After two stressful days of trying to work out a deal at our collector show. I finally was able to get one done and came home with a neat little Ballard 4 1/2 A-1 Mid Range.
Nimschke engraved, and chambered in the .44-75 Ballard caliber. Heavy 30" half octagon barrel. I'm really pleased to get it!

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Congrats Vall! 

JLouis

You don't buy junk do you. Very nice indeed.

Bill Lawrence wrote on Aug 12^th, 2018 at 8:49pm:


The engraving isn't signed, but it matches rubbing in my Nimscke book. Also had Bob Evans (secretary of the Engraver's Guild) look at it and he said it was Nimscke engraving.

You could just adopt me now and save the probate paperwork.
Great Find Vall,
Aaron

She's a beauty, Vall!   

Nice Ballard!  Wanted to come see you this weekend but 91 yo mom takes precedence. Hopefully next year. 

.22Hepburn wrote on Aug 13^th, 2018 at 7:39am:


According to Dutcher they came without windage adjustable globe sights. But he also said many owners ordered the windage globe too, so they're seen about 50% both ways. He also said that occasionally he sees them with long range tang sights as a couple calibers (like the .44-75) were great long range calibers, so guys special ordered taller tang sights.

A really neat old Ballard. Never heard of the 44-75 Ballard. Any problems with loading this old timer ? What do you use for the parent case ? Dale.

Very nice Ballard.
Have never seen the nose cap extension. Looks good.
Chuck

Beautiful Ballard! It's nice when you can make those deals happen, congratulations! Are all the Ballards out west? They're not often seen in my neck of the woods. Which is odd, seeing as they were made here in New England. Thanks for posting that nice rifle.

marlinguy wrote on Aug 13^th, 2018 at 4:21pm:

Oregon City was the end of the Oregon Trail.  That probably explains it 

You pretty well nailed it Bill. I see more Pacific and #2 Hunter models than anything else. Some #4 also, but not a prevalent as the #5 Pacific and #2 Hunter models.
At big shows I see more deluxe models, but often they came in from other places around the West. The schuetzen rifles are definitely very popular at shows like Denver, but I rarely have anyone even bring one into an OAC show to show me or sell. 
I actually had two #5 Pacific Ballards offered to me for sale over the weekend. Both blued completely and not properly refinished. Would have been great shooters, and both were .45-70 caliber. I bought a #5 Pacific at a local gun store 18 months ago that has been in Oregon it's entire life according to the family that owned it since new.

Gunfunpow wrote on Aug 14^th, 2018 at 11:59am:


If you ever get a chance to go to Denver in May for the Colorado Gun Collectors annual show, I'd guarantee you'll see Pope rifles for sale. I've never gone there and not seen at least a couple there for sale. Both of my Pope Ballards came from that show in different years.
Two of my three Schoyen Ballards also came from the Denver show.

Vall - Roberson Ctg Co has 45-75 Win & Sharps.  Are CNC ctgs ... (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Bill Lawrence wrote on Aug 14^th, 2018 at 7:06pm:


Take a look at the 5th image Bill, and the horn tip. The horn tip had a chip off each side at the top edge Bill. It was the length of the horn tip and about 1/8" wide. So about 3/8" by 1/8" missing on both sides. 
Once I've repaired it, I hope the match will be so good it will be tough to see. But regardless it will look better than missing horn.


Removed the forearm today. The Saran Wrap did it's job and it easily came off. 

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The blue tape is even with the edges of the break, so once it finishes curing I'll carefully cut through the epoxy at the parting line and the excess will come off the tape and not be on the wood. Then I'll shape it down and cut the accent lines again, and give it a light coat of Wipe On Poly to seal it.

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I've done this a few times Bill, and find the dyed Acraglass works extremely well. Occasionally I use a Sharpie to put some varying colors on the repair if needed. But tiny repairs like this one rarely need touch up.

Excellent Vall!  When I run out of horn dust, I'll give your one-step-less technique a try.

Also, I'm beginning to think Acraglass can solve many non-metal-related problems that I used to not even think of it for.

You learn so much from people on this forum!

Bill Lawrence

Bill Lawrence wrote on Aug 17^th, 2018 at 4:26pm:


Thanks Bill! I like the Acraglass gel vs. the runny epoxy for things like this. The flocking I have came from bedding kits and is brown and black. So I sometimes mix them if need be for darker repairs. The brown and black dye packs that come with Acraglass are really tough to get small amounts out of! A toothpick touched to the dye can often end up as too much when working with very small amounts of the gel in tiny repairs.
I went over the 5 accent lines with a Sharpie after the picture to darken them like the existing lines are. I touched them up, and wiped the tops off before it dried to make it look aged in the lines.
Don (rustyrelyx) sent me a PM and mentioned the horn tips were buffalo horn and originally black. The 4 or 5 I have must be all faded from age, as they're the color I pictured above, and no longer black. So I had to match the aged look vs. making the horn black.

Very nicely repaired ... that looks awesome.  If you didn't know better it would be tough to say it had been repaired at all!

Great job Vall. That is a really nice rifle. I am glad to see it in your collection.
What will the next find be ?