Paco Kelly's Leverguns.com

JRD

I'm a big sixteen gauge fan but regard it as a bird hunting gauge versus a clay target gauge. I enjoy shooting pheasants mostly with 16 gauges through various side by sides, over and unders, drilling, semi-auto, and pumps. Because it's a classic hunting gauge and because its less popular and obscure...

JRD

I'm blessed that I was close to both my grandfathers.

Last week my Pepere would have turned 108. Yesterday I carried his Fox Sterlingworth in the field and shot a pheasant with it.
I do hope my grandfathers can look down upon me and see how I turned out and see my own boys growing into men.

Jason

JRD

AJMD429 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 21, 2025 7:29 pm
JRD wrote: ↑Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:04 am They stopped minting pennies because it no longer makes cents…
...?...

BlaineG, is that you...?

Surely it must be...!

Returning to the forum in disguise, I see....

Nope. Same old JRD. I usually just refrain from witty comments on the forum- in person though...

JRD

They stopped minting pennies because it no longer makes cents…

JRD

Jim, You make a very good point. A group of approximately three inches at 100 yards with an open sighted lever gun is good shooting and perfectly satisfactory to me. However, if you swap to a scoped bolt action that you'd expect near 1" groups from, then getting three inch groups from Accelerat...

JRD

A former Remington engineer I know once told me they were kind of a novelty to get varmint rifle ballistics from a deer rifle- but with accuracy that was mediocre at best. He didn't expect to ever see groups of less than several inches at 100 yards. The main issue was the consistency (or lack thereo...

JRD

I've spoken with Bobby Tyler at Tyler Gun Works (a custom gunsmith/shop who is completed unrelated to the Tyler T Grips company). He said he's gotten calls at his shop from angry people who have ordered but not yet received their T Grips. He has to explain that other than having the same last name, ...

JRD

Thompson Center used to outsource some barrels to Green Mountain for capacity reasons, but they had their own barrel production equipment in Rochester. When S&W bought T/C, they were primarily interested in the rifle barrel capacity. S&W closed T/C's Rochester factory years ago and moved all...

JRD

Funny story about this book. I have a copy in my library. Years ago when I was growing my library of classic gun books, I used to give my wife a want list of books and she'd track old copies down on used book sites and I'd get a stack of books for Christmas. Askins autobiography was on my list one y...

JRD

Thank you for posting Jim.
I recall that news on this forum.
Let him never be forgotten.

JRD

Lesson on the salt shooting bug blaster: A now departed friend got one for his machine shop and the guys had a heck of a time blasting flies. Until it got humid in the summer and all the grains of salt that had landed on the ways of their milling machines started to cause rust. They had to do a bunc...

JRD

Pet Loads is a classic. One of my mentors gave me a copy as a young man and I spent countless hours studying it, even reading about cartridges I'd never load for. I learned lots from that book, but as you point out it's largely for nostalgia now as available powders and components have changed. Wate...

JRD

While an 1876 in a reasonably feasible chambering for reloading is also something I'd love to find, the Winchester I am most hoping to locate as a closet find is an 1895 carbine in 30 Army. Exterior finish isn't important but a good bore would be. I'd even prefer a gun with lots of honest wear that ...

JRD

I’ve been here since 2007 as well.
Was this current forum an extension of another forum before it? Something is making me think we were part of this site before 2007.

JRD

It’s not an uncommon thing for preproduction ammo to have a working name or even the wrong head stamp if the proper bunting die isn’t ready during development. Usually this prototype ammo is consumed between the gun and ammo manufactures in testing before the official launch of a new cartridge. When...

JRD

That's a wonderful memory Jim.

My favorite times shooting are with friends and frequently include mementos from passed on friends or mentors. Keeping a friend's memory alive by telling stories about them as you shoot their favorite guns or burn ammo loaded with their components is a noble endeavor.

JRD

SAAMI MIN-MAX is 2.0487”-2.0587” for 30-06 Springfield. Thus Forster NO GO is MIN+.006”. You’ve got another .004” before you get to MAX or FIELD. Headspace on the low end of the range is usually preferred. Your brass will stretch less and in theory the cartridge is a tighter fit in the chamber for b...

