with 2³⁄4-inch heavy smokeless waterfowl loads, and was still perfectly tight. The original French walnut stock is gorgeous.

In 1880, however, Frederick Beesley was just 33 years old, and both business and life were a struggle. A qualified gun maker who apprenticed with William Moore & Grey and later worked for James Purdey, among others, Beesley had been on his own for barely a year, when he perfected the design that became patent No. 31. He was already known as a skilled, perfectionist workman and a talented innovator, but these traits alone were not enough to get established in the intensely competitive world of London gunmaking.

Beesley was working from the Queen Street house, where he, his wife, and their two children shared the premises with more than a dozen other people. Although he started an order book of his own, in 1871, nine years later he had produced fewer than a hundred guns, and he was not getting rich.

Even at that time, Beesley’s interest lay more in invention than production. As he later recounted, the inspiration for patent No. 31 came from studying the workings of John Stanton’s rebounding lock, patented in 1867 and employed on the vast majority of hammer guns from that day forward. Stanton had recognized that the two arms of a V-spring had potential for use in more than one function in a mechanism. In his design, the longer arm propels the hammer forward, and the shorter one moves the hammer back from the striker to its half-cock position. In the transfer of tension from one arm to the other and back again, Frederick Beesley saw the basis for a revolutionary design, and so it proved to be. With it, Purdey has set the standard against which every other shotgun action, all over the world, has been measured ever since.

This 10-bore has had a hard century of life, but is still perfectly functional.

Significant as Beesley’s design was, the history of the London gun neither begins nor ends with patent No. 31. But it did signal the end of a remarkable 30-year period that had revolutionized the world of shooting.

This W&C Scott double rifle has back-action locks and conventional barrel-cocking, one of the many variations found on this action.

Histories of this period in gunmaking usually begin with the Great Exhibition of 1851, which is reasonable, because it was there that Casimir Lefaucheux displayed his break-action breechloader. That action led to Joseph Lang producing the first such London gun. But there is far more to it than that. Between 1840 and 1880, the planets aligned in an unprecedented way, revolutionizing the world of shooting, gunmaking, and English society itself.

W&C Scott guns were beautifully made. Their patented fore-end release, unique to Scott guns, is a work of art.

In 1840, Queen Victoria married her cousin, the German Prince Albert. The Prince brought with him to England a passionate love of shooting. Since Waterloo, English aristocrats had been enthusiastic shooters, and many great estates were known for their grouse and partridge. Now, with royal imprimatur, enthusiasm for the pastime engulfed society. Happily, this coincided with the expansion of railways, which allowed swift travel to distant points. Combined with the expansion of driven shooting, this made possible that great English institution, the shooting weekend. Even the Great Exhibition itself, where Lang first saw the Lefaucheux gun, can be laid at the feet of Prince Albert. The royal had a strong interest in industry and the arts, and the exhibition was both his idea and his creation.

Original drawings of the Woodward Automatic from The Field, reproduced in The British Shotgun, (Vol. II, Crudgington & Baker).

The wealthy class had developed a lasting passion for shooting and demanded guns that were ever better and more finely made. In London, the Manton brothers had already fostered the principle that a gun should be a fine implement, not a crude tool. So, London attracted the most talented gun makers and inventors in the country, and they set about refining the basic break-action shotgun that Joseph Lang unveiled in 1853.

Between 1850 and 1880, guns evolved from percussion to pinfire to centerfire, from muzzleloader to breechloader, from hammers to hammerless, and from blackpowder to the first smokeless propellants. Never before or since has so much been accomplished in so short a period, and the impetus was competition and serious money.

The rise in driven shooting for grouse, partridge, and pheasant became practical only after the introduction of the self-contained cartridge. Once established, however, it became the driving force behind further improvements, encouraging gun makers to refine their products as they sought speed of use, efficiency of motion, and durability.

This quest for greater speed and convenience began as soon as the centerfire cartridge replaced the pinfire, in the early 1860s, and it was realized the centerfire hammer gun could be improved in a number of ways. One was to find a snap action for closing, in which the locking bolts would snap home on their own as the gun was closed, thereby eliminating the need for a separate motion by the shooter, such as pushing a lever back into position. Another was a means of cocking the hammers automatically as the gun was opened. A third was to find a way to eject empty cartridge cases, rather than having the shooter pick out the hulls manually.

Gun makers all over the country tackled these challenges. Through the 1860s, more than 100 patents were filed for different types of snap actions alone. Several makers realized that, with the move to centerfire cartridges, there was no longer any real need for external hammers. The entire mechanism could be moved inside the gun, protecting hammers and strikers from the elements. At the same time, it raised more questions: without a visible hammer, how was the shooter to know the gun was cocked? And, if it was cocked, what kind of safety mechanism would be needed to prevent accidental discharges?

Today, we look at a side-by-side shotgun and see what has become the standard form. The barrels pivot downward on a hinge pin. The movement of the barrels cocks the tumblers. Two underlugs on the barrels fit into a slot in the action and, when the barrels are closed, they are locked in place by a sliding bolt. This bolt is operated by a toplever connected to a spindle down through the frame. A double safety mechanism both blocks the triggers and prevents the tumblers from falling accidentally. Selective ejectors automatically expel fired hulls. All the features just described were invented and patented in England in the 1860s and ’70s.

Although many credit William Anson and John Deeley, of Westley Richards in Birmingham, with inventing the first hammerless action (the Anson & Deeley boxlock, in 1875) it was not the first, nor was it even the first really successful one (although, in terms of sheer numbers, it went on to become the dominant double-shotgun design of all time). By the 1870s, several gun makers were trying to create a true hammerless action. The major challenge was not to move the tumblers inside, but to find a means of cocking them.

Out of this period sprang four actions that achieved considerable success at the time and were made in sufficient numbers that we still find them for sale today. One was invented in Bristol, one in Birmingham, and two in London. One is, for lack of a better term, a boxlock, while another is a hybrid via a mechanism that can be married to either a boxlock or sidelock. They all have two common qualities. One, they were so good they were adopted and made, usually under license, by several companies. The second was that the guns themselves were so sound that many are still in use today. These actions are the Gibbs & Pitt’s (Bristol, 1873), the W&C Scott (Birmingham, 1878), Woodward’s Automatic (London, 1876), and the Lancaster Wrist Breaker (London, 1884). Each has a distinct place in the history of the development of the English shotgun, and that significance can best be understood by looking at them chronologically.

The interior of a Lancaster lock, seen here from the bottom and side, made to the first variation of the Wrist Breaker self-opening design, this one employing a V-spring instead of a straight leaf spring.

The idea of a hammerless (or internal hammer) gun can be traced back to