I done did it again.

[skeet]

Went to a small show up in Montana today not much of a gun show...BUT. I have been thinking on and off about finding a Winchester Model 71 348 Lever gun. I have seen one at a few gun shows in the last year. Not a really pretty one. Not a deluxe gun either.. BUT. It had an original Bolt Peep on it. The bolt peep is a very expensive addition..worth from 400-600 bucks if original. It disappeared last fall. Then here it was at this show. I had tried to buy it a couple of times before with no dice. Asked the newer owner about his best price..Had 1450 on it. He said 1150..which I had offered before with out buying it. . Offered him 1050 for it and got the darn thing. Bore is great..blue is about 80-85% but very tight mechanically. Wood could use a new finish. I am going to do a rust blue on the darn thing with minimal polishing. See how it turns out. Then I'll get the wood refinished. I am a terrible wood worker. Believe me..when I say wood work...I think axes and chain saws. LOL. If I can find a good guy for that I am also going to have the wood redone on my Winchester 64. Anyway..I am a happy camper. These rifles go for BIG bucks out here. I saw one at an auction in no better condition sell for 1900 bucks. Now. Hopefully I am done buying guns. Y'all believe that ...don'tcha?? I am trying to believe it!! While I was there a guy came up with a Winchester 94 He wanted to work a trade on a Weatherby MK V 257 Weatherby I have. I looked at it and didn't look quite right. Realized pretty quickly it had been rebarreled to 30-30 Winchester. It was serial Number 153. Even had a letter on it. And since I know the guy at the Cody Museum who does the research on Winchesters..He had told me about this gun 10 days ago. It was shipped out of the warehouse on Sept 26 1894 and of course it had to have been a 38-55 or 32-40 I think. 30-30 didn't happen till 1895. It was shipped as a 38-55. If I could have found an original bbl for it..I would have traded him. The guy that does the research told me it is the earliest gun he has ever had to research. With the right parts ol Doug Turnbull would have had another project to do for me. Darn..I think..

[Dan Morris]

Only old stuff I've been seeing are Arisakas that were well used when Yamimoto was a pup!
Dan

[skeet]

Today a fellow from Oregon called me. Have Purchased about 100,000 rounds of brass from him in the last year or so. He is coming out here in April and wondered if I was interested in a bunch of NOS ammo he has and course I said yep. He made me an offer with a list and pictures via email. I accepted with a paypal payment to him an hour later. I could not believe it myself. BUT he had 9 boxes of 348 Winchester ammo. 2 boxes are Peters the rest are Winchesters. And although one is an old box..one I will keep is a box of 250 gr factory loads. What a moose elk bear load that one is. I have sent 3 rifles off to a kinda friend who is a great gunsmith . I sent a Ruger 77 in 7x57 to be rechambered to 7x57 Ackley improved and another Remington 722 222 rifle to be rechambered to 222 Rem Mag. The third is a Rem 700 in 338 Ultra mag. Bought the darn thing and to be honest..it is the first rifle to not only scare me..but it hurt me when I shot it. It is VIOLENT in my opinion. I am a wimp when it comes to recoil...but that thing REALLY stung me. I shot a friends 338 Ultra and it wasn't bad at all..but it had a muzzle brake on it. Mine will soon have one also. No wonder I got it so cheap. 450 with no scope. The Burris Fullfield II will not last I don't think. Also I shot the Win 71 and the Smith 57 today. The 71 was a bit left and dead on elevation. It now is almost perfectly centered and an inch and a half high at about 80 yds. Shoots real well for a lever gun. About 2 inches or so. That should be angle of elk at 150 yards I should think. LOL The 41 mag I shot with some kinda slow loads I made up with some 210 gr cast bullets a fellow gave me. They were a bit soft so I loaded 'em pretty slow to use for just punchin holes. For a 4 inch gun with me holding it..that thing is accurate. At about 40 yds I actually shot 2 groups over a rest that were under 2 inches(just slightly though). That ain't bad shooting for me with no load work to get 'em shooting. Good grief.. I sure got lucky. I ain't buying any more guns. Darn it......maybe...But a guy offered me a High Standard Model 10 shotgun today..Kinda rare..and at the show a guy tried to sell me a really nice Winchester Model 40. Made for a very short time..and Winchester recalled 'em and traded them for a Nice new Winchester Model 12. I must really need either one..or both ya think??