JRD

The headspace and NO GO gauges bring up a subject that is one of my pet peeves from the industry. This is not directly related to Ted's original question on the feel of his bolt over a NO GO gauge. In SAAMI specs there is a MIN and a MAX headspace. For 30-06 and many bottleneck rifle cartridges, the...

JRD

Ted, That’s kind of your friend, but as you are realizing, it may not make financial sense to put it back together. Chamber depth was cut with bolt in place to establish the headspace. Even if you find another bolt, there’s no guarantee headspace would match perfectly. Be sure to check headspace if ...

JRD

Wow. I'm actually quite surprised to hear a 9mm FMJ from a handgun had fragments with that much energy from 20 yards. Plus he got hit with multiple fragments. It must have really been the perfect storm of bad alignment coming off the target hung like that. I was thinking a rifle round at that kind o...

JRD

I’m a big steel target fan but learned some lessons along the way when I was much younger. Fortunately my lessons by God’s Grace were mostly- dang that could have been bad, better not do that again- flavor versus injurious. Can you comment on which cartridge, bullet type, and distance to target was ...

JRD

Fortunately they make a walnut version for us traditionalists. I know several people who bought 1854’s and have shot theirs. S&W actually makes a very nice levergun for just getting into the game. I’ll stick to my vintage Winchesters and Marlins, but the multiple flavors of 1854 are a very viabl...

JRD

Is your B/C gap even or perhaps more open on the right? Then, is your cylinder carrying up properly? If not fully rotated into the locked position the bullet would hit that side of the forcing cone. Or if the barrel/ cylinder gap is even, and the cylinder carries up, then it could be misaligned. Do ...

JRD

The Jay Bird discussion was actually back in 2019. Whether he's visited our forum or not, I can't tell, but the last time he posted anything was a few days after the election in November.

JRD

Sixgun hasn't posted here since November 8th. I do wonder what happened to him.

JRD

How about in a saddle holster on your horse?

At some point a big revolver holster has to come off your belt and onto a shoulder harness or chest rig.

JRD

S&W has been posting on their social media a 357 version now and “Stealth Hunter” variations in 44 Mag and 45 Colt. While the 1854 action has a round bolt like a Marlin 336, it is a shorter action and can’t fit rifle length cartridges. Thus you’ll only see 357, 44, 45 unless S&W makes a long...

JRD

I believe you don’t have a pressure problem but a gun that shows a symptom that can occur in break actions shotguns adapted to rifle cartridges. You make a good observation on the difference in primer flattening around the edge with Hornady versus Remington factory loads but frankly I don’t think th...

JRD

My dad bought one. It’s an amazingly comfortable and ergonomic pistol for something so small. It will literally lay in my palm for size, yet feels like a hand filling grip and points well. This post may not garner much interest on a leverguns forum, but my industry friends tell me Bodyguard 2.0 sale...

JRD

Nice video Rube. On the video comments on Youtube, there is someone who theorizes that Rossi & Taurus make these guns for S&W. The 1854 rifles are made in Springfield, Mass, just like the revolvers and have nothing to do with Rossi or Taurus. Take a look at the markings on the rifle. It says...

JRD

Welcome Metalmouth, I typically stick to the tried and true models that have long been in production versus a new offering, but in this case I don't think you are wrong considering the S&W 1854. Granted I am a fan of S&W products in general, but I also have some friends who work there and sp...

JRD

I like the old Japanese over and unders myself. Here's the most informational page I've found for them: https://www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun%20Articles/Miroku_O-U_shotguns.html The information was helpful last year in identifying one of the rare small frame 28 gauge models. Leroy Wisner has a ton of...

JRD

Well done.

JRD

Those have the heat staked crimp sealer so you know they are factory at least. The bulged one may not chamber early in a repeating gun but you could probably seat fine in a break open gun. You wonder if it started off bulged or if it’s deformed over time. I’ve seen some old shotshells where the lead...

