doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com S&W Single Shots

It is and I can't believe it myself, that was FAST!!

Thanks for the offer on the grips but I have a big hand and need something a little longer like a 1860 Army grip. I'm trying to talk my friend into making them, time will tell. My friend the engraver has gone on a sheep hunt and will be gone a month, when he returns I'll get in line to have my name engraved on the backstrap.
A new front sight and some load development is in order.

Michael, Lynton McKenzie (sp?) developed a splendid treatment of the SA backstrap that you might consider for this one. He sculpted an initial on the top front portion of the strap, in the center of the wider part of the top of the strap immediately behind the hammer. He then further extended the semicircular lines of the sides of the top edges so that they met smoothly at the rear in a continuation of their curves, forming a sort of island behind the hammer with the initial in the center. He then developed this theme further by lowering the background and adding various elements of interest such as scrolls and a border and background pebbling. I have his engraving tapes and I believe this is where I saw this treatment, I'll try to get a pic for the group later.
Regards, Joe

Michael, what options did you order to make it a Special Order?

Joe, I'll look forward to the pictures.

Rob, The only thing special was armory blue and an extra front sight blade. They told us 6-8 weeks, after talking with the man who would build it 3-4 weeks than a few days later it was ready! This is the first USFA pistol I have ever handled and I'm impressed.

http://www.usfirearms.com/cat/flattop.asp

Michael, please pardon the stone-age reproduction. These are photos of a VHS video playing on my small shop TV but you can get the idea from the examples shown, albeit however dimly. I was unable to find the specific example of an initial that I had in mind, it may have been a CRS pipe dream. This first one will show the positioning on the backstrap.


The next ones will show the development of the scroll and the recessed, pebbled background that became a hallmark of his later work. I envisioned the same or a similar technique applied to a monogram or initial or other ornament that would lie above the level of regular shooter skin contact and thus be somewhat protected from any undue wear or disfigurement.



If you or your engraver would like to see the entire 3-tape series, we can probably make some arrangement (G). I've found quite a lot of inspiration in his tapes for application in my own scrimshanding work.
Regards, Joe

Thank's Joe! More possibles and I have not decided yet which way to go on that. I'm reminded why I never took up gunsmithing, I just spent a day making a new front sight for the single-action and may have to make yet another one ;-).

This was a great thread! There is a fourth single nut in Spring Lake MI. Charles "Chuck" Logie. He shot in the late forties Olympics, 25m free, and a great collection.Besides the Smiths he had some Luna's and the finest Udo Anschutz single I have ever seen.
Thanks for some memories!
Craig

Lovely to drop in and see all the goodness: of the participants AND the guns. This little niche is one of my few regular stops on the 'Net.

Also, nice to see USFA get some quality recognition. In my book, they are quite the current top notch, for SAA fit and finish. Everything 'clicks up' to battery with bank vault precision. And, they are no slouch in the accuracy dept. Like a can of peanuts, it's hard to stop with just one.

My first was a very early and plain .45 Colt 4 3/4" Rodeo model [now properly aged and holster worn]. At an annual charity fun-shoot get together of pistol and gude gonne folks in Grayling, Mi, the Bragging Rights amount to a 12" steel target on a stand at 270 yards. No bench rest,no prone. Support over sitting knees, with backrest if you wish, ALA Keith.

With the sun just right, I have watched the last third of the slug's silver-flash trajectory in flight, as it dropped steeply into the plate, followed by that satisfying 'tonk' when it was knocked off the stand. While a good, tight modern revolver carrying enough bullet freight can do that regularly, I get a real kick out of doing it with a fixed-sight, Nineteenth Century device.

On the Frontier Sixshooter Community Discussion Board and over in the Gunblast.com write-ups, the Flat Top Target USFA's are highly regarded. Me? I kinda crave the new special-order Sheriff's Model Bisley.

http://www.usfirearms.com/html/bisley-sheriff.htm http://www.usfirearms.com/html/bisley-sheriff.htm

Already have a blued Storekeepers Model [has ejector rod] with a 3 1/2"bbl. Have found that short 'quick' gun likes to shoot right 'under the sights', as Seyfried likes to say.

A custom-shop Bisley Flat-top Target, in a caliber of your choice, would be a wonderful shooting partner and a great legacy to be handed down in a family. Brian Pearce has followed this company closely, and his commentary on same may be found in Rifle/Handloader over the past couple of years.

And, if anyone around the Great Lakes wants to try their hand at plate plinking around July 1st of each year, the Tom Stevenson Memorial Shoot at Grayling is a fine place with lots of freely shared shooting goodies. Included is about everything Freedom Arms, and the assorted 'name' custom folks produce. I must say that another participant's .454 FA in six inch bbl, was the most eerily accurate iron-sighted handgun i have ever shot. Akin to a fine rifle. Note that it was a strong medium loading, and NOT a MAX-+ wrist-wrecker.

The week following the TSMS, Grayling hosts a competitive full-sized cannon shoot. The bumper sticker on one trailer, hauling a Napoleon & caisson read, "If you can read this, you are in range."

Just back from a couple days shooting. The pistol is well made but not without issues.
The first thing I noticed before I fired it was the firing pin tip had a small piece out of it and was sharp, I fired it on a couple of MT cases and punched a hole in the primer. I filed and stoned it off and still would pierce the primer now and then so I worked at that and about free from holes in the primer, I may change primers as well.
With the rear sight centered in the frame the pistol shot about 8-10 inches to the left, I let two other people shoot it and same thing. I did not like the narrow front sight blade and at the suggestion of friend John I made an offset blade to the left, which worked perfectly. When I went to move the rear sight I found than not only could I move it with my thumb I pushed hard on it and went looking for it on the shop floor. A talked with my friend who has one and his has a set screw so I emailed USFA and was told they don’t use set screw anymore. I shimmed it and it works fine.
The ejector rod would not move more than a couple inches, I took it apart and found the spring bound up, an easy fix.
After two shots the ejector housing screw becomes loose, I’ll have to locate a nylon “O” ring because I need to remove the housing if I want to file some more on the front sight.
I felt that this was a lot of things wrong for a pistol with the reputation and price they have. Our shooting season is coming to a close so I chose to take care of everything myself and not shipping it back and forth to USFA.

More later I have to go clean guns.

Thanks Steven for the peak at part of your bench and the great single shot along with the shift towards single actions.

Interesting review Michael, thanks for the honesty, ouch. I'd hope the skewed sights stay on line at different ranges. Glad you're willing to work with it. That'd be an easy one to put out of sight out of mind.