Paco Kelly's Leverguns.com

perry owens

Perry, How hard is Bertram brass to get ahold of in the UK? Maybe it ain't quite the quality of Jamison or Starline, but... I know my .40-90SBN cases are properly formed and sized for my Sharps. Being a member of the Commonwealth oughta count for something! Griff, one supplier lists it but it is th...

perry owens

Kirk, thanks for the tips. I have tracked down a Magma 40-65 mould that's claimed to drop at 0.410. Somewhere around I have an outside neck trimmer and I can turn a pilot for it if I need it. I have to form 40-65 from 45-70 as none of the UK suppliers ever have Starline 40-65 brass in stock. Perry O...

perry owens

Ready cast and lubed Big Lube bullets can be had from Mark Whyte:
http://hstrial-mwhyte2.homestead.com/untitled2.html
Perry Owens

perry owens

Missed this thread yesterday as I was busy stripping and cleaning my 4-digit serial number 1886 and putting back the original sights. It's a 40-65 and I could never get it to shoot accurately so I decided it had to go. The bore slugs at 0.408, which limits the available bullet types and the chamber ...

perry owens

RPA is a small engineering company in Tonbridge, Kent, about 20 miles from where I live. They started in business in the 1970s, making high quality actions and trigger groups. I am more familiar with their full-bore target rifle than their sporting guns and can confirm that they have an excellent re...

perry owens

Few, if any, public ranges in the UK. One of my clubs has a range about 25 miles away and another 35 miles. members have keys and can shoot any day of the week.The National Shooting Centre at Bisley is 40 miles away and one can shoot there at up to 1000 yds.many gun clubs have arrangements to shoot ...

perry owens

Big Lube have two moulds that cast 0.44 bullets. If you don't want to buy a mould and handles you can get Big Lubes ready cast and lubed with BP lube from Mark Whyte at http://hstrial-mwhyte2.homestead.com/untitled2.html
Perry Owens

perry owens

Darryl, thanks for finding and posting that link, could come in most useful. :wink: GK, Henry Krank up in Pudsey sells pinfire cases, http://www.henrykrank.com/ammunitionreloadingcomponents.html There are lots of pinfire revolvers around at reasonable prices but I suspect that having ammo for one w...

perry owens

My 1887 vintage 1886 has that hole and it is shown in the exploded view drawing that I have - it appears to be there to provide clearance for the mainspring strain screw. If the screw is backed out, as it is on mine, the lever will not close completely.
Perry Owens

perry owens

In 1948 the alloy used was 50% silver. 40% copper, 5%nickel and 5% zinc. Prior to about 1920 British "silver" coins were actually 92% silver. Nowdays a cupro-nickel alloy is used. BTW, if any of you collect coins, the Royal Mint has an Olympic £5 coin on limited issue:- http://www.royalmin...

perry owens

Olympus Master, version 2.3 is claimed to run under Windows 7. You can download it from the Olympus web site.
When installing Windows 7 on an XP computer it's as well to install it as a dual-boot so you can go back to XP if you run into compatibility issues.
Perry Owens

perry owens

The Spencer Shooting Society forum has a section on Evans rifles.
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index. ... 226.0.html
Hope you can find what you need.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Very interesting. Your load, with the same 13.5 grains of 2400 is 200 fps slower. If you bump up your 2400 load a bit to get 1,300 fps, your groups may tighten up due to the higher pressure doing a better job of bumping up the bullet (assuming it is a soft cast bullet). How were the 5744 groups and...

perry owens

Went to the range today to try out my new prescription shooting glasses and chrono a few 38-40 loads, including Kirk's pet load. The only 38-40 bullets I have at present are the 180 grain BigLubes, designed for black powder. 13.5 grains of 2400 gave me a mean of 1102ft/sec with a standard deviation ...

perry owens

Perry, Those are pretty good looking glasses. Do you have a link to this Top Gun? In my own case at almost 60 I can see my sights just fine with out my prescription glasses. But I can't see the target as more than a fuzzy blob. I'm wondering if the opticians here in the states can do a single visio...

perry owens

A piece of percussion cap firmly embedded in my expensive toughened varifocals finally convinced me to look for some glasses specifically for shooting. The problem with varifocals was that I could not see the front sight clearly without squinting through the bottom part of the lens. I had tried stic...

