old fashioned shooting irons

I hope the Moderators allow linking to another High Road thread...

Some of those who enjoy the old time guns drift into cowboy action shooting. Here is a link to a post I made in the Blackpowder forum, which admittedly has a smaller following than this forum, showing the fun to be had with either smokeless or blackpowder loads in the old style guns. The video shows shooters at the recent Arkansas Black Powder Championship match. Obviously, you folks who like the older guns are not alone!

http://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...rkansas-black-powder-cas-championship.812436/

LoonWulf said:

I enjoy a good dump

Click to expand...

Hey, let's keep this High Road!! This is a family show after all.

I like them all. Even Red Ryder bb guns.

I like the old time guns. I pounded over 100 rds out of my Goons modified Walker yesterday. Some one mentioned they wanted only old guns. The 94 Winchester is only 15 years older than a Colt 1911 .45 ACP. Time is so fleeting.

For a long while, I only shot rimfire rifles, and have a 10/22 I bought 30 years ago this year. In 2011, I "upgraded" it with the Tapco Intrafuse AR-type setup, which I really do enjoy. However, it wasn't long before I noticed I missed the wood, and I didn't have any other rifles at the time. Within a few months, I had acquired a Glenfield 75 and two Marlin 99M1 rifles to fill that void, along with a Marlin 25 and a Henry lever.

I did eventually get an AR-type, but I like the heft and feel of the AKM that came along later.

Oh, yeah, and I do like my wheelguns. I'm wearing a 1984-ish stainless Charter Arms Undercover now in lieu of my normally-carried PF9.

I think I figured this out

I like steel and wood- PERIOD. I have 74 guns, and 73 are steel and wood. The other is an Ar-15, for coyotes. Of the 73, exactly TWO have scopes. My two Savage Model 23Ds in 22 hornet.

I'm what you would call the millennial generation and while I do like the new guns, the ccw craze and learning how to shoot guns tactically, none of my guns have optics. Neither of my shooting buddies do either. I only just last month finally bought an AR upper that can mount a scope, but haven't shot that yet. I'm occasionally bummed I can't match the quarter sized groups everyone wants to brag about, but popping clays with irons is so satisfying. I figured any practice I get with irons will eventually translate to scopes.

Last year I bought a Canik TP9v2. Fantastic gun, especially for the price. I really enjoyed shooting it, but when my wife's best friend fell in love with it I sold it to her without so much as a second thought. I've had Glocks and other cutting edge guns over the years, but the ones I keep are the old ones. Three out of four of my shotguns were made prior to WW1, and more of my pistols were made before WW2 than not. That's not to say that I don't have and enjoy modern guns- I just prefer the older ones for pleasure.

I can certainly relate. Gotta admit all this High Speed Low Drag black tactical stuff is starting to wear on me. I have some older magazines with articles on firearms, shooting, hunting,etc. A much different mindset than what we see now. Wonder if the generation that were adults during WWII, Korea,etc. wanted recreation,e.g., hunting, plinking,target shooting,etc., rather than weapons and preparation for their next personal or national violent encounter?

I like them all but is there a firearm more beautiful or better balanced than a 1851 Colt Navy revolver?

I'm on a budget.

I'd love a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 or Colt Python, but just not as much as the collectors do.

\If it's got a trigger I like it.

Hell, even my ARs are "old fashioned"!

Todd.

Crawdad1 said:

I like them all but is there a firearm more beautiful or better balanced than a 1851 Colt Navy revolver?

Click to expand...

Well, yes there is, the 1861 Navy. All steel grip straps.

Malamute said:

Well, yes there is, the 1861 Navy. All steel grip straps.

Click to expand...

Not a chance!!!

Ive evolved. I used to also feel the 51 was THE finest looking pistol. The 61 snuck up on me. I found myself lingering when looking at pictures of them, then seeking more pictures online and such. It was a slow slide into the dark, blued grip straps and rounded barrel and lug contours.

Eventually, I realized I didn't really care for brass grip straps, and octagon barreled pistols all that much. It was too late, I had gone over.

