Dear Friends,
I am a long time Western Buff. Started when on my 7th. Birthday, a maternal Aunt gave me a book entitled, "Such Outlaws as Jesse James." It was cheaply produced on wartime paper, and contained it's fair share of Romantic Hogwash, but it had some truth as well.
It purported to tell the true tales of such persons as James Butler Hickok, Henry McCarthy,
John Wesley Hardin, and many others. The chapter dealing with the Earp Brothers and the Gunfight at the OK Corral, was entitled, "The Rustlers of Galeyville!" I cannot recall who the author was, but he sure wet my appetite!
I spent the first 38 years of my life in my
native England. Served three plus years in Britain's Royal Air Force, Used to vacation at England's only Guest Ranch worthy of the name, "The Flying G Ranch, at Burley, in Hampshire's New Forest. It was seeded in 1077, but you know the Brits? It is STILL called the NEW Forest! I became a farrier in England, but in my native country, horses don't go,
"Clip, Clop!" They go,"Squelch, Squelch!" It really rains that much. Every time I wanted to have fun
outdoors, it darned well rained! So in very late
1974, I took of for Australia! Stayed there for three years, and then an American I had met in England, and who had since returned to the USA,
wrote me and told me he had found me a job over here! He said, "There will be,"No Problems with Immigration!" There turned out to be more problems than you could shake a stick at! I will
not bore anyone with the somewhat devious route
I chose to get around these problems, but I can now proudly say that this coming September, I will celebrate 32 years as an United States Citizen, and
very proud of it!
I have always been fascinated with guns, but being born where I was, it was an exercise in
extreme frustration!!! It was not until I was in my early thirties, that I finally got a Firearm Certificate
and became the proud owner of an 1873 Colt S.A.
Army in caliber .45 Long Colt! I also bought a rig to wear it in, (But only at the pistol club!) which was, "Pure Hollywierd," and was of the type we now call the Buscadero Rig, and had anyone actually tried to wear an abomination like it in 19th. Century Dodge City, many of the locals would have died. (Laughing!) I bought it with me on my very first vacation to the USA in the fall of 1974. It taught me several things! 1/ Don't EVER wear such a rig on horseback! If you have the thong tied down to your thigh, the cantle will have a number of dents in the leather, for the butt of the pistol will beat a steady tattoo on it if the horse moves faster than a walk! If you UN-tie the thong, then holster and pistol will flap up and down on your leg in a way that rapidly becomes very annoying! One afternoon was sufficient. I borrowed a holster from our friends, that rode high on a waistbelt, and soon learned from some very patient
Wyoming Cowboys, that, "Fast Draw," was a figment of some Dime Novel Author's imagination!
Since coming here to live, I have had a variety of guns, and have finally settled on Percussion Revolvers! I carry a 5.5" barreled Remington 1863 for self defense, and have worked out a load for this gun that gets well over 900 fps.
(And for a Black Powder revolver with a short barrel, that ain't hay!) I reckon any Homo Sapiens of the Felonious Persuasion who I hit fair and square 'tween Wind & Water, will only have need of one doctor! The Medical Examiner! (Far Better if one's antagonist is Dead! Then yours is the only tale told in court! No knowing how many lies he and his Shyster Lawyer could think up about one!)
I belong to the 1858Remington.com Forum
where a great many experienced shooter's congregate. Some of the others are showing a lot of interest in "Sawn Off Remmies and Colts." I feel this is is an answer to a problem that doen't exist!
I am not a big man. I used to stand 5'-8", but I believe the years have taken their toll, and that I have shrunk an inch. I weigh 165 Lbs. (Starkers on the bathroom scales.) and yet I can conceal a Shorty Remmie, very easily under just a light cotton "Safari Vest!" So why bother with the sawn off "Gambler's Specials?" Quite frankly, I would hate to have to turn loose my Self-Defense Load, in
an indoor situation. I probably would not be able to hear anything for two days afterwards! I'd also probably set my victims clothes afire!
I hope I am not going to upset anyone here, but I would not give a Colt Style Caplock
revolver Houseroom! I think the design is a very poor one. My very first cap & Ball revolver was a replica 1860 Army. I still regard it as the perfect gun for introducing a newcomer to the PROBLEMS
of Black Powder shooting! Every six shots I fired with the Darned Thing, a spent cap would fall into the innards of the thing, and I would have to resort to my Dental Pick to extract the @#*&%^ thing!
There were times when I almost hurled the wretched thing down range in sheer frustration! One evening a nice young fellow asked me if I'd like to try his Remington Replica. I accepted his kind offer, and to my amazement, got six consequtive shots off! In amazement I asked the guy to remove the cylinder for me, and when he did so, and I saw the ease with which this task was accomplished, I was further amazed. When I saw the narrow slot through which the Remington Hammer strikes the cap! I realised that this was the gun for me! I have three short barreled Remington's, Betsina, Clementina, and Sophia!, and go out as regularly as my gas allowance will permit, to shatter the Peace and Quiet of the desert. (As soon as I had the "Remington Revelation," I prayed that the Lord would send me a man foolish enough to buy my 1860 Army. The Lord provided such a man, and with the funds thus realised, I purchased a Remington, and have never looked back!)
I was prompted to join this forum, by the thead about carrying a percussion Revolver for Self Defense. IF you load your cylinders with the most
meticulous care, there is NO REASON that a Cap &
Ball revolver cannot be made every bit as reliable as a cartridge gun. In fact, they are capable of producing the most horrific injuries, because of the Pure Lead projectiles they shoot! Anyone who atacks a man who is armed with a .44 cap &Ball revolver, is in imminent danger of Death. Just look at a page of photographs of veterans of the. "War
of Northern Aggression!" Notice the high percentage of empty sleeves and trouser legs! When a projectile of Pure Lead strikes a bone, it doesn't just break it, It smashes anywhere from one inch, to four inches of the bone, into powder or Bone shrapnel Depending on whether the poor fellow was struck with a Pistol Ball, or a .58 Minie
Ball!
So if any of you are interested in loading your cylinders in such a way, that they will ALWAYS give you a nice, satisfying "BOOM!" Every
time you press the trigger, let me know, and I will divulge my secret! When one fires off this load, it does feel a little like setting of a Nike Ground to Air Missile, with your Own Two Sweaty Little Hands!
Accuracy is very good within seven to ten yards!
and it would not look too good in court, if you shot
a man at over that distance. Someone might say if he was that far away, he did not represent a threat! In fact I believe that if a man is carrying a knife, Officers of many of our police departments
are told not to let the man get closer that fifteen yards! It seems some men from Mexico are very quick indeed with the blade! Personally, I'd prefer the man to be a little closer than that, but it would depend on the circumstances of the conflict, and how scared I was! LOL!
If any of you live in Arizona, reasonably near to, "The Greater Phoenix Area," I'd be pleased to her from you, and perhaps burning some powder with you.
Sincerely, Johnnie Roper,Alias:Gunslinger9378.
