Crossfire March 2018
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Bullard Buff
Loved Mike Venturino’s column on “Cat Guns” in the January issue. The .50-95 has many happy memories for me. Mine is neither a Winchester or Colt, but a Bullard Model 1886, a lever-action repeater with a rack-and-pinion action that feels like it’s on roller bearings. I ordered a set of dies from Jack First and sent away for new brass from Bertram Bullet Co. in Australia.
With some good advice from Ken Waters I put together a load with a Buffalo Bullet Co. 350-gain HP and 34 grains of IMR 4198 behind a light polyester fiberfill wad. Recoil is not unpleasant (the gun weighs 11 pounds with a full 12-round magazine.
Several years after I got the Bullard I had the opportunity to shoot an American bison with it. My friend Bill Berlat invited me to a buffalo cull on the Armendaris Ranch, east of Truth or Consequences, NM. I had never shot anything larger than prairie dogs before. The nice folks at the ranch showed me a diagram of a buffalo with an arrow pointing to where I was supposed to shoot.
We then proceeded several miles by pickup to where there was a small group of cows. My guide said, “Shoot the second one from the right.” I lined up the tiny iron sights just behind the crease behind the critter’s foreleg and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud thwock!. I took my second shot and the buffalo toppled over. My wife and I enjoyed many great meals from that hunt!
Peter
via e-mail
Appendix Carry
I enjoyed reading Mas Ayoob’s article on AIWB carry. I’m a very large man and a disabled Army veteran. I’ve tried several holsters and in winter I mainly use a chest rig from Diamond Double D with a Springfield Mil Spec 1911A1 that’s been lightly customized with Wilson Combat parts. Now that some of the days are warmer down here in Texas, I carry a Galco AIWB soft holster with a thumb break. I can’t stand any longer and the 1991A1 sits comfortably in the Galco clipped to a Crossbreed gun belt and resting on my thigh. Tell Mas not to worry, I’m fast on the draw and yank the slide back as I’m drawing from the holster, as I don’t keep a round in the chamber.
Name withheld by request
via email
Too Hot To Handle
California’s Santa Rosa fire burned down the home of our friends and all its contents. Their fire-rated gun safe was left standing but the contents were damaged beyond repair. Would you please consider an article, or series, about “fireproof” gun safes, envelopes, or any other items or measures to protect firearms and accessories during a house fire? Thanks for a fine publication. I look forward to receiving it each month.
Bob Presley
via e-mail
I’ll see what we can do. Sadly, fireproof gun safes all come with a time limit for how long they will keep the contents safe. Most are rated only for 1 or 1-1/2 hours tops, which usually gives the fire department plenty of time to put out the fire. When a house burns as those did in Santa Rosa, the intensity and duration of those particular types of conflagrations would defeat every gun safe on the market.—Editor
GUNS March 2018