perry owens

Glad you weren't hurt.
Here's the result of my moment of inattention

0.357 Magnum fired in a 38-40. I won't be doing that again.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Excellent report as usual Kirk, and a very timely one for me. I had decided to retire my 1890 vintage 1873 in 38-40 from CAS competition and use it only for historic breechloader matches, so I need to develop a better load than the " as much 777 as will go in" I currently use. I plan to go...

perry owens

I use real BP in all my guns except my 1873 Winchester in 38-40. It has a few pits in the bore and I find that with 777 I can fire a lot more shots before accuracy goes out the window. As Gamekeeper says, 777 seems to have a bit more poke than other substitutes. I am going to the range on Thursday t...

perry owens

So what team did "Onslow" have on his hat? It was a letter "F" over a letter "H" I think. Or was that a rugby team? Onslow's cap was from Fulton Hogan, a New Zealand earthmoving company. Since he was from Merseyside Onslow would have supported Liverpool or Everton. Per...

perry owens

Hi Adam and welcome.There are 4 or 5 regular UK members on this forum I live near Croydon, at the other end of the tram line from Wimbledon.
I have 8 leverguns, all except one (Browning 1886) are 19th century originals. I use them for Western, Historic and very occasional
Gallery rifle.
Perry Owens

perry owens

I see! By the way, how do you folks across the pond pronounce Bisley. Buysely, or Bizzley? It's Bizzley. I did my qualification there. So, does this give you the excuse, I mean reason to own more guns and have better control over their safekeeping? In law there is no limit to the number of guns you...

perry owens

Hi Michael, That's interesting. England accepts U. S. NRA certification for firearms instructors. Or am I seeing something that's not there? This is the National Rifle Association founded in the UK in 1859. I don't think it has any formal links with your NRA. The headquarters are at Bisley Camp, wh...

perry owens

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/IMG_0241-1-1.jpg No, I'm not that fat guy from Flint, Michigan - I'm the slightly slimmer guy from the UK who is unfortunate enough to have the same name. After quite a bit of study and an intensive 2-day assesment I am now qualified to run civilian ...

perry owens

You can get the sights from Buffalo Arms - http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,6921.html
They are available in different heights.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Apparently he had certificates for the guns but it remains to be seen if the certificate conditions were properly enforced.
Can't help wondering what the outcome might have been if concealed carry was legal here.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Ed Harris has it well covered but since he posted that info Dick Dastardly brought out the Big Lube bullet series, including one for the ROA. http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/DD-PUK-ROA-II-1045_WEB_PROF.jpg These are very accurate, easy to load and don't need wads or extra grease. A ...

perry owens

That is interesting. Here in Southern New England the black powder substitutes are generally a bit cheaper or near the same price. The big problem with real black powder in my area is that very few dealers carry it. http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/IMG_0198-1.jpg There you go - that...

perry owens

If you plan on shooting it a lot you might try these... http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/IMG_0192.jpg These Big Lube bullets were designed for the ROA. They hold a lot of lube and don't need any external wads or grease as they are a very tight fit. I tried 777 but never found any adv...

perry owens

Maybe in the past many guns were described as wall hangers because they were in calibers for which ammunition was no longer made. Nowdays there are many sources of obsolete brass and bullets so the old guns have a new lease of life. Even pinfire pistol and shotgun brass is available again now, plus ...

perry owens

Looks like Uberti have done you proud. Is it a 5 or 6 shot? Mine is a bit more battered but then it is 150 years old and still works perfectly. http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/IMG_0101.jpg In the UK it's unlawful to shoot antiques if they are not entered on your licence but if I wer...

perry owens

I'm not allowed to play with matches so I use Frankford Arsenal Drop-Out on my 6-cavity Big Lube aluminium moulds. Works great and seems to last forever.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Hobie wrote:
Nath, Gamekeeper and Perry, would it be legal to hunt with a .56-50 Spencer in the UK?

