doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Modern vs. original 'Walls?

Lynn, I don't know what it is about why the new Cody Ballards weren't more successful. They were beautiful and well built rifles along with the high wall. They are just like the originals. Of all the small companies that have come and gone trying to make "new" old rifles, I'd say that only Shiloh has been able to withstand the test of time. I think a lot of it has to do with the lore of the rifle. Sharps was considered the buffalo rifle and after the "Quigley Down Under" movie, the start of the Quigley match and BPCR, they just took off. Also, the Bryan family found a way to make the rifle economically so they could sell it and make a profit. I doubt if any of the other small companies ever showed profitability. They were done more out of a labor of love.
As far as why I like the original better than a clone, is sort of like comparing the sound of a car door closing on a cheap car vs. an expensive car. They just don't have the same feel.

Bob, I agree with your comments on original vs replica. This is not a slight to replica they are just not originals.
I also agree with your assessment of Sharps. Both genius and luck...Luck: being at the right place and right time. Genius: being able to recognize your luck.

As far as I know, it's still owned by the gentleman in Onstead, Mi., and nobody seems to know anything about the company. I did a search of Michigan companies, and it came up as "out of business", so I assume they let their business license lapse?
For awhile they still showed pricing, and pictures on their web site. The site still exists, but simply says "to be announced" beside vacant pictures, or pricing.
There are hundreds of Ballard owners crying for parts, pieces, or complete guns. But there doesn't seem to be anything but silence from the owners.

clerke sold his molds to c sharps.falling block works isn't a clone but several different style falling blocks,

Single Shot Inc. was a small highwall maker. One of the fellows involved, Tom W.(?), has said about a hundred and twenty rifles were made before their setup was sold to C Sharps. I believe it was located very near the current C Sharps shop.

I don't see the connection between FBW "highwalls" which are anything but highwalls and CSharps Highwalls which are interchangable with original highwalls.

Single Shot Inc. was begun by my good friend Ed Webber at McLeod, MT south of Big Timber where C.Sharps in located. Tom (?) was shop foreman of a 4-5 man crew. All the parts were interchangeable with original Winchester High Walls. They became the basis for C.Sharps offerings.

The Cody/Ballard high walls were the product of Ron Long and Steve Garbe and were without a doubt the best of the best and completely interchangeable with Winchester parts.

Falling Block Works were mere cosmetic facsimiles, nothing like Winchester mechanism. I built a couple of rifles using them.
Cast action, questionable mechanical design (direct trigger to hammer engagement), cheap, cheap.

I have messed about with a Uberti high wall, 30-40 with a long heavy barrel. It looks like the real thing until you get up close. I took off the buttstock and substituted one from a Winder, It slid right on, but required a bit of enlargement of the hole for the upper tang screw. Much too heavy for hunting, unless you are horseback or mostly motorized.

It is an honest 1.5-MOA cast bullet rifle, about the same or a bit better with jacketed. But when you raise the breech block and close the lever, you know it is not a Winchester.

Many of the "latter-day" 'Wall replicas seem to employ the coil- spring action. Is that entirely because of cost/ease of manufacture, or is there some other factor that makes the coil-spring action more attractive to them?

I much prefer the flat spring actions, the original coil spring was for take-down mechanism so the mainspring wasn't barrel mounted. They had a double coil, single spring with a double-dog leg in the middle. There is a trick to dis-reassembly.

Much later M-74 Brownings, with double coil springs on double struts were almost impossible to reassemble. One of my classmates from Trinidad (Robert Semonis) has worked for Browning in MO all these years and told me he wouldn't attempt without the unpublished instructions.
An ancestor of John Browning (Val?) was supposedly involved in the design? The current Browning/Winchester 1885 double coil, double strut takes three hands to dis-reassemble, but it can be done, reportedly(?)
We will never know Why???