Gentlemens:

Do y'all have any experience with the Bullard single shot action?
It seems that one followed me  home and I wish to learn a bit more about them. I just ordered the Jamieson book. Are there any other good sources out there?

This is the narrow action and it has been relined to .22rf. Pretty much a brown on brown rifle, a little rough in places but there is enough left to work with. Interesting action. It seems to be all that the Stevens 44 should have been.

Thanks!

Glenn Fewless

"It seems that one followed me  home"

Glenn
Welcome back! Seems I have had a couple of rifles doing that to me lately too.  Must be because of global warming.

Ed

Oh, Charlie Dell always spoke fondly of Bullards. I fondled one once at Cabelas in Dundee MI and thought it to be well made.

Harry:

Thanks for the link to the pictures. I saved them for future reference. Too bad the catalog info is no longer available.


Ed:

Thanks, it is good to be back. I think.  I had never seen a Bullard up close and personal like and must confess that I did coax it to follow me...  I will bring it to Etna Green for show and tell.


4227:

I will look for the rifle when the book arrives. I can see why Charlie liked the action so much, it appears to be an excellent design.  Thanks for the heads up. When I bring it to Etna Green I will hold on real tight!

Thanks all,

Glenn

I have a specimen of the small-frame takedown version in .38-45 Bullard, a cartridge which appears to be identical to the .38-40 Remington.  Somebody bent the tang for a homemade pistol grip stock, which pulled the hammer just far enough away from the trigger so the bents didn't catch after a little wear.  Another future project in the works, lengthening the trigger sear.

The removal of one crosspin screw allows the barrel to come out of the frame.  The barrel (with the octagon top part of the frame) pulls forward and out, with no threads, but there are a lot of machined in bearing surfaces, including a sort of "lump" underneath, that makes it a more solid arrangement than the Hopkins and Allen type takedown.  The action is very thin across, and the breechblock is relatively small.  

For all its slimness and lightness, it has a very solid feel when opened and closed.  When the lever is pulled down, a set of links yanks the hammer to full cock, pulls the props out from under the breech block and pulls the breech block down.  When the lever is closed back, the links push the block back into position, the props are shoved back between the breechblock and the lower frame, and the rifle is ready to fire.  A very different feel from most underlever single shots, which kind of have a free-fall sort of feel to them once the block goes down a little ways.

I got Jamieson's first edition book when I found the rifle and it is very good.  I hear the second edition is even better, with updates, more pictures, etc.

Sorry, hst, but if I let this one go, I am absolutely sure I could never get another one that I could afford.

Very nearly didn't get this one, actually.  Got to a Gun Show with $50 less than the (very reasonable) asking price and raced out, drove all over town (120 miles from home town) with heart in mouth to find an ATM that would take my card.  When it was still there after I got back I figured I'd burned up my year's supply of good luck that day.

There don't seem to be very many of even the Bullard repeaters around any more; the single shots only seem to show up (if at all) at the Las Vegas and other high-end antique shows.

Good afternoon,

I hope this email will reach everyone in ASSRA with a BULLARD.  I am the author of BULLARD ARMS and BULLARD FIREARMS but I'm still interested in logging examples not seen thus far (since 1974 when I started this madness).

If you'd like to add your rifle's stats to my list I would be most interested in doing so.  Please start with the serial number so I don't have to waste anyone's time asking for information already listed or known to me.   

Bullard single-shots are RARE with only 600 known to have been made.  The serial number range for these rifles was 3501 to approximately 4100!  The solid-frame models are more rare than the detachable-interchangeable barrel models since when they were introduced they represented better value for the money than did the solid-frame-for just a few dollars more one could have a multitude of calibers on one frame-both RF and CF.   

Glad to see in everyone's comments that they appreciate the engineering and metal tolerances that the Bullard rifles are rightly famous for.   

If anyone wishes a survey sheet please email me with your address and I'll happily mail out a survey sheet in a S.S.A.E. My mailing address for future reference is 223 Christie Street, P.O. Box 386, Rockwood, Ontario, Canada, N0B 2K0.

Bullard Firearms (2002) containd over 1100 photographs and a great deal of information and specs on these rifles.  If you have any interest in Bullard's please buy the book.  I say this not for any financial gain on my part for if I depended upon my royalties for a living I'd be as the Police would say when picking up a vagrant (He has no fixed address) as I'd certainly not be living well.  I say it because the only way to ensure that books about firearms makers other than Winchester, Colt and Smith & Wesson are published is if the publisher can expect a reasonable return 'in his lifetime' on his expense for publishing. Sadly, when not about the aforementioned companies rapid sales seldom materialize with the result publishers become 'gun shy' and don't want to publish gun books.  To get the Bullard book done again I had to go to another publisher even though Bullard Arms (1988) sold out, it took too long to do so and when a publisher has to store many titles of large books space can become an expensive problem for them.  Anyway just some food for thought.

Lastly, when I completed Bullard Arms I gave ASSRA via Mr Rudy Prusok, your archivist many of my notes etc from that book for the use of everyone in ASSRA.

Best regards,

Scott Jamieson

PS:  Will be tardy answering questions over the next 2 weeks as I will be travelling on business and not able to use my computer.

Mr. Jamieson:

Aforementioned Bullard single shot is serial # 3664. The barrel was originally marked  32-40, but that was "X"ed out and subsequently stamped 22-5. The frame is marked 22-5 and all the numbers match.

Glenn Fewless

The ad in the back of the current Journal shows a large frame .32-40 that will be in their next auction - along with three Remington Walkers!