JRD

Take a look at Leupold Dual Dovetail bases and see if that looks like them. Weatherby Vanguard takes Remington 700 bases, not Mark IV bases.
https://www.leupold.com/dd-remington-700-2-pc-gloss
Looks like they’ve got two of the same base on to bring the rings closer together.

JRD

I went through a big brass sorting exercise last winter. I sorted out about 15 five gallon buckets worth of brass, sorting by caliber and what was good to reload versus scrap. I also culled lots of staples, sticks, dead bugs, cigarette butts, dead grass, rocks, and dirt out of the brass. What wasn't...

JRD

Is the forend wood or bronze? Not that I’ve seen tons of them, but the ones I’ve seen have an elaborate cast bronze handle with a moose on one side and what’s likely a bear on the other (though some think it’s a mountain lion). Does yours have a bronze buttplate with cast in Standard Arms logo set i...

JRD

If I had to guess, I’d say the new T/C wants to recreate the Encore ProHunter to reestablish that market. Gregg Ritz probably wants to recreate the company as he sold it. The side hammer muzzleloaders were barely still in production at that time. We’ll see where it goes. I wish them luck. I’ll still...

JRD

That’s ECR (electrochemical rifling). Used by S&W on the majority of revolvers made between the late 90’s and approx 2018. The grooves were literally burned into the bore via an EDM (electrical discharge machining) process using an electrode in the shape of the grooves. A byproduct of that proce...

JRD

A good friend booked a safari through the same outfitter I used based in part on how happy I was with my experience. My friend has a little more disposable income than I do and he shot up the place with his son. He let his son shoot a giraffe... and they are getting a neck mount. I can't wait until ...

JRD

A hidden cost in a safari is the trophy shipping/ logistics. I went with modest skull mounts and a zebra rug so didn’t have a huge taxidermy bill. As it turned out however, the air freight from Africa and expediting fees for customs/ bonded warehouse/ shipping within US cost more than the taxidermy ...

JRD

I found out that when you have buckets of brass in your reloading hoard, if some dunce tossed a AA battery into a five gallon bucket of 38 specials, it can wreck a lot of cases that touched the battery or what leaked out of it. I wasn't that dunce but I got to enjoy the fruits of his labor when I so...

JRD

I think I had to find the same answer last year. The 250 gr Hornady RN is longer from the cannelure forward and is meant for the 35 Whelen. If seated to the cannelure the OAL is too long.
Hornady has a 200 gr RN meant for 35 Remington, but that’s not what you found…

JRD

Well done Shrapnel.

JRD

I really think the gun is a CGI image created in a computer.
It looks pretty close to an M16 but is different in every detail when you look close.

JRD

Hunting South Africa, also in Limpopo, with my older son was a great experience for me as it was for you, although it was a very different experience than I'm used to. As you said, it felt like being on a cruise. I had the very same thought. As someone who's used to doing the work myself, or at leas...

JRD

The lever did flop down in original Walkers… which is why it was redesigned when Colt came out with the Dragoon. Some poorly fitted repros flop around like crazy, but if the detent is stronger it only flops occasionally. Granted, I’ve never shot an original Walker no been there to see one used in th...

JRD

I got several people with the bear story yesterday including my mother in law. She knows I have a friend who hunts bears in Alaska so I customized the story a bit to make it more relatable. My mother in law was feeling very sorry for the foreign hunters who got eaten… until the punchline. Thanks Jim...

JRD

I wonder if back in the days of forging lines in Winchester receivers, they didn’t have the technology or knowledge to normalize forgings before machining. Normalizing is a heat treatment process which doesn’t harden the forging, but makes it uniform hardness throughout for more consistent machining...

JRD

I did my first trip to SA, also Limpopo province in 2021 as things reopened from Covid. I purchased a two week plan from Global Rescue that covered the duration of my trip. Global Rescue was good to deal with an wasn't that expensive in the grand scheme of my trip. I had no health issues or accident...

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