If you want to talk about repeaters, don't come in here

[awp_101]

I have never fired a .22 conversion in a big old buffalo rifle. Interesting.

I really veered away from "frontier style" guns by the time I wrapped up my active interest in single-shots, so .22LR just made more sense for me. A hypothetical money tree might even today get stripped of leaves pretty quickly if I could find a good .22LR 1885 High (not Low) Wall or Remington-Hepburn/Walker done up scheutzen style, but those are too dear for me to justify nowadays.

If I had any sort of discipline, vintage single shot .22s would be the only things I’d chase.

The .22 conversions are great fun. The one I had was made by the late Dave Crossno. It was a .45-70 case with a 24” barrel made from a .22 liner. I still don’t know how he attached the liner to the case and reamed the chamber but there were foam rings around the barrel every few inches and everything but the cartridge case was sealed in shrink wrap. It made for a very tight fitting system and you could adjust the windage by rotating the cartridge case if you didn’t want to change your tang sight.

The first time I shot it was during a range trip with the shooting buddy I’d horse traded with to get the Quigley. I made sure to get there first and install the conversion before he got there and loaded it while he wasn’t looking. I asked him to spot for me and out of that 34” barrel the sound wasn’t much louder than a primer popping. He looked at me and asked “Misfire?”. I jut grinned and popped the empty .22 case out and held it up. He kept looking at me, the fired .22 and the rifle trying to put the pieces together. Once I showed him the whole thing, the conversation was something along the lines of “If I’d know about those you might never have gotten that rifle”. 🤣

[gato naranja]

If I had any sort of discipline, vintage single shot .22s would be the only things I’d chase.

Just as long as they weren't Hamiltons or Quackenbushes!

(I shouldn't make fun of the low-end stuff. I think a Quackenbush was what my dad's older siblings had to use as a "pot" gun.)

I sometimes wonder if I'd have ultimately gotten more quality shooting time and enjoyment out of a good vintage .22 single shot than anything else I could have bought. "Shoulda, woulda, coulda."

[awp_101]

I sometimes wonder if I'd have ultimately gotten more quality shooting time and enjoyment out of a good vintage .22 single shot than anything else I could have bought. "Shoulda, woulda, coulda."

One of my regrets that doesn't really fit in the thread in the revolver section is all the rabbit trails I've chased over the past 25 years. Part of it was AWB driven, part of it was cheap milsurps were all I could afford, part of it is my hobby related ADD. Yeah, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience with oddball stuff that might win me trivia games or bar bets but they did jack squat for my shooting.

C'est la guerre...

[awp_101]

Success!

Pedersoli Sharps Little Betsy 38-55Win

[awp_101]

Paging any Trapdoor gurus to the white courtesy phone please. There's supposed to be a screw that square hole, right? Or more accurately, does it look like there's a broken screw in there? I had a Trapdoor project in the late-aughts but never got to work with it before I had to let it go so I don't remember for sure.

[Malamute]

Paging any Trapdoor gurus to the white courtesy phone please. There's supposed to be a screw that square hole, right? Or more accurately, does it look like there's a broken screw in there? I had a Trapdoor project in the late-aughts but never got to work with it before I had to let it go so I don't remember for sure.

Yes, theres supposed to be a screw there with a large head. If you cant get the broken screw out, or dont know anyone that can, you can probably get a replacement part (tumbler) from S&S or on ebay. Numrich and Sarco may also have parts. Dixie has parts also. As with many old surplus guns, theres still quite a lot of parts around for reasonable prices.


I dont know what the standard procedure is for that problem, but using a left handed drill in a mill or drill press with the part securely clamped in a parts vice would be a good start. Using a center drill in a mill is a better start yet.


If youre really really lucky the screw is just lost and its full of crud. Start with a sharp pick tool and see if its metal or crud down in the hole.

[awp_101]

Thanks, I thought there should be and it’s probably broken off in there. I’m no stranger to broken screws and their removal 🤣. I’m considering bidding on that one and am looking to see what I might be getting into.

This is a nice way to spend an hour. And his pacing is such that when I thought I would stop watching and go to bed because I was only 10-15 minutes in, it turned out I was almost 45 minutes in so I might as well stay up and watch the whole thing. 😄

[awp_101]

Betsy is here and she's a cutie!

Next to a Win 94 .30-30 for comparison:



Had to take the pic indoors and the lighting doesn't show the silver finish very well at all. The receiving FFL was impressed with the fit and finish. As they sit, the 94 is 7.6# and the Sharps is 7.4#. I'm pretty sure she's going to be a thumper with full house .38-55. The size feels perfect for a rimfire though so I'll get a .22 adapter on order soon™.

[Outpost75]

Pre-WW2 H&R .44 Garden Gun frame. Green Mountain Gunsmith Special 9mm Parabellum blank with 1:10" twist of rifling. Chambered for 9mm NATO to STANAG 4090. Integral front and rear sight bases were machined in barrel for Kensight reproduction M1 Carbine rear sight and US M14 rifle front sight. Muzzle is threaded 5/8"-24 TPI for can. Overall length. 32 inches, weight 4-1/4 pounds. Disassembles to stow in backpack. Sights are zeroed for 147 Federal Subsonic at 50 yards with the carbine rear sight bottomed. Adequate range of sight adjustment is there to permit correction with 147 subsonic to 100 yards or 124-grain +P. and M882 Ball to 200 yards. Design intent is for a stealthy wilderness or urban evader's foraging rifle to accompany my Beretta 92. Not for combat but to enable discreet movement, avoiding contact. More effective than a .22, exploiting common ammo.

[gato naranja]

Pre-WW2 H&R .44 Garden Gun frame. Green Mountain Gunsmith Special 9mm Parabellum blank with 1:10" twist of rifling. Chambered for 9mm NATO to STANAG 4090. Integral front and rear sight bases were machined in barrel for Kensight reproduction M1 Carbine rear sight and US M14 rifle front sight. Muzzle is threaded 5/8"-24 TPI for can. Overall length. 32 inches, weight 4-1/4 pounds. Disassembles to stow in backpack. Sights are zeroed for 147 Federal Subsonic at 50 yards with the carbine rear sight bottomed. Adequate range of sight adjustment is there to permit correction with 147 subsonic to 100 yards or 124-grain +P. and M882 Ball to 200 yards. Design intent is for a stealthy wilderness or urban evader's foraging rifle to accompany my Beretta 92. Not for combat but to enable discreet movement, avoiding contact. More effective than a .22, exploiting common ammo.

Very cool. Puts me in mind of a short, social - as opposed to hunting - version of Ed Harris' "American Rook Rifle" but in 9x19 instead of .32 S&W Long.... and with threads for a moderator thrown in for lagniappe.