By the way..whatcha all think a new Browning 1885 Single shot in 38-55 is worth? New in box Octagon pretty wood with Browning bases and rings and of course the original everything. He also has the same rifle in a 45-70. I think I can buy 'em cheap..considering what we might think cheap is

[GoodOlBoy]

The last single shot 1885 high-wall I saw in 38-55 with a Octy barrel was over a grand, I remember that much. But I gotta say it was a PURTY PURTY rifle. I wanna say it was the single trigger variant. The double variants I have heard of but never seen add a couple er three hundred dollars onto the price tags.

I had a fella show me a pisolia awhile back that was a 32-20 snubbie made on July 4th 1905. Needed some love, a front sight, and a couple other MINOR parts. Finish was GONE, but it did have a nice patina to it. The bugger showed it off to me, then wouldn't let it go. I been obsessing and dreaming about that little snubbie ever since. Dang near cried myself to sleep over it, and for the life of me I don't know why other than it was an OLD snubbie which is one of my two weaknesses. (The other is old lever guns, and the third is a good chicken fried steak)

Anyway hope it all works out with the high-walls.

Richard

[Rapier]

Skeet, if you join Gunbroker, you can log in and go to the completed auctions and see what has actually been bid or what an item sold for. Most of the recent sales have been for modern cartridges like the 22-250, 25x06, etc. But on 1-25-14 one sold in 40-65 new in the box for $1,857. Then on 12-28-13 a 45-70 got a bid of $1,600 but did not meet the reserve and on 2-3-14 a 38-55 got a bid of $1,300 but did not meet the reserve. It appears that there are or have been a lot of them on Gunbroker but relatively few actual sales. Means to me that there are a few who like the 85s but not a lot of actual buyers at the money.

Someone sold two barreled actions for around $600 each with both being chambered in modern cartridges.

Were it me, I would want to get into the two at less than 2K so I could move them. I think many if not most get into them so deep they can not get out. I try not to buy any Browning, of any kind, new. I like the second or third position better. I hate the wood finish so it is coming off in any case.

On that 338 RUM, I was going to build one, So I bought the brass, dies, etc. Then before I got to the build went to Africa with a guy that was carrying one. I watched him shoot a couple of plains game critters with it. It was pretty awesome, at 250-300 yards it actually looked like the critter was struck by lightning. They hit the ground so fast you had to look hard to see it. Our PH told him he had missed on the first shot he took. I was standing a ways behind them on a little knoll, so I could see the black wildebeest laying in the short yellow grass. That critter hit the ground and did not even kick and they are known for being very hard to kill. I watched it take the hat off his head every time he fired it. Never have built that gun and still have the cartridge makings. Oh, he had one of those Vais muzzle breaks on it, like I have on my 338 WM. It still very convincingly stomped him on a regular and frequent basis.
Ed

[skeet]

Yep.. If these things had been in modern chamberins.. I would have boght them I think. I can probably get them both for 750 each though. That 338 RUM is somewhat violent on both ends I think I have a Kimber in 338 Win Mag..Someone wants that 338 RUM..probably a lot more than me. I shot the 348 again today. Not quite as small on the groups. But it is a lever gun..and I am variable on group shooting. Couldn't see quite as well today I don't think. And I put a little larger peep in the sight. Could see through it better..but just not as precise. It is NOT a target rifle anyway. Angle of elk or deer or moose is good 'nuff. LOL. I also shot my Marlin 444. I think it may well be a bit more accurate than the 348 anyway. It also wears a peep. My 64 Winchester does too. I almost bought a really rough Marlin 1894 at the show over the weekend. No sights and loose forend. He wanted 295 bucks for it. And wouldn't budge. It needed the front sight screw holes re tapped.. So I didn't budge off my 250 offer. Why is it all of a sudden I have acquired a few lever guns??