CAMPFIRE TALES

The pistol-caliber carbine idea started in the Old West

Eagle Crips makes great panels for your Six Shooter.

THE RICHARDS-MASON CONVERSION — With the arrival of the Second Model Richards conversions, the conversion ring, hammer and loading gate were all improved,...

In 1856, Smith & Wesson entered into an agreement with Rollin White who held the patent on revolvers with bored-through cylinders, and then in 1857 (some...

NEW MODEL #3 — In 1956, my neighbor who was in his 30s, I was 17, also loved single-action sixguns with his favorite being a 7 ½" custom Colt Single...

S&W MODEL #3 AMERICAN — Beginning in 1857, Smith & Wesson produced .22 and .32 Rimfire pocket pistols. In order to offer a larger caliber in a more...

In 1992, my two sons-in-law contacted me to say they wanted to take me to see a new Western movie. It was called Tombstone. “Who is in it?” They told me...

It was 1975. Lee Jurras, who had earlier founded Super Vel and brought handgun ammunition into the 20th century, called handgunners together in Tucson to...

In October 1983, the first factory built five-shot .454 Casull left the Freedom Arms factory located in the Star Valley area of Freedom, Wyo. In March 1979,...

When Ruger introduced the Super Blackhawk in 1959, it was finished in high-polished blue and available in only one barrel length, namely 7 ½". When the...

Three of the finest single-action sixguns ever produced saw the light of day in the last quarter of the 20th century. These were Bill Grover’s Texas...

Colt or Remington? In the Civil War era, the Remington percussion sixgun was available both as an 8" .44 New Model Army and a 7 ½" .36 Navy Model....

If variation is an indication of popularity, the Remington 1858 is the most popular percussion revolver available. Both Pietta and Uberti offer a long list...

In 1856, Smith & Wesson entered into an agreement with Rollin White who held the patent on revolvers with bored-through cylinders. Then in 1857, S&W...

Sam Colt brought forth the first successful repeating firearm with the five-shot Paterson in 1836. Remington goes back even farther than Colt.

Percussion revolvers date all the way back to 1836 with Sam Colt’s Paterson, which was the first successful repeating firearm using percussion caps.

Let us take a look at the Ruger .32s — namely the .32-20, .32 Magnum and .327 Magnum.

In 1953 Bill Ruger combined the natural love shooters had for both .22s and Western movies and single-handedly resurrected the single-action sixgun with the...

Anyone handling a single-action revolver or any firearm for that matter should be prepared to forget everything they have ever seen on the silver screen and...

This brings us to the final category, replicas. Today, this is a thriving part of the industry with replicas of nearly every sixgun found on the frontier...

Skeeter Skelton would surely smile on such .44 Special sixguns as these.

Like so many sixgunners before him, and especially those from his generation, sixgunsmith Dick Casull had looked upon the Colt Single Action as the best...

On the Fourth of July in 1925 a young cowboy decided to celebrate by firing his Colt .45 Single Action.

The roots of the Ruger Bisley go back to the 1st Generation Colt Single Actions from which the original Bisley came.

In 1955, Bill Ruger went from his .22 Single-Six single-action revolver to a full-sized single-action with his .357 Blackhawk.

In late 1961, Colt introduced its New Frontier model in honor of President John F. Kennedy’s ringing declaration, “We stand at the edge of a New...

After previously unsuccessful U.S. Army Trials, Colt was sent back to the drawing board and William Mason came up with what became the Colt Single Action...

Sam Colt was a genius, however, just as those of us who are not, he also had flaws in his character.

Before carrying a percussion pistol afield there are several things that can be done to make sure it is as totally reliable as possible.

Local gun shops are great places to find Big Bore Belly Guns and two worth looking for are the out-of-production Smith & Wesson L-Frame .44 Specials

A Big Bore Belly Gun I yearned after for a long time was a Fitz Special. The last time I saw the late Col. Rex Applegate, I was accorded the rare privilege...

Today they are most often known as pocket revolvers or sometimes snub-guns. However, several eons ago in the pre-politically correct days when I was a...

In the beginning, Oliver Winchester’s company brought forth the first really successful repeating firearm with the .44 Henry levergun. When the bullet was...

Eddie Janis of Peacemaker Specialists was long well known for producing exquisitely tuned in-time Colt Single Actions as well as beautiful restorations....

We have looked at 4" Smith & Wesson double-action sixguns and now we finish up with a look at some other revolvers worthy of the title of Perfect Packin’...

We continue our look at the Personification of the Perfect Packin’ Pistol using these words from the Taffin Dictionary of Sixgunning: