Since I posted about the Ballard Pacific that I just bought I might as well list this Winchester 1885 High Wall in .40-82 WCF which was the last rifle I bought before the Ballard.  What can I say?  It's an addiction ... right?

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Thanks ... I kind of like them a lot myself!  I have this Winchester HW in .40-82, a HW in .32-40, another HW that is being rebuilt into 38-55 (it was a sporterized 222R varmint rifle), and a low wall in .22 WCF.  I have another Ballard in .32-40, 4 different rolling blocks, a Trapdoor, a German Schuetzen and a German break barrel sporter (both in 9.5x47R) and a number of Winchester and Marlin lever actions.  There is even the odd muzzle-loader to round things out.  You can never have quite enough!

I've lusted after a Hepburn for years too, but haven't found one yet that I could afford or liked the looks of.  Years ago I had a customer bring in a pair of Hepburns that they were selling from an estate and they wanted an appraisal.  They were GORGEOUS!  About 95% each with perfect bores.  I would have loved to have bought them, but I had to tell them honestly that they were WAY beyond my pay grade.  They were selling them as a pair too, since they were family guns that were originally bought by two brothers in the family that were avid target shooters.  I still think of those to beautiful guns and wish ... if only ...


I have a friend that collects Stevens single shots and maybe one day I can talk him out of one of them, but again his are all high grade and high condition guns and beyond my reach.  I can ask him to watch for a "shooter" for me though that wouldn't be up to his collection standards?  Hmmm ... got me thinking now ...

Cheers,

Al

Rebel wrote on Jun 27^th, 2016 at 8:55am:

Reverend, I know what you feel about the rifles that are out of reach. I've been able to get a few that were better than decent looking, but have been more concerned with the mechanical aspects- safe shooting condition with a good barrel. 
Or, like some of 'em, refinished by old time guys and below collector's grade. 
The ability to shoot 'em without worry about a scratch is gratifying. But, I'd like to have a sweet original Hepburn myself.
Or a Ballard, etc., etc...........

Quote:
Still waiting for the pictures of the two 9.5x47R rifles! 

Al,
Nice looking hi-wall, I considered one in that caliber, changed horses in the middle of the stream and built a Hepburn instead, it's not finished yet, maybe when the snow flies...
I'm glad to hear someone else referring to this as an addiction, I have it, started with bolt guns, but anyone can build a bolt gun... single shots take a true craftsman to make... (I say this to irk a fellow smith)  I'm beginning to think I may need to look for a gun's anonymous org. - ever have that fleeting thought?   just for grins, my recent hi-wall project went down in size to a 38-72...  using one of Ron's gain twist barrels.

Phew ... thank goodness I'm not alone!



Rebel wrote on Jun 30^th, 2016 at 10:25pm:

Dam , all I got is a winchester bullet mold in .40-82. Never did get a rifle.  Dam

(Had to remove the dead links to old Photobucket pictures)

I have about 40 rounds of Bertram .45-90 that I have run through my RCBS .40-82 dies to form cases.  I have an original Winchester .40-82 mould plus the current Lyman version.  When I get my adjustable .40 paper patch mould from Red River Rick out in Winnipeg to use in my .40-90 Ballard, I can adjust it down to 240 grains and try making some PP "express" bullets to try out in the .40-82 as well ...

calledflyer wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2016 at 3:52pm:

I have several old original Winchester cartridges ... some are cupro nickel, some are copper jackets, and some are with lead bullets so they obviously offered several different variations over the years!

That's another project I need to get to one of these days ... I bought an 1895 in .35 WCF and need to put together a few rounds to test in it ... couldn't turn it down since the price was right!

calledflyer wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2016 at 3:52pm:

Sounds like you have some neat stuff to fiddle with. Insofar as all the ammo variations there may be, the numbers would boggle my little mind. Had a pal that collected different .30-30 for a while and had many hundreds of that one alone. 
I have a number of sealed boxes that are over a hundred yrs of age. My oldest granddaughter dropped a sealed box of Winchester .38 long rimfire (with a near perfect label). Six piece box now, but it turned out she was doing research- there were only 49 rounds in the box! Whodda thunk?

A very well thought out assortment of actions and calibers.
He's sure to have some fun and learn quite a bit.

Finally shot this one of mine today and it looks like it will shoot well.  It's shooting about the same groups as my old 1886 used to shoot.  About 2 1/2" to 3" with 35 grains of IMR3031, a quarter sheet of toilet tissue, and then filled to the base of the bullet with bulk yellow cornmeal.  (Without the filler you get terrible hang fires and huge velocity spreads ... with the filler good groups and consistent velocities.  The load came from an old article written by Mike Venturino and it WORKS.)  Didn't really have time to concentrate on serious groups since I was hosting and coaching my young next door neighbour and brought several rifles for him to test fire.  I'll go up on my own one day and shoot this rifle a bit more seriously and see what it can do ...