Hobie, Not enough muzzle velocity or energy for legal deer hunting but ok for wild boar, which are on the increase in Southern England and can be hunted without any licence.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Today's the day we Brits go to the polls and elect 650 dimwits to screw up the country for another 5 years. To take my mind off the depressing prospect I drove down to an arms and militaria auction in the quaint little country town of Lewes. Look what was waiting for me in the rack... http://i49.pho...

perry owens

If you buy some Skype credit you can use it to call land lines and mobiles worldwide from Skype at pretty cheap rates. For example, US to UK for $0.021/minute.
Perry Owens

perry owens

I make my flat springs from a spring steel stock assortment I got from Brownells. I harden the finished spring by heating to cherry red(1500F) with a torch and quenching in oil, then temper by immersing in molten lead at 700 degrees F until the lead no longer sticks to the steel, then cooling slowly...

perry owens

At present I use 40-65 brass formed from Winchester 45-70 cases in my 1887 vintage Winchester 1886. Rim thickness of the Winchester brass is 0.065in but I have to turn 0.005in off the back of the rim before the bolt will close on it. Starline 40-65 is now available in the UK but it is pricey and wou...

perry owens

Dan, Welcome to the best firearms forum I know. I have 5 leverguns in my safes, not a lot compared to many of the US members here but not a bad score for the UK. May I suggest you consider joining the British Western Shooting Society - it is a Home Office approved club so membership is "good re...

perry owens

Excellent research as usual Kirk. I normally only use 777 in my 1890 vintage 1873 in 38-40 but I have tried 12.5 grains of Accurate 5744 under a 190 grain BigLube bullet. It gave me about 850fps with good accuracy out to 100 yds. For legal reasons I will be taking the '73 to the Birmingham Proof Hou...

perry owens

At last - no more spending half my working life in aeroplanes and the other half in smelly pulp mills in the middle of nowhere. Time to teach the grandchildren to shoot and to get some more antique guns back into shooting condition. Time to practice the things I do badly, like welding and playing sl...

perry owens

Oldest levergun - 1865 Spencer http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/MVI_0025.jpg Oldest single shot - 1867 Snider http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/snidemp.jpg Oldest pistol - Colt 1849 Pocket http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/IMG_0101.jpg All in regular use...

perry owens

Here's how they cook paella at the famous Ayo chiringuita on the beach near our holiday home in Southern Spain. http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/AYO2.jpg Ingredients include chicken, long-grain rice,red and green peppers, onions, tomatoes, saffron, spices, shrimps, clams and mussels....

perry owens

Nath wrote:The two guys on the left, whats that hanging in between them?

I think it may be a thermometer!

Nath.

That's to make sure the beer is nice and warm....
Perry Owens

perry owens

Nath wrote:Nice, looks like the table contents are taking effect!

Is the gun on the right a Gibbs?

Nath.

From the shape of the trigger guard and what looks like a barrel wedge in the forearm I would say it's a Gibbs, though I have never seen one with a barrel sight.
Perry Owens

perry owens

Members of the 19th Middlesex Regiment waiting to compete for the Queen's Prize
at Wimbledon, predecessor to Bisley, in the 1860's.

Judging by the contents of the table range rules were a little more relaxed
in those days.

Perry Owens

perry owens

Nath, If people know you collect old guns they point you towards all sorts of interesting stuff. Unfortunately much of it is highly illegal but sometimes something good turns up. Last month I had to turn down an original Colt Lightning in 50-70. I could have legally owned it as an obsolete caliber a...

perry owens

A late entry because I only got it yesterday.

Colt 1849 Pocket Model manufactured about 1860. Not much silver plating left but the stagecoach scene is all there and the bore is great - should make a good shooter.
Perry Owens

perry owens

I suspect my 1925 vintage 1897 takedown saw some action in the hands of its previous owners...

Perry Owens

perry owens

Very nice Perry, just how well does that sporter Snider shoot? Nath. Nath, Getting a Snider to shoot well is a lifetime hobby in itself. That one has a mint bore and if I do my part loading the ammo it will group 2 1/2 in at 100 yds. Not exactly a target rifle but it only weighs 6lb and it points a...

perry owens

Everything I have is a black powder burner... Here's a sample or two http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/snidemp.jpg Snider artillery carbine by John Rigby. First purchased by John Charles Yockney of Domselaar, Argentina. http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f297/Perry1943/ROA-1.jpg Old Ar...

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