C.R. said:

It looks now days like most everyone is into the taticool stuff . Most folks have to have quad rails with a lazer ,holosight ,a flashlight and who knows what mounted to a "Platform" that will take 30 round magizines. and I admit it is fun to blast through rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger , But more and more lately I find that I enjoy the blued steel,and walnut , and the slower shooting that the old style rifles,and the old revolving pistols afford . A more social, and laid back day at the range . I find with the old shooting irons there is a little more time to chat and enjoy shooting. I find myself into the SAA type revolvers lately and I have liked lever actions for ever how do you people feel?

Click to expand...

I have a few lighthearted issues with your post. First off, "most everyone" in my experience is made up of inner-city "zoom-zoom" Confederales and YouTube preppers. They are my favorite people. They drain their bank accounts buying $500 Bushmaster for $2000 during a scare and dump them cheap a year later to guys like me. I don't keep AR's because they are crap, but they are fun to sell for way more than they are worth. Every gun aficionado should own a bolt action .223, btw. They are versatile for varmint, fun to shoot, and ammo is plentiful. But AR's for tactical purposes? They are under-powered and have too many moving parts to be super reliable. Argue if you want but the same government that bought the AR platform bought out GM, our healthcare, and our judicial system.

So, in short, please don't make fun of "tacticool" people. Me and the ghost of PT Barnum think they are integral to the health of capitalism in the US. Besides, when your AA's out on your laser, holosight, and flashlight that 30 rnd magazine is no longer an amenity. You will need every single round and then some to hit whatever is in front of you.

Second, and this is going to be short. "Blast(ing) through rounds" was only fun when 7.62x54r was $.02 a round and Obama was a Chicago nobody. Now, blasting through rounds feels like your wallet is taking on Royce Gracie in a grappling match. It's not fun and you can hear the bones breaking.

Third, "slower shooting" is a choice. My uncle, a Marine, could cycle a bolt gun (accurately) faster than I care to try and explain. I often laugh when people try and explain to me the added dangers of a semi-auto rifle. Crazy people are dangerous. A trained crazy person (Oswald maybe??) can do things with a "slower" bolt action rifle that two crazy untrained men with semi-autos couldn't. So,if shooting slow is your intent then I would recommend a gun. Semi-auto, iron sight, or (and maybe especially) a bolt action rifle with an optic in the 6-24 range. All of those are slower for those of us that enjoy range time with good friends.

Last of all, I can't even begin to disagree about the SAA's. A nice Blackhawk in .44 mag can be pistoleero'ed but why would you? 6 rounds or rapid fire with a 44 is like punching a wall as hard as you can, and the price of it's not like healthcare is getting any cheaper.

Shoot slow, have a conversation, conserve a buck, and stay healthy.

**This message has been approved by Jbloader.

Btw, best years of my life were experienced behind bolt guns on Ford truck hoods in the Cumberland mountains. So, I agree with you 100%.

Politicians and our local and federal government, and to some extent Hollywood, made the AR-15 the most common rifle in the United States by adopting it for law enforcement and moving to ban it for civilians.

Many people have followed what the police did, as they have for a long time. What police choose to use is something that is typically reliable and efficient for a decent price. For a lot of last century that was revolvers and pump action shotguns, with bolt action rifles for sharpshooters.
In the 1980s police departments started moving to semi auto often double stack pistols. SWAT type units were all the rage in the late 1980s for big departments and federal law enforcement, and by the 1990s even small police and sheriff departments had formed them. The federal government set the tone. While simultaneously creating import restrictions in 1989, an AWB in 1994, and even giving out extra select fire m16s retired from military armories to law enforcement.
While many action movies in the 1980s had the bad guys with full auto firearms like Uzis, MACs, and select fire AKs and M16s in reality those types of weapons were rarely encountered. It was Hollywood fantasy.
It would be Hollywood reality that would then give the final push after the North Hollywood shootout in 1997 when guys mimicked the 1995 movie HEAT found in their movie player at home (one of the final Hollywood movies to use real guns and gun sounds.)

The federal government attempt to restrict semi auto AR-15 civilian ownership while encouraging its adoption as the most common police long gun, actually turned it into the most common civilian long gun and created the huge tactical market.
Had that not happened the old classics would likely have still dominated sales.

The federal government telling the American people they cannot have something while also saying it is the best gun for people that need to use a firearm professionally has resulted in what we have today. That they also cost less to maintain and customize than many classics, while being highly modular, has kept them popular.


Old fashioned firearms are otherwise certainly more beautiful. They are from a day when people still hand fitted parts (too expensive in production and maintenance now) and wood was common and inexpensive because more of the world was covered in forests being cleared.
The old days are a time when craftsmanship was an art, and such an artist could make a good living because people paid for it as there was not much alternative. Guns, furniture, tools. Lots of things were made by artists for the average consumer. People also traded more of their paycheck in those times to buy those items (the exception being military surplus which used to go to civilians when the government respected the people.)
Today we live in a time of molds and CNC, and outsourcing to foreign cheap labor. Those artists cannot compete on a cost per item basis, and they cannot compete with the tolerances a computer controlled machine can create with ease.
The level of artistic beauty is diminished, but the parts are sure a lot more uniform. Which means the same part made by a dozen different competing manufacturers is less expensive, and can be expected to fit right where the part you are replacing goes without requiring machining, woodworking, hand fitting or other craftsmanship.
Craftsmanship costs money, and most of the market does not want to pay for it anymore. So our population in general has moved on to items you can mass produce and either replace or maintain for less without craftsmanship.

Shootin' is shootin'. I shoot whatever I feel like shootin'

Old style guns? Let's see. I have:

A traditional flintlock
An antique Kentucky (percussion, made around 1840)
A Model 1848 Colt Pocket Revolver
A Colt Woodsman (1938)
A Colt Officer's Model Target .22
A Colt Detective Special
A Colt M357 (predecessor to the Python)
A Colt SAA (2nd Generation) in .357
A Colt New Service in .45 Colt
A Stevens Favorite .22 made in 1895
A Stevens #26 Crackshot, made around 1915
A Springfield M1922, MKII
Two M1903A3 Springfields (one Remington, one Smith Corona)
An M1 Garand made by H&R
A Winchester Model 70 made in 1939
A Canadian M1905 Ross
A Winchester M94 .30-30

Old fashioned firearms are otherwise certainly more beautiful. They are from a day when people still hand fitted parts (too expensive in production and maintenance now) and wood was common and inexpensive because more of the world was covered in forests being cleared.
The old days are a time when craftsmanship was an art, and such an artist could make a good living because people paid for it as there was not much alternative. Guns, furniture, tools. Lots of things were made by artists for the average consumer. People also traded more of their paycheck in those times to buy those items

Click to expand...

yeah I agree with that, Wife's greatX3 grandfather was a cooper/gunsmith/ furniture maker/ farmer and we have a house full of his furniture that's 150+ years and still as strong and sturdy as when he made it, same with his o/u caplock rifle (I can't talk my BIL into shooting it. )

But in this thread I believe the definition of old fashioned firearms deals more with the platform than the age, I love the simplicity of my SA Blackhawk and BSS SXS but I don't really consider them old timey guns

I like both old and new type guns for what they are. I like a SA Colt and don't feel unarmed with one but prefer a modern semiauto or revolver as a carry gun.

Lordy. All these fine replies to an excellent first post and no pictures?

Agh.

We here who post in this thread seem to have much in common. This is a sample of my taste in firearms. It is an older photograph. I have since dressed up my pistols with nicer grip panels.

Please ignore the composite stock on the .308 Scout rifle in this picture. It is there because I simply wished to add lightness to an otherwise fine Mauser carbine clone.

.44 Magnum Browning '92
.44 Magnum Ruger Super Blackhawk
.45 ACP Springfield "Loaded" 1911-pattern pistol




Although now that I have posted and then reflect on the phrase "old-fashioned shootin' irons", I see that perhaps my sample of arms may be too recent! Heehaw!